Russia-Ukraine Crisis: UN calls for 'immediate stop' in Mariupol fighting to allow civilian evacuation

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive in Kyiv today, becoming the first US government official to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24. President Zelenskyy has asked for US to be a security guarantor and to also supply heavy weapons to the war-torn nation. Meanwhile, Russian forces tried to storm a steel plant sheltering soldiers and civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Stay tuned to DH for live updates.

UK human rights lawyer: Russia quietly allowing rape in Ukraine

Helena Kennedy, who is part of a legal task force helping to build cases of alleged war crimes in Ukraine, "Russian troops have been given tacit permission to rape civilians during their invasion of Ukraine."

(The Kyiv Independent)

Russian Easter shelling kills two children in Donetsk Oblast

Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on April 24 that two girls, aged five and 14, were killed in Ocheretyne, Donetsk Oblast.

(The Kyiv Independent)

UN calls for 'immediate stop' in Mariupol fighting to allow civilian evacuation

Russia forcibly deports almost one million Ukrainians.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that since the start of a full-scale invasion, 951,000 Ukrainians had been forcibly deported to Russia from occupied Ukrainian territories.

This number includes 174,689 children.

(The Kyiv Independent)

Russia says it struck arms depots in Ukraine's Kharkiv region

Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday its high-precision missiles struck nine Ukrainian military targets overnight, including four arms depots in the Kharkiv region where artillery weapons were stored.

The ministry also said its missile and artillery forces destroyed a further four such arms depots in the same region and hit a facility in Dnipropetrovsk region producing explosives for the Ukrainian army. (Reuters)

Ukraine to withdraw from talks with Russia if Mariupol forces killed, says Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed the kind of events might force his country to withdraw from peace negotiations withRussia.

During a press conference held at one of Kiev's metro stations amid the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, Zelenskyy was asked how Kiev would respond to potential independence referendums in the territories controlled by Russian forces, RT reported.

The President admitted that it would force him to stop any talks with Moscow. (IANS)

Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters third month

Russia heads into the third month of its invasion of Ukraine on Sunday with no end in sight to fighting that has killed thousands, uprooted millions and reduced cities to rubble.

In the face of mounting sanctions and fierce Ukrainian resistance bolstered by Western arms, Russia has kept up its long-distance bombardment and opened up a new offensive in the east.

Steel plant under siege; Zelenskyy prepares for US officials

Russian forces tried to storm a steel plant sheltering soldiers and civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced he would meet Sunday in his nation's capital with USSecretary of State Antony Blinken and USDefense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Zelenskyy in a news conference gave few details about the logistics of his upcoming encounter with Blinken and Austin but said he expected results — “not just presents or some kind of cakes, we are expecting specific things and specific weapons.” (AP)

Ukraine says Russia deploys Iskander-M launchers near border

Russia has deployed Iskander-M mobile battlefield missile launchers within 60 km (40 miles) of the Ukrainian border, General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Sunday.

"Then enemy has increased the number of troops in the Belgorod region by transferring and concentrating additional units," the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its daily morning update. (Reuters)

A tulip flower is seen next to the destroyed building by shelling in Rubizhne, eastern Ukraine,amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP Photo)

UK will provide Ukraine with more military equipment: Johnson tells Zelenskyy

In a phone conversation with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that his country is set to provide the war-torn nation with more military equipment.

In a statement, the Downing Street said that during the conversation between the two leaders on Saturday, Johnson told Zelensky more armoured vehicles, drones and anti-tank weapons would be sent to Ukraine, reports the BBC. (IANS)

Guterres to meet Erdogan ahead of mediation visits with Putin, Zelenskyy

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will be kicking off his mediation mission to end the Moscow-Kiev conflict with a visit to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday ahead of his meetings with Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Volodymyr of Ukraine. (IANS)

Top US officials to meet Zelensky on first wartime visit to Kyiv

The United States' top diplomat and defence chief were Sunday set to make their first wartime visits to Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine two months ago, with fierce battles raging in the east of the country.

The trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin comes as the war enters its third month with thousands dead and millions displaced. (AFP)

8 killed in Odessa shelling, says Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said eight people, including a three-month old baby, were killed during Russian shelling in the port city of Odessa.

The missiles were fired on Saturday afternoon by Tu-95 strategic aircraft flying over the waters of the Caspian Sea, Ukrayinska Pravda reported. (IANS)

Ukraine battered again; Zelenskyy says US officials to visit

Russian forces in Ukraine tried to storm a steel plant housing soldiers and civilians in the southern city of Mariupol on Saturday in an attempt to crush the last pocket of resistance in a place of deep symbolic and strategic value to Moscow, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, announced he would meet Sunday in his nation's capital with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the US secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin. The White House declined to comment. (AP)

Faithful attend a blessing of traditional Easter food baskets on Holy Saturday, amid Russia's invasion ofUkraine, in Zhytomyr,Ukraine. (Reuters Photo)

Ukraine says it hit Russian command post in Kherson

The Ukrainian military said Saturday it destroyed a Russian command post in Kherson, a southern city that fell to Russian forces early in the war.

The Ukrainian military intelligence agency posted a statement saying the command post was hit on Friday and two generals were killed and one was critically wounded.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in an online interview that 50 senior Russian officers were in the command centre when it came under attack. He said their fate was unknown.

The Russian military did not comment on the claim, which could not be confirmed. (AP)

Ukraine seeks heavy weapons from US at Kyiv talks: Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine hoped to secure heavy weapons at talks with the U.S. secretaries of state and defence in Kyiv on Sunday, supplies that he said were vital for Ukraine to eventually retake Russian-occupied territory.

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'I want to see the sun' begs child in Mariupol steel works

Women and children sheltering in a giant steel works in Mariupol that is the last holdout of Ukrainian defenders of the southern port city, said in a video released on Saturday they are desperate to get out and are running out of food.

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Blinken to visit Kyiv on Sunday, announces Zelenskyy

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Kyiv Sunday, the day the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its third month, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

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