That's our live blog coming to a close for Friday. 

We're back on Saturday morning with more live coverage of events in Ukraine. 

Sergei Lavrov dismisses need for UN help with humanitarian evacuations

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appears to have dismissed the need for the United Nations to help secure humanitarian corridors out of Ukraine's besieged cities, striking a tough line a day after the UN chief toured war-wracked Kyiv with that very aim.

As an interviewer at Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV tried to ask Lavrov about UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ proposals for humanitarian assistance and evacuation of civilians, Lavrov cut him off.

“There is no need. I know, I know,” an irritated Lavrov said. “There is no need for anybody to provide help to open humanitarian corridors. There is only one problem … humanitarian corridors are being ignored by Ukrainian ultra-nationals,” he said.

“We appreciate the interest of the secretary-general to be helpful,” he added. “(We have) explained … what is the mechanism for them to monitor how the humanitarian corridors are announced.”

During the hourlong interview, Lavrov also accused the West of sabotaging Russia’s peace talks with Ukraine. He claimed that thorny negotiations in Istanbul last month had been progressing on issues of Russian territorial claims and security guarantees until Ukrainian diplomats backtracked at the behest of the West.

“We are stuck because of their desire to play games all the time,” Lavrov said. “Because of the instructions they get Washington, from London, from some other capitals, not to accelerate the negotiations.”

When asked about the risks of war spilling into neighboring Moldova after a series of explosions rattled a breakaway border region within the country, Lavrov struck an ominous tone.

“Moldova should worry about their own future,” he said. “Because they’re being pulled into NATO.”

(AP)

Poland restoring gas supplies halted by Russian firm

Poland’s state gas giant said on Friday that it was gradually restoring the flow of natural gas to municipalities that lost it after a Russian company halted supplies when Warsaw slapped it with sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

The supply cut was a separate development from Russia's decision earlier this week to stop gas deliveries to Poland.

PGNiG said the Russian firm, Novatek Green Energy, complied with the demand to make its pipelines available to Polish companies that are now starting to convey their gas to the 10 affected areas. They include the popular Baltic Sea resort of Leba, which was anxious about a lack of gas ahead of Poland's long May Day weekend, which usually brings many tourists there.

PGNiG said the handing over of Novatek's infrastructure and the necessary documents took place “without problems and in good atmosphere.”

All affected locations should have gas on Friday, it said.

Earlier Friday, government spokesman Piotr Mueller warned that Novatek could face legal action under the country's crisis management laws if the company didn't immediately comply.

A subsidiary of a group controlled by OAO Novatek, Russia's second-largest natural gas producer, Novatek was put earlier this week on Poland's list of sanctions against 50 Russian and Belarusian businesses. The sanctions are intended to curb the outflow of money from Poland to Russia’s war coffers. They come on top of European Union measures in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

(AP)

Stockholm renames Russian embassy park to honour Ukrainians

Part of a park in the Swedish capital city where the Russian embassy is located is being renamed 'Place of Free Ukraine' in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. 

Stockholm's Mayor Anna Konig Jerlmyr made the announcement on Friday morning, and said the decision was taken because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

"It will be a lasting symbol over the City of Stockholm's solidarity with the Ukrainian people and an important signal against the actions of the Russian regime," Konig Jerlmyr wrote on Facebook. 

Sweden's decision to rename the park follows name changes of locations by several other countries to show support for Ukraine.

The Latvian capital of Riga had renamed the street where Russia's embassy is located Independent Ukraine Street, while Vilnius, in neighbouring Lithuania, named its Russian embassy street Heroes of Ukraine Street.

(Reuters)

Romanian websites hit by cyber attacks from pro-Russia hackers

Several Romanian websites including the government's official site and the Ministry of Defence website, were hit by cyber attacks on Friday.

Authorities say the attacks were claimed by a pro-Russian group.

A series of 'Distributed Denial of Service' (DDoS) attacks -- which happen when there's a coordinate effort to send multiple requests to a website to overload it -- "targeted sites belonging to public institutions and private entities" Romania's National Cybersecurity Agency said in a statement. 

The attacks were claimed on Telegram by a cybercrime group called 'Killnet' which used Romania's support for Ukraine to justify their actions. 

