Lithuania's prime minister on Monday toured the war-shattered Ukrainian town of Borodianka near Kyiv where rescue crews are scouring rubble for the missing after the destruction wrought by Russian forces.
"Today, my visit in Ukraine started in Borodianka. No words could possibly describe what I saw and felt here," premier Ingrida Simonyte wrote on Twitter.
Russia's war in Ukraine, and not the sanctions imposed on Moscow, is what is causing an escalating global food crisis, the EU's top diplomat said Monday. "They are causing scarcity. They are bombing Ukrainian cities and provoking hunger in the world," Josep Borrell told a media conference after chairing a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Three Russian regions bordering Ukraine announced they were stepping up security measures on Monday over what they said were "possible provocations" from the Ukrainian side.
Moscow, which sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in what it called a "special military operation", has accused Ukraine of targeting its border regions, including by striking a fuel depot in the city of Belgorod earlier this month.
The PM also said that India will send another shipment of medicines to Ukraine soon.
Russia's communications regulator on Monday demanded Google take immediate steps to remove threats against Russian users from its platforms.
"Roskomnadzor sent a demand to the American IT company Google LLC to immediately take measures to exclude statements of threats against Russian users from the company's services", the regulator, known as Roskomnadzor, said in a statement.
Ukraine is expecting Russia to launch a major offensive in the east of the country "soon", Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said at a briefing on Monday.
Croatia on Monday told 24 Russian embassy staff to leave over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and "brutal aggression", the foreign ministry said in a statement, following similar moves by other EU countries.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow will not pause its military operation in Ukraine before the next round of peace talks.
French police officers arrived in Ukraine on Monday to help the country investigate alleged Russian war crimes after hundreds of civilian bodies were discovered in towns around Kyiv, the French ambassador to Ukraine said.
"Proud to welcome to Lviv the detachment of technical and scientific gendarmes who came to assist their comrades in investigations of war crimes committed near Kyiv," Etienne de Poncins said on Twitter.
A visit by Austria's chancellor to Moscow on Monday is aimed at mitigating "the humanitarian hell in Ukraine", notably by pleading for "humanitarian corridors", his foreign minister said.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer was to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, becoming the first European leader to visit Moscow since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Russian forces are intensifying attacks against Ukrainian defenders holding positions across the eastern Donbas sector, and are taking losses without gaining ground at most locations, Ukrainian army and international military situation estimate said.
(KyivPost)
Tens of thousands of people have likely been killed in Russia's assault on the southeastern city of Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy said on Monday, as he asked Seoul for any military aid it could provide.
Zelenskiyy did not specify which weapons he sought but said South Korea had many weapons that could not only help save the lives of ordinary Ukrainians, but help prevent Russia from attacking other nation. [Reuters reported]
Nine humanitarian corridors to evacuate people from Ukraine's besieged eastern regions have been agreed for Monday between Kyiv and Moscow, including five in the Luhansk region, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
The planned corridors include one for people evacuating by private transport from the city of Mariupol, Vereshchuk said. [Reuters reported]
Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Monday that the European Commission was working on details of an oil embargo on Russia as part of a possible next sanctions package, but that nothing has been decided.
He said he hoped it could be agreed upon by the EU's 27 states as soon as possible but gave no further details. (Reuters Reports)
Head of Kyiv regional military administration Oleksandr Pavliuk said on April 11 that Russian forces left many “surprises,” including mines that had been set as traps, Ukrinform reports.
(The Kyiv Independent)
Russian shelling has continued in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with Ukrainian forces repulsing several assaults resulting in the destruction of Russian tanks, vehicles and artillery equipment, the UK's Ministry of Defence tweeted.
Ukraine's president warned his nation Sunday night that the coming week would be as crucial as any in the war. "Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.
He accusedRussiaof trying to evade responsibility for war crimes. "When people lack the courage to admit their mistakes, apologize, adapt to reality and learn, they turn into monsters. And when the world ignores it, the monsters decide that it is the world that has to adapt to them. Ukraine will stop all this," Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine said Sunday it had found more than 1,200 bodies in the Kyiv region, the scene of atrocities allegedly committed by Russian troops, as residents in the country's east braced -- or fled -- ahead of an expected massive offensive.
Heavy bombardments hammered Ukraine through the weekend, adding to mounting casualties six weeks intoRussia's invasion of its neighbour.
Ukraine's economic output will likely contract by a staggering 45.1% this year as Russia's invasion has shuttered businesses, slashed exports and rendered economic activity impossible in large swaths of the country, the World Bank said on Sunday in a new report.
The White House said President Joe Biden will press Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a hard line against Russia's Ukraine invasion. Press Secretary Jen Psaki says the leaders plan a virtual meeting on Monday.
The United States is committed to providing Ukraine with “the weapons it needs” to defend itself against Russia, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday as Ukraine seeks more military aid from the West.