Russia-Ukraine war LIVE: Zelenskyy hails Germany's position changed in favour of Ukraine

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed Germany for supporting his country, as he called on the EU and the West to do more. As he held talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Zelenskyy said he discussed "how to strengthen sanctions against Russia and how to force Russia to seek peace". "I am glad to note that the German position has recently changed in favour of Ukraine. I consider it absolutely logical."

Putin's former chief economic adviser has predicted that Russia will likely halt the Ukraine war 'within a month or two.' In a televised interview  Andrei Illarionov noted that provided Western nations implemented tighter and a complete embargo on oil and gas exports from Russia, then within a month or two, the Russian military will stop its "operation" in Ukraine. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is providing investigative support to efforts to document war crimes in Ukraine, and he said Russian President Vladimir Putin is responsible.

“It is clear that Putin is systematically targeting civilians, whether it’s hospitals or train stations or maternity wards. This is one of the reasons why Canada was one of the first countries to call on the International Criminal Court to look into Putin’s war crimes,” Trudeau said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Canadian investigators, Trudeau said, “are building up the case for people to recognize that not only was this a terrible mistake to violate the sovereignty of another country and create massive global instability that’s impacting energy and food prices around the world, but it is also a series of war crimes that Putin is deliberately committing that he needs to be held to account for.” Asked if the crimes amount to genocide, Trudeau said it remains to be determined.

“The stories of what Russian soldiers are doing, not just the murder of civilians, but the systematic use of sexual violence and rape, to destabilize and have the greatest negative impact on Ukrainian people as possible is absolutely unforgivable and unacceptable,” Trudeau said. “And that’s why the global community is going to and is responding so strongly.”

Source: Associated Press

 EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said that Ukrainians “belong to European family," and that after the brutal war the bloc will ensure that the entire country is rebuilt. 

“Yesterday, somebody told me: “You know, when our soldiers are dying, I want them to know that their children will be free be and be part of the European Union,” von der Leyen said. “They are in an extraordinary situation, where we have to take unusual steps.”

“One thing is clear for me: After this war, when Ukraine will be rebuilt, when we support Ukraine in reconstructing this country, this will be accompanied by reforms. So, it is an extraordinary way to shape the country and to go down the path towards the European Union.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Russian military of "lying so much" and "cowardliness" in his latest address. “The Russian military are lying so much that even after six weeks of the war they claim that they did not hit a single civilian target. You know why? Because it is cowardliness. Total. Of everyone, from top to bottom,” he said. 

“They [Russian military] captured Crimea and blamed us. They destroyed normal life in Donbas, and we are somehow to blame. They shot down the Malaysia Airlines Boeing, and we are somehow to blame. For eight years they have been killing the people, children on our land. And we are somehow to blame,” the Ukrainian leader said. 

[Credit: AP]

Ukrainian forces are preparing to respond to the Russian attacks on the eastern flank of the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during his address on Sunday. "We are preparing for their actions," Zelenskyy said. "We will respond. We will be even more active in providing Ukraine with weapons. We will be more active in the international arena. We will be even more active in the information field."

President of the European Commission,  Ursula von der Leyen said that te questionnaire she handed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during her visit to Kyiv represents a very important step forward. Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Ukraine’s response will enable her to decide whether to recommend the nation as a candidate to join the European Union. Ukrainians “belong to our European family, without any question," Ursula von der Leyen iterated. 

“Yesterday, somebody told me: “You know, when our soldiers are dying, I want them to know that their children will be free be and be part of the European Union,” von der Leyen said. “They are in an extraordinary situation, where we have to take unusual steps.”

“One thing is clear for me: After this war, when Ukraine will be rebuilt, when we support Ukraine in reconstructing this country, this will be accompanied by reforms. So, it is an extraordinary way to shape the country and to go down the path towards the European Union.”

Ukraine’s president warned his nation Sunday night that the coming week would be as crucial as any in the war.“Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. He accused Russia of trying to evade responsibility for war crimes.

“When people lack the courage to admit their mistakes, apologize, adapt to reality and learn, they turn into monsters. And when the world ignores it, the monsters decide that it is the world that has to adapt to them. Ukraine will stop all this,” Zelenskyy said. “The day will come when they will have to admit everything. Accept the truth,” he said.

He again called on Western countries, including Germany, to provide more assistance to Ukraine. During talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Zelenskyy said he discussed “how to strengthen sanctions against Russia and how to force Russia to seek peace.” “I am glad to note that the German position has recently changed in favor of Ukraine. I consider it absolutely logical,” Zelenskyy said.