The targeted sites, which also include those of the border police and the railways, were unavailable for several tens of minutes.

The cybercriminals "exploited vulnerabilities" of the websites in question, by "taking control of equipment operating outside Romania", explained the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI).

Attacks from the same group have targeted institutional sites in the United States, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic and NATO in recent weeks, according to the same source.

The United States and four other Western countries forming the so-called "Five Eyes" alliance warned last week that their intelligence services had information that Russia was preparing to launch massive cyberattacks against the allies of Ukraine.

(AFP)

Pentagon: Russia's Donbas offensive has 'fallen behind schedule'

The Russian offensive in the Donbas, is progressing "slowly and unevenly" due to resistance from the Ukrainian military, and has fallen behind schedule, a senior Pentagon official said on Friday.

"We think they've fallen behind what they hoped to achieve in Donbas," the senior official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The official said the Russians haven't yet been able to complete a pincer movement to surround and cut off Ukrainian forces on the front line around the separatist areas of Donetsk and Lugansk.

"They're not moving very fast," he said. “A few kilometers a day is the maximum they can do because they are pushed back” by the Ukrainian army.

Even though the fighting has started, "we believe it continues to create the conditions for a sustained, larger and longer offensive," the senior US Department of Defense official added.

He explained that the Russian forces "do not want to make the same mistakes as in Kyiv", where columns of tanks had been pinned down by Ukrainian forces armed with shoulder-mounted missile launchers and logistical support had been held from a distance.

"The artillery fire and airstrikes they are launching at Ukrainian forces are not having the desired effect, as the Ukrainians continue to resist," he noted. "That's why we believe their progress has been slow and uneven over the past 24 hours."

(AFP)

Civilians in Mariupol steel mill compound 'begging to get saved', mayor says

The mayor of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol says those hiding at a massive steel mill are running out of food, water and medicine.

Vadym Boichenko described the situation at the Avozstal steel plant as dire. The steel mill is the last position held by Ukrainian fighters, who also are with civilians.

The Soviet-era facility has vast underground basements able to withstand airstrikes. But the situation has grown more extreme after the Russians dropped a series of so-called “bunker buster” bombs and unguided munitions.

“Locals who manage to leave Mariupol say it is hell, but when they leave this fortress, they say it is worse,” Boichenko said, according to a translator. “They are begging to get saved.”

He added: “There, it’s not a matter of days, it’s a matter of hours.”

Boichenko said he hoped a cease-fire would allow those inside the steel mill to safely leave. Russia earlier offered a truce that was rejected by Ukrainians, who said Moscow previously broke other agreements.

“We hope there’s a slight touch of humanity in the enemy,” the mayor said.

Human Rights Watch warns Poland about safety of Ukrainian refugees

Poland must "urgently" strengthen its prevention and surveillance measures to protect Ukrainian refugees on its soil, particularly women, victims of trafficking, violence and rape. 

That's the warning from Human Rights Watch, which released a new report on Friday about the situation. 

Read more here:

Human rights group warns Poland about safety of Ukrainian refugees

euronewsHuman Rights Watch says women and children are particularly at risk from trafficking.

Zelenskyy and Putin both scheduled to be at G20 summit later this year

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo says that both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to attend the G20 summit to be held in Bali in November.

Widodo, the current chair of the G20 group, made the remarks in a televised statement on Friday in which he said that he had telephone conversations this week with Zelenskyy and Putin. He said he urged both leaders of Ukraine and Russia to end the war through negotiations.

“I reiterated the importance of ending the war immediately,” he said. “I also emphasized that peaceful efforts should continue and Indonesia is ready to contribute to these peaceful efforts.”

He said that he invited Putin and Zelenskyy to the G20 summit as the war in Ukraine has a major impact on the global economy.

“We understand that the G20 plays the catalyst role in the recovery of the global economy,” Widodo said.

Widodo said that he has rejected the Ukrainian leader’s request for arms but instead will send humanitarian aid.

“The mandate of Indonesia’s constitution and the principles of our foreign policy prohibit us from providing arms assistance to other countries,” Widodo said. “However, we are ready to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine.”

