– 11 killed in strikes –
A Russian strike kills at least five people, including a baby, and wounds 18 others in Ukraine’s Black Sea city of Odesa, Kyiv says.
Separate strikes in Girske, a village in the eastern Luhansk region, kill six civilians, says governor Serhiy Haidai.
– Fighting in the east –
Authorities in two eastern Ukrainian regions report “fierce” fighting with Russian forces as hope fades for a truce over Orthodox Easter weekend.
The governor of the eastern Kharkiv region, Oleh Sinehubov, says Kyiv retook three villages near the Russian border after “fierce battles”.
– Russian gas exports –
A third of Russian gas exported to the European Union could be affected because of the war, says the head of Ukraine’s state gas company Naftogaz.
“We estimate a third of the gas exported from Russia to the European Union via Ukraine will be lost if the (Russian) forces of occupation don’t stop disrupting the working of the stations in the recently occupied territories,” Yuriy Vitrenko writes on Twitter.
– Mariupol evacuation –
Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of having thwarted attempts to evacuate more civilians from Mariupol, the devastated port city now largely controlled by Russian forces.
– UN chief criticised –
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky criticises a decision by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to visit Moscow on Tuesday, instead of travelling first to Kyiv.
Guterres will meet Zelensky on Thursday, but the Ukrainian leader argues there is “no justice and no logic” in his visiting Russia first.
– Blinken to visit Ukraine –
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Kyiv Sunday, the day the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its third month, says Zelensky.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will also visit, he adds. A US State Department official declines comment.
– Russia says hit arms depot –
Russia’s defence ministry announces a missile strike on a depot containing weapons delivered by the United States and European countries to Ukrainian forces near Odesa.
It was among 22 Ukrainian military sites Russia targeted by missiles Saturday, while Russian warplanes attacked 79 military sites, the ministry adds.
– Poland major arms delivery –
Poland has supplied Ukraine with weapons to the value of $1.6 billion, says Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Reports in the Polish media say the package includes 40 tanks and around 60 armoured cars.
– Nearly 5.2 million flee –
The number of Ukrainians fleeing the country since Russia’s invasion is now 5,163,686, the UN refugee agency says.
