Russia invades Ukraine: Another mass grave found near Kyiv

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

Here were the key developments from Saturday:

Kyiv readies for battles in east

Ukraine is preparing for "big battles" against Moscow's forces in the east of the country, officials in Kyiv have said as thousands of civilians flee in fear of an imminent Russian offensive.

Pope calls for Easter ceasefire

Pope Francis called for an Easter truce in Ukraine to pave the way for peace through "real negotiation".

"Let the Easter truce begin. But not to provide more weapons and pick up the combat again - no! - a truce that will lead to peace, through real negotiation," the pontiff told a public mass at Saint Peter's Square.

Dnipro airport destroyed

The airport in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro has been completely destroyed in fresh Russian shelling, a local official has said.

"There has been another attack on Dnipro airport. There is nothing left of it. The airport itself and the infrastructure around it has been destroyed. Rockets keep flying and flying," the head of the city's military administration, Valentin Reznichenko, said on Telegram.

Authorities were seeking to clarify information about victims, he added.

Ukraine 'must win' in east before talks

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said Ukraine must score a victory in the Donbas region before any potential meeting between Zelensky and Putin.

"Ukraine is ready for big battles. Ukraine must win them, including in the Donbas. And once that happens, Ukraine will have a more powerful negotiating position, which will allow it to dictate certain conditions," he said on national television, as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine.

"After that the presidents will meet. It could take two weeks, three," he added.

Five killed in Russian shelling

Russian shelling killed five civilians and wounded five others in two eastern Ukrainian cities Saturday, the Donetsk governor has said.

Four of them died in the city of Vugledar, and one in the town of Novomikhaylovka, Pavlo Kyrylenko says in a Telegram post.

'Ukraine probes Russian war crimes'

Ukraine is examining the alleged culpability of 500 Russian leaders for thousands of war crimes, including President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova told Sky News.

Russian patriarch urges unity against 'enemies'

Russia's Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, called for supporters to rally to fight Moscow's "external and internal enemies".

"In this difficult period for our fatherland, may the lord help each of us to unite, including around power," the TASS news agency quoted him as saying.

Kirill, whose church has around 150 million followers, has repeatedly backed the Kremlin's military operation in Ukraine in his sermons.

'Russians stole from Chernobyl'

Russian forces who occupied the Chernobyl nuclear plant stole radioactive substances from research laboratories that could potentially kill them, Ukraine's State Agency for Managing the Exclusion Zone has said.

Russian soldiers pillaged two laboratories in the area, the agency said on Facebook.

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Austrian chancellor to meet Putin on Monday: Vienna

Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer will travel to Moscow on Monday to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin, a government spokesperson has said.

Nehammer met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday.

(Reuters)

US will supply Ukraine with 'the weapons it needs' against Russia

The United States is committed to providing Ukraine with “the weapons it needs” to defend itself against Russia, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday as Ukraine seeks more military aid from the West.

Speaking later on NBC News’ “Meet the Press", Sullivan said the United States was “working around the clock to deliver our own weapons... and organizing and coordinating the delivery of weapons from many other countries.”

“Weapons are arriving every day,” Sullivan said, “including today.”

The United States has sent $1.7 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on 24 February, the White House said last week.

A CBS News poll released on Sunday showed widespread support among Americans for sending more weapons to Ukraine.

According to the poll, which was conducted last week as news of Russian attacks on civilians unfolded, 72% of those surveyed favor sending more weapons, while 78% support economic sanctions on Russia.

(Reuters)

Biden, Modi to meet virtually Monday over Ukraine

US president Joe Biden will meet virtually Monday with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, weeks after Biden said India has been "shaky" in its response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Biden will use the talks to continue "close consultations on the consequences of Russia's brutal war against Ukraine and mitigating its destabilising impact on global food supply and commodity markets," his spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said in a statement Sunday.

The two leaders failed to reach a joint condemnation of the Russian invasion when they last spoke in early March at a meeting of the so-called "Quad" alliance, which includes the United States, India, Australia and Japan.

