Renewed strikes in Kyiv after sinking of Russian ship

• Zelenskyy warns Russia against targeting the last Ukrainian troops in Mariupol.
• Luhansk governor says Russia readying for new eastern offensive
• Ukraine's PM head to Washington for World Bank-IMF summit
• Explosions reported in Kyiv after Russia threatened retaliation for sinking of ship

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1,450 people evacuated from contested areas

The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 1,450 people were evacuated from contested areas of Ukraine on Saturday.

Of those, 1,380 people were taken to Zaporizhzhia from several city in the southern and eastern part of Ukraine. The figure also includes 170 people from the besieged city of Mariupol and 68 people from the Luhansk region.

The city of Lysychansk in the Luhansk region could not be evacuated due to "massive shelling."

Russia buries general commanding Mariupol forces

Major General Vladimir Frolov, the deputy commander of the 8th Army, whose forces have laid siege to the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, was buried in St. Petersburg.

Governor Alexander Beglov released a statement that said Frolov "died a heroic death in battle" but mentioned neither the date nor location of his death.

Russian news website showed images of his St. Petersburg grave with red and white flowers on it.

Ukraine has claimed its forces have killed several Russian generals and other high-ranking officers since Russia invaded on February 24.

Zelenskyy says the world should be 'worried' over Russia's nuclear arsenal

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the threat of Russia using nuclear weapons to be taken seriously.

"Not only me — all of the world, all of the countries have to be worried," he told US broadcaster CNN.

Regarding chemical weapons, Zelenskyy said that it was more important to be ready than afraid.

His comments come after CIA chief Bill Burns said that concerns over Russia using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine should not be taken lightly.

Unlike strategic nuclear weapons, which are designed for an all-out intercontinental war, tactical nuclear weapons are made to be used in smaller war theaters but would still cause death and devastation on a gigantic scale, incomparable with the use of conventional explosives.

Putin 'believes he is winning the war,' says Austrian chancellor

After meeting Russia's Vladimir Putin earlier this week, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer told US broadcaster NBC that the Russian president was "in his own war logic."

"I think he believes he is winning the war," Nehammer said.

During his visit to Moscow on Monday, the Austrian chancellor also formed an impression that Putin believed the war in Ukraine was necessary to ensure Russia's security.

Nehammer added that "we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine."

Ukraine's Zelenskyy says peace talks could end with two agreements

Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine could produce two documents — one to be signed with Ukraine's partners and the other with Russia, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The one with partner countries would guarantee Ukraine's security, he told reporters.

"Russia wants everything in a single document… but other countries don't quite see themselves (sitting) at the same table with the Russian Federation," Zelenskyy was quoted as saying by the Ukrainski Novini news agency.

That is why an accord with Russia could be separate from the one with partner countries, the president said.

After wartime violence, including what we witnessed in Bucha, Ukraine's allies "are less and less willing to have any agreements with Russia," according to Zelenskyy.

Russia puts Ukraine's losses at over 23,000

Ukraine has suffered 23,367 "irretrievable" personnel losses since the fighting started, Russian officials said on Saturday. This includes regular members of the Ukrainian army, its National Guard, and also "foreign mercenaries," according to Russia's Defense Ministry.

The ministry did not specify if the toll includes only deaths, or if it also accounted for injured soldiers.

Ukraine has provided a much lower death toll for its troops. On Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had lost between 2,500 and 3,000 soldiers.

The two warring sides have also provided conflicting tallies on Russian losses, with Kyiv saying around 20,000 Russian soldiers have been killed while Russia's most recent update, on March 25, put the death toll at 1,351.

None of the numbers could be independently verified.

UK to deliver armored vehicles to Ukraine, Johnson says

The UK will send armored vehicles to Ukraine "in the coming days" according to a statement from the office of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Johnson pledged that London would continue to help Ukraine "defend its sovereignty in the weeks and months to come.

