LIVE: More reports of Russian strikes around major population centres surfaced on Sunday as the Ukraine war enters Day 54.
Ukrainian soldiers resisted a Russian ultimatum to lay down arms on Sunday in the pulverised port of Mariupol, which Moscow said its forces had almost completely seized in what would be its biggest prize of the nearly two-month war. Russia said on Saturday it had control of urban areas, with some Ukrainian fighters remaining in the Azovstal steelworks overlooking the Sea of Azov.
Meanwhile, an explosion in Kyiv was also reported by local media, though deputy mayor Mykola Povoroznyk said air defence systems had thwarted Russian attacks. Russia said it had destroyed an ammunition factory near the capital.
Shelling in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, killed five people and injured 13, Ukrainian media reported. On Sunday, police in the Donetsk region said that over the past 24 hours Russian forces opened fire on 13 settlements under Ukrainian control, killing two civilians.
About four million Ukrainians have fled the country, cities have been shattered and thousands have died since the start of the invasion on Feb 24.
Russia said Ukraine had lost more than 4,000 soldiers in Mariupol as of Saturday. Kyiv says its total troop losses nationwide so far in the war are less than that, between 2,500 and 3,000.
Russia calls its action a special military operation to demilitarise Ukraine and eradicate what it calls dangerous nationalists. The West and Kyiv accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of unprovoked aggression.
Follow all the updates here:
-
Apr 18, 2022 01:25 PM IST
US natural gas prices at 13-year high as Ukraine war creates supply crunch
US natural gas prices surged to the highest intraday level in over 13 years as robust demand tests drillers’ ability to expand supplies.
Futures rose as high as $7.558 per million British thermal units, topping January’s short squeeze-fueled rally and roughly double levels from the start of the year. Read more
-
Apr 18, 2022 12:56 PM IST
6 Killed, 8 wounded in Russian strikes on Lviv
Six Ukrainians were killed, and eight other wounded in Lviv as five powerful missiles struck the western city, news agency Reuters reported quoting regional Governor.
-
Apr 18, 2022 11:53 AM IST
Ukraine says five ‘powerful’ missile strikes hit Lviv
Witnesses said multiple explosions believed to be caused by missiles struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early Monday as the country was bracing for an all-out Russian assault in the east, news agency AFP reported.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Facebook that five missiles struck the city and that emergency services were responding to the blasts. He said more details would follow.
With missiles and rockets battering various parts of the country, Zelensky accused Russian soldiers of torture and kidnappings in areas they control.
-
Apr 18, 2022 10:32 AM IST
Ukraine troops in Mariupol hold out against Russian aggression
Defenders of Mariupol were encircled by Russian forces but have not surrendered the crucial port city, Ukrainian officials said, hours after Kyiv warned of a possible naval landing operation and additional air strikes, Bloomberg reported.
Many of the remaining Ukrainian troops in the besieged city are thought to be within the giant Azovstal steelworks.
-
Apr 18, 2022 10:06 AM IST
Ukraine says Russia wants to ‘destroy’ Donbas
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of wanting to “destroy” the entire eastern region of Donbas, as the last remaining forces in the strategic port of Mariupol prepared Monday for a final defence.
-
Apr 18, 2022 08:42 AM IST
Biden prays for those living in ‘dark shadows of war’
President Joe Biden says he’s praying on Easter for those living in the “dark shadow” of war, persecution and poverty. Biden released an Easter message Sunday in which he says he’s also praying for peace, freedom and basic dignity and respect for all of God’s children.
-
Apr 18, 2022 07:54 AM IST
Ukraine says it is pausing the evacuation of civilians
Ukraine says it is pausing the evacuation of civilians from the east of the country for a day because of a failure to agree terms with Russian forces.
“As of this morning, April 17, we have not been able to agree with the occupiers on a ceasefire on the evacuation routes. That is why, unfortunately, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk states.
-
Apr 18, 2022 06:36 AM IST
Zelensky implores world to respond to torture
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian troops in southern Ukraine have been carrying out torture and kidnappings, and he called on the world Sunday to respond.
“Torture chambers are built there,” Zelensky said in an evening address to the nation as per news agency AP. “They abduct representatives of local governments and anyone deemed visible to local communities.”
-
Apr 18, 2022 05:44 AM IST
Pope Francis pleaded for end of the bloodshed on ‘Easter of war’
Implicitly criticizing Russia, Pope Francis pleaded for an end to the bloodshed and lamented the “Easter of war” during his address in St. Peter’s Square after Mass.
“May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” he said.