India has so far refused to join the votes condemning Moscow at the United Nations General Assembly, while saying it was deeply disturbed by the alleged killings of civilians by Russian troops in the town of Bucha in Ukraine.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who met with Modi in New Delhi in early April, has praised India for its approach to the conflict.

Biden said on 21 March that India was an exception among Washington's allies with its "shaky" response to the Russian offensive.

Russia appoints new Ukraine war commander who committed brutality in Syria: US official

Russia has appointed a new Ukraine war commander, a US official said Sunday.

Moscow has turned to Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, one of Russia’s most experienced military officers and - according to US officials - a general with a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other war theaters.

The senior official who identified the new commander was not authorised to be identified and spoke on condition of anonymity.

But the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan told CNN’s 'State of the Union' that “no appointment of any general can erase the fact that Russia has already faced a strategic failure in Ukraine.”

Dvornikov is a career military officer and has steadily risen through the ranks after starting as a platoon commander in 1982. He fought during the second war in Chechnya and took several top positions before being placed in charge of the Russian troops in Syria in 2015.

Sullivan described the general as having a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and said “we can expect more of the same in this theatre."

EU to discuss sixth round of sanctions on Russia

EU foreign ministers are on Monday to discuss a sixth round of sanctions on Moscow for its war in Ukraine but the bloc remains divided over a ban on Russian gas and oil imports.

Although the sanctions that would hurt Russia the most - an EU boycott of its oil and gas exports - are not on the table formally, European Union diplomats acknowledge there are discussions about them.

The fifth round of sanctions, imposed since Friday, include a ban on Russian coal imports into the EU - an important first step towards a broader prohibition on more energy supplies.

However unanimity is required among the 27 EU nations for any sanctions to be imposed, and countries reliant on Russian gas - among them Germany, Italy, Austria and Hungary - are reluctant to add it to the list.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine on 24 February, the Kremlin has pocketed more than 35 billion euros ($38 billion) in gas, oil and coal sales to the EU, according to the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

The coal ban is expected to amputate around eight billion euros a year from that amount, according to the European Commission - a minor portion of the overall fossil fuel revenues.

More than 4.5 million Ukrainians flee war: UN

More than 4.5 million Ukrainian refugees have fled their country since the Russian invasion on February 24, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

The UNHCR said there were 4,503,954 Ukrainian refugees on Sunday. That was 62,291 more than the previous day.

A further 7.1 million people have been displaced within the country, according to figures published by the IOM on 5 April.

That means more than a quarter of the population have been forced to flee their homes, seeking refuge either abroad or elsewhere in Ukraine.

Before the conflict, Ukraine was home to more than 37 million people in territory controlled by Kyiv - which does not include Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, or areas in the east under the control of pro-Russian separatists.

More than 1,200 bodies found in Kyiv region: prosecutor

Ukraine's prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova on Sunday said 1,222 bodies have been found in the region around the capital Kyiv so far.

"We have actually now, only for this morning, 1,222 dead people only in Kyiv region," Venediktova said in an interview with Sky News.

Sirens sound in Poland memorial observance despite protests

Sirens went off in some Polish cities early Sunday to mark the anniversary of the 2010 presidential plane crash, despite widespread protests that their sound would be unnecessary trauma to scores of refugees from the war in Ukraine.

The sirens were intended to add to the significance and the plaintive character of observances honoring late President Lech Kaczynski, the first lady and 94 other prominent Poles killed 12 years ago in a plane accident in Russia.

Provincial governors, who represent the central government, ignored widespread calls of concern for refugees from neighboring Ukraine, traumatised by air raid alarms, to not use the sirens. Some 2.6 million refugees — mostly women and children — have crossed into Poland since 24 February, when Russia's troops invaded Ukraine and started bombing it. Many require psychological care to deal with their trauma.

The authorities were sending text messages to refugees' phones and posting public warnings that the sirens would mean no danger.

The head of a Ukrainian support center in Warsaw, Myroslava Keryk, said that the “Ukrainian mothers had time to explain to their children that the sirens will not sound an air raid and that there was nothing to be afraid of.”

But to many Poles, the use of sirens was a bad idea.