Source: AP

A huge explosion was heard in Mykolaiv, the head of the Mykolaiv regional administration, Vitaly Kim, confirmed on Telegram. The details of the explosion are currently unknown. "Currently, one guard is injured," said the governor the Mykolaiv Oblast, Vitaly Kim, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Russian forces are continuing to shell Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and have kept up their siege of Mariupol, the key southern port city that has been under attack for nearly six weeks, Ukrainian military command said, as per AP.  The Russian Defense Ministry says it’s air-launched missiles hit Ukraine’s S-300 air defense missile systems in two locations, while sea-launched cruise missiles destroyed a Ukrainian unit’s headquarters in the Dnipro region.

Neither side’s military claims could be independently verified.

The Pentagon said Russia has a clear advantage in armored forces for its next phase in its war on Ukraine. Press secretary John Kirby said Friday that the Russians spread themselves too thin to take the capital, but now they’re more focused on a smaller region, and still have the vast majority of their combat power. A major effort by Ukrainian defenses and more Western assistance will be needed to push them back.

Source: Associated Press

Russia’s newly appointed battlefield commander in Ukraine "is a war criminal," Lt. Col. Fares al-Bayoush, a Syrian army defector, said Sunday, according to Associated Press. Putin expects a similar “scorched-earth” strategy under the commander Gen. Alexander Dvornikov who dropped barrel bombs that targeted civilians "and destroyed the whole country," Bayoush said.  Speaking by telephone from Turkey, al-Bayoush added that he believes the aim of naming Dvornikov as Ukraine's war commander is "to cause widespread destruction in many places at once."

UK's Ministry of Defense has said that further evidence of alleged Russian war crimes "continues to emerge following Russian withdrawal from northern Ukraine. "This includes the reported discovery of a makeshift grave containing deceased Ukrainian civilians near Burzova."  "Allegations of sexual violence perpetrated by Russian military personnel persist," it added.

Kyiv's presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak has asserted that there will be "no meeting" between Ukraine President Zeelsnkyy and Russian President Putin unless Ukraine secures a victory in the Donbass region. "Ukraine is ready for big battles. Ukraine must win them, including in the Donbass. And once that happens, Ukraine will have a more powerful negotiating position, which will allow it to dictate certain conditions," he said in a state television interview.  "After that the presidents will meet. It could take two weeks, three," he added.

26 Ukrainians are returning home following the third prisoner swap agreement with Russia. "On the order of President (Volodymyr) Zelensky, the third prisoner exchange took place today. Twelve of our servicemen are returning home, including one female officer," deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram. Fourteen civilians including nine women are among the prisoners of war that are on their way home. 

After at least  300 dogs had starved to death at an animal shelter near Borodyanka, in Ukraine, the others that managed to survive were denied entry at the Poland border. The authorities cite rules that the animals can only cross the border with the owner. 

The body of a serviceman is coated in snow next to a destroyed Russian military multiple rocket launcher vehicle on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine. Credit: AP

A woman cries in the small basement of a house crowded with people seeking shelter from Russian airstrikes and shelling in Gorenka, outside the capital Kyiv. Credit: AP

Firefighters climb a ladder while working to extinguish a blaze in a destroyed apartment building after a bombing in a residential area in Kyiv. Credit: AP

A man carries shopping bags as heavy smoke from a warehouse destroyed by Russian bombardment casts shadows on the road. Credit: AP

An injured woman evacuated from Irpin lies on a stretcher in an ambulance on the outskirts of Kyiv. Credit: AP

Flowers are placed on a Ukrainian military armored fighting vehicle destroyed during fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces. Credit: AP

Dead body of a man with his hands tied behind his back lies on the pavement in Bucha, Ukraine. Credit: AP

US President Joe Biden is set to speak with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the "consequences of Russia's war against Ukraine and mitigating its destabilizing impact on global food supply and commodity markets," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. Biden will discuss with india's Prime Minister about  "strengthening the global economy, and upholding a free, open, rules-based international order to bolster security, democracy, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific," she said.

Biden and Modi will also discuss "cooperation on a range of issues including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, countering the climate crisis, strengthening the global economy, and upholding a free, open, rules-based international order to bolster security, democracy, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific."

The talks comes after India abstained at the UN General Assembly vote to suspend Russia from the 47-member Human Rights Council over its alleged war atrocities in Bucha. 

