Russia invades Ukraine updates: Moscow bears down on Mariupol

The New Arab's live coverage of the latest from the Russian invasion of Ukraine concludes for today.

Here were the key developments on Sunday:

Mariupol still standing

Ukraine's prime minister said the strategic port city of Mariupol "has not fallen," adding the encircled forces defending the city from Russian attack will "fight to the end."

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told ABC's "This Week" that "the city still has not fallen. There's still our military forces, our soldiers. So they will fight to the end."

'Inhuman' situation in Mariupol

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation in the eastern city of Mariupol is "inhuman", warning the "elimination" of the last Ukrainian troops defending would end peace talks with Russia.

"Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there," he says in a video address as a Russian ultimatum to surrender expires.

Civilian evacuation paused

Ukraine said it is pausing the evacuation of civilians from the war-scarred east of the country for a day because of a failure to agree terms with Russian forces.

"As of this morning, 17 April, 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 stated.

Military plant hit: Russia

Russia's defence ministry said it has struck a military plant outside Kyiv, as Moscow intensifies its attacks on the Ukrainian capital.

"During the night, high-precision, air-launched missiles destroyed an ammunitions factory near the settlement of Brovary, Kyiv region," the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

Five killed in Kharkiv

A series of strikes in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv in the north east of the war-scarred country has left at least five dead and 13 injured, a regional health official told AFP.

Maksym Khaustov, the head of the Kharkiv region's health department confirmed the deaths following a series of strikes that AFP journalists on the scene said had ignited fires throughout the city and tore roofs from buildings hit in the attacks

Sanctions and reprisals

Amid escalating tit-for-tat sanctions, Russia banned entry to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several of his senior ministers.

The Kremlin also stepped up a crackdown on dissent at home, adding nine prominent Kremlin critics and journalists to its growing list of "foreign agents".

No homes to return to: UN

Many of the nearly five million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, the United Nations has warned.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 4,836,445 Ukrainians have left the country since the Russian invasion on 24 February - up 40,200 on Friday's total.

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Ukrainian forces will 'fight to the end' in Mariupol: PM

Ukraine's prime minister said Sunday that the strategic port city of Mariupol "has not fallen" and that the encircled forces defending the city from Russian attack will "fight to the end."

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was speaking to ABC's 'This Week' hours after a Russian ultimatum for the surrender of those fighters, holed up in a fortress-like steelworks, had expired.

"The city still has not fallen," he said. "There's still our military forces, our soldiers. So they will fight to the end."

Luhansk region governor says shelling kills two, injures four in eastern town of Zolote

At least two people were killed and four have been injured on Sunday in the shelling of the eastern Ukrainian town of Zolote, the local governor said.

"In one of the high-rise buildings, two floors were destroyed ... We have at least two dead citizens, four more wounded," said Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk region.

(Reuters)

Strikes leave five dead in east Ukraine city of Kharkiv

A series of strikes today in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the war-scarred country left at least five dead and 13 injured.

Maksym Khaustov, the head of the Kharkiv region's health department confirmed the deaths following a series of strikes that AFP journalists on the scene said had ignited fires throughout the city and tore roofs from buildings hit in the attacks.

Russia calls increased NATO military activity in the Arctic worrying, warns of "unintended incidents" 

Russia is worried about increased activity of NATO forces in the Arctic and sees risks of "unintended incidents" occurring in the region, TASS news agency cited Russian ambassador-at-large Nikolai Korchunov as saying on Sunday.

In March, Finland and Sweden, which are both considering joining the US-led military NATO alliance, conducted combined NATO military drills.

The exercise was long-planned, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February added intensity to the war game. Moscow describes its actions in Ukraine as a "special military operation".

"The recent increase in NATO's activity in the Arctic is a cause for concern. Another large-scale military exercise of the alliance was recently held in northern Norway. In our view, this does not contribute to the security of the region," Korchunov said.

According to Korchunov, such activity raises the risk of "unintended incidents", which, in addition to security risks, can also cause serious damage to the Arctic ecosystem.

