After failing to overcome Ukrainian resistance in the north, the Russian military refocused its attack on Donbass, launching long-range strikes on targets elsewhere, including the capital, Kiev. Eighteen people have been killed and more than 100 injured in bombings over the past four days in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “This is just a deliberate terror: mortars, artillery against ordinary homes, against ordinary citizens,” he said late Sunday. Russia denies targeting civilians and has denied what Ukraine says is evidence of atrocities organized to undermine peace talks. He calls its action a special military operation to demilitarize Ukraine and eliminate what it calls dangerous nationalists. The West and Kyiv accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of unprovoked aggression. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Smikhal said troops in the powdery port of Mariupol were still fighting on Sunday, despite Russia’s request to surrender by dawn. “The city has not fallen yet,” he told ABC’s “This Week,” adding that Ukrainian troops had continued to control parts of the southeastern city. On Saturday, Russia said it had taken control of urban areas, with some Ukrainian fighters remaining at the Azovstal steel plant overlooking the Sea of Azov. The capture of Mariupol, the main port in the Donbas region, would be a strategic reward for Russia, linking pro-Russian separatist territory to the east with the Crimean region annexed by Moscow in 2014. Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the neighboring Luhansk region, where fierce fighting took place, repeated a call for the evacuation of the people. A man walks near a residential building that was destroyed during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 17, 2022. REUTERS / Alexander Ermochenko read more “Next week will be difficult,” he said in a post on his Facebook page. “It may be the last time we have a chance to save you.” In the streets of Mariupol, small groups of bodies lined up under colorful blankets, surrounded by chopped trees and burned buildings. Residents, some pushing bicycles, marched around damaged tanks and civilian vehicles, while Russian soldiers checked motorists’ documents. Among them was Irina, who was walking away with a niece who was injured in the bombing. “I have a daughter in the DNR,” he said, referring to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. “We may try to move there for now. “I hope they rebuild (Mariupol). The most important thing is the utility systems. The summer will pass quickly and the winter will be difficult.” “EASTER OF WAR” About four million Ukrainians have fled the country, cities have collapsed and thousands have died since the invasion began on February 24. The financial loss is significant. Shmyhal said Ukraine’s budget deficit was about $ 5 billion a month and urged Western governments to provide more financial assistance. On Twitter, Zelensky said he discussed ensuring Ukraine’s economic stability and preparations for post-war reconstruction with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, noting that support was needed to build the read more Ukraine has continued its efforts to join the European Union rapidly, as officials have completed a questionnaire that is a starting point for the EU to decide on its accession. read more On Easter Sunday, Pope Francis indirectly criticized Russia, praying for an end to the bloodshed and mourning the “Easter of war” in a speech in St. Peter’s Square after the Mass. “May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, which is suffering so much from the violence and destruction of the brutal and irrational war it has been dragged into,” he said. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Reuters reporters in Kyiv and Lviv. Additional reports from Reuters offices worldwide. Lincoln Feast writes. Edited by Clarence Fernandez Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