Russia will see an 11.2 percent decline in GDP, as the World Bank has said. "The results of our analysis are very sobering. Our forecasts show that the Russian invasion in Ukraine has reversed the region's recovery from the pandemic," said Anna Bjerde, World Bank vice president for Europe and Central Asia. Moscow's economy is slated to collapse by 45.1 percent this year due to the crippling sanctions imposed by the West, according to World Bank. 

The governor of the region that includes Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, Dnipro, says the airport was hit twice by missile attacks on Sunday. The Ukrainian military command said Russian forces also keep shelling Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and have kept up their siege of Mariupol, the key southern port city that has been under attack for nearly six weeks.

The Russian Defense Ministry says it’s air-launched missiles hit Ukraine’s S-300 air defense missile systems in two locations, while sea-launched cruise missiles destroyed a Ukrainian unit’s headquarters in the Dnipro region. Neither side’s military claims could be independently verified.

The Pentagon said Russia has a clear advantage in armored forces for its next phase in its war on Ukraine. Press secretary John Kirby said Friday that the Russians spread themselves too thin to take the capital, but now they’re more focused on a smaller region, and still have the vast majority of their combat power. A major effort by Ukrainian defenses and more Western assistance will be needed to push them back.

Source: Associated Press

A "major offensive" is feared to be planned by the Russian troops in the Dnieper region. This comes as a convoy of Russian military equipment 12.8 kilometers long was noticed on satellite images by Maxar Technologies moving towards Izyum. Russia has withdrawn troops from the northern cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy and has repositioned them in the eastern flank of Donbass. Soldiers mobilized in Belgorod to push from Izyum towards Slovyansk. Their focus is to "completely liberation" the Donbas, analysts say. 

The mayor of Kyiv and his brother said the visit of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to their capital shows who Ukraine’s real friends are at this critical time. But they understand if security concerns keep U.S. President Joe Biden from visiting for now. Mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimir have been professional boxers and now outspoken defenders of Ukraine. Interviewed Sunday on ABC News “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” they said they expect Russia’s military to return and target Kyiv again. And when they do, they said they can’t defend Ukraine with their fists — they need weapons.

Wladimir Klitschko also pleaded for the world to isolate Russia economically, saying “every cent that Russia is getting, they’re using for weapons to kill us.”

Credit: twitter/@BorisJohnson

Vitali Klitschko said everyone was shocked when the Russians who pushed on Kyiv retreated after killing hundreds of civilians during their occupation. He called it genocide to kill women, children, old people and teenagers for no reason. To defend Ukraine now, the mayor said, is to defend democracy and peace in Europe.

Source: AP

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has said that over 4.5 million refugees have fled the war-torn Ukraine since Russia's invasion. 2.6 million were taken in by neighbouring Poland, and more than 686,000 sought refuge in Romania and other EU nations. 

Video emerged of the tanker hit by the Russian troops in the city of Rubizhne, Luhansk Region that was carrying nitric acid. Luhansk Regional Military Administration Head Serhii Haidai on Telegram had informed that nitric acid when on fire poses dangerous threats. He asked civilians not to leave bomb shelters, and shut doors and windows. 

“Gas masks are used to protect against the nitric acid vapor and fumes. Please, prepare wet face masks,” Haidai added.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday said that Washington will supply Ukraine with "the weapons it needs" to help the soldiers protect their territory. “We’re going to get Ukraine the weapons it needs to beat back the Russians to stop them from taking more cities and towns where they commit these crimes,” Sullivan said on ABC News’ “This Week”.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday spoke to the Ukrainian troops via videoconference. Some of the Ukrainian soldiers have been training in the United State amid the ongoing war. They have been in US since before Russia invaded their country on Feb. 24, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby informed in a statement. As the Ukrainian soldiers prepared to head back to Ukraine on Sunday Austin boosted the soldiers' morale in a virtual conference call. 

"The Secretary thanked them for their service and for their courage, noting the skill with which the Ukrainian Armed Forces are fighting Russia's unprovoked invasion," Kirby said in a statement. "And he (Austin) pledged continued U.S. support for providing and coordinating additional security assistance."

The White House said President Joe Biden will press Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a hard line against Russia’s Ukraine invasion. Press Secretary Jen Psaki says the leaders plan a virtual meeting on Monday. India’s neutral stance in the war has raised concerns in Washington and earned praise from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who lauded India this month for judging “the situation in its entirety, not just in a one-sided way.”