He did not specify what type of incident he might be referring to.

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies warned NATO on Thursday that if Sweden and Finland joined NATO then Russia would deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in a European exclave.

Russian ultimatum to Ukraine forces in Mariupol expires

A Russian ultimatum for the last remaining Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to surrender expired on Sunday, with Moscow poised for a major strategic victory in the southeastern port city.

"During the night, high-precision, air-launched missiles destroyed an ammunitions factory near the settlement of Brovary, Kyiv region," Russia's defence ministry said, the third such air strike near the capital in as many days.

Moscow on Saturday issued an ultimatum to the fighters, urging them to lay down their arms by 6:00 am Moscow time (0300 GMT) and to evacuate before 13:00 pm.

"Once again, we demand the opening of a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians, especially women and children, from Mariupol," Vereshchuk wrote.

Russia's defence ministry said that there were up to 400 mercenaries inside the encircled Azovstal steel plant, calling on Ukrainian forces inside to "lay down their arms and surrender in order to save their lives."

Ukraine's reservists, the last line of defence

Manning checkpoints and patrolling towns and cities: the reservists of Ukraine's territorial defence force are the last line standing between ordinary civilians and Russian troops.

Standing 2.07 metres (six feet 9.5 inches) and dressed in camouflage fatigues that reveal only his eyes under a hood, "Buffalo" quit his job in construction and signed up for the force when the Russians invaded.

A cheerful young man in his 20s, he is one of the hundreds of thousands to answer President Volodymyr Zelensky's call for reservists.

He was posted to Svyatogirsk, a village about 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Kramatorsk, the capital of the Donbas region in the east of the country.

Ukraine has asked G7 for $50 bln to cover budget deficit, says senior official

Ukraine has asked G7 nations for $50 billion in financial support and is also considering issuing 0 percent coupon bonds to help it cover a war-linked budget deficit over the next six months, the president's economic adviser Oleh Ustenko said on Sunday.

Speaking on national television, Ustenko said these options were being actively discussed.

Kyiv pauses civilian evacuations from east Ukraine

Ukraine said on Sunday it was pausing the evacuation of civilians from the war-scarred east of the country for a day after failing to agree on 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 wrote in a statement on social media, referring to Moscow's forces.

Ukrainian authorities have urged people in the eastern Donbas area to move west to escape a large-scale Russian offensive to capture its composite regions, Donetsk and Lugansk.

They have also recently accused Russian forces of targeting evacuation infrastructure, including busses and a train station in Kramatorsk where more than 50 people were reported killed in Russian strikes.

Vereshchuk also urged Russian forces to allow for evacuations from the besieged and devastated port city of Mariupol, which Moscow's forces claim to have brought under their control.

"Once again, we demand the opening of a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians, especially women and children, from Mariupol," she wrote.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that if Russian forces kill Kyiv's troops remaining to defend the city, then a fledgling negotiation process to end nearly two months of fighting would be ended.

On 'Easter of war,' pope implicitly criticises Russia over Ukraine

Pope Francis, marking an "Easter of war" on Sunday has urged leaders to hear the people's plea for peace in Ukraine and implicitly criticised Russia for dragging the country into a "cruel and senseless" conflict.

Speaking to some 50,000 people in St. Peter's Square for his twice yearly "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and world) address, Francis said Ukraine was "sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged".

What you need to know right now

As air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine early on Sunday, there were no immediate indications of a response to Russia's demand that Ukrainian forces in the besieged city of Mariupol start surrendering from 0300 GMT.