(AP)

Ukraine's First Lady: 'I've only seen my husband on TV' since Russian invasion

Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, says that the war has not changed her husband, but only revealed his qualities, including a determination to prevail, to the world.

Zelenska, speaking in an interview with the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita published Friday, also says she has not seen her husband President Volodymr Zelenskyy since Russia invaded Ukraine.

“Since February 24, I have been seeing my husband just like you -- on TV and on video tapes of his speeches,” she said.

She accused Russia of trying to carry out a genocide against the Ukrainian people, expressed her sympathy with all those who have been forced to flee their homes.

“I wish I could hug each of them. It is easy to imagine the difficult path they went through, escaping from basements or bunkers in Mariupol, from firing from Kharkiv, from the occupied Kyiv region, and even from Lviv or Odesa, which were also under fire from Russian missiles,” she said in the interview.

The newspaper, making clear that it interviewed Zelenska remotely and not revealing her location, asked her if the war had changed her husband.

“The war has not changed him,” she replied. “He has always been a man you can rely on. A man who will never fail. Who will hold out until the end. It’s just that now the whole world has seen what may not have been clear to everyone before.”

(AP)

Military shipment from Spain, for Ukraine, arrives in Poland

The Spanish government confirmed on Friday that its largest shipment of military equipment to Ukraine so far is on track for delivery after a ship carrying 200 tons of material docked at a port in Poland.

Spain’s defense ministry confirmed the ship’s arrival in Poland. Spanish newspaper El País, citing Polish port authorities, said the vessel had docked at the port of Gdynia, where the material would be unloaded and transported some 700 kilometers to a logistics base in Ukraine.

The shipment includes 30 trucks, several special heavy transport vehicles and 10 smaller vehicles that will be used to transfer the military material to Ukraine, according to Spain's prime minister.

The shipment to Ukraine on the Spanish ship Ysabel, a 149-meter (489 feet) vessel, was announced last week by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez during a visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “This is the largest shipment made up to now, more than doubling what we have sent so far,” he added.

Prior to the shipment on the Ysabel, Spain had sent 1,370 anti-tank grenade launchers, 700,000 machine-gun cartridges as well as an armored ambulance and medical material to Ukraine.

(AP)

Norway will close its ports to Russian ships, but not trawlers

The Norwegian government will close its ports to Russian ships, with the exception of fishing trawlers, following similar action already taken by the EU.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine the Nordic nation has adopted -- usually with a slight delay -- almost all the sanctions imposed by the European Union. 

On Friday Norway indicated that it would not implement the EU's fifth round of sanctions, which were agreed by the bloc on 7 April. 

These sanctions also imply a ban on the transport of goods by road (with some exceptions) from Russia via Storskog, the crossing point between Norway and Russia where they share an Arctic border.    

The ban on boats flying the Russian flag from stopping in Norwegian ports will come into force on 7 May but will not affect fishing boats, many of which land their catches in Norway, or Svalbard. 

This Norwegian Arctic archipelago is governed by a century-old treaty that allows all signatory states, including Russia, to engage in economic activities there on an equal footing.

"Sanctions are our main means of pressure against the Russian regime," Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in a statement.

"It is crucial here that we stand with the EU and other countries to continue to weaken Russia's ability to finance the war in Ukraine," she added.

Opponents of Norway's centre-left government have criticised it for the delay in matching and implementing the EU's fifth round of sanctions, saying it risked helping Moscow exploit a loophole in a united European front against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(AFP)

Relatives say ex-US Marine killed in Ukraine

Relatives are telling media outlets a former US Marine has been killed fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in war with Russia.

Rebecca Cabrera tells CNN her son, 22-year-old Willy Joseph Cancel, was killed Monday while working for a military contracting company that sent him to Ukraine. His widow, Brittany Cancel, tells Fox News he leaves behind a young son and that she sees her husband as a hero.

“My husband did die in Ukraine,” Brittany Cancel said. “He went there wanting to help people, he had always felt that that was his main mission in life.”

