Russia Ukraine war LIVE: US-consigned military assistance 'have begun arriving' in Ukraine

On February 24, Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered an unforeseen military operation in Ukraine, accusing the erstwhile Soviet state of threatening the safety and security of the Russian Federation. Parallelly, he also accused the Volodymyr Zelenskyy administration of clandestinely building a plutonium-based dirty bomb. It has been seven weeks since then and now, is a complete opposite narrative, Zelenskyy has warned the world against a potential Russian nuclear attack. 

How likely is it for Putin to press the nuclear button?

At present, Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal with almost 6,257 weapons. Appearing in a CNN interview on Friday, Zelenskyy said that the world must be prepared to see Russia using tactical or low-grade nuclear weapons as it fails to annex major cities. Zelenskyy’s remarks came days after Putin warned the west of “dire consequences” in case they directly intervene in Ukraine. It was reported that the KGB spy turned politician Putin has put his Nuclear Forces on alert, indirectly signalling his readiness to press the nuclear button. 

However, the threat of nuclear war is less likely given the fact that no nation wants the mass destruction of its population. Despite repeated calls by Zelenskyy, the west has still not agreed on imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine due to fear that, it may give Putin a reason to fire nukes. 

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Nationalist militants and foreign mercenaries blocked by the Russian Armed Forces at the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol have until Sunday to lay down arms and surrender, Col . Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's National Defense Control Center, said.

"Considering the catastrophic situation that has developed at the Azovstal metallurgical plant, and being guided by purely humane principles, the Russian Armed Forces propose that militants of nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries stop all hostilities and lay down arms starting from 06:00 Moscow time [ 03:00 GMT] on April 17, 2022," Mizintsev said.

He added that all those who lay down arms are guaranteed life.

According to Mizintsev, the nationalists and mercenaries at Azovstal are "persistently demanding permission from the authorities in Kyiv to lay down their arms and surrender. At the same time, representatives of the Ukrainian authorities categorically forbid doing this and are threatening [them] with subsequent executions."

Mizintsev pointed out that, on Saturday, April 16, there was a sharp increase in the intensity of radio communications by militants of nationalist formations and foreign mercenaries at Azovstal.

Two civilians died of shrapnel wounds after a rocket was shot down near the southern Ukrainian city of Kakhovka. Kakhovka’s municipal authorities in a Facebook post said: “It was not a peaceful morning in Kakhovka. Five civilian residents with injuries were admitted to the Kakhovka Municipal Hospital. Two killed, three injured (one of them is in critical condition in intensive care, two have moderate injuries)." 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held discussion about the besieged port city of Mariupol with intelligence agencies. “The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people,” Zelenskyy said. “The occupiers think this will make it easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are fooling themselves,” he added. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has labelled the existing sanctions on Russia are “painful” but "not enough to stop the Russian military" from commiting the war crimes in Ukraine. 

Zelenskyy asked the “the democratic world” to ban Russian oil.  “In general, the democratic world must accept that Russia’s money for energy resources is in fact money for the destruction of democracy,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to his nation.

He also said: “The sooner the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo against Russia and the complete blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace, the sooner the war will end.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke Saturday with the leaders of Britain and Sweden about how best to help those defending Mariupol and the tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside the besieged city. Mariupol’s fate can be decided either through battle or diplomacy, he said.

“Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade,” he said in his nightly video address to the nation. “Or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.”

Source: AP

Russia’s bombardment of cities around Ukraine on Saturday included an explosion in Kharkiv that destroyed a community kitchen. Associated Press journalists at the scene saw the immediate aftermath of the apparent missile attack. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said three people were killed and 34 wounded by missile strikes Saturday in that city alone.

The kitchen was set up by World Central Kitchen, which is run by celebrity chef José Andrés to establish feeding systems in disaster and war zones. Andrés tweeted that the non-governmental organization’s staff members were shaken but safe.

The organization says it has now reached 30 cities across the country, providing nearly 300,000 meals a day. Andrés said the attack in Kharkiv shows that “to give food in the middle of a senseless war is an act of courage, resilience and resistance” and that his group’s chefs will keep cooking for Ukraine.

Source: AP

Russia's Ministry of Defense has said that its high-precision air-launched missiles hit 15 enemy [Ukrainian] targets in areas of of Barvenkovo, Rubizhne, Popasnaya, Novozvanovka, Krasnoarmeysk, Selidovo, Novobakhmutovka, six places of concentration of Ukrainian military equipment. Seven strongholds of Ukrainian troops were destroyed, said the Russian MoD. 

"As a result of the strikes, more than 320 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and wounded, 23 armored vehicles and seven vehicles for various purposes were destroyed," the statement from the Russian MoD read. 

Russian Federation has said that it has opened the humanitarian corridors in accordance with international humanitarian law in the Kharkiv, Lugansk, Donetsk and Crimea towards Russia. "Russian Federation is ready to deploy humanitarian corridors in any other direction as soon as possible and ensure the safe evacuation of civilians," the Defense Ministry of Russian Federation added. Moscow objected that of the total 10 humanitarian corridors declared by the Ukrainian side in Zaporozhye, Donetsk and Kherson "not a single one in the direction of Russia." 

"Kyiv authorities do not adhere to these humane principles. The means of objective control recorded violations in the areas of open humanitarian corridors," the Russian MoD said. "The militants of the territorial battalions fired from small arms and mortars in the Kharkiv and Zaporozhye directions, thereby preventing the evacuation of citizens from the blockaded settlements," Russia alleged. 

Russian MoD further alleged that units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and "nationalist battalions", disregard the generally recognized norms of International Humanitarian Law, and "purposefully place their firing positions and heavy weapons in the buildings and on the territories of kindergartens, educational, municipal and medical institutions." 

Russian Federation has said that it has opened the humanitarian corridors in accordance with international humanitarian law in the Kharkiv, Lugansk, Donetsk and Crimea towards Russia. "Russian Federation is ready to deploy humanitarian corridors in any other direction as soon as possible and ensure the safe evacuation of civilians," the Defense Ministry of Russian Federation added. Moscow objected that of the total 10 humanitarian corridors declared by the Ukrainian side in Zaporozhye, Donetsk and Kherson "not a single one in the direction of Russia." 

"Kyiv authorities do not adhere to these humane principles. The means of objective control recorded violations in the areas of open humanitarian corridors," the Russian MoD said. "The militants of the territorial battalions fired from small arms and mortars in the Kharkiv and Zaporozhye directions, thereby preventing the evacuation of citizens from the blockaded settlements," Russia alleged. 

Russian MoD further alleged that units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and "nationalist battalions", disregard the generally recognized norms of International Humanitarian Law, and "purposefully place their firing positions and heavy weapons in the buildings and on the territories of kindergartens, educational, municipal and medical institutions." 

Ukraine will send top officials to Washington for next week meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This will involve Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko, an official at World Bank reportedly informed on condition of anonymity. 

Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky has said that "the situation in Mariupol remains as severe as possible. Just inhuman" adding that  "Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there in Mariupol."  An estimated 100,000 civilians currently are staying inside the heavily shelled beseiged city of Mariupol.

"There are only two ways to influence this, either our partners will give Ukraine all the necessary heavy weapons, planes, and, without exaggeration, immediately... Or a negotiating path, in which the role of partners should also be decisive."

Zelesnky iterated that his miliatry has bee trying to end the siege of Mariupol via military or diplomatic or "anything to save people. But finding this solution is extremely difficult."

"Although we have heard many intentions from those who wanted to help and who are really in positions of international influence, none of them have been realized yet." he added.

Russian Defense Ministry has announced that it will soon publish statistics on military deaths from Ukrainian documents, the ministry’s Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday in a press address. He added that Russian forces have killed 23,367 Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries.