"Zelenskyy updated Johnson on the situation in Mariupol, and the UK leader "saluted Ukrainian resistance in the city," Johnson's aides said.

After Black Sea flagship 'Moskva' sinks, Russia shows video of crew

Russian officials published a video of what they say are sailors from the missile cruiser "Moskva" which sunk two days ago.

According to Russia's narrative, the cruiser was damaged after a fire broke out and detonated ammunition aboard its Black Sea flagship. Russian officials also said that all sailors aboard the vessel, which normally has a crew of over 500 people, have been evacuated on time. Ukraine says its forces hit the vessel with a missile strike and that Russian lifeboats were not able to reach the vessel in time due to stormy seas.

The ship sunk while being towed to port, Russia says.

The short video published by the Russian Defense Ministry apparently shows Russia's top naval commander Nikolai Yevmenov meeting dozens of Navy servicemen in the Crimean port of Sevastopol. It was not possible to determine how many sailors were present at the site, although some social media users expressed doubt that all of the ship's crew was accounted for.

Russia says all of urban Mariupol cleared of Ukrainian fighters

With weeks-long fighting in Mariupol seemingly drawing to a close, Russian officials said Ukrainian forces have been pushed out of the port city.

"The entire urban area of ​​Mariupol has been completely cleared ... remnants of the Ukrainian group are currently completely blockaded on the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant," the Russian defense ministry said.

According to Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashev, some 2,500 fighters might still be barricaded in the steelworks plant.

"Their only chance to save their lives is to voluntarily lay down their arms and surrender," Konashev.

Previously, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that killing remaining fighters in Mariupol would halt peace talks with Russia.

Medvedchuk's wife urges Vladimir Putin to help free pro-Russian politician

Oksana Marchenko, the wife of detained Kremlin ally Viktor Mevedchuk, called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to help facilitate a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.

Medvedchuk is one of the richest men in Ukraine and is seen as a key Putin ally in the country, having previously served as a chairman of the pro-Kremlin political party Opposition Platform for Life. He was detained last year on suspicion of treason before fleeing the house arrest days after Russia launched its invasion on Ukraine. But earlier this week, Ukrainian officials published a photo of Medvedchuk in handcuffs, saying he had been recaptured.

Urging Putin to mediate in a YouTube video, Medvedchuk's wife said the Ukrainian move against her husband had "nothing to do with common sense."

Her appeal comes despite the Kremlin already saying they were not interested in the exchange.

"Medvedchuk is not a Russian citizen, he is a foreign politician," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

Moscow warns Czech Republic over Soviet-era weapons

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky says Russia has told Prague not to transfer heavy weapons dating back to the days of the Soviet Union to Ukraine.

Lipavsky told Czech news agency CTK there were no clauses in the original agreements that could prevent the movement of the weapons.

Local media reported that dozens of Soviet-era T-72 tanks and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles had been sent from the Czech Republic to Ukraine. However, officials have refused to comment on any agreement.

Kyiv has called for countries still in possession of Soviet-era tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to pass them on, adding that Ukrainian troops are familiar with such weapons and do not require further training.

Spanish village renamed Ukraine

A small village in southern Spain has changed its name to Ukraine in solidarity with those caught up in the conflict.

On a sign at a roundabout at the village's entrance, Ukraine has replaced Fuentes de Andalucia and the country's blue and yellow flag has been painted alongside.

Streets have been renamed City of Kyiv, Odesa and Mariupol in the village of more than 7,100 inhabitants, east of Seville.

The villagers have also raised €3,500 ($3,780) within two days toward a planned refugee center, which could house up to 25 Ukrainians.

Zelenskyy issues ultimatum over Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned Russia against targeting the last Ukrainian troops trapped in the besieged port of Mariupol.

Zelenskyy said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda news website that the killing of the soldiers by Russia's military would put pay to peace talks with Moscow.