“This is a system for warning and alarm, not for celebrations,” said Adam Glogowski, a retired fireman. “We don't need sirens to remember, to honor the crash victims.”

Russia confirms prisoner exchange with Ukraine

Russian human rights commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova confirmed on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had carried out a prisoner exchange on Saturday.

Moskalkova said that among those returned to Russia were four employees of state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, soldiers and some other civilians.

"Early this morning they landed on Russian soil," Moskalkova said in an online post.

Ukraine deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk had said on Saturday that 12 of its soldiers were being returned after a prisoner exchange with Russia, the third such swap since the start of conflict.

Vereshchuk said that 14 civilians were also returning to Ukraine as part of the deal.

Dnipro airport 'destroyed' by Russian shelling

The airport in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro has been completely destroyed in fresh Russian shelling, a local official said Sunday.

"There has been another attack on Dnipro airport. There is nothing left of it. The airport itself and the infrastructure around it has been destroyed. Rockets keep flying and flying," the head of the city's military administration, Valentin Reznichenko, said on Telegram.

He added that authorities were seeking to clarify information about victims.

Reznichenko said attacks on the city, which lies on the banks of Dnieper River, intensified on Sunday.

The industrial city of one million people has been targeted by Russian forces since the Russian invasion but has so far been spared major destruction.

The announcement came as Ukraine, which rebuffed a Russian offensive on Kyiv, anticipates a renewed Kremlin attack on the east and south of the country.

Ukraine says Russian propaganda led to civilian killings

Ukraine on Sunday said Kremlin propaganda laid the groundwork for civilian killings in Moscow's invasion, accusing Russian media of sowing hatred towards Ukrainians for years.

The discovery of civilian bodies in areas recently retaken by Ukraine has shocked the world. Kyiv calls them war crimes and has vowed to punish perpetrators.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday cited civilian killings in the town of Bucha outside of Kyiv after bodies were discovered as the Russian army retreated from the area.

"Bucha did not happen in one day," he said on Twitter.

"For many years, Russian political elites and propaganda have been inciting hatred, dehumanising Ukrainians, nurturing Russian superiority and laying ground for these atrocities," Kuleba said.

Ukraine ready for 'big battles': Zelensky adviser

Volodymyr Zelensky's advisor Mykhaylo Podolyak said Ukraine must beat back Russia in the eastern Donbas region, where Moscow controls two separatist territories, before a meeting can take place between the Ukrainian leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Ukraine is ready for big battles. Ukraine must win them, including in the Donbas. And once that happens, Ukraine will have a more powerful negotiating position," he said on national television, as quoted by the Interfax news agency.

"After that the presidents will meet. It could take two weeks, three."

Ukraine says probing 5,600 alleged war crimes by Russians

Ukraine is examining the alleged culpability of 500 Russian leaders for thousands of war crimes, including President Vladimir Putin, a top official said on Sunday.

"You know that now we started 5,600 cases in Ukraine on the above war crimes", Ukrainian prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova told Sky News.

The cases involve "500 suspects" from Russia's government and military, Venediktova said.

"Vladimir Putin is the main war criminal of 21st century," the official said, adding that as president, he may enjoy immunity from prosecution under international law but that would not last forever.

She said there was "full evidence" linking Russian forces to the missile attack on the station at Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, where officials said 52 people were killed.

"That's why it will be one of the cases in our big profile." 

Ukraine says Russians stole lethal substances from Chernobyl

Russian forces who occupied the Chernobyl nuclear plant stole radioactive substances from research laboratories that could potentially kill them, Ukraine's State Agency for Managing the Exclusion Zone said on Sunday.

Moscow's forces seized the defunct power plant on the first day of their invasion of Ukraine on February 24. They occupied the highly radioactive zone for over a month, before retreating on March 31.

The agency said on Facebook that Russian soldiers pillaged two laboratories in the area.

It said the Russians entered a storage area of the Ecocentre research base and stole 133 highly radioactive substances.

"Even a small part of this activity is deadly if handled unprofessionally," the agency said.