This week British and Danish authorities confirmed they had fighters from their countries killed in Ukraine. There are thought to be several thousand foreigners who have volunteered to take up arms in defence of Ukraine. Already by early March in the first weeks of the war Ukrainian authorities said 20,000 foreigners from more than 50 countries had volunteered to fight, although it is not known how many were accepted into the official Ukrainian International Legion of Defense of Ukraine

(Euronews / AP)

Training exercises will see tens of thousands of NATO troops in eastern Europe in coming weeks

Tens of thousands of troops from NATO and other north Atlantic nations will take part in a series of military exercises across Europe in the coming weeks as Western countries seek to deter Russian aggression.

The exercises, backed by aircraft, tanks, artillery and armoured assault vehicles, will take place in Finland, Poland, North Macedonia and along the Estonian-Latvian border. They will include troops from NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force, which includes non-NATO members Finland and Sweden.

The deployments will begin this week in Finland, where troops from the US, Britain, Estonia and Latvia will participate in Exercise Arrow to improve their ability to work alongside Finnish forces.

Also this week, some 4,500 troops will take part in Exercise Swift Response, which will include parachute drops and helicopter-borne assaults in North Macedonia. The operation will include forces from the US, Britain, Albania, France and Italy.

Next month, 18,000 NATO troops, including forces from Britain, France and Denmark, will take part in Exercise Hedgehog along the Estonia-Latvia border, and in late May about 1,000 British soldiers will join troops from 11 other nations for Exercise Defender in Poland.

(AP)

5.4 million refugees have now fled Ukraine, says UNHCR

Almost 57,000 Ukrainians have fled their country in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of refugees to over 5.4 million, according to figures published by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday.

While the overall flow of refugees has slowed markedly since the end of March, numbers have picked up slightly in recent days. An estimated 8.3 million people could flee the country by the end of this year, according to UN estimates released earlier this week.

As of April 28th, 5,429,739 Ukrainians had left their country since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24th, according to the UNHCR, with women and children representing 90% of these. For the most part, men aged 18 to 60 have not been allowed to leave.

In addition, more than 7.7 million Ukrainians have left their homes but are still in the country, according to estimated by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Ukraine had a pre-war population of 37 million, excluding areas outside the government's control; Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, and the eastern regions controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Germany condemns missile strike on Kyiv

The German government has strongly criticised the Russian missile strike on Kyiv during the UN secretary-general’s visit to the Ukrainian capital Thursday.

Germany “condemns the Russian missile attack on Kyiv, while Secretary-General (Antonio) Guterres was there simultaneously for talks, in the sharpest possible manner,” government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner told reporters in Berlin on Friday.

The attack “reveals before the eyes of the world community once more that Putin and his regime have no respect whatsoever for international law,” he added.

(AP)

Norway closes ports to Russian ships

Norway has announced that it will follow in the footsteps of the European Union and close its ports to Russian shipping, with the exception of trawlers, the Norwegian government announced on Friday.

While Norway is not part of the EU, it has closely followed moved made by Brussels when it comes to pushing back on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

The ban on boats flying the Russian flag from stopping in Norwegian ports will come into force on May 7 and will not affect fishing boats, the government said. 

"Sanctions are our main means of pressure against the Russian regime," Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in a statement.

"It is crucial here that we stand with the EU and other countries to continue to weaken Russia's ability to finance the war in Ukraine," she added.

Journalist killed in Kyiv airstrike

A producer for Ukraine's Radio Liberty was killed in a Russian airstrike on Kyiv on Thursday, her organisation said in a statement. 

"Vira Ghyrych died as a result of a Russian missile hit on the building where she lived," the US-funded radio station said on its website.

It added that the first and second floors of the 25-storey residential building had been partially destroyed, and a fire had broken out. Ghyrych's body was found in the wreckage this morning.

In the statement, the editorial staff of the station expressed its condolences to the family, adding that she would be remembered as a "bright and kind person, a true professional".

Gyrych had worked for Radio Liberty since February 2018. Before that she worked for Ukrainian television.

Ukraine mortgaging itself to the US, says Russian MP 

Russia’s most senior lawmaker said on Friday that Ukraine was effectively mortgaging itself to the United States by seeking to tap billions of dollars of weapons loans proposed by US President Joe Biden.