India abstained when the U.N. General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from its seat on the 47-member Human Rights Council over allegations of war crimes. India continues to purchase Russian energy despite Western pressure to avoid buying Russian oil and gas. And the U.S. has considered sanctions on India for its recent purchase of advanced Russian air defense systems.

Psaki’s statement says Biden will discuss how Russia’s war against Ukraine is destabilizing the global food supply and commodity markets, and the need to strengthen the global economy while ”upholding a free, open, rules-based international order to bolster security, democracy, and prosperity.”

Source: AP

"The East of Ukraine is on fire again," Lesia Vasylenko, a government minister has said as the eastern Ukraine witnessed heavy shelling near Mariupol and Kharkiv. "All news of the morning: troops amassing around Kharkiv, artillery attacks all across towns in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The same geography as in 2014/15, just wider. Russian aggression continues."

Dead bodies of more than 1,200 Ukrainians have been found in the capital of Kyiv since the Russian invasion was launched on Feb. 24, Ukraine's prosecutor-general, Iryna Venediktova said in a Telegram announcement. 

"As of the morning of April 10, we found the bodies of 1,222 people who died during the Russian occupation of Kyiv region. This is only in Kyiv region," Venediktova said. "Of course, what we have seen on the ground in all regions of Ukraine are war crimes, crimes against humanity and we will do everything to prosecute them," Venediktova said.

Ukrainian soldiers recover the remains of four killed civilians on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. Credit: Associated Press. 

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced that he is expected to travel to Moscow on Monday and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a Twitter post on Sunday, Nehammer said that his countries militarily is neutral, and therefore he will hold talks with Putin to negotiate for cessation of the ongoing hostilities. He further emphasized fhat humanitarian corridors must be agreed upon, a ceasefire must be reached and a full investigation should be launched into the allegations of war crimes in Ukraine. 

The British Ministry of Defence has released a map detailing the movements of Russian troops in Ukraine. Soldiers are seen advancing into the east of Ukraine as well as in the south towards Kherson, Melitopol and Berdyansk, and Izium from the north.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has appointed a new Ukraine war commander named General Alexander Dvornikov, 60, 'with record of brutality' to lead the war in Ukraine, a US official has informed. The newly appointed commander is known for brutality against the civilians in Syria and other war zones, a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity asserted. 

"This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians," White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, separately told the State of the Union show in televised statement. "And the United States, as I said before, is determined to do all that we can to support Ukrainians as they resist him and they resist the forces that he commands."

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA was informed by Ukrainian authorities that first staff rotation at Chernobyl has been done since three weeks. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that they would send a mission to Ukraine soon.  Chernobyl's premises were "destroyed and the analytical instruments stolen, broken or otherwise disabled" said Grossi, adding that the systems for monitoring radiation were disabled. 

"While it is very positive that Ukrainian authorities are gradually restoring regulatory control of the Chernobyl site, it is clear that a lot of work remains to return the site to normality," said Gossi . "As soon as it is possible, I will head an IAEA mission to Chernobyl to conduct a radiological assessment there, resume remote safeguards monitoring of the facility and its nuclear material and deliver equipment."

 Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer will visit Moscow and meet with Putin after talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine.

Russia has started issuing its passports to citizens of Ukraine who were forcibly taken to different regions of the Russian Federation, said Lyudmila Denisova, Ombudsman for Human Rights.

Ukrainian FM Dmytro Kuleba said, "Extremely difficult to even think of negotiations with people who commit atrocities' "But if sitting down with the Russians will help prevent at least one massacre, like in Bucha, or attack in Kramatorsk, I have to take that opportunity."

Putin, Lukashenko to meet in Russian Far East on April 12. The two dictators will discuss the war in Ukraine at Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East. Russian state-controlled media reported that there will be a press conference after the meeting.

 Russian Air Force hits 86 Ukrainian military facilities as the war enters Day 46

At least five people have been injured in a Russian missile attack. The injured people were rescuers of the State Emergency Service. Three missiles hit the already destroyed airport in Dnipro on April 10, Mykola Lukashuk, head of the regional council in Dnipro said. 

US lawmaker Liz Cheney has said that European countries need to “understand that they’re funding that genocidal campaign” by continuing to buy oil and gas from Russia. "I understand the economic consequences to countries in Western Europe if they were to impose a kind of oil and gas embargo that the US has imposed against Russian oil and gas – but they need to do it. They need to understand that every single time, every single day that they are continuing to import Russian oil and gas, they’re funding Putin’s genocide in Ukraine.”