"We will soon be publishing some data from Ukrainian documents on the losses, disclosing the death sites and the grave sites of those killed," Russian military spokesperson Spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

Russian navy's commander-in-chief, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov has met with the crew of the missile cruiser Moskva in Sevastopol, Russia's state-affiliated agency Tass reported. In a footage released by Russia's ministry of defense officers and sailors of the sunken warship can be seen standing in formation, although the number of sailors present remains unclear. 

"Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov and the command of the Black Sea Fleet held a meeting with the crew of the missile cruiser Moskva in Sevastopol," a statement by Russia's MoD informed. "Yevmenov informed the cruiser crew that the officers, midshipmen and sailors would continue their service in the Navy."

Credit: AP

Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces hit a residential area of Kharkiv with rockets after the loss of its Black Sea flagship. Russia’s military command had warned of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites. As Russia prepared for the anticipated offensive, a mother wept over her 15-year-old son’s body after rockets hit a residential area of Kharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine where an infant and at least eight others died. 

US Army trainers are using lessons learned from the Russian war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary, according to Associated Press. The role-players in this month’s exercise at a training center in California’s the Mojave Desert speak Russian and the enemy force is using a steady stream of social media to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

Austria’s chancellor said after meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow this past week that the Russian president is “in his own war logic” when it comes to Ukraine.Karl Nehammer told NBC in an interview that he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war. Nehammer was the first European leader to meet Putin in Moscow since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. He said “we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.”

Before arriving in Moscow last Monday, Nehammer had visited Bucha, Ukraine, the town outside of Kyiv where graphic evidence of killings and torture has emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Nehammer told “Meet the Press” that he confronted Putin with what he had seen in Bucha, and “it was not a friendly conversation.”

He said Putin said “he will cooperate with an international investigation, on one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesn’t trust the Western world. So this will be the problem now in the future.”

Source: Associated Press

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said an armored vehicle plant was targeted. He didn’t specify where the factory was located, but there is one in the Darnytskyi district.

He said the plant was among multiple Ukrainian military sites hit with “air-launched high-precision long-range weapons.” As the US and Europe send new arms to Ukraine, the strategy could be aimed at hobbling Ukraine’s defenses ahead of what’s expected to be a full-scale Russian assault in the east.

It was the second strike in the Kyiv area since the Russian military vowed this week to step up missile strikes on the capital. Another hit a missile plant Friday as residents emerged for walks, foreign embassies planned to reopen and other tentative signs of the city’s prewar life began to resurface following the failure of Russian troops to capture Kyiv and their withdrawal.

Source: Assoictaed Press

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson have discussed imosing the sanctions on Russia for its brutal attacks on the Ukrainian cities, statements from both leaders on social media read. 

“I described the critical situation in Mariupol. We discussed defense support for Ukraine and toughening of anti-Russian sanctions,  Zelensky’s statement said.  He thanked Andersson for supporting Ukraine’s membership in the European Union.

“Sweden and EU work relentlessly to support Ukraine, impose further sanctions on Russia, and ensure accountability for war crimes,” Andersson's statement meanwhile revealed. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday that “the UK will stop at nothing to ensure Ukrainians have the resources they need” as the war intensified on Saturday with Russian troops launching heavy assaults across different regions in Ukraine after the Ukrainian Army sunk the Black sea fleet warship. Johnson spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and later in a statement said that he would step up the defense and macro-financial support as well as lamented the situation in the besieged port city of Mariupol.  

A statement from Downing Street read: “The Prime Minister [Boris Johnson] paid tribute to the bravery of Ukrainian forces who continue to valiantly defend their country's freedom.” 

“President Zelenskyy updated the Prime Minister on the situation in Mariupol, and the Prime Minister said he saluted Ukrainian resistance in the city. The pair discussed the need for a long-term security solution for Ukraine, and the Prime Minister said he would continue to work closely with allies and partners to ensure Ukraine could defend its sovereignty in the weeks and months to come,” the Downing Street statement said.

“The Prime Minister updated President Zelenskyy on new sanctions from the UK that came into force last week and said the UK would continue to provide the means for Ukraine to defend itself, including armoured vehicles in the coming days. The Prime Minister said international support for Ukraine only grew stronger and that he remained convinced Ukraine would succeed, and Putin would fail,” according to the statement.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said that 1,449 people have been evacuated from areas in southern and eastern Ukraine that are under heavy shelling by the Russian troops. Vereshchuk said 170 people managed to escape from Mariupol but by their own means of transport to Zaporizhzhia, as heavy rain blocked the buses route.  Another 1,211 residents of Polohy, Vasylivka, Berdiansk and Melitopol also managed to make safe passage out to Zaporizhzhia. 

A second British fighter has been captured as a prisoner of war by the Russian troops while defending the besieged city of Mariupol, British broadcaster reported. The captured soldier was seen for the first time on the Russian TV channel. Ex-British Army soldier Shaun Pinner, 48 was serving under the foreign legion as a 'contract soldier' and was fighting alongside the Kyiv's forces. 

In the the broadcast aired by Russian troops the British soldier who was seen without wounds said: “I am Shaun Pinner. I am a citizen of the United Kingdom. I was captured in Mariupol.I am part of 36th brigade, 1st Battalion Ukrainian Marine. I was fighting in Mariupol for five to six weeks and now I am in the Donetsk People's Republic.” 

Russian forces have relentlessly been attacking Ukrainian cities and Ukraine's armed forces continue to show tough resilience against Russian aggression. The head of the Luhansk regional military administration, Serhiy Haidai, stated that Russian troops are ready to attack the Donbas region, reported ZN.UA. According to Haidai, Russian forces could possibly begin attacking simultaneously in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.Russian President Vladimir Putin wants tens of thousands of troops in the Donbass region to ensure victory.

Read full report here 

Mayor Vitali Klitschko of Kyiv has said that he's not ruling out further strikes on the capital.  “If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where it’s safer, do it.” As Russians intensified the offensive on the Ukrainian capital, it was not immediately clear what was hit in a strike on Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district. The sprawling district on the southeastern edge of the capital contains a mixture of Soviet-style apartment blocks, newer shopping centers and big-box retail outlets, industrial areas, and railyards.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that one person died and several more were wounded in the Saturday morning airstrikes on the Darnytski district of the capital, as Russian forces resumed scattered attacks on the capital in western Ukraine.

“Our air defense forces are doing everything they can to protect us, but the enemy is insidious and ruthless,” Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.

The attacks, which the Russian Defense Ministry said targeted an armored vehicle plant in the Ukrainian capital, was an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Russian forces pivot to the east, where a new offensive is feared. Klitschko urged Ukrainians not to return to Kyiv. 

“We’re not ruling out further strikes on the capital,” Klitschko said. “We can’t prohibit, we can only recommend. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where it’s safer, do it.”

Source: AP

Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Russia’s pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia’s military command had warned of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites, a claim repeated - and refuted by witnesses.

But the toll reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of an invasion that has shattered European security. As Russia prepared for the anticipated offensive, a mother wept over her 15-year-old son’s body after rockets hit a residential area of Kharkiv, a city in the northeast. An infant and at least eight other people died, officials said.

Source: AP

Head of the Luhansk region military administration, Serhii Haidai, has said on Telegram that there has been widespread damage to the civilian infrastructure from the fierce Russian strikes in the eastern region. 

"In one day, the Russians damaged ten infrastructure facilities, an oil refinery and a hospital in Lysychansk," said Serhii Haidai. "Another 26 buildings were partially or completely destroyed. There were 16 residential buildings [hit] in Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Kreminna, and Lysychansk." 

