LIVE: US will supply Ukraine with 'the weapons it needs' against Russia

US national security adviser said the Biden administration will send more weapons to Ukraine to prevent Russia from seizing more territory and targeting civilians

Live news updates: A grave with dozens of civilians has been found in Buzova village near Kyiv, a Ukrainian official said, the latest reported mass grave to be discovered after Russian forces withdrew from areas north of the capital to focus their assault on the east.

Taras Didych, head of the Dmytrivka community that includes Buzova, said the bodies were found in a ditch near a petrol station. He said the number of dead had yet to be confirmed. "Now we are returning to life but during the occupation we had our 'hotspots', many civilians died," Didych told Ukrainian television late on Saturday, according to Reuters.

Mounting civilian casualties have triggered widespread international condemnation and new sanctions, in particular over hundreds of deaths in the town of Bucha, to the northwest of Kyiv that until just over a week ago was occupied by Russian forces.

 

11:49 PM

Macron ahead of Le Pen in first round, both move on to runoff: Estimates

French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen came out on top of France's first-round presidential election, qualifying for the April 24 runoff, according to pollsters initial projections published on Sunday.

 

Macron came in ahead of Le Pen in the first round, separate estimates by Ifop, OpinionWay, Elabe and Ipsos. Macron won 28.1-29.5% of votes while Le Pen won 23.3-24.4% of voter support, they projected.

11:27 PM

US official: Russia appoints new Ukraine war commander

After its striking post-invasion setbacks, Russia has appointed a new Ukraine war commander, a US official said Sunday.

 

Russia turned to Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, one of Russia's most experienced military officers and - according to US officials - a general with a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other war theaters. Up to now, Russia had no central war commander on the ground.

 

The senior US official who confirmed the general's appointment was not authorised to be identified and spoke on condition of anonymity.

11:23 PM

Death toll from Kramatorsk missile strike rises to 57, Ukraine official says

The death toll from a missile strike on the train station in Ukraine's Kramatorsk has risen to 57 people, Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Sunday.

 

Kyrylenko said 109 people were wounded in the attack, which Ukraine has blamed on Russia. Moscow has denied responsibility, saying the missile was Ukrainian.

11:01 PM

I had the pleasure of speaking with Ukrainian troops training in the US Lloyd Austin

10:57 PM

Biden wants India to oppose Russian war: White House

The White House said President Joe Biden will press Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a hard line against Russia's Ukraine invasion. Press Secretary Jen Psaki says the leaders plan a virtual meeting on Monday.

 

India's neutral stance in the war has raised concerns in Washington and earned praise from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who lauded India this month for judging “the situation in its entirety, not just in a one-sided way.” India abstained when the UN General Assembly voted on Thursday to suspend Russia from its seat on the 47-member Human Rights Council over allegations of war crimes. India continues to purchase Russian energy despite Western pressure to avoid buying Russian oil and gas. And the US has considered sanctions on India for its recent purchase of advanced Russian air defense systems.

10:02 PM

UN: Chernobyl situation far from normal

The UN nuclear watchdog said Ukraine said the staff at the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant has been rotated for the first time in three weeks after Russian troops left the area.

 

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed concern about the well-being of the workers since the Russian military took control of the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster at the beginning of the war.

 

The agency said Ukraine informed it on Sunday that it has now rotated the staff, but the situation remains far from normal. They had to be transported to and from the site by water, with the Pripyat River being the only way for people living in the city of Slavutych to currently reach the plant.

9:33 PM

Russia hits Ukraine from the air and sea

The governor of the region that includes Ukraine's fourth-largest city, Dnipro, says the airport was hit twice by missile attacks on Sunday.

 

The Ukrainian military command said Russian forces also keep shelling Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, and have kept up their siege of Mariupol, the key southern port city that has been under attack for nearly six weeks.

 

The Russian Defense Ministry says it's air-launched missiles hit Ukraine's S-300 air defense missile systems in two locations, while sea-launched cruise missiles destroyed a Ukrainian unit's headquarters in the Dnipro region. Neither side's military claims could be independently verified.

 

The Pentagon said Russia has a clear advantage in armoured forces for its next phase in its war on Ukraine.

9:12 PM

US will supply Ukraine with 'the weapons it needs' against Russia

The United States is committed to providing Ukraine with "the weapons it needs" to defend itself against Russia, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday as Ukraine seeks more military aid from the West.