Updates on the fighting 

• Russia said its troops had cleared most of Mariupol with only a small contingent of Ukrainian fighters in the giant Illich steelworks in the southeastern port, as missiles hit Kyiv and other cities
   
• The head of the Russian navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, met with crew from the sunken Black Sea flagship Moskva, saying they would continue to serve in the navy, the defence ministry said
   
• Russia destroyed production buildings of an armoured vehicle plant in Kyiv and a military repair facility in Mykolaiv, the Interfax news agency quoted Russia's defence ministry as saying

No word from Mariupol as surrender window offered by Russia opens

Russia told Ukrainian forces fighting in Mariupol to lay down arms this morning to save their lives, but there were no immediate reports of activity two hours after the ultimatum took effect at 0300 GMT in the strategic southeastern port.

Air raid sirens sounded across the country early in the day, a regular occurrence, and a morning report from the Ukrainian military said Russian air strikes on Mariupol continued while there were "assault operations near the seaport."

Local media reported an explosion in the capital Kyiv without giving details.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its troops had cleared the urban area of Mariupol and only a small contingent of Ukrainian fighters remained in a giant steelworks on Saturday.

Moscow's claim to have all but taken control of Mariupol, scene of the war's heaviest fighting and worst humanitarian catastrophe, could not be independently verified. It would be the first major city to have fallen to Russian forces since the Feb. 24 invasion.

"Taking into account the catastrophic situation that has developed at the Azovstal metallurgical plant, as well as being guided by purely humane principles, the Russian Armed Forces offer the militants of nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries from 06:00 (Moscow time) on April 17, 2022, to stop any hostilities and lay down their arms," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"All who lay down their arms are guaranteed that their lives will be spared," it said, adding that the defenders could leave the plant by 10 a.m. without arms or ammunition.

There was no immediate response from Kyiv.

Russia says 'destroyed' military factory outside Kyiv

Russia's defence ministry has said today it struck a military plant outside Kyiv, as Moscow intensifies its attacks on the Ukrainian capital.

"During the night, high-precision, air-launched missiles destroyed an ammunitions factory near the settlement of Brovary, Kyiv region," the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

Ukraine's deputy PM says Ukraine, Russia fail to agree on evacuation convoys

Ukraine and Russia have failed to agree on Sunday about humanitarian convoys for the evacuation of civilians from war-affected areas, Ukraine's deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said today.

"We have not been able to agree ... about ceasefires on evacuation routes. That is why, unfortunately, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today," she said on her Telegram account.

Vereshchuk also said that the Ukrainian authorities have asked for humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians and wounded Ukrainian troops from the besieged port of Mariupol.

Bulgaria bans Russian ships from ports

Bulgaria has banned Russian-flagged ships from entering its Black Sea ports as part of expanded EU sanctions, the country’s Maritime Administration announced on its website on Sunday.

"All vessels registered under Russian flag, as well as all vessels that have switched their Russian flag, or flag or maritime register registration to any other state whatsoever after Feb. 24, are forbidden access to Bulgarian maritime and river ports," the authority said.

Exceptions will be made only for ships in distress or seeking humanitarian assistance, or ships transporting energy products, food and pharmaceuticals to EU countries.

UK says Russia committed to compelling Ukraine to abandon its Euro-Atlantic orientation

Russia is committed to compelling Ukraine to abandon its Euro-Atlantic orientation and asserting its own regional dominance, even as Moscow’s operational focus has shifted to the east of its neighbouring country, British military intelligence said on Sunday.

Russian forces were continuing to redeploy combat and support equipment from Belarus towards eastern Ukraine, including to locations close to Kharkiv and Severodonetsk, the UK Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin.

Russian artillery continues to strike Ukrainian positions throughout the east of the country where Russia plans to renew its offensive activity, the bulletin added.

Russia strikes Ukraine's big cities

Russian forces renewed missile strikes on Kyiv and intensified shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, in an apparent strategy to hobble Ukraine's defences in preparation for what is expected to be a full-scale Russian assault in the east.

These attacks and others scattered across the country were an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat.

With the port city of Mariupol under siege, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia "is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there". 

He said Ukraine needs more heavy weapons from the West immediately to have any chance of saving the city.

Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of an invasion that has shattered European security.

In the towns and villages just outside Kyiv, authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, since Russian troops retreated two weeks ago.