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has urged Finland and Sweden  to apply for NATO membership as soon as possible. In a press conference the, Nauseda emphasized that the accession will improve the security in the Baltic region, APA reports citing Sputnik. Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Finland had invited Sweden to jointly file applications for NATO membership and the prospects of joining the defensive Alliance wll be discussed in June summit. Lithuanian Prime Minister stressed that the Alliance will enhance security in the Baltic region. 

Credit: Twitter/@GitanasNauseda

Kharkiv Prosecutor's Office has claimed that at least two civilians were killed and 18 injured in a cruise-missile strike in the northeastern Ukrainian city by the Russian troops. Prosecutor's office said Russian forces hit the Slobidskyi and Osnoviansky districts of Kharkiv with a Kalibr cruise-missile strike. Head of the Kharkiv regional military administration said that the attack occured while there were rescue workers on the scene. Serhii Zelensky, the mayor of the town of Lozova, asked civilians to evacuate immediately. 

"What I posted on my social networks is not a fake," he said in a post. "I’ve been reminding you for 10 days that there are relevant threats. To date, there is no ground threat. But there is a possibility of increasing missile strikes on our city. As well as bombing. So don't panic."

More than 1,900 civilians have been killed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Among the 1,982 civilians killed between Feb. 24 and April 14, 162 were children the OHCHR said. There were 256 children among the 2,651 civilians that had been injured.

“Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes,” the report said.

US offcials have expressed grave concerns about Ukraine forces runnign out of ammunition, and have outlined the need of rushing the weapons to the combat troops. Pentagon is slated to deliver 18 155mm towed howitzers and 40,000 artillery rounds to Ukraine under the new military package announced by US President Joe Biden's administration this week.

Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry has released its daily update on Russian military losses in the ongoing war. It revealed that over 20,000 troops have been killed while over 1982 armored vehicles have been destroyed. 

Ukraine has denounced Russian for spreading misinformation that it was developing biological laboratories. "Germany and the US created a network of at least 30 biological laboratories in Ukraine. This is, of course, a blatant lie, as the presence of biological labs in Ukraine has already been refuted by the US and the UN," Zelenskyy administration said. 

Ukraine has denounced Russian for spreading misinformation that it was developing biological laboratories. "Germany and the US created a network of at least 30 biological laboratories in Ukraine. This is, of course, a blatant lie, as the presence of biological labs in Ukraine has already been refuted by the US and the UN," Zelenskyy administration said. 

In a display of solidarity, a delegation of Georgian parliamentarians arrived in Kyiv. Tweeting from the Ukrainian capital, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili emphasized that his country was with the embattled country and it 'feels the sorrow' of Ukrainians. 

Two civilians were killed while 18 others have been wounded after a missile struck one of the central districts of the Kharkiv region. According to the Governor, several residential buildings, shops, and cars in the area were either partially or fully destroyed. Ukraine's Centre for Communication has released a video for the same. 

The Russian military disrupted the evacuation from Lysychansk, Ukraine said on Saturday. During the ceasefire, they opened fire on the city center, according to the Head of the Regional Military Administration Serhiy Haidai. Earlier in the day, officials said that Kremlin troops bombarded an oil refinery in the city, triggering arson. 

Amidst an information war, the Parliament of Ukraine (Verkhovna Rada) has issued a warning that Russia now plans to launch a new deepfake with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "In a fictitious statement, the president will allegedly express "his negative attitude towards Ukrainian cities, in particular to #Mariupol," it said in a Twitter statement. 

A key adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the head of Ukraine’s negotiating team has expressed frustrations at the progress of the weapons transfer from the European Union. Taking to Twitter, Mykhailo Podolyak said that after asking Europe for weapons, Ukraine hasn’t received “the ones we asked for” and they “take too long to arrive”. 

Amidst the Ukrainian crisis, Switzerland has demanded the exclusion of Russian and Belarussian officials from top posts in international sports federations. In a letter addressed to International Olympic Committee (IOC). the Swiss Minister of Sport and Defence Viola Amherd said that mere exclusion of Olympians from the two countries was not enough. 

Ukrainian Energy Minister welcomes Poland's decision to phase out of Russian coal imports. On Saturday, Herman Halushchenko thanked the neighboring country for its "decisive and consistent policy." “This is indeed a bold step, given the structure of coal consumption in Poland,” he said. Notably, the European Union has pledged to completely end Russian coal imports by mid-August. 

French cosmetics company L'Occitane has announced the closure of all its stores in Russia. It has also stopped online sales in the country. The decision came days after the company clarified that it was keeping its stores open to protect staff from potential "retaliation".

Amidst the ongoing war, Ukraine has simplified the legal process of marriage for its citizens. Under the currently imposed Martial law, it is now possible to register a relationship (marriage) within 24 hours and via Zoom.

Ukraine's deputy PM Irina Vereshchuk revealed that at least 700 Ukrainian servicemen were currently in Russian captivity. She added that the same number of Russian troops were in Kyiv's captivity. Talking about civilians, she added that about 1000 civilians were also in Russian captivity with half of them being women. She did not reveal anything about children abducted or relocated by Russians. Neither did she rule out possibility of prisoner exchange.

The West should absorb higher costs of living to help wean Germany off of Russian oil, a former British Army commander has said. Speaking to Telegraph, Sir Nick Parker asked the public to "re-prioritize" and "take more pain" if they want to inflict more economic pain on the Russian Federation. 

The head of the Lugansk regional state administration, Sergei Gaidai, said that Russian troops had again fired at an oil refinery in Lisichansk, Luhansk Oblast. Several pictures have emerged online which show smoke billowing from the factory. 

Russian occupiers are preparing to close Mariupol, prohibiting movements from April 18 to 'filter' local men, a local official has said. According to Petro Andryushchenko, who serves as an advisor to the besieged city's Mayor, the plan is to recruit some for the Russian army, send others to clear the rubble, and isolate unreliable ones.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said that the Russians had not completely captured it but added that the situation in the ancient port city remains "difficult and hard". Addressing media reporters, he said, "Fighting is happening right now. The Russian army is constantly calling on additional units to storm the city.” Mariupol has emerged as one of the prime battlegrounds in the ongoing war with its fall directly giving Russia the opportunity to establish a land corridor between mainland and Crimea.  

The Moscow Times’ Russian language service has been blocked in Russia over war coverage, the newspaper says. However, the daily’s English services were still operating with links to Russian services. The ban was imposed following the publication of  “what authorities call a false report on riot police officers refusing to fight in Ukraine,” as per Moscow Times. 

At least two civilians were killed and three others were injured overnight in Russian airstrikes in the eastern part of Ukraine. As per the officials, fatalities were reported in the cities of Poltava Oblast- Severodonetsk, and Lysychansk. In what has been termed as Phase-2 of the Russian invasion, Putin's forces have centralized their attacks on Ukraine's east, focusing particularly on Donbas and the Southeastern port cities of Mariupol and Odesa.

As the Russo-Ukrainian war continued for the 52nd day, new images have emerged. The photographs provide testimony of deaths, destruction and migration crisis caused by the conflict. 

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has barred entry of British PM Boris Johnson, Foreign secretary Liz Truss, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, and 10 other British government politicians and members in the country. In a statement, the ministry stated, "In connection with the unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed, in particular, in the imposition of sanctions against top officials of the Russian Federation, a decision was made to include key members of the British government and a number of political figures in the Russian "stop list". Moscow has threatened to expand the list soon.

Russia has accepted that its missile cruiser Moskva was attacked by Ukrainian forces. Even as the warship sunk in the waters of the Black sea, Moscow had continued to claim that the arsenal on board was due to an explosion in ammunitions. However, announcing an attack on SpaceX satellites over Ukraine, Russia admitted that the ship was hit by Ukrainian Neptune missiles. 

