“Torture wards are being built there,” Zelensky said in an afternoon address to the nation. “They kidnap representatives of local governments and anyone who is seen as visible in local communities.” Zelensky said humanitarian aid had been stolen, causing famine. In the occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, he said, the Russians are creating autonomous states and introducing the Russian currency, the ruble. The intensifying Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, has killed 18 people and injured 106 in the last four days alone, Zelensky said. “It simply came to our notice then. “Mortars, artillery against ordinary residential neighborhoods, against ordinary citizens,” he said. He said a planned Russian attack on eastern Ukraine “would begin in the near future”. Zelensky again called for increased sanctions against Russia, including its entire banking sector and oil industry. “Everyone in Europe and America already sees Russia openly using energy to destabilize Western societies,” Zelensky said. “All this requires more speed from Western countries in preparing a new, strong package of sanctions.”
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: – Russia hits the big cities of Ukraine, undermines Mariupol – Mother, grandmother cry over 15-year-old killed in Kharkiv bombing – The elderly mother feels “lost”, looks for her son’s body in the city of Buchary, Ukraine – Prince Harry pays tribute to Ukrainian contestants as he opens the Invictus Games – “We pray for you”: Ukrainian Jews celebrate Easter, if they can Follow all the AP stories about the Russian war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS: The Ukrainian Foreign Minister described the situation in Mariupol as tragic and heartbreaking and said that Russia’s ongoing attacks there could be a “red line” that ends all efforts to achieve peace through negotiations. Dmitry Kuleba tells CBS “Face the Nation” that the remaining Ukrainian military personnel and civilians in the port city are basically surrounded by Russian forces. He says the Ukrainians are “continuing their struggle”, but that the city is virtually non-existent due to the mass destruction. Kuleba says his country has been holding “expert-level” talks with Russia in recent weeks, hoping for a political solution to the conflict. However, citing the importance of Mariupol, he reiterated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying that the elimination of Ukrainian forces there could be a “red line” that stops peace efforts.
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden says he prays Easter for those living in the “dark shadow” of war, persecution and poverty. Biden posted an Easter message on Sunday in which he said he also prayed for peace, freedom and basic dignity and respect for all of God’s children. Biden did not say which war he had in mind, but the president has been deeply involved in trying to force an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The US president says he is grateful that the relaxation of the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed many people around the world to celebrate by attending religious services and in-person family gatherings. He also acknowledges that the holiest day in the Christian calendar “falls on heavy hearts for those who have lost loved ones and those who live among us in the dark shadow of war, persecution and poverty.”
KYIV, Ukraine – A regional official in eastern Ukraine says at least two people have been killed in Russian bombings. The governor of Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, said at least four others were injured Sunday when Russian forces opened fire on homes in the town of Zolote. Zolote is located near the front line in the eastern industrial heart of Ukraine called Donbas, where Russian forces are preparing for a massive offensive.
WASHINGTON – The Prime Minister of Ukraine says that the besieged city of Mariupol has not yet reached Russia and the Ukrainian forces there will fight “until the end”. Prime Minister Dennis Smihal appealed to a US television show on Sunday for help for the estimated 100,000 Ukrainians trapped in the eastern city without food, water, heating or electricity. He says some areas of Mariupol remain under Ukrainian control and that Russia does not have full sovereignty over the city. Mariupol appeared on the verge of falling to Russian forces on Sunday after a seven-week siege. The Russian army gave a deadline to surrender to a few thousand Ukrainian fighters who provided the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol, but the Ukrainians did not surrender. Shmyhal told ABC News “This Week” that Ukrainian forces were still fighting, including in the Donbas region, “but we have no intention of surrendering.” The prime minister says Ukraine is ready to end the war through diplomacy, if possible. Shmyhal says tradition is not an option, adding that “we will not leave our country, our families, our lands, so we will fight to the end, to victory, in this war.”
KIEV, Ukraine – A Ukrainian health official says at least five people have been killed in a Russian bombing in Kharkov. Maksym Haustov, head of the health department of the Kharkiv regional administration, said 13 other residents were injured in the bombing of Ukraine’s second largest city on Sunday. Rescuers are working to help survivors after the bombing hit homes and government buildings and caused fires. Officials said the center of Kharkiv had been bombed by multiple rocket launchers.
KHARKIV, Ukraine – Several rockets hit the center of the eastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday, according to AP reporters in the city. The barrage fell on apartment buildings and left broken windows, debris and at least part of a rocket scattered on the street. Many apartments caught fire, with firefighters and residents trying to put out the blaze. At least two bodies were found and four others were injured, although the scale of the attack suggests the death toll could rise further.
MOSCOW – The Russian army has warned that Ukrainian troops refusing to surrender in the besieged port of Mariupol will be destroyed. The Russian Defense Ministry gave the Ukrainians to the giant Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol to surrender by 13:00 on Sunday (1000 Greek time), saying that those who laid down their arms would have a “guarantee that they would keep their lives”. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the Ukrainian military administration had barred its troops from surrendering. He said the Russian military had received the information from intercepted communications. Konashenkov warned that “all those who continue the resistance will be destroyed.” He claimed that along with the Ukrainian troops, there are about 400 foreign mercenaries surrounded in Azovstal, most of them from European countries and Canada, who communicate in six languages, according to interceptions. Konashenkov’s claim could not be independently verified.
VATICAN CITY – In an Easter Sunday message aimed at the world but focusing heavily on Ukraine, Pope Francis expressed two concerns – the danger of nuclear war and that other armed conflicts in the world will go unnoticed. In a speech from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope quoted a 1950s statement by scientists who asked, “Will we put an end to the human race or will humanity renounce war?” The pope has repeatedly made anxious calls for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. In his Easter message, Francis lamented that “so many of our brothers and sisters had to be locked away to be safe from the bombing.” He expressed the hope that the war in Europe “would also make us more concerned about other situations of conflict, suffering and sadness” in situations “that we can not overlook and do not want to forget”. Among the places he mentioned were Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. He singled out Yemen, which is suffering from a conflict “forgotten by all, with constant casualties.”
MILAN – Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has called Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion “heroic”, depriving Russia of what it expected would be a quick victory and paving the way for a “prolonged” war. Draghi told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Sunday that “what awaits us is a war of resistance, prolonged violence with a catastrophe that will continue. “There is no sign that the people of Ukraine can accept a Russian occupation.” Draghi noted that Italy remained close to the Ukrainian people, with the reopening of its embassy in Kyiv. The ambassador returned to the capital on Friday and the embassy is expected to be fully operational on Monday. Draghi, who spoke with Putin before the war broke out and again in late March, said he had come to believe that talking to the Russian leader was “just a waste of time.” Draghi said: “I have the impression that the horror of war, with its slaughter, with what they have done to children and women, is completely independent of words and phone calls.”
KIEV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s deputy defense minister says the main port of Mariupol is maintained despite ongoing Russian attacks. Hanna Malyar said on Sunday that the defenders of the main port of the Sea of Azov have engaged significant Russian forces besieging the city. He described Mariupol as a “shield defending Ukraine” that prevented Russian troops from encircling the city from advancing to other parts of the country. Malyar said that the Russians continued to attack Mariupol with air raids and that probably …
