Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Russia says destroyed large weapons depot near Lviv

Authorities in Ukraine's Western and Southern regions of Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk reported multiple explosions on Monday(April 18). Lviv and the rest of western Ukraine have been less affected by the fighting than other parts of the country, and the city was considered to be a relatively safe haven.

Russia says destroyed large weapons depot near Lviv

Russia's army on Monday said it had destroyed a large depot of foreign weapons recently delivered to Ukraine near the western city of Lviv.

Russian planes in the morning struck a Ukrainian logistics centre holding "large batches of foreign weaponry, delivered to Ukraine over the past six days by the United States and European countries", and "destroyed" them, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Konashenkov also said a store of ammunition was destroyed in the Kyiv region.

Russia's army says it has destroyed 16 Ukrainian military sites in total on Monday, including fuel and ammunition depots and a factory for repairing Tochka-U tactical missiles. - AFP.

Police say 269 bodies recovered in Ukraine's war-torn Irpin

Ukrainian investigators have examined 269 dead bodies in Irpin, near Kyiv, since the town was taken back from Russian forces in late March, a police official said on Monday, as workers dug fresh graves on its outskirts.

The town, which had a pre-war population of about 62,000, was one of the main hotspots of fighting with Russian troops before they pulled back from Ukraine's northern regions to intensify their offensive in the east.

Ukraine hoping for EU candidate status in weeks: Zelensky

Ukraine is hoping to receive within weeks candidate country status for joining the European Union, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday as he met with the EU's envoy to Ukraine in Kyiv.

Zelensky handed the envoy, Matti Maasikas, two volumes in response to a membership questionnaire brought by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen during her visit to Ukraine this month.

Mayor of Ukraine's Mariupol says over 40,000 people have been deported from city to area controlled by Russia-backed separatists

Putin honours brigade accused by Ukraine of 'war crimes'

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday bestowed an honorary title on a brigade accused by Ukraine of "war crimes" and mass killings in the town of Bucha.

The announcement was made on the 54th day of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine, with thousands killed and 12 million people fleeing their homes or country in the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

UNSC needs to be reformed, it plays limited role in maintaining global peace: Foreign secy

Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Monday called for reforms in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), claiming that it had not been able to fulfill responsibilities in maintaining global peace and security.

Shringla, speaking at a webinar organised by Bharat Chamber of Commerce here, also said that UNSC, formed after the World War-II, has always played a restricted role globally due to limited representation.

Japan, Switzerland agree to keep tough sanctions on Russia

Swiss President Ignazio Cassis said Monday his country has joined the international community in implementing tough sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, but that does not mean it has abandoned its traditional neutrality.

Cassis and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed in talks in Tokyo that Russia must be held accountable for attacks on Ukrainian civilians, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

Russian forces capture Kreminna in east Ukraine: Kyiv

Russian troops on Monday captured the east Ukraine town of Kreminna, local authorities said, as Kyiv's armed forces launched salvos on Russian forces in the nearby settlement of Rubizhne.

"There was a major attack in the night" from Sunday to Monday in Kreminna, the Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said in a statement on social media.

Ukraine defence ministry says Russia still not in full control of Mariupol

The situation in Ukraine's southeastern port city of Mariupol is "extremely difficult" but the city has not been taken under full control by Russian forces, a spokesman for Ukraine's defence ministry said on Monday.

Ukraine calls for humanitarian corridor from Mariupol steel plant

Ukraine on Monday called for Russia to facilitate a humanitarian corridor for evacuees from the besieged port city of Mariupol and one from the steel plant that is the city's last significant area of Ukrainian resistance.

Air strikes hit western Ukraine as Russian forces mass in the east

Air strikes killed at least seven people in Ukraine's western city of Lviv on Monday, as Russia pounded targets across the country and massed forces for an expected all-out assault in the east.

The air strikes in Lviv came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of wanting to "destroy" the entire eastern region of Donbas bordering Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said retail demand in russia has normalised. He said, "We were right not to manually regulate the market." Putin says Western sanctions led to deterioration in the economy in the West.

Italy reopens embassy in Kyiv

Italy on Monday reopened its embassy in Kyiv, becoming the latest country to return diplomats to the Ukrainian capital after Russian troops withdrew from the region.