"The elimination of our troops, of our men (in Mariupol) will put an end to any negotiations," Zelenskyy said. "That will be an impasse as we don't negotiate neither our territories nor our people."

The last soldiers guarding the port city said this week they were running out of ammunition and expected to be captured or killed within days.

Ukrainian premier, finance minister head to global finance talks

Ukrainian ministers will travel to Washington this weekend for the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, which begins on Monday.

A World Bank representative confirmed that Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and National Bank chief Kyrylo Shevchenko will attend the talks alongside other finance ministers, central bankers and top officials from around the world.

The talks take place ahead of the G20 finance summit on Wednesday, which includes representatives from the world's leading industrialized and emerging economies, including Russia.

Washington has threatened to boycott certain G20 meetings if Russian representatives attend and Ukraine is not invited.

Russia: Germany involved in Ukraine biological labs

Moscow has claimed that Germany has participated in biological research in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged that Germany worked with the United States to create dozens of biological laboratories.

"According to confirmed information, the German side has closely coordinated its work in the field of biological security with its American colleagues, who have created a network of at least 30 biological laboratories in Ukraine," Zakharova said in remarks to state broadcaster RT.

She described the work as "dangerous scientific research," but did not provide evidence to back up the claim.

Russia has previously claimed, without proof, that the US is helping to develop biological weapons in Ukraine, which Washington denounced as "total nonsense."

Ukrainian governor: Russian military readying for Luhansk offensive

The top official in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region has warned that Russia has gathered tens of thousands of soldiers nearby for an offensive in the near future.

"They already have everything ready for an assault," Governor Serhiy Hajday said, adding that Russian troops were likely waiting for better weather before launching attacks in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

Hajday said the Russian military has transported hundreds of units of technology to the region

German minister: Sending tanks to Ukraine not an act of war

German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said the delivery of heavy weaponry to Ukraine — including tanks — would not constitute an entry into the conflict.

Buschmann told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that international law does not categorize weapons deliveries as an entry into war.

"So if Ukraine exercises its legitimate right to self-defense, supporting it by supplying weapons cannot lead to becoming a party to the war," he said.

The German government has struggled to agree on what kind of weaponry to give Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has refused to commit to sending heavier weapons such as tanks, helicopters and planes, although some ministers within his coalition are pushing for stronger support.

Buschmann also said Russian President Vladimir Putin would likely be exempt from war crimes charges as international law stipulates that sitting heads of state may not be investigated.

Switzerland: Russians, Belarusians should be banned from top sporting positions

The Swiss government has called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to exclude Russian and Belarusian officials from top posts in international sports federations.

Minister of Sport and Defense Viola Amherd wrote in a letter that a measure to exclude the two countries' athletes from international competitions doesn't go far enough.

Several sports associations, including the IOC, football governing body FIFA, European football ruling body UEFA and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), have their headquarters in Switzerland.

A spokesperson for the Federal Office of Sport wants the IOC to pressure the bodies by threatening to exclude them from the Olympic family.

Diplomat: Kyiv still working with Turkey despite being Russia ally

An unnamed Ukrainian diplomat says his country is working with Turkey despite Ankara's parallel ties to Moscow.

Turkey has criticized the invasion and sold drones to Kyiv despite Russian objections, but it has also opposed Western sanctions against Moscow.

"We would be happy if Turkey joined the sanctions" and cut flights from Russia. "But we understand this reality," the diplomat told foreign journalists on condition of anonymity.

"...Instead of criticizing Turkey, we are working with the Turkish side as much as possible, and not demanding something that is improbable," the person added.

The diplomat noted that Turkey was still the only country that had managed to bring both sides together for peace talks.

Turkey has also helped to "save" Ukraine's coastal city of Odesa from falling to Russia, by barring some Russian warships from transiting its straits to the Black Sea, the diplomat said.

Russia holding 1,000 Ukrainians captive, says Kyiv

The Ukrainian government says Russia is holding around 700 Ukrainian soldiers and several hundred civilians captive.

