(Bloomberg) —
Russian forces resumed air attacks on the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol where the last of the port city’s defenders are holed up, and are trying to storm it, a Ukrainian official said, two days after President Vladimir Putin said there was no need to.
Russia has also been bombing Odesa further along the Black Sea coast to the west, another Ukraine official added. At least five deaths were reported, including an infant. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that a Russian general’s remark that Moscow aims to take control of southern Ukraine confirmed his belief that it never intended to stop at the eastern Donbas region.
The United Nations secretary-general will have meetings with both Zelenskiy and Putin next week as the world body seeks urgent steps toward peace.
(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)
Key Developments
- Abramovich at Risk of U.S. Sanctions as Peace Talks Sputter Out
- Germany Faces Recession If War in Ukraine Leads to Energy Ban
- U.S., EU Discuss Options to Wean Europe From Russian Oil Imports
- Kremlin Seeks Control of Southern Ukraine, Russian General Says
- Propaganda War Over Mariupol’s Destruction Is Only Just Starting
- NATO Entry or Not, Finland’s Finance Chief Vows Defense Focus
All times CET:
Naftogaz CEO Says Some Gas Transit Via Ukraine at Risk (6:00 p.m.)
One-third of gas volumes shipped via Ukraine to Europe could be lost due to Russian forces in recently occupied territories, according to the head of state-owned Naftogaz Ukrainy.
Moscow’s troops are disrupting the operation of pumping stations, Chief Executive Officer Yuriy Vitrenko said on Twitter. Russia has continued to pay Kyiv to ship about a third of its supplies to Europe via Ukraine, despite the war.
West African Nations Struggle With Basics (5:17 p.m.)
Nations in West Africa have been hard-hit by the Russian war in Ukraine as they struggle to import basics like fertilizer and rice, finance ministers from the region said.
Gambia imports a large amount of its wheat and fertilizer from Ukraine, and has lost about 20% of its revenues trying to subsidize the price of fertilizer, Finance Minister Mambury Njie said during an online briefing hosted by the International Monetary Fund.
Liberia has started talks with rice importers in a bid to secure supplies, and Gambia is trying to become self sufficient in rice production. Malawi is also discouraging the excess use of cooking oil, and making plans to start producing more locally.
Top Kremlin Official Visited Donetsk, Tass Says (4:21 p.m.)
President Vladimir Putin’s First Deputy Chief of Staff visited Donetsk to meet with the leaders of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, Russia’s state-run Tass reported, citing a person it didn’t identify.
Sergei Kiriyenko, who curates domestic policy at the Kremlin, has already returned to Moscow, Tass said.
Russian Missile Strikes on Odesa Said to Kill Five (3:01 p.m.)
At least five people, including a three-month-old infant, were killed and 18 others wounded when Russia launched at least six cruises missiles on Odesa on Saturday, said Andriy Yermak, an aide to Ukraine’s president.
A residential building and an unspecified military target were hit, military authorities said, after the missiles were launched from TU-95 long-range bombers. Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said earlier that some missiles were intercepted and liquidated.
Odesa, a key Black Sea port and Ukraine’s third-largest city, has seen sporadic shelling from Russia over the two-month war.
Curfews in Lviv, Elsewhere for Orthodox Easter (2:20 p.m.)
Regional governors, including from the far western Lviv region, urged people to stay at home as much as possible during the Orthodox Easter, citing information on possible Russian air strikes.
Curfews will typically run from 11 p.m. Saturday night until 5 a.m. Sunday. Lviv’s regional governor cited new intelligence for the directive. In Mykolaiv, a curfew was announced starting at 7 p.m.
Europe Must Sustain Sanctions Long-Term: Germany (2:05 p.m.)
Europe needs to be prepared to sustain sanctions against Russia “for months, maybe for many years, and with some probability, maybe permanently,” Germany’s finance minister said.
Christian Lindner said “the danger of stagflation is real” for Germany as it grapples with the potential for an embargo against Russian oil that many in Europe favor. “This is a danger of impoverishment for many people.”
His comments came a day after Germany’s central bank warned the nation is in danger of recession this year if an embargo on Russian coal, oil and gas leads to restrictions on power providers and industry.