Head of Russia's Orthodox Church calls on people to rally around authorities

The head of Russia's Orthodox Church called on people on Sunday to rally around the authorities as Moscow pursues its military intervention in Ukraine.

Patriarch Kirill has previously made statements defending Moscow's actions in Ukraine and views the war as a bulwark against a Western liberal culture that he considers decadent.

"Let the Lord help us unite during this difficult time for our Fatherland, including around the authorities," the Interfax news agency quoted Kirill, 75, as saying at a sermon in Moscow.

"May the authorities be filled with responsibility for their people, humility and the readiness to serve them even if it costs them their life," added the patriarch, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.

The patriarch's support for Russia's military campaign, in which thousands of soldiers and Ukrainian civilians have been killed, has angered some within the Orthodox Church at home as well as in churches abroad linked to the Moscow Patriarchate.

(Reuters)

Slovakia could sell howitzers to Ukraine: defence minister

Slovakia could sell Ukraine some of its Zuzana self-propelled howitzers, defence minister Jaroslav Nad said on Sunday.

"I can confirm that we are in talks (about the sale)," Nad said in a televised debate. He did not give further details.

The Zuzana 2 howitzer, a modernised version of an older model, is using 155-mm rounds and has an effective range of 40 km to more than 50 km (30 miles) depending on ammunition type.

(Reuters)

Zelensky says discussed additional Russia sanctions with Germany's Scholz

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he had held spoken on the phone with German chancellor Olaf Scholz on the possibility of additional sanctions on Russia, as well as fresh defence and financial support for his country.

Separately, Zelenskiy's office said in a statement the president had held a conference call with Ukrainian officials during which Kyiv's proposals for a sixth package of European Union sanctions had been developed.

Egypt’s inflation rate spikes in March amid Ukraine war

Egypt said Sunday its annual inflation rate surged past 12% in March, up from 10% in February, largely because of Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has strained global markets and sent oil prices to record highs.

Data released by the Central Agency for Mobilisation and Statistics shows price hikes across many sectors, from fuel, electricity and food items to housing, medical services and entertainment.

The figures show that food and beverage prices hiked by 4.5% in March compared to February prices, with price hikes for cereal and bread hitting 11%. The government announced last month fixed prices for unsubsidised bread for the next three months in an effort to fight the increase.

The accelerating hikes came in the wake of the Central Bank’s decisions to raise its main interest rate and to devalue the local currency against the US dollar to fight inflation.

Justifying its 21 March decisions, the bank cited the war in Ukraine that has shaken the global economy and threatened food supplies and livelihoods of people across the world.

'Put the weapons down!': Pope calls for Easter truce in Ukraine

Pope Francis on Sunday called for an Easter truce in Ukraine, leading to negotiations and peace.

"Put the weapons down!" he said at the end of a Palm Sunday service for tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.

"Let an Easter truce start. But not to rearm and resume combat but a truce to reach peace through real negotiations," he said. 

On a visit to Malta last week, Pope Francis blasted Russia's war in Ukraine as 'infantile' and 'sacrilegious'.

He also said he was considering visiting Ukraine.

(Reuters, The New Arab)

Could Finland join NATO to deter Russian aggression?

Finland is preparing for a potentially historic decision "before midsummer" on whether to apply to join NATO as a deterrent against Russian aggression.

The Nordic nation of 5.5 million has traditionally been militarily non-aligned, in part to avoid provoking its eastern neighbour, with which it shares a 1,300 kilometre (830 mile) border.

But Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February saw public support for joining NATO double from 30 to 60 percent, according to a series of polls.

Next week a government-commissioned national security review will be delivered to parliament, the Eduskunta, to help Finnish MPs make up their own minds, before it is put to a vote.

Last week Finland's government agreed a 40-percent hike in defence spending by 2026, to strengthen the country's position.

Since Russia's attack, Finland's leadership has undertaken an intensive series of talks to canvass opinion from other NATO states about a possible membership bid.

Along with neighbouring Sweden, Finland has received public assurances from secretary general Jens Stoltenberg that the alliance's door remains open, as well as expressions of support from numerous members including the US, UK, Germany, France and Turkey.