"They have seized more than 1,000 people," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told Ukrainian television, adding that around half of them were women.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has captured about 700 Russian soldiers, she added.

Vereshchuk called on Russia to release the civilians unconditionally.

Since the start of the war, both sides have exchanged prisoners several times.

According to Russian media, separatists in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk alone have captured more than 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

In the besieged port city of Mariupol, more than 1,000 marines are said to have surrendered, although Kyiv has denied this report.

Kyiv expects further strikes

Following an airstrike on Kyiv on Saturday morning that killed at least one person, the city's Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko warned that the Ukrainian capital would likely be the target of more strikes.

His comments came as he recommended that people who have started to return to the city reconsider their plans for the time being.

"We're not ruling out further strikes on the capital," Klitschko said. "We can't prohibit, we can only recommend. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where it's safer, do it."

Russia has said it will increase its attacks on Kyiv after Ukrainians claimed to have fired a missile that sank the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet.

Peace marches set off around Germany

Almost 80 Easter peace marches kicked off in cities across Germany on Saturday.

The tradition dates back to the Cold War when participants called for an end to the arms race.

But German lawmakers have called on the peace marches to recognize the need to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Many in the peace movement are pacifists and oppose Germany's delivery of weapons to Ukraine.

"Peace can and will only be achieved when Putin's war of aggression stops," German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck said on Saturday to the Funk Media Group.

"So, the Easter peace marches should make it clear that they oppose Putin's war," Habeck said, adding that "pacifism is a distant dream at the moment."

Nine humanitarian corridors established

Nine escape routes for civilians living in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, now the main focus of the Russian invasion, were set up on Saturday, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. 

One of the corridors is running from Mariupol to the city of Zaporizhzhya.

Another was set up to help the remaining 20,000 residents — out of the 130,000 living there before the war — flee the embattled city of Sievierodenetsk.

Vereshchuk reiterated in a Telegram message that the corridors will only work if Russian forces stop shelling the routes.

Russia bans UK PM Boris Johnson from the country

Moscow said on Saturday that it was imposing an entry ban on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson as well as several other top British officials.

The move is a response to new sanctions introduced by London.

"This step was taken as a response to London's unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for restricting our country and strangling the domestic economy," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Infrastructure damage obstructing aid — UK

The UK's Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that parts of Ukraine have been left with minimal access after Russian troops destroyed bridges and left land mines.

This has caused a problem in the north of the country where Russian occupying forces withdrew. The ministry gave the example of the city of Chernihiv — a city that normally has around 285,000 — that has been left with just one pedestrian bridge crossing the river Desna.

This destruction of infrastructure is presenting "a significant challenge in delivering humanitarian aid to areas formerly besieged by Russia," the British ministry said.

Russia claims hit on military plant in Kyiv

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that it had destroyed buildings belonging to a production plant for armored vehicles in Kyiv.

"High-precision long-range air-launched weapons destroyed production buildings of an armaments plant in Kyiv," the ministry said on Telegram.

The Russian news agency Interfax also cited the ministry as saying that Russian strikes had hit a military repair facility in the southern city of Mykolaiv.

Kyiv's mayor Vitaliy Klitschko later said that one person was killed and several were wounded in the strike.

 "Our forces are doing everything possible to protect us, but the enemy is insidious and ruthless," he said on social media.

Explosions hit Kyiv: mayor

Rescuers and medics were deployed on Saturday morning after explosions rocked the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said.

The explosions were heard in the district of Darnytsia, an area with over 1 million residents, the mayor said.

He also stressed that residents should not ignore the air raid sirens and warned against people traveling to the city.

There were also reports of strikes around the western city of Lviv, but without information regarding casualties or damages. Regional Governor Maksym Kozytskyy said that the airstrikes had been carried out by planes that took off from an airfield in Belarus, according to the Associated Press.

Following the sinking of the flagship "Moskva," Russia pledged to retaliate with strikes against Kyiv.