Read more: Germany Faces Recession If Ukraine War Leads to Energy Ban
Poland Plans Anti-Russia Media Campaign in Western Europe (12:52 p.m.)
Poland will rent out billboards in western Europe in a bid to strengthen public support for further sanctions against Russia.
The “Stop Russia Now” campaign, which will also extend to social media, will be a “scream from those, who were brutally murdered” across Ukraine, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters in Warsaw. He singled out Germany, Italy, Austria and France as countries that can do more to support Ukraine.
Almost 3 million Ukrainians have crossed into Poland since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24. In recent days more have returned. Poland’s border service showed 17,700 travelers cleared for entry on Friday, against 23,800 who left Poland for Ukraine.
Ukraine Says Fighting Continues in Mariupol (12:25 p.m.)
Russian forces resumed airstrikes in their latest attempt to dislodge Ukrainian fighters holed up at Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Oleksiy Arestovych said in video statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Russia had captured the city, and ordered the steelworks sealed off — but that the complex shouldn’t be stormed. There was “no need to get into those catacombs and crawl there under ground,” Putin said.
Even so, the U.K. Defense Ministry says heavy fighting continues. Some 2,000 Ukrainians troops and many civilians continue to shelter in the Azovstal complex. Civilian evacuations from the mostly destroyed city were scheduled to resume.
Ukrainian Officials Meet with IMF’s Georgieva (10:42 a.m.)
Ukrainian officials including Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko met with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Washington on Friday to discuss further short-term aid and long-term renewal.
Read more: Ukraine Sees Rebuild Costing $600 Billion as It Seeks Global Aid
Ukraine to Try More Mariupol Evacuations (10:05 a.m.)
Ukraine will attempt again to evacuate woman, children and elderly people from in and around Mariupol around noon local time, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
The planned movement of vulnerable civilians out of the heavily-bombed city has been scrapped several times because of the inability to guarantee safe passage. “Corridors have been broken so many times. But you and I should try as many times as necessary until it works,” Vereshchuk said Friday on Telegram.
Some 2,000 Ukrainians troops, plus civilians including children, remain holed up in city’s Azovstal steel works, which Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to be sealed off.
World Cooking Oil Supplies Under Threat (8:35 a.m.)
Indonesia is set to ban exports of cooking oil in the face of a local shortage, adding to shortages that have followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — a key supplier of sunflower oil.
The BBC reported Friday that some U.K. supermarkets are limiting how much cooking oil customers can buy as supplies run short.
Zelenskiy Says Russia’s Invasion ‘Only a Beginning’ (8:05 a.m.)
The war on Ukraine was just the start, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late Friday after comments by a Russian commander that Moscow wants control of all of southern Ukraine.
“This only confirms what I have said many times: the Russian invasion of Ukraine was intended only as a beginning, then they want to capture other countries,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. “Who is next?”
On Friday, a Russian general said the Kremlin aims to secure control of the entire south of Ukraine, create a land bridge to Transnistria, a pro-Russian region of Moldova, and assume control of key Black Sea ports.
Fighting Around Mariupol Hasn’t Stopped, U.K. Says (7:02 a.m.)
“Despite their stated conquest of Mariupol, heavy fighting continues to take place, frustrating Russian attempts to capture the city, thus further slowing their desired progress in the Donbas,” the U.K. defense ministry said in an intelligence update.
Russian troops “have made no major gains” in the east over the past day in the face of Ukrainian counter-attacks and effective air and sea defense, the U.K. said.
Ukraine is conducting a counteroffensive north of Kharkiv and took control of three settlements, said regional governor Oleh Synehubov. Two civilians were killed and 19 injured by shelling in the Kharkiv region. The Black Sea city of Odesa has been under intense shelling on Saturday, military officials said.
Guterres to Meet Zelenskiy in Ukraine (3:10 a.m.)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres plans to meet with Zelenskiy in Ukraine next week, the UN announced on Friday. He was already scheduled to go to Moscow to see Putin and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. On the trip, Guterres and staff members plan to discuss stepping up humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians affected by the war, the UN said.
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