Biden on Thursday asked Congress for $33 billion to support Ukraine - a dramatic escalation of U.S. funding for the war with Russia - and the Ukrainian president pleaded with lawmakers to give the request a swift approval.

Vyacheslav Volodin, who as the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament often voices the Kremlin’s views, accused the United States of seeking to profit from the war while indebting future generations of Ukrainians.

“Lend-Lease is a commodity loan, and not cheap: many future generations of Ukrainian citizens will pay for all the ammunition, equipment and food that the United States will supply,” Volodin said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is driving the country into a debt pit,” he added.

Biden’s funding request includes over $20 billion for weapons, ammunition and other military assistance, as well as $8.5 billion in direct economic assistance to the Ukrainian government and $3 billion in humanitarian aid.

(Reuters)

UK to send war crimes experts to Ukraine 

Britain said on Friday that it was sending experts to help Ukraine with gathering evidence and prosecuting war crimes, with a team due to arrive in Poland in early May, according to Reuters.

This comes as Ukraine says it is investigating some 7,600 potential war crimes, and at least 500 suspects, following Russia's invasion, and as British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss travels to The Hague to meet with International Criminal Court President Piotr Hofmanski.

"Russia has brought barbarity to Ukraine and committed vile atrocities, including against women. British expertise will help uncover the truth and hold Putin's regime to account for its actions," Truss said.

According to a foreign office statement, the specialist team will assist the Ukrainian government as they gather evidence and prosecute war crimes and will include experts in conflict-related sexual violence.

We will not give up on efforts to seek peace in Ukraine, says UN chief

In a statement in Kyiv last night, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that the international community would not give up on efforts to seek peace in Ukraine.

"Many leaders have made many good efforts to stop the fighting, but these efforts so far have not succeeded," he said. "We will not give up."

Danish citizen killed while fighting in Ukraine

A 25-year-old Dane was allegedly killed in Mykolayiv on April 26 while fighting with the International Legion Ukraine, a unit for foreigners who want to join the fight against Russia, according to Danish broadcaster TV2. The man's name was not given.

In a statement to Danish media, the Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen said it could not confirm the report and was in contact with Ukrainian authorities.

“It may therefore take time before the details are clarified” because the war creates “extremely difficult conditions,” the statement read.

The Jyllands-Posten daily, one of Denmark’s largest newspapers, said up to 100 Danes have traveled to Ukraine to fight Russia, citing Ukraine’s Embassy in Denmark.

(AP)

UK to send 8,000 troops to eastern Europe as part of planned exercises

Around 8,000 British soldiers will take part in exercises in Eastern Europe this summer alongside NATO soldiers, in a "show of solidarity and strength" as the invasion of Ukraine continues. 

Dozens of tanks and 120 armoured vehicles will be deployed from Finland to North Macedonia.

"Europe's security has never been more important," UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement. "These exercises will see our troops join forces with NATO allies and partners and the Joint Expeditionary Force in a show of solidarity and strength that is one of the largest shared deployments since the Cold War."

The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is a coalition of armed forces from the United Kingdom and eight partner nations: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. 

(AFP)

Russia claims to have destroyed space-rocket production facility in Kyiv

Russia’s defence ministry claims to have destroyed production facilities of a space-rocket plant in Kyiv, according to its latest briefing posted on social media channels. 

High-precision long-range sea-based missiles also destroyed three power substations near Fastov, Krasnosyolka and Polonnoe railway hubs, it said. 

Overnight on Thursday Russia claims that high-precision air-based missiles hit 10 Ukrainian military assets, including one ammunition depot near the city of Illichovka, while its airforce struck 112 military targets, including two command posts and 11 “strong points”.

It added that a Tochka-U missile launcher, which it claims was responsible for a strike on residential areas in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson yesterday, was identified and destroyed.

In total, 38 armoured and motor vehicles were destroyed, as well as 13 unmanned drones.

The claims could not be independently verified. 

Corpse recovered from rubble in Kyiv

Ukrainian rescue workers on Friday recovered a corpse from the rubble of a building in Kyiv that was hit by a missile, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The death was the first reported in Thursday's missile strike as the head of the United Nations visited Kyiv. Ukrainian officials said two Russian missiles had struck the capital. Russia has not commented on the incident.