Declaring war against billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink satellites, the Chairman of the United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev stated the tasks set by the Russian aerospace to destroy the Starlink satellite group on Saturday. The official release stated that Medvedev said that 'in order to ensure the security of all units participating in the special military operation, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was ordered to destroy the Starlink satellite constellation located over the territory of the Russian Federation, the zone of the special military operation and the Black Sea basin.'

Ukrainian deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk has announced that nine humanitarian corridors have been agreed for Saturday to evacuate citizens. It has been reported that Russian shelling has been ongoing on the day 52 war in Kherson, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, according to local governors.  

From April 17, Romania will ban ships flying the Russian flag from entering its ports.

Advisor to Mariupol mayor Petro Andryushchenko has stated that the Russian troops plan to close  besieged city's for entry and exit, according to the Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine

As per reports, Russia has claimed that it still maintains the status of an observer in the United Nations Human Rights Council. Without being able to cast a vote in the council, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin has said "We will continue submitting proposals, participating in negotiations on resolution drafts, making statements and speeches".

The British Center for Information Resilience (CIR) has reported that from February 28 to April 15, at least 824 new graves appeared in the Kherson cemetery. Russian forces had captured the region on March 3 and still remains under their control.

Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (GUR) has stated that the production of new tanks stops in Russia due to financial problems and a lack of imported components. GUR further reported that despite the "import substitution" widely advertised by the Russian government, the Russian Federation cannot independently continue the production of high-tech weapons without the supply of imported components. The production of new equipment, including tanks "T-90" and "T-14" (Armata), has been suspended.
 

According to the United Nations (UN), 2,982 civilians have been killed and 2,651 wounded in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. The agency noted that it was only the data that has been officially documented and the actual number of casualties might exceed this statistic by several times.

Lithuania has proposed to make May 9 a day of remembrance for the victims of 'genocide' in Ukraine. Lithuanian deputies have submitted a legislative initiative to parliament, the Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada revealed in a tweet.

In the latest intelligence update, UK Ministry of Defence said, "Road infrastructure in conflict-affected areas of Ukraine has sustained significant damage. Russian troops have exacerbated this by destroying bridges, employing land mines and abandoning vehicles along key routes as they withdrew from northern Ukraine."

"The destruction of river crossings in and around Chernihiv has left only one pedestrian bridge in the city itself across the Desna River. Prior to the war, the city had approximately 285,000 residents," it said.

"Damage to Ukraine’s transport infrastructure now presents a significant challenge in delivering humanitarian aid to areas formerly besieged by Russia," it added.

Local media have reported casualties in Ukrainian cities including Poltava, Severodonetsk, and Lysychansk due to pre-dawn Russian shelling. Explosions were heard in Lviv and Kyiv early on Saturday morning. Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai stated one person was killed, three wounded, and a gas pipeline had burst, according to Kyiv Independent. 

The French embassy in Kyiv has now reopened during the seventh week of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

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As war enters day 52, Ukraine’s armed forces also said, "The main efforts of the enemy are focused on the regrouping and strengthening of troops, continuing the partial blockade of the city of Kharkiv and its shelling with artillery."

Noting that 70% of Severodonetsk, Kyiv Independent stated, Head of the Severodonetsk Civil-Military Administration Oleksandr Striuk said on April 15 that Severodonetsk is under heavy fire by Russian forces and that only around 20,000 residents of the total 135,000 remain in the city.

Greek Cabinet Ministers have said that the country will not send any more military equipment to Ukraine. However, according to the Russian news agency, the official did not specify whether Athens had previously sent Stinger man-portable air defence systems to Kyiv. 

As per the report, Greece is not going to send any more military equipment to Ukraine, Greek government spokesman Ioannis Oikonomou confirmed at a briefing on Friday. The official did not specify whether Athens had previously sent Stinger man-portable air defence systems to Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an evening address on April 15 that “normal life is being restored in the oblasts and regions from which the occupiers were expelled.” 

In the latest operational update by Ukraine's armed forces, it said that country's forces shot down 10 attacks by Russia in the last 24 hours in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions including the destruction of three tanks, three tanks, one armoured transporter, one special equipment unit, two cars and three enemy artillery systems were destroyed. It added that Russia's one armoured transporter was also seized.

“Nothing will dissuade” United States President Joe Biden’s administration from unwavering support for Ukraine, said US State Department spokesperson Ned Price. When asked about the impact of a diplomatic cable from Russia warning the US not to continue arming Ukraine, Price told CNN that Russians have conveyed some things in the private and in public but “nothing” will deviate the US from the chosen “strategy” amid Russia-Ukraine war.

“The Russians have said some things privately, they have said some things publicly; nothing will dissuade us from the strategy that we've embarked on,” Price said while noting that he is “not in a position to confirm any private diplomatic correspondence.”

“If the allegation from the Kremlin is that the US and our partners around the world are providing billions of dollars worth of security assistance to our Ukrainian partners, precisely what our Ukrainian partners have requested, and that our Ukrainian partners are using that very security assistance to extraordinary effects to repel this Russian aggression, well, then we're guilty as charged,” he added.

Price's remarks came after Russia officially issued a warning to the US and all its other allied nations against supplying weapons to Ukraine. Russia’s warning against the West came in a formal diplomatic note from Moscow, a copy of which was reviewed by several media outlets in the US. 

The two-page-long diplomatic note, which was forwarded to the US State Department by the Russian Embassy in Washington, warned that American and NATO weapons shipments are “adding fuel” to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. It also said that deliveries of arms could lead to what Russian diplomats refer to as “unpredictable consequences”. 

The formal warning note by Russia was sent to the US on Tuesday just as it emerged that a new US military aid package for Ukraine was being readied. Just a few hours after the reports spread of the Pentagon’s new package, US President Joe Biden approved the shipment of $800 million of military assistance to Kyiv amid war with Moscow. This package included, for the first time, long-range artillery weapons such as howitzers with an aim to match Russia’s military strength. 

The Italian Foreign Ministry has rejected payments in Rubles for Russian gas saying Italy 'should not tolerate any form of blackmail'.  Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told Italy’s Radio 24, "We cannot pay in rubles; Russia introduced a double billing scheme from euro to rubles, this is impossible as it would mean bypassing sanctions against the [Russian] Central Bank".

Ukraine Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and NBU Chairman Kyrylo Shevchenko to visit Washington next week. According to Ukraine 24, the visit will take place during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

As per reports, in the wee hours of day 52 of Russia Ukraine war, air raid sirens went off in central, eastern, and southern Ukraine including Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy, Donetsk, Odesa, Kharkiv, Poltava and Mykolaiv.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday warned, "Conflict & climate shocks are driving a deadly food crisis in the Sahel. The war in Ukraine will worsen the suffering of millions of people by driving up food and fuel prices. The people of the Sahel deserve our support. They cannot be forgotten."

Earlier, the United Nations had estimated that around 1,982 civilians have died in Ukraine since the beginning of war in late February.  Among the dead are 511 men, 323 women, 34 girls and 56 boys, as well as 72 children and 986 adults whose gender is not yet known. Another 2,651 people were wounded.

Communications regulator Roskomnadzor announced on Thursday that it has drawn "two administrative protocols against Google for not deleting illegal information". Meanwhile, the media regulator also asked the online encyclopedia to remove page containing "unreliable socially significant materials, as well as other prohibited information"  about Russian operations in Ukraine.

The German government has said that it is planning on releasing more than a billion euros in military aid for Ukraine. German finance minister, Christian Lindner even confirmed that the government had decided to increase its international aid in the defence sector to €2 billion, and its largest portion will be going to Ukraine as military aid.