Yurii Sobolevskyi, deputy head of the Kherson Regional Council, said locals held a “peaceful rally” Sunday in the Russian-occupied city of Kherson that was dispersed by Russian forces. "Today in Kherson a peaceful rally took place in front of the Yubileiny concert hall to commemorate the victims of Russian aggression,” he said on Facebook. “As expected, the occupiers dispersed it," he added. 

Residents of Almaty in Kazakhstan held an event to support Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia. Pictures that have surfaced online show blue and yellow ribbons, d caricatures of Russian President Vladimir Putin among others. 

Speaking to Associated Press, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy asserted that it was important to stop the ongoing war as more and more lives were being lost with each passing day. "We have to fight, but fight for life. You can’t fight for dust when there is nothing and no people. That’s why it is important to stop this war," he said. Notably, his remarks came a day after missile strikes on Kramatorsk station killed over 52 people. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he has discussed possible new sanctions on Russia, as well as defense and financial support for Ukraine in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. In a tweet, he said that both the leaders also agreed that all the perpetrators of war crimes must be identified and punished. 

Ukraines First Deputy Minister Emine Dzhepper shared images of a fighter pilot that sacrifices his life to save his country. In a heartfelt post, the Ukrainian lawmaker said that Dmytro Chumachenko could eject but he diverted his jet to save thousands of pilots. It has been 46 days since the Russian President launched his ‘special military offensive’ on Ukraine. 

Ukraine has accused Russian troops of stealing lethal radioactive material from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant, which it recently vacated after weeks of occupation. In a Facebook post, the State Agency for Managing the Exclusion Zone claimed that Russian soldiers had entered the storage area of the Ecocentre research base and taken 133 toxic materials. It added that the location of the stolen material is currently unknown. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has honored the memory of victims of a 2010 plane crash that lead to the death of the then Polish president. "We honor the memory of the victims of the plane crash near the Russian city of Smolensk, which took the lives of Polish President Lech Kaczyński & elite representatives 12 years ago," he wrote in a Twitter post. The president further said Ukraine stands with allies against the Russian Federation. 

A new mass grave has been discovered in the city of Buzova, which was recently liberated from the Russian occupation. As world leaders continue to accuse Russia of war crimes including mass murders, Ukrainian authorities have said that they were still confirming the numbers of corpses found in the village. Taras Didych, head of the Dmytrivka community that includes Buzova and several other nearby villages, told Ukrainian television that the bodies were found in a ditch near a petrol station. "Now, we are returning to life, but during the occupation, we had our ‘hotspots’, and many civilians died," he said.

Other crimes have also been reported. In Vorzel, Russians have crushed and robbed the theological seminary. In Irpin they burned hundreds of copies of the Bible.

Ukrainian military has confirmed that it destroyed the Russian forces’ ammunition depot on April 10. The location of the arms storage has not been disclosed as yet. 

Russian general who ordered an attack on Kyiv & Irpin a Ukrainian citizen, a top official has confirmed. Anton Gerashchenko, the Russian military official who ordered the destruction of several Ukrainian cities was General Vitaly Shkolenko, who originally belongs to the Cherkasy region-- nearly 188 km from the national capital, Kyiv.

As Russian invasion of Ukraine entered its 46th day, scores of protesters in Chile gathered in front of the Russian Embassy to call an end to the war. Photos and videos of protesters raising anti-war placards in front of the embassy in the capital city of  Santiago surfaced online. "We want to be united at this time with our children, with our families,” said Alina Prus, a Ukrainian living in Chile. “Several of us have our families who are now living the horror of what war means," she added, as per AP. 

UK Policing Minister Kit Malthouse has said Britain could impose sanctions on Russian troops and generals suspected of committing war crimes in Ukraine. Speaking to BBC, he said that it was important that evidence of Russian atrocities was gathered as “assiduously as possible” as the war continued for Day 46. 

"While that is ongoing we can take action domestically around sanctions we can put on individuals, including combatants, leading generals, and others involved in it, to signal our recognition of their part in this dreadful, dreadful assault upon a free democratic country," he said.

UK Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said that delay in granting visas to Ukrainian refugees was disappointing but was now "motoring". His statement came in response to an earlier remark by UK shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper who labeled the delay as a "nightmare". 

Malthouse said, "I know that people are disappointed with the progress of the visa regime. The Home Secretary has been out this week expressing her frustration and regret that it hasn’t been quicker." 