(Reuters)

Two Brits abducted by Russian forces in Ukraine, claims aid group

A British aid group says it believes two Britons have been abducted by Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine.

Dominik Byrne, the co-founder and chief operating officer of the Presidium Network, told The Associated Press on Friday that the men were last heard from on Monday.

Byrne said the men were taken while trying to carry out an independent evacuation in Dniprorudne, near the city of Zaporizhzhia, some 470 kilometres southeast of Kyiv.

Byrne said the family that the two men had been trying to evacuate were later interrogated by Russian forces, who asked them about the “British spies.” Bryne said the family later escaped to Poland.

Byrne identified the men as Paul Urey and Dylan Healy. He said they had been operating on their own in the war zone and hadn’t been associated with any aid group.

The British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia hasn’t acknowledged taking the men.

(AP)

Russian airstrikes last night meant to humiliate UN, says Ukrainian president

In a late-night address, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian airstrikes on Kyiv, which hit the city while UN Secretary-General António Guterres was visiting on Thursday, were an attempt to 'humiliate' the international body.

Ukraine's foreign minister criticises NATO, asks for security guarantees

In a post on Twitter this morning, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked for security guarantees from other countries, while criticising NATO for not opening up its door to Ukraine.

"Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons for the sake of world peace. We have then been knocking on NATO’s door, but it never opened. Security vacuum led to Russian aggression. The world owes Ukraine security and we ask states to decide which security guarantees they are ready to provide," he wrote.

Ukraine hopes to evacuate civilians from Mariupol on Friday

Ukraine hopes on Friday to evacuate civilians who are holed up in a vast steel works with the last fighters defending the southern city of Mariupol.

“An operation is planned today to get civilians out of the plant,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said, without giving details.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said after meeting Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday that intense discussions were under way to enable the evacuation of the Azovstal steel plant, which has been pounded by Russian forces occupying Mariupol.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed “in principle” to UN and International Committee for the Red Cross involvement in evacuating the Azovstal plant.

The Mariupol city council has said about 100,000 residents across the city are “in mortal danger” because of Russian shelling and unsanitary conditions, and described a “catastrophic” shortage of drinking water and food.

(Reuters)

OSCE to leave eastern Ukraine

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the world’s largest security body, announced yesterday that it was ending its deployment in eastern Ukraine following a veto by Russia, one of the group's members, over an extension to the mission.

The Vienna-based organisation has been operating in eastern Ukraine since 2014, after Russia-backed separatists launched an insurgency there.

“This is not an easy decision to take... but the position of the Russian Federation left us with no choice but to take steps to close down the Mission,” Poland's foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, said. Poland currently holds the rotating OSCE chairmanship.

“The mission played a crucial role in providing objective information on the ground, facilitating ceasefires and working to ease the effects of the conflict on the civilian population," he added.

Battle for Donbas remains key for Russia, says British defence ministry

The battle for Donbas remains Russia’s main strategic focus, in order to achieve its stated aim of securing control over the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, says the British Ministry of Defence in its latest update on the fighting in Ukraine. 

In an update Friday morning, the British military said that heavy fighting had been seen around Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, with Russia attempting to advance south from Izium toward Slovyansk.

However, "due to strong Ukrainian resistance, Russian territorial gains have been limited and achieved at significant cost to Russian forces,” it writes.

The British military has been offering daily public reports on the fighting in Ukraine.

US goes after assets of Russian oligarchs, money could help rebuild Ukraine

President Joe Biden doesn't want to just seize the yachts, luxury homes and other assets of Russian oligarchs, he wants to sell off the pricey goods and use the money to help rebuild Ukraine, writes the Associated Press.

On Wednesday the US House of Representatives passed the Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act, with only four lawmakers voting against the measure. The bill, which now goes to the Senate, would allow the president to confiscate and liquidate property owned by sanctioned individuals. The money could only be used for specific purposes.

The package that Biden sent to Congress goes further to create a new criminal offence, making it unlawful for anyone to knowingly own proceeds directly obtained from corrupt dealings with the Russian government. Additionally, property used to facilitate sanctions violations would also be eligible for seizure.