 

Sullivan said the Biden administration will send more weapons to Ukraine to prevent Russia from seizing more territory and targeting civilians, attacks that Washington has labeled war crimes.

 

"We're going to get Ukraine the weapons it needs to beat back the Russians to stop them from taking more cities and towns where they commit these crimes," Sullivan said on ABC News' "This Week".

 

Moscow has rejected accusations of war crimes by Ukraine and Western countries.

 

Speaking later on NBC News' "Meet the Press", Sullivan said the United States was “working around the clock to deliver our own weapons . . . and organizing and coordinating the delivery of weapons from many other countries.

 

The United States has sent $1.7 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, the White House said last week.

8:27 PM

Putin, Belarus’s Lukashenko to meet Tuesday

Vladimir Putin and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko will meet Tuesday at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia, Interfax reported. The pair are expected to discuss Lukashenko’s hopes of being part of negotiations with Ukraine. 

 

It’s a rare foray out of the Moscow region for Putin since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

8:16 PM

Scholz and Zelensky discuss additional sanctions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted on Sunday that he had discussed possible additional sanctions on Russia in a call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

 

Zelensky has called for an embargo on imported gas and oil from Russia, but Germany so far resisted pressure to do so.

 

Scholz said on Friday that Germany could end Russian oil imports this year but stopping gas imports would be tougher because the country would need to build infrastructure to import gas from alternative sources.

 

Russian oil accounts for 25% of German imports, down from 35% before the Feb. 24 invasion. Gas imports to Germany from Russia have been cut to 40% from 55%, and hard coal imports to 25% from 50%.

 

Separately, Zelensky's office said in a statement the president had held a conference call with Ukrainian officials during which Kyiv's proposals for a sixth package of European Union sanctions had been developed.

7:16 PM

PM Modi will hold a virtual meeting with USA President on Apr 11

6:21 PM

Russian bank VTB no longer has control of European subsidiary: German regulator

Russian bank VTB can no longer exercise any control over its European subsidiary in the wake of new sanctions, German regulator BaFin said on Sunday.

 

The European Union on Friday formally adopted new sanctions against Russia, which will ban a range of imports and also ban all transactions with four Russian banks, including VTB.

 

BaFin said following the sanctions, management at VTB's Frankfurt-based subsidiary is no longer allowed to take instructions from the parent bank, and that the parent company cannot access the financial assets or economic resources of its European unit.

 

The measures "result in a complete ring-fencing of VTB Bank (Europe) SE from the parent company," BaFin said.

VTB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

6:14 PM

Kyiv keeps pressure on West to do more as battle looms in Ukraine's east

Ukraine said on Sunday it was seeking another round of European Union sanctions against Moscow and more military aid from its allies as it braces for a major Russian offensive in the east of the country.

 

Russia has failed to take any major cities since it launched its invasion on Feb. 24 but Ukraine says it has been gathering its forces in the east for a major assault and has urged people to flee.

 

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Twitter he had spoken on the phone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about additional sanctions as well as more defence and financial support for his country. Zelenskiy also discussed with Ukrainian officials Kyiv's proposals for a new package of EU sanctions, his office said.

5:39 PM

Pakistan Army rejects report of Imran Khan ordering dismissal of General Bajwa ahead of no-trust vote

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of the Pakistan Army on Sunday rejected the contents of a BBC Urdu report which hinted that former Prime Minister Imran Khan had ordered the sacking of the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa hours before his government was ousted.

 

The BBC Urdu report, without taking any names directly had hinted that Imran Khan had ordered the sacking of General Bajwa, after which the Army Chief arrived with "another senior official" at the Prime Minister's House and held a 45-minute meeting.

5:36 PM

Pope Francis calls for an Easter truce in Ukraine

Pope Francis opened Holy Week Sunday with a call for an Easter truce in Ukraine to make room for a negotiated peace, highlighting the need for leaders to “make some sacrifices for the good of the people.” Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass before crowds in St. Peter's Square for the first time since the pandemic, Pope Francis called for “weapons to be laid down to begin an Easter truce, not to reload weapons and resume fighting, no! A truce to reach peace through real negotiations.”

 

Francis did not refer directly to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but the reference was clear, and he has repeatedly denounced the war and the suffering brought to innocent civilians.