According to Kyiv Independent, at least 10 people have been killed, including a 7-month-old baby, after Russian forces used multiple rocket launchers against the Industrial District of Kharkiv at about 4:30 PM (local time).

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken told European allies that the United States believes the Russian war in Ukraine could last through the end of 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on April 15, Friday warned “all countries of the world” to prepare for the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons in course of the ongoing Russia Ukraine war. Speaking to American broadcaster CNN’s Jake Tapper in the English language, the Ukrainian president said that Moscow could “easily use either nuclear or chemical weapons, as Putin does not value the lives of Ukrainian citizens.”

He then cautioned, “We should think, not be afraid, be ready. But that is not a question, only for Ukraine but for all the world, I think so.” Zelenskyy further added, “They [Russians] could do it, for them the life of the people [means] nothing.” 

“Not only me — I think all of the world, all the countries, have to be worried, because it can be not real information, but it can be truth,” Zelenskyy said in a televised interview on April 15, Friday. 

Russian Defense Ministry has claimed that it intercepted two Ukrainian Tochka-U missile that was targetted at Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station. the missiles were shot down mid-air but the shrapnel from one of them fell on Novaya Kakhovka, Kherson region, damaging Kindergarten and residential buildings, said Russian MoD. 

During the late-night national address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed about the recovery of "normal life" in Ukraine in the regions that came under heavy shelling by the Russian forces. 

"The restoration of normal life in those areas and districts where the occupiers were expelled continues," Zelenskyy said, noting that 918 settlements "have already been de-occupied."

"We carry out demining. We restore the supply of electricity, water and gas. We restore the work of the police, post office, state and local authorities," he continued.

Under relentless bombardment and a Russian blockade, the key port of Mariupol is holding out, but weapons and supplies shortages could weaken the resistance that has thwarted the Kremlin’s invasion plans.More than six weeks after the Russian siege began, Ukrainian troops are continuing to fight the vastly superior Russian forces in ferocious battles amid the ruins of what once was a bustling city on the Sea of Azov.

The mayor says an estimated 120,000 people remain in the city, out of Mariupol’s prewar population of about 450,000.The Ukrainians’ fight has scuttled Moscow’s designs, tying up significant Russian forces and delaying a planned offensive in eastern Ukraine’s industrial heartland, Donbas. The Kremlin hopes an attack in the east could reverse the battlefield fortunes for Russia after a humiliating failure to quickly storm the capital, Kyiv.

Source: AP

Ukraine has claimed that the captain of a Russian warship that was sunk in the Black Sea was killed onboard as it wrecked and exploded.  Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's ministry of internal affairs said on Telegram that the ship's Russian captain, Anton Kuprin, had died during an "explosion and fire on board".

As the Russia Ukraine war entered the 51st day, in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, armed servicemen in combat gear detained a man suspected to be a Russian collaborator inside a residential building. In another development, a woman opened her door with a look of terror on her face, as she saw the helmeted, armed figures holding shields in the hallway. Inside one apartment, a serviceman took a moment to play with a large tabby cat lounging on a carpet.

At the railway station in Kramatorsk, where more than 50 people were killed and dozens more wounded earlier this month, blossoms and playthings adorned a fence in memory of the dead. A Russian missile strike had hit the station as it was crowded mostly with women and children trying to flee. Here's what this week looked like in war besieged Ukraine in pictures.

Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) servicemen enter a building during an operation to arrest suspected Russian collaborators in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Credit: AP/Felipe Dana.

A Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) serviceman plays with a cat during an operation to arrest suspected Russian collaborators in Kharkiv. Credit: AP

A woman looks for goods dropped from the apartment building partly damaged by shelling, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Credit: AP

Firefighters try to extinguish the fire at a damaged factory following a Russian bombing in Kramatorsk. Credit: AP

Volunteers carry the body of a man killed during the war to a refrigerated container in Bucha. Credit: AP

Firefighters try to extinguish the fire at a damaged factory following a Russian bombing in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Credit: AP

Source: Associated Press

Ukraine's President  Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed for more weapons and military equipment from the west, claiming that the war can be reduced to "much shorter" if Kyiv's forces were able to defend the sovereignty of the state. "The sooner we get all the weapons we have requested, the stronger our position will be," said the Ukrainian leader, also requesting financial support to start the rebuilding efforts of the war-torn and heavily bombed cities.

Finland and Sweden have held air combat drill 'Ramstein Alloy' over the Estonian skies this week involving air defense training, air-to-air refuelling, and identification and escort of an aircraft suffering communication loss. "The NATO exercise focused on real-world scenarios faced by NATO’s Air Policing personnel deployed in the Baltic region," Alliance said. Air Force of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey, and the UK took part, alongside the Finnish and Swedish air forces.

Russia has threatened Moscow recently saying that it will be forced to bolster its defenses in the Baltic if Finland and Sweden join NATO defensive Alliance including the nuclear weapons. 

Lithuanian defence minister, Arvydas Anušauskas at a presser said that Russia "already had nuclear weapons" deployed in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad bordering Lithuania and Poland.

Finnish F-18 flies next to Allies during Exercise Ramstein 22-1. Credit: NATO/ Adc Arnaud Chamberlin

A record 4,633 civilian casualties have been documented in Ukraine since the Russian troops launched an all-out invasion of the country. Of these, 1,982 civilians have been killed since Feb. 24, and 2,651 others have been injured. The casualties include 511 men, 323 women, 34 girls, and 56 boys, as well as 72 children and 986 adults whose sex is yet unknown, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has said. 

"Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and missile and airstrikes."

Russia’s Defense Ministry has pledged to scale up “missile attacks” on Kyiv in response to Ukraine’s “diversions on the Russian territory". This is in response to Ukrainian forces launching airstrikes on residential buildings in one of the Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation has said. Moscow has claimed that Ukrainian Army helicopters attacked 100 residential buildings in the Klimovo village, Bryansk region of Russia that has also caused civilian casualties. The claims however remain unverified. 

Russian troops have also claimed that they shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter in the Chernihiv region that was involved in bombing the Russian civilians. 

Mariupol City Council has claimed that local residents have been reporting that Russian troops are digging up bodies previously buried in residential courtyards and not allowing any new burials “of people killed by them.”

“A watchman has been assigned to each courtyard and is not allowing Mariupol residents to lay to rest dead relatives or friends. Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown,” according to a statement on the messaging app Telegram.

The claim could not be independently verified. Earlier this month, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko told the AP that Russian forces have brought mobile cremation equipment to the city to dispose of the corpses of victims of the siege.

Dead bodies are put into a mass grave on the outskirts of Mariupol as people cannot bury their loved ones because of the heavy shelling by Russian forces. AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka

Source: AP

The new $800 million aid package sealed by US President Biden is expected to arrive in Europe in the next 24 hours. “The first flight of the $800 million in new aid for Ukraine from the United States is expected to arrive in the region in the next 24 hours, a senior defense official has told American broadcaster CNN. It will be picked up at the border by Ukrainians and taken into the country.

The wife of a Ukrainian politician held by Kyiv on a treason charge has accused Ukrainian security services of torturing her husband and fabricating his escape from house arrest in a press conference held in Moscow. Oksana Marchenko, the wife of Viktor Medvedchuk, the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, referred to her husband as a “political prisoner,” and claimed that she does not know where he is.

Medvedchuk was detained on Tuesday in a special operation carried out by Ukraine’s state security service, or the SBU. The 67-year-old oligarch escaped from house arrest several days before the hostilities broke out on Feb. 24 in Ukraine. He is facing between 15 years and life in prison on charges of treason and aiding and abetting a terrorist organization for mediating coal purchases for the separatist, Russia-backed Donetsk republic in eastern Ukraine.