But attempting to join NATO would likely be seen as a provocation by the Kremlin, for whom the expansion of the US-led alliance on its borders has been a prime security grievance.

Berlusconi 'saddened' by friend Putin's behaviour

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Saturday that he was "deeply disappointed and saddened" by the behaviour of his old friend Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine invasion.

"I cannot and I do not want to hide that I am deeply disappointed by the behaviour of Vladimir Putin," Berlusconi told a public meeting of his right-wing Forza Italia party in Rome, which is part of the broad coalition supporting the government led by Mario Draghi.

"I've known him about twenty years ago and he always seemed to me to be a democrat and a man of peace," the 85-year-old billionaire continued.

Berlusconi, who served as head of the Italian government three times between 1994 and 2011, had previously refrained from publicly criticising Putin.

When he was in power, Berlusconi maintained friendly personal ties with the Russian president, going so far as to invite him on vacation to his luxurious villa in Sardinia.

Two killed, several injured by Russian shelling: Kharkiv governor

Two people were killed and several injured on Sunday in the Ukrainian town of Derhachy in the northeastern Kharkiv region, regional governor Oleh Synyehubov said in a Facebook post.

Russian forces had carried out 66 artillery attacks across several regions the governor said, adding:

"Two people were killed, there are casualties. As you can see, the Russian army continues to 'fight' with the civilian population, because it has no victories at the front," Synyehubov said.

Ukrainians search for dead in town freed from Russians

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 kilometres (47 miles) northwest of the capital of Kyiv and had more than 12,000 residents.

Russian troops occupied Borodianka while advancing towards Kyiv in an attempt to encircle it. They retreated during the last days of March following fierce fighting. The town is without electricity, natural gas or other services.

A 77-year-old resident, Maria Vaselenko, said her daughter and son-in-law’s bodies have been under rubble for 36 days because Russian soldiers would not allow residents to search for loved ones or their bodies. She said her two teenage grandchildren escaped to Poland but are now orphans.

“The Russians were shooting. And some people wanted to come and help, but they were shooting them,” she told The Associated Press. “They were putting explosives under dead people.”

German arms maker offers weapons to Ukraine: German government source

Ukraine has received an offer of a sizeable shipment of self-propelled howitzer weapons from a German armaments company, a German government source said on Sunday.

German weekly Welt am Sonntag had reported on Saturday that armaments manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann offered 100 howitzers, a type of artillery weapon, to Ukraine, quoting anonymous government sources in Kyiv.

"This offer exists," the German source said to Reuters, without providing further details.

The Welt am Sonntag report said that the manufacturer did not currently have the weaponry ready for delivery and so had suggested that Germany's military offer 100 of its own howitzers to Kyiv and the manufacturer would then deliver the new weapons to Germany's army once ready - likely from the second half of 2024.

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann was not immediately available for comment. A spokesperson for the German defence ministry declined to comment.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, Germany reversed its long-held policy of not sending weapons to conflict zones and said it would supply Strela missiles, among other arms, to Ukraine.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday it was important that Germany supply only weapons that Ukraine's army will know how to use, such as older equipment from the army of former Communist East Germany. 

(Reuters)

UK says Russia trying to boost troop numbers

Britain’s defence ministry says that Russia’s armed forces are seeking to respond to mounting losses by boosting troop numbers with personnel who had been discharged from military service since 2012.

In an intelligence update on Twitter, the ministry also said Sunday that the Russian military’s efforts to “generate more fighting power” also include trying to recruit from Trans-Dniester, a breakaway region in Moldova that borders Ukraine.

Russia maintains some 1,500 troops in the region, which is not internationally recognised.

Pro-Russian vehicle convoys spark outrage in Germany

From shop fronts spattered with paint to insults thrown in the street, attacks on the Russian community in Germany have spiked since the start of the war in Ukraine.

As a result, some Russians have staged demonstrations "against Russophobia" in the form of vehicle convoys across the country, which has the largest Russian diaspora in the European Union.

But the demos have sparked a backlash, with many interpreting them as a show of support for Russia's military aggression in Ukraine.

Christian Freier, 40, has been sent hundreds of death threats a day since helping to organise a 400-strong vehicle convoy in Berlin last weekend, along with images of burnt and mutilated corpses.

The website of his car repair shop was hacked and his online ratings have plummeted.

"My life is hell," said Freier, who has both Russian and German citizenship.

The demonstration was largely peaceful and apolitical, though one woman was arrested for displaying the letter "Z", a symbol of support for the Russian army and now banned in Berlin.

"My aim was only to protest against the daily aggression suffered by Russians in Germany," Freier said, declining to answer any questions about the conflict itself.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, 383 anti-Russian and 181 anti-Ukrainian crimes have been officially reported to German police.

Germany is home to around 1.2 million Russians and 325,000 Ukrainians, plus more than 316,000 who have arrived as refugees since the start of the conflict.

Ukraine bans all imports from Russia

Ukraine has banned all imports from Russia, one of its key trading partners before the war with annual imports valued at about $6 billion, and called on other countries to follow and impose harsher economic sanctions on Moscow.

"Today we officially announced a complete termination of trade in goods with the aggressor state," Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on her Facebook page on Saturday.

"From now on, no Russian Federation's products will be able to be imported into the territory of our state."

"The enemy's budget will not receive these funds, which will reduce its potential to finance the war," Svyrydenko said.

"Such a step of Ukraine can serve as an example for our Western partners and stimulate them to strengthen sanctions against Russia, including the implementation of the energy embargo and isolation of all Russian banks."

Mexico says it does not accept Russian invasion of Ukraine

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said yesterday that his country does not accept the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a video message released to coincide with a global event in support of Ukrainian victims of the conflict.

"We do not accept Russia's invasion of Ukraine, because we have suffered from invasions," said Lopez Obrador, referencing the Spanish, French, and American invasions of the Latin American nation.

"We are in favor of a peaceful solution to the conflict."

Russian forces destroy Ukrainian military convoy: Interfax

Russian attack helicopters have destroyed a convoy of Ukraine's armoured vehicles and anti-aircraft warfare, the news agency Interfax reported today, citing Russia's defence ministry.

"Attack helicopters KA-52 ... destroyed weapons and military equipment of the armed forces of Ukraine," the agency cited the ministry as saying in a statement.

Ukrainian military officials were not immediately available for comment. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report.

The news agency said the ministry published video footage of attack KA-52 helicopters flying at extremely low altitude, launching missiles and firing from guns at ground targets.

Russia confirms prisoner exchange with Ukraine

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova confirmed today that Russia and Ukraine carried out a prisoner exchange on Saturday.

Moskalkova said that among those exchanged to Russia, there were four employees of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom and soldiers.

"Early this morning they landed on the Russian soil," Moskalkova said in an online post.

Zelensky: Russian aggression not limited to Ukraine alone

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia is targeting all of Europe with its aggression, and that stopping the invasion of Ukraine is essential for the security of all democracies.

In his late night address to Ukrainians yesterday, Zelensky said that Russian aggression "was not intended to be limited to Ukraine alone" and the "entire European project is a target for Russia".

"That is why it is not just the moral duty of all democracies, all the forces of Europe, to support Ukraine’s desire for peace," he said. "This is, in fact, a strategy of defence for every civilized state."

Zelensky repeated his call for a complete embargo on Russian oil and gas, which he called the sources of Russia’s "self-confidence and impunity".

Shelling hits school apartment building in Ukraine's Sievierodonetsk: governor

A school and a high-rise apartment building were shelled early today in the city of Sievierodonetsk in the besieged Ukrainian region of Luhansk, the governor said.

"Fortunately, no casualties," Serhiy Gaidai wrote on Telegram.

Ukraine agrees nine humanitarian corridors from the east, says deputy PM

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on Sunday said that Kyiv agreed to the use of nine humanitarian corridors to help people to escape heavy fighting in the east of the country, including in private cars from Mariupol.

"All the routes for the humanitarian corridors in the Luhansk region will work as long as there is a ceasefire by the occupying Russian troops," Vereshchuk said in a statement on her Telegram channel, referring to separatist-controlled Luhansk.