The White House says the new tools make sanctions more difficult to evade and the administration said it wants to use the money “to remediate harms of Russian aggression toward Ukraine.”

(AP)

Russia preventing wounded Ukrainian fighters from being evacuated from Mariupol, says local governor

Russia is preventing wounded Ukrainian fighters from being evacuated from a vast steel works in the southern city of Mariupol because it wants to capture them, the local governor said on Thursday.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the eastern region of Donetsk, said Russia was also blocking efforts to arrange humanitarian corridors elsewhere in Donetsk but that Russian forces were being held back across his region.

Hundreds of fighters and some civilians are holed up in the Azovstal steel works, their last redoubt in Mariupol. Russian forces have been pummelling the factory after laying siege to Mariupol for weeks, but President Vladimir Putin has said the plant need not be stormed.

"They (want to) use the opportunity to capture the defenders of Mariupol, one of the main (elements) of whom are the... Azov regiment," Kyrylenko told a briefing, referring to a group of fighters that Moscow has vilified.

"Therefore the Russian side is not agreeing to any evacuation measures regarding wounded (Ukrainian) troops."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had been quite clear that while civilians could leave the plant, the defenders had to lay down their arms, TASS news agency said.

(Reuters)

Three million have entered Poland from Ukraine since the fighting began on 24 February 

Poland’s border guard agency says that it has recorded 3 million crossings into Poland from neighbouring Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, while there have been 904,000 crossings into Ukraine.

Border guard spokeswoman Anna Michalska said Thursday that the number includes people who cross a number of times because, for example, they regularly do shopping in Poland and then go back.

Polish authorities say some 1.6 million refugees have applied for and received special ID numbers that will allow them to work and receive free health care and education in Poland.

(AP)

Donbas subjected to “intense fire” over the past 24 hours

Ukraine's military said that Russian troops were subjecting several places in the Donbas to “intense fire” and that over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian forces had repelled six attacks in the region, according to the Associated Press.

Four civilians were killed in heavy shelling of residential areas in the Luhansk region of the Donbas, according to the regional governor. Meanwhile, columns of smoke could be seen rising at different points across the Donetsk region of the Donbas, and artillery and sirens were heard on and off.

Many of the Russian troops who were in Mariupol have been leaving and moving to the northwest, a senior US defence official said Thursday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the US military assessment, didn't have exact numbers but said a “significant number” of the roughly one dozen battalion tactical groups that were in the city were moving out.

Russian forces are making slow, incremental progress in the Donbas — gaining only several kilometres on any given day, the official said. As of Thursday, Russia had launched about 1,900 missiles into Ukraine – the vast majority fired from outside Ukraine’s borders. Most are strikes on Mariupol and the Donbas.

Biden signs new request to US Congress for $33 billion in Ukrainian assistance

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden said he had signed a request to Congress for critical security, economic, and humanitarian assistance to help Ukraine continue to "counter Putin’s aggression" at what he described as a "very pivotal moment".

The $33 billion budget extension would deliver further military aid to Kyiv, with the country already delivering 10 anti-tank weapons for every Russian tank, the American president said during a speech at the White House.

"The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen," Biden said. "We either back the Ukrainian people as they defend their country or we stand by as the Russians continue their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine." 

Russia launches wave of missile attacks, including on the capital, Kyiv

Russia pounded targets from practically one end of Ukraine to the other Thursday, including Kyiv, bombarding the city while the head of the United Nations was visiting in the boldest attack on the capital since Moscow’s forces retreated weeks ago.

Ukrainian emergency services said 10 people were wounded when a Russian missile hit a 25-story apartment building in Kyiv on Thursday evening and set off a fire, which partially destroyed the first and second floors.

The bombardment came barely an hour after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a news conference with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said Ukraine has become “an epicentre of unbearable heartache and pain.”

A spokesperson said Guterres and his team were safe.

Meanwhile, explosions were reported across the country — in Polonne in the west, Chernihiv near the border with Belarus, and Fastiv, a large railway hub southwest of the capital.

The mayor of Odesa, in southern Ukraine, said rockets were intercepted by air defences.

(AP)