“I have no doubt that my husband was beaten within hours after his capture,” she said at the press conference. “I am appealing for help in establishing (his) real whereabouts. I call for help to stop the physical and mental torture.”

Associated Press Report

The death toll in the northeastern region of Kharkiv has increaed to 10 including a 4 month old  baby as the Russian shelling continued. The office of the General Prosecutor said on Telegram that Russian troops have launched multiple rocket in the direction of Industrial District of Kharkiv. 

"The shelling killed ten civilians, including a 7-month-old child. Another 35 people were injured. Several residential buildings were damaged and destroyed."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had made an unusual request to US President Joe Biden in one of the telephonic conversations that the two leaders had recently. Ukraine's President asked Washington to designate Russia as "a state sponsor of terrorism but  Biden did not commit to Zelensky's request, according to sources familiar with the matter that were cited by Washington Post.

Russia's Roskomnadzor,  in a sweeping measure, blocked France’s state-owned broadcaster's RFI articles relating to stories by French magazine Le Figaro which alleged Russian soldiers rape women in Ukraine, but the broadcaster claimed that its entire website was unavailable in Russia.

The website of France’s state-owned radio broadcaster, RFI, appeared like it was banned in Russia after the media and internet watchdog added these coverage pages to its registry of blocked websites that narrated incidents of rape of Ukrainian women allegedly by Russian service members. 

Communications agency, Roskomnadzor, has been restricting access to news websites this week in line with a ruling by Russia’s Prosecutor General that mandates the blocking of outlets publishing “information inciting mass disorder, extremist activity or participation in mass (public) events violating the established order, and unreliable information which is of public significance.”

Two civilians died of shrapnel wounds after a rocket was shot down near the southern Ukrainian city of Kakhovka, according to a Facebook post published by Kakhovka’s municipal authorities that same day. The municipal body said that five were hit by shrapnel after they left their homes to see the remnants of a rocket downed over the nearby town of Tavriisk. It was not immediately clear which of the warring sides had launched the weapon, and which had shot it down.

“It was not a peaceful morning in Kakhovka. Five civilian residents with injuries were admitted to the Kakhovka Municipal Hospital. Two killed, three injured (one of them is in critical condition in intensive care, two have moderate injuries),” the Kakhovka Municipal Territorial Community wrote.

Source: AP

The head of the International Monetary Fund warned that Russia’s war against Ukraine was weakening the economic prospects for most of the world’s countries and called high inflation “a clear and present danger” to the global economy. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the consequences of Russia’s invasion were contributing to economic downgrades for 143 countries, although most of them will continue to grow, as per Associated Press report. 

The war has disrupted global trade in energy and grain and is threatening to cause food shortages in Africa and the Middle East.

The governor of the Kharkiv region says seven people, including a seven-month-old child, were killed in the Russian shelling of a residential neighborhood in the city. Oleh Sinehubov said Friday in a Telegram post that 34 other people were wounded.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has been heavily hit by shelling and rocket attacks during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The city’s position about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Russia and 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of the separatist eastern regions of Ukraine gives it significant strategic importance.

Source: Associated Press

More than 900 civilian bodies have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following the withdrawal of Russian forces — most of them fatally shot, Ukraine's police said Friday, an indication that many people were “simply executed," according to an Associated Press report.  The jarring numbers emerged shortly after Russia’s Defense Ministry promised to step up missile attacks on Kyiv in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian territory.

That warning followed the stunning loss of Moscow’s flagship in the Black Sea, which a senior U.S. defense official said Friday was indeed hit by at least one Ukrainian missile. Around Kyiv, Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv’s regional police force, said bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95% died from gunshot wounds.

A view of a block of apartments buildings damaged by shelling in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Credit: Associated Press

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned  "all of the countries of the world" to prepare for possible nuclear warfare, claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin "could use tactical nuclear weapons in his war on Ukraine." In a televised interview with American broadcaster CNN's Jake Tapper in Kyiv, speaking in English, the Ukrainian leader make shocking claims that during the course of Ukraine Russian war, "Mr. Putin could turn to either nuclear or chemical weapons." 

"Chemical weapons, they should do it, they could do it, for them the life of the people, nothing. That's why," Zelenskyy said.

"We should think not be afraid, not be afraid but be ready. But that is not a question for Ukraine, not only for Ukraine but for all the world, I think."

"Not only me — all of the world, all of the countries have to be worried because it can be not real information, but it can be truth," Zelenskyy said, speaking in English.

Russian missiles have struck an administrative building at the Vizar plant near Kyiv’s international Zhuliany airport. Russian troops have used the Kalibr sea-based long-range missiles to hit the factory. Ukrainians say that the recent shellings and missile attacks are revenge for destroying the warship Moskva. 

Two Ukrainian Neptune missiles hit Russia's Moskva warship, the flagship in the Black Sea that may have caused the fire and subsequently sank while being towed to the coast, a senior defense official reportedly stated. The strike and sinking of the ship was perhaps the result of a Ukrainian missile, an analysis from the defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed. 

Ukrainian officials and its military has claimed that it targeted Russia's one of the largest warships in its fleet "Moskva" with Turkish-made Bayraktar drones that first took out the ship's radar system, and later struck it with two "Neptune" cruise missiles that entered service in August 2020 and fly around 300 kilometers (186 miles). Neptune missiles can carry warheads of up 150 kilograms (over 330 pounds). The Russian defense ministry confirmed that the ship had sunk while being towed in "stormy conditions," having earlier stated cause of fire as explosion of munition. 

A Russian sailor salutes on the bow of Missile Cruiser Moskva, left, as crew of Russian patrol ship Pitliviy, right, prepare to moor the vessel, in Sevastopol, Crimea. Credit: Associated Press.

A senior U.S. defense official says the U.S. believes the Russian guided-missile cruiser that sank Thursday in the northern Black Sea had been struck by at least one Ukrainian anti-ship missile, as claimed by the Kyiv government.

Pentagon officials had previously said they could not confirm the Ukrainian claim, but they also did not refute it. The senior U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence assessment, said the Moskva was hit by at least one, and probably two, Neptune missiles on Wednesday, creating the large fire aboard.

The official offered no further details beyond saying the U.S. believes the Russians suffered some number of casualties aboard the ship.
 

More than 900 bodies of civilians were discovered in the Kyiv region following the withdrawal of Russian forces, the regional police chief said in a briefing Friday.
Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv's regional police force, said that the bodies had been abandoned in the streets or buried in temporary graves.

Russian forces again shell Ukrainian border guards in Chernihiv Oblast. According to Ukraine’s Border Guard Service, no casualties have been reported yet. Earlier this morning, Russian troops shelled the village of Senkivka in Chernihiv Oblast near the Russian border.

Two civilians died of shrapnel wounds after a rocket was shot down near the southern Ukrainian city of Kakhovka, according to a Facebook post published by Kakhovka’s municipal authorities that same day.

“It was not a peaceful morning in Kakhovka. Five civilian residents with injuries were admitted to the Kakhovka Municipal Hospital. Two killed, three injured (one of them is in critical condition in intensive care, two have moderate injuries),” the Kakhovka Municipal Territorial Community wrote.

The municipal body added that all five were hit by shrapnel after they left their homes to see the remnants of a rocket downed over the nearby town of Tavriisk.

It was not immediately clear which of the warring sides had launched the weapon, and which had shot it down.
The post went on to urge local residents to stay inside and keep away from windows if they hear gunshots or explosions.

According to Kyiv Independent, over 900 civilians were killed by Russia's war in Kyiv Oblast. According to Kyiv Oblast Police Chief Andriy Nebytov, the biggest number of civilians killed by the Russian forces — over 350 people — was recorded in Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv.