Italy had moved its diplomats to the western city of Lviv after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

But after Russia withdrew its forces from around the capital and northern Ukraine, ahead of an expected assault on the east of the country, diplomatic missions have been trickling back to the city.

War in Ukraine: Developments so far

*Five "powerful" Russian missiles hit the western city of Lviv, killing at least seven people and wounding eight, local officials say.

*The attack comes as Russia hits targets across the country ahead of an expected campaign in the east.

*Russian state television broadcasts video of two men it says are captured Britons, who ask to be exchanged for Viktor Medvedchuk, a wealthy Ukrainian tycoon who has for years been close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and who was captured recently.

*Ukraine says it is halting for a second day in a row the evacuation of civilians from the frontline towns and cities in the east of the country.

Ukraine shows video of detained Putin ally calling for prisoner swap

Ukrainian security services on Monday published a video showing Viktor Medvedchuk, a detained pro-Russia Ukrainian tycoon and politician, calling to be exchanged for Ukrainian forces fighting in the besieged port city of Mariupol.

"I want to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to exchange me for Ukrainian defenders and residents of Mariupol," he said in the video.

Ukraine: Shelling halts civilian evacuation

Ukraine's government has halted humanitarian evacuations for the second day, saying Russian forces were targeting civilian evacuation corridors.

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Monday that Russia was shelling and blocking the humanitarian evacuation routes. The humanitarian evacuations have been repeatedly paused since the war began after civilian convoys came under shelling.

Russia says it plans legal action over frozen assets

Russiaplans to take legal action over the blocking of gold, forex, and assets belonging to Russian residents, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Monday, adding that such a step would need to be painstakingly thought through and legally justified.

Foreign sanctions have frozen about $300 billion of around $640 billion thatRussiahad in its gold and forex reserves when it launched what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Missiles in western Ukrainian city kill 6

Russian missile strikes on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv killed six people and wounded another eight, the regional governor said.

Maksym Kozytsky said there were four strikes, three of which hit military infrastructure facilities and one struck a tire shop. He said emergency teams were putting out fires caused by the strikes. He said one of the wounded was a child.

The strikes occurred as the country was bracing for an all-out Russian assault in easternUkraine. Lviv has been spared much of the worst violence in almost two months of the war.

Plumes of thick, black smoke were rising over Lviv after the explosions. [AP reported]

Russia says it destroyed four arms depots in Ukraine overnight

Russia's defence ministry said on Monday it had destroyed four arms and military equipment depots inUkraineovernight with Iskander missiles, the TASS news agency reported on Monday.

Russian forces had hit 315 Ukrainian targets in total overnight, TASS cited the ministry as saying. (Reuters reported)

Authorities in Ukraine's Western and Southern regions of Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk reported multiple explosions on Monday, while there was also a series of blasts in Kyiv, as Russia's invasion of the country continues

According to media outlet Suspilne, two people were wounded in the Dnipropetrovsk attacks. Lviv mayor Andriy Sadoviy said there had been five missile strikes on the city. It was unclear if there were any casualties.

In Kyiv, a Reuters reporter heard a series of blasts on the left bank of the Dnipro river. Local authorities were yet to provide any official information on their cause.

Russia invadedUkraineon Feb. 24 and calls its action a special military operation to demilitariseUkraineand eradicate what it calls dangerous nationalists. The West and Kyiv accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of unprovoked aggression. [Reuters Reported]

Witnesses say multiple explosions believed to be caused by missiles struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early Monday

Lviv and the rest of westernUkrainehave been less affected by the fighting than other parts of the country, and the city was considered to be a relatively safe haven.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Facebook that five missiles struck the city and that emergency services were responding to the blasts. He said more details would follow. [AP Reported]

Braced for an all-out Russian assault in the east, Ukraine vowed to 'fight absolutely to the end' in strategically vital Mariupol

Braced for an all-out Russian assault in the east, Ukraine vowed to 'fight absolutely to the end' in strategically vital Mariupol, where the ruined port city's last known pocket of resistance was holed up in a sprawling steel plant laced with tunnels.

With missiles and rockets also battering other parts of the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian soldiers of carrying out torture and kidnappings in areas they control.

The fall of Mariupol, which has been reduced to rubble in a seven-week siege, would give Moscow its biggest victory of the war. But a few thousand fighters, byRussia's estimate, hold on to the giant, 11-square-kilometer (4-square-mile) Azovstal steel mill.

