Ukraine has “repelled numerous Russian assaults” along the line of contact in Donbas this week, British military intelligence has said.
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 said in its latest update.
“Poor Russian morale and limited time to reconstitute, re-equip and reorganise forces from prior offensives are likely hindering Russian combat effectiveness,” it added.
It comes as Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, prepares for a visit from the most senior US officials yet to visit Kyiv, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, as the war enters its third month.
But Mr Zelensky warned he would call off peace talks if Russia killed any of the last defenders of Mariupol, the besieged southern port city where a steel factory was struck by air strikes this weekend.
Meanwhile, eight people died in Russian attacks in Ukraine’s Luhansk region on Saturday, the regional governor said.
Follow the latest updates below.
08:45 AM
Zelensky vows ‘wickedness’ will not destroy Ukraine
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed on Sunday in an Orthodox Easter message that no “wickedness” would destroy the country.
Standing inside one of the country’s best known landmarks, the 1,000-year-old Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Mr Zelensky 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,” Mr Zelensky, 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.”
Subdued Easter celebrations took place across the country on Sunday, exactly two months since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Mr Zelensky added: “Give every boy and every girl a happy childhood, youth, and old age, which will allow at least a bit to shed the memories of their terrible childhood during the war.”
08:33 AM
Ukraine negotiator says Russia continuously shelling Mariupol
Senior Ukrainian negotiator and presidential adviser 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”
08:14 AM
Five things you may have missed
Good morning and welcome to our Russia-Ukraine latest updates, we’ll be with you through until 4pm.
Here are five developments so far this weekend to get you up to speed.
-
Russian assault on Mariupol steel works: Russia resumed its assault on the last defenders in a giant steel works in Mariupol, a Ukrainian official said, days after Moscow declared victory in the southern port city and said its forces did not need to take the factory.
-
Mother and baby among eight killed in Odesa attack: a mother and her baby daughter have been identified as two of the people killed by Russian missiles which hit a residential building in Odesa, a Black Sea port city, on Saturday.
-
Anthony Blinken and Lloyd Austin to visit Kyiv: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Kyiv on Sunday, the highest American delegation since the beginning of the war.
-
Zelensky criticises UN Secretary’s Russia visit as unjust: the Ukrainian president criticised a decision by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to visit Moscow on Tuesday, instead of travelling first to Kyiv.
-
‘A third of Russian gas to EU will be lost’: a third of Russian gas exported to the European Union could be affected because of the war, said the head of Ukraine’s state gas company Naftogaz.
More details on each of these here.
07:59 AM
I’d like to see more from France and Germany, says Dowden
France and Germany could be doing more to support Ukraine in its battle against Russia, according to a Cabinet minister.
Oliver Dowden, the Conservative Party chairman, told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “I would like to see more, but the Prime Minister is engaging on precisely that point.
“So, earlier this week he had a call not just with President Biden but also President Macron and the leaders of other countries such as Germany.
“There is a desire for us all to do it but it would be good to see more from France and Germany as well.”
07:44 AM
Eight people die in Russian attacks in Ukraine’s Luhansk region
Eight people died and two were injured in Russian attacks in Ukraine’s Luhansk region on Saturday, Serhiy Haidai, the region’s governor, wrote in a post on social media.
Reuters was not able to immediately verify the reports.
In a Telegram post, he wrote that six people died when the towns of Hirske and Zolote were hit on Saturday.
Two more people were reportedly found dead under the rubble of a destroyed house in the town of Popasna, he added.
07:41 AM
Ukraine’s Orthodox worshippers turn away from Moscow during Easter
Father Myhailo Syvak, a 35-year old priest at the Cathedral of the Holy Intercession in Lviv, tells me that his parishioners are willing to die “for our freedom and our independence”.
He does not just mean the freedom of their state.
Fr Syvak supports the autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which in 2018 declared its independence from the Russian Orthodox leadership of Patriarch Kirill in Moscow.
Since the beginning of the war, dozens of parishes in Lviv have officially joined the UOC; nationwide, it is estimated that around half of all Orthodox parishes are looking to make a similar break.
But some Ukrainian priests remain loyal to Mr Kirill and are accused of preaching against resistance to the invasion, even of giving away the movements of Ukrainian troops.
07:39 AM
Top US officials to visit Kyiv on Sunday
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin were to visit Kyiv on Sunday to discuss Ukraine’s request for more powerful weapons after months of combat with invading Russian forces.
The visit, announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, would be the highest-level visit by US officials to the country since the start of the war on February 24.
As the war enters its third month, there is no end in sight to the fighting that has shocked the world, killed thousands, uprooted millions and reduced cities to rubble.
“Tomorrow we will discuss this exact list of weapons that are essential for us and the pace of deliveries,” Zelensky told a dramatic Saturday evening news conference in an underground metro station.
“We would like to have… powerful heavy weapons. As soon as we have (more weapons), as soon as there are enough of them, believe me, we will immediately retake this or that territory, which is temporarily occupied.”