The wife of a Ukrainian politician held by Kyiv on a treason charge has accused Ukrainian security services of torturing her husband and fabricating his escape from house arrest in a press conference held in Moscow on Friday.

Oksana Marchenko, the wife of Viktor Medvedchuk, the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, referred to her husband as a “political prisoner,” and claimed that she does not know where he is.

Medvedchuk was detained on Tuesday in a special operation carried out by Ukraine’s state security service, or the SBU. The 67-year-old oligarch escaped from house arrest several days before the hostilities broke out on Feb. 24 in Ukraine. He is facing between 15 years and life in prison on charges of treason and aiding and abetting a terrorist organization for mediating coal purchases for the separatist, Russia-backed Donetsk republic in eastern Ukraine.

“I have no doubt that my husband was beaten within hours after his capture,” she said at the press conference. “I am appealing for help in establishing (his) real whereabouts. I call for help to stop the physical and mental torture.” 

Russian shelling of a residential neighbourhood in Mykolaiv, a regional capital in southern Ukraine, injured multiple civilians on April 15, according to Hanna Zamazieieva, the head of the Mykolaiv Oblast Council, The Kyiv Independent reported.

The Foreign Ministry of North Macedonia has declared 6 more Russian diplomats persona non grata for violating diplomatic norms, RFE/RL’s Balkan Service reported. The country had already expelled 5 Russian diplomats in March.

A regional Ukrainian official said Friday that seven people died and 27 were injured after Russian forces opened fire on buses carrying civilians in the village of Borovaya, near the northeastern city of Kharkiv. 

A large explosion has struck the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the site of a missile strike on a train station a week earlier that left more than 50 dead and dozens wounded.

The speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, Valentina Matviyenko said on Friday that she is planning to visit China this fall to participate in the next session of the Russian-Chinese inter-parliamentary cooperation commission.

"We hope that the epidemiological situation will allow us to visit your wonderful country, as we planned, in autumn this year to participate in the next 8th session of the inter-parliamentary commission," Matviyenko said at the meeting with Chairman of the Chinese Congress Standing Committee Li Zhanshu.

She also noted that even in the face of unprecedented external pressure Russia and China retain an unwavering determination to further strengthen and expand the whole array of their interstate relations, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported.

Ukrainians have filed over 77,000 property damage complaints. Ukrainian citizens can seek compensation for private houses and apartments destroyed by Russia by submitting a request through the government Diia app.

Mariupol City Council said Friday that local residents report Russian troops are digging up bodies previously buried in residential courtyards and not allowing any new burials “of people killed by them.” 

“A watchman has been assigned to each courtyard and is not allowing Mariupol residents to lay to rest dead relatives or friends. Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown,” according to a statement on the messaging app Telegram. 

The claim could not be independently verified.

Earlier this month, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko told the AP that Russian forces have brought mobile cremation equipment to the city to dispose of the corpses of victims of the siege.

Boychencko said that the Russian forces were taking many bodies to a huge shopping center where there are storage facilities and refrigerators. “Mobile crematoriums have arrived in the form of trucks: You open it, and there is a pipe inside and these bodies are burned,” he said.

Governor says two people were killed due to the Russian shelling of Luhansk Oblast over the past 24 hours. Two people were injured, Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai added. The region’s infrastructure was shelled by Russian troops 24 times, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Polish President Andrzej Duda has signed a law banning Russian, and Belarusian coal imports. The measure is part of a legislative package aimed at combating Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Polish newspaper Biznes Alert reported on April 15, The Kyiv Independent reported.

The village of Senkivka near the Russian border was shelled by mortars based in Russian territory on April 15, Ukraine’s Border Guard Service reported. There are no reported casualties.

Russian foreign ministry says there will be consequences if Finland and Sweden join NATO.

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Friday promised to ramp up “the scale of missile attacks” on Kyiv in response to Ukraine’s “diversions on the Russian territory.” 

The statement comes a day after Russian authorities accused Ukrainian forces of launching airstrikes on residential buildings in one of the country’s regions on the border with Ukraine, in which seven people sustained injuries. 

According to Russian officials, some 100 residential buildings were damaged in Thursday’s attack on the Klimovo village in the Bryansk region. The Defense Ministry said that the Russian forces in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region shut down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter that was allegedly involved in the attack on the Bryansk region.

Authorities in another border region, Belgorod, also reported Ukrainian shelling on Thursday.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that 20,000 Russian occupiers have been killed.

More than a third of Japanese companies officially registered in Russia have left the market or suspended their activities in the country.

In the Ukrainian city of Uzhgorod, 58 streets whose names are associated with Russia will be renamed, stated local media.

Finland’s minister for European affairs Tytti Tuppurainen told Sky News that it was "highly likely" for Finland to join NATO. She said, "The people of Finland seem to have already made up their mind and there is a huge majority for Nato membership of Finland. Of courses, that’s not all. We are a parliamentary democracy so we need to discuss this issue in our parliament. At this point I would say it is highly likely, but a decision is not yet made."

European Union's (EU) possible oil embargo may be introduced against Russia after the presidential run-off in France, which would end on April 24, to avoid helping far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who has railed against rising fuel prices, according to the New York Times report.

Ukrainian  Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov appeared to mock Russia over the sinking of 'Moskva' which was said to be Moscow's "flagship" warship. Reznikov said, "A "flagship" Russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war. BTW, I already have 300 scuba dives".

Amid the Russia-Ukraine war, NATO ships entered the Baltic Sea as part of military exercises. The fleet includes about five ships and is led by the frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy "De Zeven Provinciën".

Polish President Andrzej Duda has signed a law imposing an embargo on Russian coal. In addition, the law provides for the possibility of freezing the assets of people who supported Russian aggression.

Locals are hearing sounds of explosions in Ukraine's Belgorod. Reports stated that presumably, the air defence system is in action.

UK has frozen the assets of two business partners of oligarch Roman Abramovich including Chelsea director Yevgeny Tenenbaum and businessman David Davidovich. These assets amount to around 10 billion dollars.

According to Nexta, while Poland has accepted the most number of Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the war, Romania comes next by sheltering over 700,000 refugees from the war-torn nation. the media outlet stated that since Russia came third in the list of nations that sheltered Ukrainians, it should be kept in mind that the Ukrainian authorities accuse the aggressor country of forcibly removing the population from the occupied cities. 

Image: Twitter/Nexta

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk has announced nine humanitarian corridors have been agreed for Friday.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said in a press conference Friday said Tokyo has “conveyed its concerns” to Moscow over cruise missile tests conducted by Russia in the Sea of Japan. Hayashi said that Russia urged to “refrain from any actions that could increase tensions in Northeast Asia” in light of this situation, according to CNN. He also reemphasized that Japan “strongly condemns” Russia’s aggression against Ukraine as it “shakes the foundations of the international order."

Armenian Minister of economy Vagan Kerobyan told RBC that the country has started as begun making payments for Russian gas in rubles. 

“We need to move towards national currencies. ... As far as I know, the last few payments were in rubles, but at the appropriate rate,” RIA cited Kerobyan as saying.

He also clarified that the pricing would be dollars but just the payments are in Rubles.

Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office has said that over 6,500 alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops in Ukraine are under investigation. 

Ukraine's Prosecutor’s Office has stated that at least 198 children were killed as a result of Russian aggression and 355 injured as of April 15. The actual figure is likely considerably higher.

US President Joe Biden has said that he is likely to visit Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, in the near future. 

UK Defence Ministry said in its latest intelligence update that, "Russia has admitted that the Slava-class cruiser Moskva has sunk. As flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva served a key role as both a command vessel and air defence node. The Soviet-era vessel was one of only three Slava-class cruisers in the Russian navy. Originally commissioned in 1979, the Moskva had completed an extensive refit designed to improve its capability and only returned to operational status in 2021."