In a major development, the State Duma deputy from Russian annexed Crimea, Mikhail Sheremet has proposed to restore the Taurida Governorate within its historical borders. The Taurida is a historical Russian governate that includes the Crimean Peninsula and the mainland between the lower Dnieper River and the coasts of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. His statement comes as Russian troops intensified their attacks on Mariupol and struck Mykolaiv with a barrage of missiles.

UK shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper talked about delays in visas to the Ukrainian embassy. Speaking to BBC One, she described delays in Ukrainian refugees getting UK visas as “a total nightmare” and said Labour would only apply security checks to those coming into the UK. Cooper said it was “totally shameful” that only 1,200 people have arrived under the Homes for Ukraine scheme despite 200,000 people offering to give a refugee home.

Ukraine, Russia have agreed on 9 humanitarian corridors for April 10. Civilians will be evacuating from Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast; Berdyansk, Tokmak, Energodar in Zaporizhzhia Oblast; Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, Hirske, and Rubizhne in Luhansk Oblast.

A spokesperson for the Ukrainian army said Russian troops were running out of medicine and medical personnel, while they struggled to deal with an influx of injured soldiers. Oleksandr Shputun, the spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said Russia had established field hospitals in parts of the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. He also said Russian forces were continuing to attack major Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv, Izyum and Mariupol.

The Russian Defense Ministry shared footage of what it said was the combat work of Russian army aviation crews destroying a column of Ukrainian armoured combat vehicles and air-defence units.

The ministry also shared footage of a missile strike by an unmanned aircraft hitting a Ukrainian armoured personnel carrier.

The ministry said in an accompanying text that "the firing position of the Ukrainian armoured personnel carrier was located in a densely built industrial area", which was discovered by the unmanned aircraft and destroyed by a strike.

The Associated Press cannot independently verify the date, location or conditions under which the footage was shot.

In the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started on February 24, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is planning for a permanent military presence on its border to combat future Russian aggression, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg suggests. As per the reports of the Telegraph, Stoltenberg stated that NATO is in the midst of a fundamental transformation that would reflect the long-term ramifications of Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions and it would beef up the military presence on its border because of that.

As the Russian military offensive against Ukraine entered its 46th day on Sunday, April 10, Moscow has lost an estimated 19,300 troops and 722 war tanks ever since the onset of the invasion, according to the data shared by Ukrainian Army's General Staff on its social media account.

Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, expressed hope that Ukraine will win this battle.

More than six weeks after the invasion began, Russia has pulled its troops from the northern part of the country, around Kyiv, and refocused on the Donbas region in the east. Newly released Maxar satellite imagery collected on Friday showed an 8-mile (13-kilometre) convoy of military vehicles headed south to the Donbas region through the Ukrainian town of Velykyi Burluk.

Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has banned Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) activities in the territory under their control from April 10. Notably, OSCE is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and free and fair elections.

The head of the Dnipropetrovsk OVA, Nikolai Lukashuk, reported that the Russian occupiers launched a missile attack on the Dnipro River at night. However, as of now, there was no confirmation of any casualties reported.

Amid the ongoing war, the Italian Prime Minister, on Sunday, has announced to limit the gas import from Russia in order to pressurise the "crawling" economy. Ahead of his visit to Alegria, Italian PM Mario Draghi announced to increase the gas trade with Algiers.

In the latest development, an UK intelligence report claimed that the Russian armed forces seek to bolster troop numbers with personnel discharged from military service since 2012. In the latest update provided on Twitter, the UK Defence Ministry said that the efforts to generate more fighting power also include trying to recruit from the unrecognised Transnistria region of Moldova.

As the Russia- Ukraine war intensifies, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense has reported that Russia is unable to continue the production of modern weapons due to its dependency on imported high technology. With the lack of foreign components, Russian shipyards have stopped the production of ships. In a Facebook post, the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated, "At the Russian shipyards, there is a critical situation in the implementation of existing contracts for the construction and maintenance of warships. It was caused by the difficult financial situation and lack of foreign components". 

Read full story here 

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the chief of Ukraine's state nuclear power company Energoatom, Petro Kotin went to visit one of the segments of the Red Forest in Chernobyl's exclusion zone and discovered, along with the specialist, that the radiation in the region is "abnormally high". It is the place where Russian soldiers dug ditches and attempted to build fortifications. Energoatom stated in a Telegram message that in the area "abnormally high rates of radiation were recorded".  

