Ukraine: Latest Developments You Need To Know

The war in Ukraine is far from over as there are no telltale signs Moscow is backing down its incursion, with Lviv heavily shelled by Russian troops, and Ukrainians vowing to “fight to the end”, in the nearly two-month military showdown.

Here are some latest developments in the war in Ukraine.

– At least six dead, eight injured in Russian ”powerful” strikes on Lviv –

A series of “powerful” Russian strikes on military infrastructure in Lviv on Monday left several dead and ignited blazes in the western Ukraine city that has been spared fierce fighting.

A resident of Lviv told AFP they could see thick plumes of grey smoke rising above residential buildings and air raid sirens sounded throughout the city during and after the strikes.

“At the moment, we are able to confirm that six are dead and eight injured. A child was among the victims,” the Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytsky said on social media.

He said that four Russian missiles had targeted Ukrainian military infrastructure and that a car tyre centre had also been struck.

“Fires were set off as a result of the strikes. They are still being put out. The facilities were severely damaged,” Kozytsky said.

Twenty-one-year-old Lviv resident Andrei said he was sleeping when the sirens began wailing at around 8:00 am (0600 GMT).

“I slept through the first three strikes, but then when the last one hit, it was like my windows were about to break, and the furniture moved,” he said.

– Russia seeking to ‘destroy’ Donbas: Zelensky –

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky 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,” Zelensky says in an evening statement.

– Mariupol will ‘fight to the end’ – 

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”.

– Civilian evacuation paused –

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

– Military plant hit: Russia –

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 ammunition factory near the settlement of Brovary, Kyiv region,” the ministry says in a statement on Telegram.

– Macron invited to see evidence of ‘genocide’ in Ukraine –

Zelensky 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,” Zelensky tells CNN.

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“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.”

– Five killed in Kharkiv –

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

– Pope urges peace during ‘Easter of war’ –

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.

– ‘Useless’ talking to Putin: Draghi –

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”.

– Sanctions and reprisals –

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”.

– No homes to return to: UN –

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

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says 4,836,445 Ukrainians have left the country since the Russian invasion on February 24.

– Kyiv halts evacuations for second day over Russian shelling –
Ukraine said Monday it was halting for a second consecutive day the evacuation of civilians from frontline towns and cities in the east of the country, accusing Russian forces of blocking and shelling escape routes.

“Unfortunately, today, April 18, there will be no humanitarian corridors.

”In violation of international humanitarian law, the Russian occupiers have not stopped blocking and shelling humanitarian routes,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on social media.

Kyiv has several times previously paused the operation of humanitarian corridors that make it possible for civilians to flee Russian forces, but Monday’s announcement is the longest such pause.

Vereshchuk said there had been “long and difficult negotiations” with Russia over several routes, particularly from the besieged and destroyed coastal port city of Mariupol.

Ukrainian authorities have been urging people in the South-Eastern Donbas region of the country to quickly move west to escape a large-scale Russian offensive to capture the region.

They have also accused Russia of targeting evacuation infrastructure, including buses and a train station in Kramatorsk where more than 50 people were reported killed in Russian strikes.