“We will fight absolutely to the end, to the win, in this war,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal vowed Sunday on ABC's “This Week.” He said Ukraine is prepared to end the war through diplomacy if possible, “but we do not have intention to surrender.”

Many Mariupol civilians, including children, are also sheltering at the Azovstal plant, Mikhail Vershinin, head of the city's patrol police, told Mariupol television. He said they are hiding from Russian shelling, and from any occupying Russian soldiers.

Capturing the city on the Sea of Azov would free up Russian troops for the expected new offensive to take control of the Donbas, in Ukraine's industrial east. It also would allowRussiato fully secure a land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014, and deprive Ukraine of a major port and its prized industrial assets.[AP Reported]

Eighteen people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in shelling in the past four days in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's President said

Ukraine war: Key Developments

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia is seeking to destroy the eastern region of Donbas and promises to defend it, starting with the besieged port city of Mariupol.

"Russian troops are preparing for an offensive operation in the east of our country in the near future. They want to literally finish off and destroy Donbas," Zelenskyy says in an evening statement.

Ukraine's prime minister Denys Shmyhal tells ABC's "This Week" that Mariupol "has not fallen" -- adding the encircled forces defending the city from Russian attack will "fight to the end".

Ukraine says it is pausing the evacuation of civilians from the east of the country for a day because of a failure to agree terms with Russian forces.

"As of this morning, April 17, we have not been able to agree with the occupiers on a ceasefire on the evacuation routes. That is why, unfortunately, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk states.

Russia's defence ministry says it has struck a military plant outside Kyiv, as Moscow intensifies its attacks on the Ukrainian capital.

"During the night, high-precision, air-launched missiles destroyed an ammunitions factory near the settlement of Brovary, Kyiv region," the ministry says in a statement on Telegram.

Zelenskyy says he has invited his French counterpart to visit Ukraine to see for himself evidence that Russian forces have committed "genocide" -- a term President Emmanuel Macron has avoided.

"I talked to him yesterday," Zelenskyy tells CNN.

"I just told him I want him to understand that this is not war, but nothing other than genocide. I invited him to come when he will have the opportunity. He'll come and see, and I'm sure he will understand."

A series of strikes in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the country has left at least five dead and 13 injured, a regional health official tells AFP.

Pope Francis calls for peace in Ukraine during this "Easter of war" as he delivers the traditional Easter Sunday Urbi et Orbi address on St Peter's Square at the Vatican.

"May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged," the pontiff says.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi complains in a newspaper interview that Western diplomatic efforts to persuade Vladimir Putin to halt the war in Ukraine have so far led nowhere.

"I am beginning to think that those people are right when they say 'It is useless to talk to him, it's just a waste of time'," Draghi tells the daily Il Corriere della Sera, adding Putin's goal appears to be "to annihilate the Ukrainian resistance, occupy the country and entrust it to a friendly government".

As tit-for-tat sanctions escalate, Russia bans entry to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several of his senior ministers.

The Kremlin also steps up a crackdown on dissent at home, adding nine prominent Kremlin critics and journalists to its growing list of "foreign agents".

Many of the nearly five million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, the United Nations warns.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, says 4,836,445 Ukrainians have left the country since the Russian invasion on February 24.

Gold hits over 1-month high as Ukraine crisis weakens risk appetite

Gold prices rose on Monday to their highest since mid-March, as the Russia-Ukraine crisis soured risk sentiment and drove investors to the safety of bullion

China's economy grew at a faster than expected clip in the first quarter, data showed on Monday, expanding 4.8% year-on-year, but the risk of a sharp slowdown over coming months has risen as sweeping Covid-19 curbs and the Ukraine war take a heavy toll.

Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol defy surrender-or-die demand

Ukrainian fighters holed up in a steel plant in the last known pocket of resistance inside the shattered city of Mariupol ignored a surrender-or-die ultimatum from the Russians on Sunday and held out against the capture of the strategically vital port.

The fall of Mariupol, the site of a merciless, 7-week-old siege that has reduced much of the city to a smoking ruin, would be Moscow's biggest victory of the war yet and free up troops to take part in a potentially climactic battle for control of Ukraine's industrial east. (AP)