Read full report here

In a shocking development, a top Ukrainian official confirmed that the general of the Russian occupying forces, who gave orders to bomb several regions of the country such as Kyiv and Irpin, is a Ukrainian citizen. According to the official advisor and a former deputy minister at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko, the Russian military official who gave the order to destroy Ukrainian cities was General Vitaly Shkolenko, who originally belongs to the Cherkasy region.

The Russian offensive against Ukrainian civilians continues on Sunday. According to the local administration, several schools and apartments were hit by shelling in Ukraine’s Luhansk and Dnipro regions. The officials said that the shelling resulted in a massive fire in some of the residential areas. "Two high-rise buildings in a new district of the city, as well as a high school building, came under heavy fire from the Russian army," region’s governor Serhiy Gaidai wrote on Telegram.
 

The besieged city of Mariupol is a shell of its former self as Ukrainian troops refuse to surrender the key Black Sea port city that has undergone indiscriminate shelling by Russian forces. Under constant siege, the shelling has seen several agreed-upon humanitarian corridors collapse. This has left citizens wishing to flee in a suspended state, with their bags always packed, ready to leave when the conditions are right. But they seldom are. Consistent gunfire in the distance and sporadic explosions have become such a common feature that Mariupol residents do not even pause their speaking. One resident, Sergey Petrov, told the Associated Press that he had a close brush with death when two shells struck around him in quick succession, but against all odds, neither went off upon landing.

During his visit, on Saturday, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he expects more EU sanctions against Russia, but defended his country’s opposition so far to cutting off deliveries of Russian gas. A package of sanctions imposed this week “won’t be the last one,” the chancellor said, acknowledging that “as long as people are dying, every sanction is still insufficient.” Austria is militarily neutral and not a member of NATO.

According to the report latest operational report, Ukrainian soldiers thwarted eight Russian attacks in the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Also, it has destroyed four tanks, eight units of armoured vehicles and 13 air targets including three aircraft, one helicopter, five UAVs and four winged missiles.

Ukrainian Armed Forces, on Sunday, released the heroic confrontation of the Ukrainian people to the Russian military. According to the statement released on social media, Russia continues to lead full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine. "The occupiers are trying to improve the tactical position of their units in the Mykolaiv direction. On the other hand, in Volyn, Polisky and Siversky's directions, significant changes in the position and activities of the enemy's troops were not recorded," it said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Saturday that democratic countries are united in working to stop the Russian invasion as civilians continued to flee eastern parts of the country before an expected onslaught and firefighters searched for survivors in a northern town no longer occupied by Russian forces. In his daily late-night video address to Ukrainians, Zelenskyy said that “Russian aggression was not intended to be limited to Ukraine alone” and the “entire European project is a target for Russia.”

ozens of protesters gathered in front of the Russian embassy in Chile’s capital of Santiago on Saturday to denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Protesters unfurled a large banner featuring the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The group included Ukrainians living in Chile.

Some protesters lay down on the ground and clutched stuffed animals to honor child victims of the war. A large banner read, “Stand with Ukraine.”

A group of women wait to receive free food from a soup kitchen in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv.

Firefighters continued searching Saturday for survivors or the dead in the debris of destroyed buildings in a northern Ukrainian town that was occupied for weeks by Russian forces.

Residents of Borodianka expect to find dozens of victims under the rubble of the several buildings destroyed during fighting between Russian forces and Ukrainian troops. The town is about 75 kilometers (47 miles) northwest of the capital of Kyiv and had more than 12,000 residents.

Firefighters work on a destroyed apartment building in the town of Borodyanka

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday for providing military support to Ukraine. Notably, Johnson was in Kyiv on Saturday where he met the Ukrainian President. 

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 46th day, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated that the exit of Russian troops from northern Ukraine reveals signs of non-combatants being disproportionately targeted. Taking to Twitter, the UK Defence Ministry claimed in the latest defence intelligence update on Saturday that “evidence of the disproportionate targeting of non-combatants" includes mass graves, the tragic exploitation of hostages as human shields, as well as the mining of civilian buildings.

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Shelling by Russian forces of Ukraine’s key port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov has collapsed several humanitarian corridors and made conditions seldom right for people to leave. It was not clear Saturday how many people remained trapped in the city, which had a prewar population of 430,000. Ukrainian officials have put the number at about 100,000, but earlier this week, British defence officials said 160,000 people remained trapped in the city.

Civilian evacuations moved forward in patches of battle-scarred eastern Ukraine on Saturday, a day after a missile strike killed at least 52 people and wounded more than 100 at a train station where thousands clamoured to leave before an expected Russian onslaught. However, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that buses to evacuate people from Berdiansk, Tokmak and Enerhodar had to return empty because they were blocked by Russian forces. People from these cities could only evacuate by cars, reported Kyiv Independent. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit to Kyiv earlier in the day was an example of leadership with "no obstacles."

