UKRAINE WRAP | Calls for 'real Easter truce'

April 24 2022 -16:00

Ukraine blames Russia after Mariupol humanitarian corridor fails on Sunday

No humanitarian routes were established out of the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Sunday, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, blaming Russian forces for not holding their fire.

Vereshchuk said that the Ukrainian side would try again on Monday to establish safe passage out of Mariupol. She called for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is scheduled to travel to Moscow before visiting Kyiv next week, to demand a ceasefire and open up humanitarian corridors from Mariupol.

"This is what Guterres should talk about in Moscow, if he is preparing to talk about peace," Vereshchuk said.

-Reuters

April 24 2022 -14:00

Erdogan tells Zelenskyy that Turkey ready to assist in negotiations

Turkey is ready to give all possible assistance during the negotiation process between Ukraine and Russia, President Tayyip Erdogan told Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a telephone call, the Turkish presidency said on Sunday.

Erdogan said the evacuation of the wounded and civilians in Ukraine's Mariupol must be ensured, adding that Turkey viewed the guarantor issue positively in principle. Ukraine has sought security guarantees from various countries during talks.

– Reuters

April 24 2022 -13:30

Trump: I would not allow Putin to use nuclear threat

April 24 2022 -13:00

Russian ambassador to U.S. says mission's work 'blockaded' - RIA

The working of the Russian embassy in Washington is "blockaded", with its bank accounts closed and staff receiving threats, state news agency RIA cited ambassador Anatoly Antonov as saying on Sunday.

"The embassy is in essence blockaded by U.S. government entities. Accounts of our two consulates in Houston and New York have been closed by Bank of America," Antonov was quoted as saying.

"We receive threats both by phone and letters come... At some point even the exit from the embassy was blocked," he added.

Russia and the United States had been locked in a dispute over the size and functioning of their respective diplomatic missions long before President Vladimir Putin launched what he calls his "special military operation" against Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Since then, Russian embassies in Europe have also come under pressure and more than 300 Russian staff have been expelled from European capitals, prompting Moscow to kick out foreign diplomats in response.

The Russian ambassador to Poland told Reuters last week that the blocking of his embassy's bank accounts last month could eventually prevent it from functioning, in which case Russia would halt the work of the Polish embassy in Moscow.

Western governments have imposed drastic sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine, prompting Moscow to accuse them of frenzied Russophobia.

– Reuters

April 24 2022 -12:00

Two children killed in shelling in Ukraine's Donetsk region- governor

Two children were killed on Sunday in shelling by Russian forces, the governor of Ukraine's Donetsk region said, urging people to evacuate areas near the fighting.Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram that the children, girls aged 5 and 14, had died in the Ocheretynsk community after the building where they lived was destroyed.

– Reuters

April 24 2022 -11:50

'Where can we go?' Residents of embattled Donbas town refuse to leave

April 24 2022 -11:30

Russia says it struck arms depots in Ukraine's Kharkiv region

Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday its high-precision missiles struck nine Ukrainian military targets overnight, including four arms depots in the Kharkiv region where artillery weapons were stored.

The ministry also said its missile and artillery forces destroyed a further four such arms depots in the same region and hit a facility in Dnipropetrovsk region producing explosives for the Ukrainian army.

– Reuters

April 24 2022 -11:00

Ukraine’s Farmers Fight on the Front Line of Global Food Crisis

Around this time of year, Yaroslav Andrushko would normally be overseeing the sowing of crops on his 1,000-hectare farm in the Vinnytsya region of central Ukraine.

Instead, he swapped his workwear for fatigues, joining the army a day after Russia invaded his country.

“Once a farmer always a farmer,” said Andrushko, the chief executive of a small agriculture company. “But circumstances required us to take up arms.”

As Ukrainians resist Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military machine, the 36-year-old is another example of the resilience shown by so many of his compatriots in protecting their nation’s statehood.

Yet Andrushko and farmers like him are also defending a core component of the global food supply chain that’s increasingly in peril.

Ukraine is the world’s largest producer of sunflower oil and ranks among the top six exporters of wheat, corn, chicken and even honey.

The money it earns from agriculture — $28 billion last year — is now more vital because of the war effort, and the produce more critical for a world where record prices are raising concerns about food security.

Egypt and Turkey, which rely on Russian and Ukrainian grain, are grappling with skyrocketing inflation.

The government in Cairo is considering raising the price of subsidized bread for the first time in four decades.

Shortages of sunflower oil in Europe, meanwhile, are forcing suppliers to seek alternatives. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

April 24 2022 -10:30

Ukraine negotiator says Russia continuously shelling Mariupol, urges "real Easter truce"

Senior Ukrainian negotiator and presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on Sunday that Russian forces were continuously shelling Mariupol and urged Moscow to agree a "real Easter truce".

"Russia is continuously attacking the Mariupol Azovstal. The place where our civilians and military are located, is shelled with heavy air bombs and artillery," Podolyak said on Twitter.

