The humanitarian situation is worsening in major Ukrainian cities, still under fire from strikes from Moscow, which announced on Sunday that it had used hypersonic missiles for the second time.
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3:10 p.m. – “Without negotiations, we will not stop the war” in Ukraine, Zelensky tells CNN
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated that he was “ready for negotiations” with Vladimir Putin, saying that “without negotiations, we will not stop the war” led by Russia in Ukraine, in an interview broadcast Sunday by CNN. “I am ready for negotiations with (Vladimir Putin). I have been ready for the past two years and I think that without negotiations the war will not be stopped,” he said. He defended the holding of several rounds of negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow that have taken place since the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24, saying they had “a lot of value”. “If there is only a 1% chance of stopping this war, we must seize it,” he said.
2:45 p.m. – Turkey assures that Russia and Ukraine are “close to an agreement”
Turkey assured on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had made progress in their negotiations to end the Russian invasion and were close to an agreement. “Of course, it’s not an easy thing to come to an understanding while the war is going on, civilians are being killed, but we would like to say that the momentum is progressing,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut said. Cavusoglu in comments broadcast live by Turkey’s official Anadolu agency from the southern province of Antalya. “We see that the parties are close to an agreement,” he added.
1:25 p.m. – Ten million people have fled their homes in Ukraine (UN)
Ten million people have now fled their homes in Ukraine due to Russia’s “devastating” war, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said on Sunday. “The war in Ukraine is so devastating that 10 million people have fled, either internally displaced or refugees abroad,” Grandi said on Twitter.
12:35 p.m. – Refugees: Jan Jambon calls for a “more restrictive framework of directives” for the CPAS
Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon (N-VA) asked the federal government on Sunday to provide a “more binding framework” on how the CPAS must deal with the granting of integration income for Ukrainian refugees.
12:35 p.m. – Germany and Qatar forge an energy partnership
Germany and Qatar have agreed on a long-term energy partnership which should make Germany less dependent on Russia, announced German Economy Minister Robert Habeck. According to Mr. Habeck, the agreement does not only concern the supply of gas, but also the development of renewable energies and various energy efficiency measures.
9:50 a.m. – A school serving as a refuge bombed, civilians under the rubble according to the authorities
The Russian military bombed an art school serving as a refuge for several hundred people in Mariupol, southeastern Ukraine, local authorities charged on Sunday, adding that civilians were trapped under the rubble. “Yesterday (Saturday), the Russian occupiers dropped bombs on the G12 art school located on the left bank of Mariupol, where 400 Mariupol residents — women, children and the elderly — had refugees”, declared the municipality of this port city besieged by the forces of Moscow. “We know that the building was destroyed and that peaceful people are still under the rubble. The death toll is being clarified,” she added in a statement posted on Telegram.
08:35 – Russia says it used hypersonic missiles once more (ministry)
Russia claimed on Sunday, for the second day in a row, that it used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine, this time to destroy a Ukrainian army fuel reserve in the south of the country. “A large reserve of fuel was destroyed by ‘Kalibr’ cruise missiles fired from the Caspian Sea, as well as by hypersonic ballistic missiles fired by the ‘Kinjal’ aeronautical system from the airspace of Crimea,” said the Ministry of Defense in a press release, without specifying the date of this strike.
06:50 – Ukraine bans pro-Russian parties
Ukraine’s National Security Council has suspended the work of a number of pro-Russian parties, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a video message posted overnight from Saturday to Sunday. These include two parties that sit in parliament. This decision will be valid as long as martial law applies in the territory.
04:40 – One of Europe’s largest steelworks damaged in Mariupol
The Azovstal steel and metallurgical plant in Mariupol, one of the largest in Europe, was heavily damaged by shelling, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday. “One of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe is destroyed. The economic losses for Ukraine are immense,” said MP Lesia Vasylenko, who posted a video on her Twitter account showing thick columns of smoke rising of an industrial complex.
02:30 – Over 260 civilians killed in Kharkiv since invasion; call for help from the mayor of Chernihiv
Since Russian forces invaded Ukraine more than three weeks ago, at least 266 civilians, including 14 children, have been killed in fighting around the city of Kharkiv, authorities in the second most major city in Ukraine.