"This incident means Russia has now suffered damage to two key naval assets since invading Ukraine, the first being Russia’s Alligator-class landing ship Saratov on 24 March. Both events will likely lead Russia to review its maritime posture in the Black Sea," it added.

Earlier, at least 24 hours after Ukraine claimed that its missile hit the Russian warship in the Black Sea, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Force said the Ukrainian military blew up a bridge in Kharkiv, destroying an "entire column" of Russian forces heading towards Izyum-- a city on the Donets River in Kharkiv Oblast of eastern Ukraine.

As per the details shared on social media, it said that the Russian Tiger, Kamaz, and Ural military vehicles were travelling in the convoy when the bridge was detonated by the Ukrainian troops on Thursday. The photos shared by the central organ of the Armed Forces Administration, show a destroyed bridge, a number of charred vehicles and smoke coming out of the area where the purported ambush took place. It proclaimed that the attack on the Russian forces was significant as it ruined the plans of President Vladimir Putin to take control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

UN aid coordination office, OCHA has said that 30,000 people are crossing back into Ukraine every day. More than 870,000 people who fled abroad since the Russian invasion on 24 February, have now returned to Ukraine.

In the latest update posted by Ukraine's General Armed Forces, Russian forces in the Donetsk region are now focused on attempts to capture the towns of Popasna and Rubezhnoye. Ukrainian officials also claimed that their army repulsed eight Russian attacks in Donetsk and Luhansk regions over the past 24 hours.

According to Kyiv Independent, Ukraine not only repelled attacks by Moscow's forces but also swapped prisoners of war. For four Russian soldiers, Kyiv received five Ukrainians. Due to the battle in southern Ukraine over the past 24 hours, as per the newspaper, Russia lost 39 soldiers and four vehicles.

Russia's threats of using the tactical nuclear weapons in the ongoing conflict must not be taken "lightly," CIA Director Bill Burns has warned.  "Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they've faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low yield nuclear weapons,' he said in public remarks at the Georgia Institute of Technology. 
CIA 'watches for that very intently,' Burns said. "While we've seen some rhetorical posturing on the part of the Kremlin about moving to higher nuclear alert levels, so far we haven't seen a lot of practical evidence of the kind of deployments or military dispositions that would reinforce that concern'but we watch for that very intently,' he added.

Angry protesters have projected a Ukrainian flag on the Russian Embassy in Washington according to the videos surfacing onTwitter. The incident happened during a geopolitical light show in DC and the protesters and activitists displayed solidarity with Ukraine by projecting the flag on the Russian embassy. Using 15 projector lights and four generators the crowd projected Ukraine flag, Benjamin Wittes, one of the organizers of the protest said on Twitter. But staff at the Russian embassy also tried to flip on a floodlight to blot out the flag which the organizer described as "cat and muse game." 
"The fact that they felt compelled to respond the way that they did over many hours by the way," Wittes said. "They saw the protest as the way that we meant it. To not allow them to the space of their own embassy."

Local Ukrainian media has posted video showing airstrikes in Kyiv as the war entered day 51,

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has revealed a satellite image showing that the Russian military destroyed 77% of the territory of the village of Gorenka in the Kyiv region.

Image: Nexta
 

The Russian military says the damaged Moskva missile cruiser, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, has sunk while being towed to a port during bad weather after an explosion. Russian Defense Ministry said the Moskva sank Thursday in a storm as it was gutted by the fire. The ministry previously said a fire on the warship set off some of its weapons and forced the crew to evacuate denying the Ukraine Army's claims of attack on the warship with a missile. Russia says the Soviet-era ship was badly damaged and the crew had already been evacuated onto another vessel before the ship went down. 

"During the towing of the cruiser Moskva to the port of destination, the ship lost stability due to the damage to the hull received during the fire from the detonation of ammunition," the ministry said.

"In the stormy sea conditions, the ship has sunk."

Japanese finance minister Shunichi Suzuki on Friday confirmed his attendance at the G20 finance ministers’ meeting next week as western nations called for the expulsion of Russia from the forum. Suzuki told a press conference, "The Japanese government is not in the position to respond to each country’s participation."

As Russia continues its nighttime offensive on Ukraine, the local media has reported that power explosions were heard in Kyiv along with blasts in Kharkiv and Kherson. As per reports, Kyiv's CCTV cameras show that as a result of the shellings some districts of the city were left without electricity.

Image: Nexta Tv

Slovakia’s defence minister Jaroslav Nad has called Russian President Vladimir Putin  as “equal to Hitler” for his invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with The New York Times published Thursday, Nad said,  Putin “is equal to Hitler” and noted that the Russian President must be stopped in Ukraine before he can make moves toward the west. Slovakian Defence Minister said, "Ukraine is literally fighting for our future".

UN World Food Program's (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley raises concerns over the Russia-Ukraine war and said that people are being “starved to death” in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol. He said that the war is "devastating the people in Ukraine” and lamented the lack of access that the agency faced in providing food supplies. 

In an interview with the Associated Press, Beasley said, "I don’t see any of that easing up. I just don’t see it happening right now...It’s not just going to be the next few days — but the next few weeks and few months could even get more complicated than it is now,” he said. "In fact, it’s getting worse and worse, concentrated in certain areas, and the front lines are going to be moving.”

“We will not give up on the people of Mariupol and other people that we cannot reach. But it’s a devastating situation: the people being starved to death,” he also said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that so far in the Russia-Ukraine war, France has provided the Ukrainian army with military equipment worth more than 100 million euros, and will provide more.

Marking the 50th day of the Russia-Ukraine war on Thursday, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed his country's bravery in the face of Russian aggression. He went on to call the Russian invasion "absurd" and “suicidal” in the latest address to Ukraine. 

Zelenskyy said, "I remember the first day of the invasion of the Russian Federation. I remember what I was told on February 24 ... To put it mildly, no one was sure that we would withstand it. Everyone sympathised. Many of them advised me to flee the country. Advised to actually surrender to tyranny."

"But they didn’t know us either. And they did not know how brave Ukrainians are, how much we value freedom. Our opportunity to live the way we want. Not the people who rule in such a way that their army sees toilets for the first time in their lives in the occupied territories and steals even ordinary household appliances," he also said.

Canadian defence minister Anita Anand announced that Ottawa would be sending at least 150 troops on a humanitarian mission to Poland to support its massive influx of Ukrainian refugees.

Local governor of the region, Oleg Synegubov has said that around 503 civilians have been killed in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region since Russia started attacks on February 24. Synegubov wrote on Telegram, "This is an innocent civilian population, we will not forgive them for any life!”

Ukraine’s parliament, Verkhovna Rada, on Thursday adopted a new resolution that declared the actions of the Russian troops in the country are “genocide”. In a tweet on the official account, the legislative body said “it is clear now” that the actions committed by the Russian forces in Ukraine “amount not only to a crime of aggression” but the destruction of the Ukrainian people. Citing the wide-ranging attack on Ukraine by Russia, the parliament declared actions taken by Russian armed forces a “genocide”. 

The statement further went on to list mass atrocities, the killing of civilians, forcible transfer of children to Russia among other actions, that according to Verkhovna Rada amount to genocide. The legislative body said in a statement, “It is clear now that the actions committed by the armed forces of the Russian Federation amount not only to a crime of aggression but are also aimed at systematic and consistent destruction of the Ukrainian nation, its distinct identity and at depriving the Ukrainian nation of its right to independent development.”

“This requires the immediate recognition of the actions committed by the armed forces of the Russian Federation during the most recent phase of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which began on 24 Feb 2022, as genocide of the Ukrainian nation," an explanatory note posted on the Verkhovna Rada site added.