He urged Russia to "think about the remnants of its reputation" and called for "a real Easter truce in Mariupol" alongside an immediate humanitarian corridor for civilians and special round of talks to facilitate the exchange of military and civilians"

– Reuters

April 24 2022 - 10:00

On Orthodox Easter, Zelenskiy vows 'wickedness' will not destroy Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed on Sunday in an Orthodox Easter message that no “wickedness” will destroy the country and prayed that God returns happiness to children and brings solace to grieving mothers.

Standing inside one of the country's best known landmarks, the 1,000-year-old Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said in a video address that Ukraine will overcome the darkness that the war has brought upon it.

“Today, we still believe in the new victory of Ukraine and we are all convinced that we will not be destroyed by any horde or wickedness,” Zelenskyy, wearing his trademark dark khaki outfit, said.

“We are overcoming dark times and on this day I — and most of us — are not in bright clothes, but we are fighting for a luminous idea.”

April 24 2022 - 09:30

Christian Orthodox spiritual leader says indescribable tragedy in Ukraine

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, called overnight for the opening of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine where he said "an indescribable human tragedy is unfolding".

Bartholomew, who has previously called for an end to war in Ukraine, said that he hoped this year's Easter would be "the impetus to open humanitarian corridors, safe passages to truly safe areas for the thousands of people surrounded in Mariupol."

"The same applies to all other regions of Ukraine, where an indescribable human tragedy is unfolding... We call once again for an immediate end to the fratricidal war, which, like any war, undermines human dignity," Bartholomew said after an Easter service in Istanbul, where he is based.

The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose backing for Moscow's "special military operation" in Ukraine has dismayed many fellow Christians, said on Saturday he hoped it would end quickly but again did not condemn it.

In 2019, Bartholomew, the spiritual head of some 300 million Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, making it independent, in a historic split strongly opposed by Russia. 

– Reuters

April 24 2022 - 09:05

Gazprom's gas exports to Europe via Ukraine up on Sunday

Russian gas producer Gazprom said it was supplying natural gas to Europe via Ukraine on Sunday in line with requests from European consumers.Requests stood at 51.7 million cubic metres for April 24, up from 48.6 million cubic metres on April 23. 

– Reuters

April 24 2022 - 08:30

One person dies in night shelling in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk - governor

A 48-year-old man died in overnight shelling in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentyn Reznichenko, the region's governor, said on Sunday in an online posting.

– Reuters

April 24 2022 - 08:00

Britain says Ukraine repelled numerous Russian assaults along the line of contact in Donbas

Ukraine has repelled numerous Russian assaults along the line of contact in Donbas this week, a British military update said on Sunday.

Despite Russia making some territorial gains, Ukrainian resistance has been strong across all axes and inflicted a significant cost on Russian forces, the UK Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin.

"Poor Russian morale and limited time to reconstitute, re-equip and reorganise forces from prior offensives are likely hindering Russian combat effectiveness," the update added.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. 

– Reuters

April 24 2022 - 07:50

Ukraine says Russia deploys Iskander-M launchers near border

Russia has deployed Iskander-M mobile battlefield missile launchers within 60 km (40 miles) of the Ukrainian border, General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Sunday.

"Then enemy has increased the number of troops in the Belgorod region by transferring and concentrating additional units," the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its daily morning update."

According to available information, Iskander-M launchers have been deployed 60 km from the border with Ukraine," it said, without providing more detail on the location of the systems.

Reuters could not immediately to verify the reports. There was no immediate reaction from Moscow to the reports.

Belgorod is a city and the administrative centre of Russia's Belgorod region, north of the border with Ukraine.

The Iskander, a mobile ballistic missile system codenamed SS-26 Stone by NATO, replaced the Soviet Scud missile. Its two guided missiles have a range of up to 500 km (300 miles) and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads.

Russia said on Friday it wanted to control all of southern Ukraine. Kyiv said this showed Moscow had wider goals than its declared aim of demilitarising and "denazifying" the country.

Ukraine and the West call the invasion, now in its third month, an unjustified war of aggression.

– Reuters

April 24 2022 - 07:30

Eight people die in Russian attacks in Ukraine's Luhansk region - governor

Eight people died in Russian attacks in Ukraine's Luhansk region on Saturday, Serhiy Gaidai, the region's governor, wrote in a post on social media.Reuters was not able to immediately verify the reports.

– Reuters

April 24 2022 - 06:40

Russia renews Mariupol attacks, top US officials to visit Kyiv, Ukraine says

Russia resumed its assault on the last Ukrainian defenders holed up in a giant steel works in Mariupol, days after Moscow declared victory in the southern city and said its forces did not need to take the plant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country's army was not ready to try to break through the siege of the port city.

But he said America's top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, would visit Kyiv on Sunday and discuss the types of weapons Ukraine needs as Russia's invasion enters its third month.

– Reuters

April 24 2022 - 06:00

Students use art skills to raise money for Ukraine