– US says Russia wants China aid –
Russia is asking China for military and economic aid for the Ukraine conflict, US media report.
The Chinese embassy in Washington DC denies knowledge of the requests, which are reported shortly after the White House announces a high-level US delegation will meet a top Chinese official in Rome Monday.
Washington earlier warned Beijing against helping Russia evade sanctions.
– Russia-Ukraine talks Monday –
Talks between the two sides are to resume Monday by videoconference, according to Ukrainian negotiators and the Kremlin, after both sides hail progress at earlier rounds aimed at ending more than two weeks of fighting.
– Black Sea blockade –
Britain’s defence ministry says Russia has established a naval blockade on the Black Sea coast, “effectively isolating Ukraine from international maritime trade”.
“Russian naval forces are also continuing to conduct missile strikes against targets throughout Ukraine,” it says
– Nearly 2,200 killed in Mariupol –
Nearly 2,200 residents of Ukraine’s besieged city of Mariupol have been killed since hostilities began, the local authorities say, raising the toll by almost 1,000 since Wednesday.
Mariupol faces “a worst-case scenario” if the warring parties do not urgently reach a “concrete humanitarian agreement”, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warns.
Turkey has asked Russia for help securing the safety of its citizens in the besieged city, where multiple attempt to evacuate civilians have failed.
– Zelensky warns NATO –
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warns NATO could see member states come under Russian attack if they don’t act to impose a no-fly zone over his country.
He warns it is “only a matter of time” before Russian rockets hit NATO territory, a day after 35 people were killed in Russian air strikes on a military training ground outside Lviv, near the Polish border.
Russia says the strike killed up to 180 “foreign mercenaries”.
– Kadyrov says he’s in Ukraine –
Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov says he is in Ukraine’s Hostomel, an airfield near Kyiv captured by Russian forces early in their invasion.
The Chechen former rebel turned Moscow ally, who has been accused of numerous abuses, calls on Ukraine to surrender “or you will be finished.”
– Pope urges end to ‘massacre’ –
Pope Francis issues a plea for an end to the “massacre” in Ukraine, saying there is no justification for attacks on civilians.
– Battles rage outside Kyiv –
Fighting rages in the Kyiv suburbs as Russian forces advance ever closer to the capital. Only roads to the south remain open and Kyiv is preparing to mount a “relentless defence”, according to the Ukrainian president’s office.
Bucha to the northwest is entirely held by Russian forces along with parts of Irpin, Ukrainian soldiers at the scene tell AFP.
– US journalist killed –
A US journalist is shot dead in Irpin, medics and witnesses say, becoming the first foreign reporter killed since Russia’s invasion. Papers found on the reporter’s body identify him as 50-year-old video documentary maker Brent Renaud.
– Power restored to Chornobyl –
Electricity has been restored at Ukraine’s retired Chornobyl nuclear power plant that was seized by Russian forces in the first days of the invasion, say energy officials in Kyiv.
But the IAEA continues to warn that staff at the site face a “dire situation” because they have been unable to rotate out.
– Hundreds held in Russia protests –
Russian police detain more than 800 people across 37 cities for protesting Moscow’s “military operation” in Ukraine.
Nearly 15,000 people have reportedly been detained at rallies across the country since the invasion began February 24.
– Nearly 2.7 million flee –
Almost 2.7 million people have fled the war in Ukraine, more than 100,000 of them in the past 24 hours, the UN says. More than half have gone to Poland.