Germany pledges to prosecute Russian war criminals

Germany's Justice Minister Marco Buschmann called on Ukrainian refugees in Germany to contact police "if they have been victims or witnesses of war crimes."

His comments came in an interview with the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. He also told the paper that Germany would prosecute Russians believed to be involved in such crimes.

"If we get hold of Russian citizens and can charge them based on evidence, then we will prosecute them in line with the universal jurisdiction principle — just as we did with the Syrian torturers," he said.

Buschmann also supported giving immediate protection and residency to "Russian civil rights activists, Putin-critical journalists and artists critical of the regime."

The justice minister also referred to the debate in Germany regarding the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine, saying that the position of the government was sending even tanks would not constitute an act of joining the war against Russia.

"So if Ukraine exercises its legitimate right of self-defense, supporting it by supplying weapons cannot lead to becoming a party to the war," he said.

Moscow has previously warned that it would consider the sending of heavy weaponry to Ukraine by western powers an act of aggression.

Berlin said on Friday that it would increase its military assistance spending for the year to €2 billion ($2.16 billion), most of which would be earmarked for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy says up to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with US broadcaster CNN that Ukrainian officials believed that around 2,500 to 3,000 of their troops have died since Russia launched its invasion on February 24.

Zelenskyy added that around 10,000 Ukrainian troops have been injured. He said that Russia claimed that there had been between 19,000 and 20,000 Ukrainian fatalities.

NATO estimated late in March between 7,000 and 13,000 Russian troops had died. Recently, Moscow claimed that only around 1,350 Russian soldiers had perished during the conflict.

Ukrainian prime minister to visit Washington

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal will visit Washington next week alongside Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko.

The three officials will be in Washington during the spring meetings of the International Monetary fund and World Bank which are slated to meet bilaterally with finance officials from the G-7 countries.

The World Bank will host a round table on Ukraine on Thursday.

Ukraine releases postage stamp depicting Russian warship

In Ukraine, a postage stamp depicting a Ukrainian soldier giving the finger to a Russian warship has become a collector's item.

Hundreds of Ukrainians have queued for hours at the main post office in Kyiv to get copies of the stamp.

In February, a Ukrainian border guard on Snake Island in the country's south shouted "go f*** yourself" to a Russian warship that had urged guards on the island to surrender.

The Russian warship that contacted the Snake Island border guards, the Black Fleet flagship "Moskva," was confirmed to have sunk on April 14. Russian forces said that the vessel sank while it was being towed to shore.

Kyiv claimed the Moskva sunk after being hit by Ukrainian missiles.

Flixbus offers trips to Kyiv

German long-distance bus brand Flixbus is again offering trips to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

"We've been waiting for the right time to resume some of our routes, particularly to the Ukrainian capital," regional manager Michal Lehmann said. Connections from Warsaw to Kyiv and Prague to Kyiv will resume on Monday.

A new Budapest-Kyiv route is set to go into operation on April 28.

Flixbus had cut connections to Kyiv at the beginning of the Russian invasion. Connections to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv continued to operate.

Summary of Friday's events in Ukraine-Russia crisis

Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk's wife said that photos released by Kyiv this week showed that the lawmaker had been maltreated while in detention.

Finland is "highly likely" to apply for NATO membership, one of the country's cabinet ministers said.

Thousands of Serbs marched through Belgrade to the Russian embassy to protest the government's bid to distance itself from Moscow after its invasion.

Germany released nearly €3 billion ($3.2 billion) to acquire floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals, the Finance Ministry said.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner confirmed that Berlin would boost military assistance spending in 2022 to €2 billion ($2.16 billion). Most of the funds were earmarked for Ukraine.

A Russian news editor was detained for alleging that 11 riot police members had refused to join Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked US President Joe Biden to designate Russia as a "state sponsor of terrorism" during a recent call.

ab, sdi,dj/jsi, fb (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)