Russian forces have pounded targets in jap Ukraine as Austria’s chief plans to satisfy President Vladimir Putin and Washington pledges to offer Ukraine “the weapons it needs” to counter a brand new Russian offensive.
FIGHTING
* Russian forces fired rockets into Ukraine’s Luhansk and Dnipro areas, Ukrainian officers stated, destroying an airport and wounding at the least 5 folks.
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* The demise toll from an assault on a prepare station on Friday in Kramatorsk rose to 57, whereas 109 have been wounded, Ukrainian officers stated.
* British army intelligence stated Russia was in search of to strengthen troop numbers by recalling personnel discharged from army service since 2012.
* Explosions have been heard in Ukraine’s northeastern metropolis of Kharkiv and in Mykolaiv, a metropolis close to the Black Sea, Ukrainian media reported on Sunday.
* Ukraine’s deputy prime minister stated 2824 folks have been evacuated on Sunday by means of humanitarian corridors, together with 213 from Mariupol, which has been beneath siege for weeks.
* The head of Russia’s republic of Chechnya stated there can be a Russian offensive not solely on Mariupol however on Kyiv and different cities.
FOREIGN LEADERS
* Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer stated he would meet Putin on Monday in Moscow, the Russian chief’s first face-to-face assembly with a European Union counterpart for the reason that invasion.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned potential extra sanctions on Russia in a name with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and praised what he stated was a beneficial change in Germany’s place in the direction of Kyiv.
* Finland and Sweden look poised to affix NATO, British newspaper The Times reported on Monday.
PRAYERS AND PROTESTS
* Pope Francis on Sunday referred to as for an Easter truce in Ukraine, and in an obvious reference to Russia, questioned the worth of planting a victory flag “on a heap of rubble”.
* The head of Russia’s Orthodox Church referred to as on folks to rally across the authorities.
* About 600 pro-Russian protesters in a motorcade set off on an illustration in Hanover, Germany. There was additionally a counter-demonstration of about 700 folks supporting Ukraine, police stated.
ECONOMY AND BUSINESS
* Russia will take authorized motion if the West tries to pressure it to default on its sovereign debt, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov informed the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper on Monday.
* Ukraine’s financial output is prone to contract by 45.1 per cent this 12 months, the World Bank stated on Sunday.
* Ukraine has banned all imports from Russia and referred to as on different nations to impose harsher financial sanctions.