In his daily late-night video address to the nation, Zelenskyy said the U.K. was "ready to assume patronage of the restoration of Kyiv and the Kyiv region" after the war.

He also called on all countries to impose a complete oil embargo on Russia in order to choke out one of its main revenue streams.

"Ukraine does not have time to wait," he said.

Zelenskyy said democratic countries were united in working to stop the war.

Johnson and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Saturday became the latest of several European rulers to meet Zelenskky in Kyiv.

Ukraine has imposed a trade embargo against the aggressor, Russia. With the latest action, imports of goods from Russia into the customs territory of Ukraine have been banned. This was announced by the government representative in the Verkhovna Rada Taras Melnychuk, according to Nexta TV. 

As the relentless battle in Ukraine continues for the 45th day, the Russian Federation disclosed that it had destroyed over 2,037 tanks, 127 aircraft, 229 rocket launchers, and other defence equipment of Ukraine.

"In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 127 aircraft, 98 helicopters, 428 unmanned aerial vehicles, 2,037 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 229 multiple rocket launchers, 886 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 1,941 special military vehicles, have been destroyed," Russian Defence Ministry stated in a press statement.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that he is committed to pressing for peace despite Russian attacks on civilians that have stunned the world, and he renewed his plea for more weapons ahead of an expected surge in fighting in the country’s east.

He made the comments in an interview with The Associated Press a day after at least 52 people were killed in a strike on a train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, and as evidence of civilian killings came to light after Russian troops failed to seize the capital where he has hunkered down, Kyiv.

“No one wants to negotiate with a person or people who tortured this nation. It’s all understandable. And as a man, as a father, I understand this very well,” Zelenskyy said. But “we don’t want to lose opportunities, if we have them, for a diplomatic solution.”

Wearing the olive drab that has marked his transformation into a wartime leader, he looked visibly exhausted yet animated by a drive to persevere. He spoke to the AP inside the presidential office complex, where windows and hallways are protected by towers of sandbags and heavily armed soldiers.

“We have to fight, but fight for life. You can’t fight for dust when there is nothing and no people. That’s why it is important to stop this war,” Zelenskyy said.

Russian troops that withdrew from northern Ukraine are now regrouping for what is expected to be an intensified push to retake the eastern Donbas region, including the besieged port city of Mariupol that Ukrainian fighters are striving to defend.

The president said those defenders are tying up “a big part of the enemy forces,” characterizing the battle to hold Mariupol as “the heart of the war” right now.

“It’s beating. We’re fighting. We’re strong. And if it stops beating, we will be in a weaker position,” he said.

AP

In Barkinkove, Ukrainian volunteers arm themselves to join the frontline against Russian troops expected to regroup in eastern Ukraine

Just west of Kramatorsk where a missile hit a train station packed with evacuees on Friday, reservists prepare themselves to fight, some for the first time.

One volunteer told a Sky News reporter that everybody is scared, adding "That's normal, that's war."

Nearby, men attempt to fix an abandoned Russian tank.

Ukrainian Army member Roman said they have enough people but weapon-wise he said "it would be great to get more."

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his plea for countries to send more weapons.

AP

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Saturday joined the stream of European leaders showing their support for Ukraine by traveling to the nation’s capital for face-to-face meetings with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Johnson’s surprise visit included a pledge of new military assistance, including 120 armored vehicles and new anti-ship missile systems. This came a day after he promised to send an additional 100 million pounds ($130 million) of high-grade military equipment to Ukraine, saying Britain wanted to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.

Johnson also confirmed further economic support, guaranteeing an additional $500 million in World Bank lending to Ukraine, taking Britain’s total loan guarantee to up to $1 billion.

AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin may use the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine as a pretext to order a new campaign to interfere in American politics, U.S. intelligence officials have assessed.

Intelligence agencies have so far not found any evidence that Putin has authorized measures like the ones Russia is believed to have undertaken in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections in support of former President Donald Trump, according to several people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive findings.

But given Putin’s antipathy toward the West and his repeated denunciations of Ukraine, officials believe he may see the U.S. backing of Ukraine’s resistance as a direct affront to him, giving him further incentive to target another U.S. election, the people said. It is not yet clear which candidates Russia might try to promote or what methods it might use.

AP

Watch the full interview here: