Mariupol forces defy Russian demand for surrender, as European Commission chief urges fast supply of arms to Ukraine
The remaining Ukrainian forces in the southern port city of Mariupol were still fighting on Sunday and continued to defy a Russian demand that they surrender, according to the Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, urged member states to supply Ukraine with weapons systems “quickly” and suggested that a new round of EU sanctions could target Russia’s powerful Sberbank and include an embargo on Russian oil.
A Ukrainian health official said at least five people were killed in the Russian shelling of Kharkiv on Sunday. Maksym Haustov, the head of the Kharkiv regional administration’s health department, said another 13 residents were wounded in the bombardment of Ukraine’s second largest city.
At least two people were killed and four injured on Sunday in 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 Luhansk.
Ukraine and Russia failed to agree on humanitarian convoys for the evacuation of civilians from war-affected areas, according to Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk.
Another missile attack in the early hours of Sunday damaged infrastructure in Brovary, near Kyiv, said the city’s mayor, Igor Sapozhko, in an online post.
Russian armed forces destroyed an ammunition factory near Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said.
Many of the nearly 5 million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, the United Nations warned.
Ukraine has asked G7 nations for $50bn (£38bn) in financial support and is also considering issuing 0% coupon bonds to help it cover a war-linked budget deficit over the next six months, the president’s economic adviser Oleg Ustenko said.
Russia said it was “concerned” about increased activity of Nato forces in the Arctic and that it saw risks of “unintended incidents” occurring in the region, Reuters reported.
In his Easter Sunday address, Pope Francis 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.
Christ’s message that good will triumph over evil resonated even more this year amid the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Boris Johnson said.
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