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Russia offered to spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Mariupol if they laid down their arms Sunday as the weekslong resistance in the besieged port city appeared to finally be coming to an end.
The offer, made “out of purely humane principles,” gave Ukrainian forces still fighting in the city until 6 a.m. Moscow time (11 p.m. ET) to surrender, the Russian military said in a statement reported by the news agency Tass.
There were no immediate reports of activity from Ukrainian forces in Mariupol. If it falls, it would be the first major city to be taken by Russian forces since the Feb. 24 invasion.
There was also no immediate response from Kyiv.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Sunday that 18 people had been killed and more than 100 wounded in shelling in the past four days in the northeast Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
- Zelenskyy also said there was a “humanitarian crisis” in the city and that his soldiers were “blocked and wounded.”
- The Ukrainian president also said he had spoken to the IMF about ensuring Ukraine’s financial stability & preparations for post-war reconstruction.
- Ukraine has completed a questionnaire that will form a starting point for the European Union to decide on membership, said Ihor Zhovkva, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office.
- A missile attack early Sunday damaged infrastructure in Brovary, near Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, Mayor Igor Sapozhko said in an online post.
- The Russian military could begin moving some of its forces back into Ukraine as soon as this weekend or early in the week, two senior U.S. defense officials said.
Zelenskyy, IMF official discuss Ukraine's 'post-war reconstruction'
WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that he had spoken with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva about Ukraine’s financial stability and the country’s post-war reconstruction.
“Discussed with IMF Managing Director Georgieva the issue of ensuring Ukraine’s financial stability & preparations for post-war reconstruction. We have clear plans for now, as well as a vision of prospects. I’m sure cooperation between the IMF & Ukraine will continue to be fruitful,” he said in a tweet.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said earlier that he will attend the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington this week and will seek more financial assistance for Ukraine.
Ukraine reportedly completes E.U. membership questionnaire
Ukraine has completed a questionnaire that will form a starting point for the European Union to decide on membership, said Ihor Zhovkva, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen handed the questionnaire to Zelenskyy during her visit to Kyiv on April 8, pledging a speedier start to Ukraine’s bid to become a member of the E.U. following Russia’s invasion.
“Today, I can say that the document has been completed by the Ukrainian side,” Zhovkva told the Ukrainian public broadcaster Sunday evening.
The European Commission will need to issue a recommendation on Ukraine’s compliance with the necessary membership criteria, he added.
“We expect the recommendation ... to be positive, and then the ball will be on the side of the E.U. member states.”
Zhovkva added that Ukraine expects to attain the status of a candidate country for E.U. accession in June during a scheduled meeting of the European Council.
The European Council is to meet June 23-24, according to the schedule on its website.
“Next, we will need to start accession talks. And once we hold those talks, we can already talk about Ukraine’s full membership in the E.U.,” Zhovkva said
Shelling kills 18, injures scores in Kharkiv, Zelenskyy says
Eighteen people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in shelling in the past four days in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Sunday.
On Sunday, five people were killed and 20 injured when a missile and artillery fire hit the city center and the Saltivka suburb, regional Gov. Oleh Synyehubov said earlier.
Reuters could not independently verify the number of people killed.
Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that Russia’s shelling of Kharkiv has been constant.
“This is nothing but deliberate terror: mortars, artillery against ordinary residential quarters, against ordinary civilians,” he said.
Mariupol teeters as Ukrainians defy surrender-or-die demand
KYIV, Ukraine — The shattered port city of Mariupol appeared on the brink of falling to Russia on Sunday in what would give Moscow its biggest victory of the war yet and free up troops to take part in a potentially climactic battle for control of Ukraine’s industrial east.
Russia estimated 2,500 Ukrainian fighters were holding out at a hulking steel plant in the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol, much of which has been reduced to a smoking ruin during a merciless seven-week siege.
Moscow gave the city’s defenders a surrender-or-die ultimatum with a midday deadline, saying those who laid down their arms were “guaranteed to keep their lives.” But the fighters ignored it, just as they rejected previous ultimatums.
“We will fight absolutely to the end, to the win, in this war,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal vowed on ABC’s “This Week.” He said Ukraine is prepared to end the war through diplomacy if possible, “but we do not have intention to surrender.”
Ukraine asks G-7 for $50 billion in financial support
Ukraine has asked members of the Group of Seven leading nations for $50 billion in financial support and is considering issuing zero percent coupon bonds to help it cover a war-linked budget deficit over the next six months, the president’s economic adviser, Oleh Ustenko, said Sunday.
Speaking on national television, Ustenko said the options were being actively discussed.
Pope Francis' Easter message raises concern of nuclear warfare
VATICAN CITY — In an Easter Sunday message aimed at the world but heavily focused on Ukraine, Pope Francis raised two worries — the risk of nuclear warfare and the possibility that other armed conflicts around the world will go unnoticed.
In a speech from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope quoted a declaration in the 1950s in which scientists posed the question: “Shall we put an end to the human race, or shall mankind renounce war?”
The pope has repeatedly made pleas for a cease-fire and negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. In his Easter message, Francis lamented that “so many of our brothers and sisters have had to lock themselves away in order to be safe from bombing.”
He expressed hope that the war in Europe will “also make us more concerned about other situations of conflict, suffering and sorrow” in situations “that we cannot overlook and do not want to forget.” Among the places he cited were Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. He singled out Yemen, which is suffering from a conflict “forgotten by all, with continuous victims.”
Ukrainian foreign minister says takeover of Mariupol could end talks
WASHINGTON — Ukraine’s foreign minister described the situation in Mariupol as dire and heartbreaking Sunday and said Russia’s continued attacks could be a “red line” that ends all efforts to reach peace through negotiations.
Dmytro Kuleba said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the remaining Ukrainian military personnel and civilians in the port city are basically encircled by Russian forces.
He said the Ukrainians “continue their struggle” but that the city effectively doesn’t exist anymore because of massive destruction.
Kuleba said Ukraine has been keeping up “expert level” talks with Russia in recent weeks in hope of reaching a political solution for peace. But citing the significance of Mariupol, he echoed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in saying the elimination of Ukrainian forces there could be a “red line” that stops peace efforts.
Biden alludes to Ukraine in Easter message
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said he’s praying on Easter for those living in the “dark shadow” of war, persecution and poverty.
Biden said in an Easter message Sunday that he is also praying for peace, freedom, basic dignity and respect for all of God’s children.
Biden didn’t say which war he had in mind. He has been deeply involved in trying to force an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He said he is grateful that the easing of the Covid-19 pandemic has allowed many people around the world to celebrate by attending religious services and in-person family gatherings. He also acknowledged that the holiest day on the Christian calendar “falls on heavy hearts for those who have lost loved ones and those among us living in the dark shadow of war, persecution and poverty.”