Ukrainians in the besieged city of Mariupol have accused Russian troops of digging up "people killed by them" and preventing new burials.
"A watchman has been assigned to each courtyard and is not allowing Mariupol residents to lay to rest dead relatives or friends," the city's council said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
"Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown." The claim could not be independently verified.
Earlier this month, Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of Mariupol, said that Russian forces had brought mobile cremation equipment to the city to dispose of the corpses of victims of the siege. He added that Russian forces were taking many bodies to a huge shopping center with storage facilities and refrigerators.
"Mobile crematoriums have arrived in the form of trucks: You open it, and there is a pipe inside and these bodies are burned," he said.
It comes after Russia was accused of war crimes when hundreds of dead civilians were discovered in mass graves and strewn across the streets in liberated towns around Kyiv following the Russian withdrawal in recent weeks.
Follow the latest updates below.
02:53 PM
Pictured: Torn Ukraine flag hangs on wire in Mariupol
s - REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
02:51 PM
Moscow will seek 'revenge' for sunk cruiser, Ukraine says
Ukraine said Friday that Russia will seek revenge after the sinking of its flagship missile cruiser, the Moskva, which Kyiv claimed to have hit with Neptune missiles.
"The Moskva cruiser strike hit not only the ship itself: it hit the enemy's imperial ambitions. We are all aware that we will not be forgiven for this," Natalia Gumeniuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's southern military forces said during a briefing.
"We are aware that attacks against us will intensify and that the enemy will take revenge. We understand this," she added, citing ongoing strikes on cities in the south of Ukraine, Odessa and Mykolaiv.
The Moskva had been leading Russia's naval effort in the seven-week invasion and the circumstances around its sinking and the fate of its crew remain murky.
"We saw that other ships tried to assist it, but even the forces of nature were on Ukraine's side because the storm made both the rescue operation and crew evacuations impossible," she added.
02:28 PM
Ukraine says grain on ships in blocked Black Sea ports may deteriorate
Around 1.25 million tonnes of grains and oilseeds are still on commercial vessels blocked in Ukrainian seaports due to Russia's invasion and part of the cargo may deteriorate in the near future, Ukraine's farm minister was quoted as saying on Friday.
Ukraine used to export almost all its grain and oilseeds via seaports and now is forced to find new routes as its ports are blocked.
Before the war, Ukraine exported up to 6 million tonnes of grain and oilseed a month, while in March the exports fell to 200,000 tonnes, Mykola Solskyi told the newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda.
"It (the cargo) is not unloaded, and is still on vessels. There are currently 57 vessels with 1.25 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds," Mr Solskyi said.
"As for the retention period, I think that even the captains themselves in most cases do not know if there are any problems with this. They certainly did not plan to keep this grain on the ships for a long time," he added.
Mr Solskyi said that everything depended on the condition of the holds of the vessels and if the grain is stored for more than three months, "problems arise and part of the cargo can be spoiled."
02:18 PM
Finland 'highly likely' to apply to join Nato, minister says
A Finnish cabinet minister said Friday it was "highly likely" that Finland would apply for NATO membership, just hours after Russia warned of unspecified "consequences" should Helsinki and Stockholm join the military alliance.
"At this point I can say that it is highly likely, but the decision is not yet made," said European Affairs Minister Tytti Tuppurainen.
01:49 PM
War in Ukraine could last until the end of the year says America’s top diplomat
America believes the war in Ukraine could last until the end of the year, with no short term end to the conflict in sight, reports Jamie Johnson in Washington.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told European allies that there are no indications that Vladimir Putin’s goals have changed and that he is unlikely to engage in diplomatic negotiations unless he is faced with an overwhelming military defeat.
While it is difficult to predict exactly how long the conflict will last, expectations are that it could go on through the end of 2022, two European officials told CNN.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said on the record this week that the fighting in Ukraine is likely to be "protracted," and will go on "for months or even longer."
Some members of Congress and their aides are quietly making comparison to the Korean War, which lasted for three years.
The fighting in Ukraine is expected to move into a new phase, with fierce battles anticipated in the East of the country.
01:20 PM
EU embargo on Russian oil and gas will take 'months'
The EU is working on broadening sanctions on Russia to include oil and gas embargoes but such measures would take "several months", European officials told AFP on Friday.
The bloc last week announced a ban on Russian coal in a first step against Russian energy exports - together, Moscow's main hard currency earner.
But the coal sanction only kicks in from mid-August, and would hit around eight billion euros ($8.7 billion) in Russia's sales abroad, annually.
Russian oil and gas sales to the EU account for a far higher amount of revenue: between a quarter of a billion to a billion euros per day, per different estimates.
Public and political opinion in the EU is swinging towards a total energy ban as Moscow's war in Ukraine grinds on and yields discoveries of atrocities.
01:19 PM
Ukraine says street battles ongoing in Mariupol
Ukraine's defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said on Friday that street battles were ongoing in the besieged port city of Mariupol, which Russian forces had not managed to completely capture.
Mr Motuzyanyk said active fighting was taking place around Mariupol's Illich Steel and Iron Works, as well as in the port area.
01:02 PM
Ukraine says Russia used long-range bombers on Mariupol for first time
Ukraine's defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said on Friday that for, the first time since the start of its invasion, Russia used long-range bombers to attack the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Motuzyanyk said Russia was concentrating its efforts on seizing the cities of Rubizhne, Popasna and Mariupol.
12:56 PM
'It's easy on the wallet and annoys Putin': German economics minister calls on citizens to cut energy use
Germany's economics minister has called on citizens to cut their energy use, saying it's “easy on the wallet and annoys Putin”, reports Daniel Wighton in Berlin.
Germany has come under heavy fire for continuing to import Russian energy, which EU foreign policy boss Josep Borell estimates gives Moscow around one billion euros (£828 million) per day.
Deputy Chancellor Robert Habeck, from the Greens, acknowledged the role German energy imports made in prolonging the war, but said stopping Russian energy imports was an “economic policy nightmare” which was about more than just “wearing a warmer sweater”.
“There’s no correct thing to do, only (something) that is less wrong," he told Germany’s Funke media group on Friday.
“We’re not talking about ‘freezing for freedom’ or wearing a warmer sweater for three days. We’re talking about massive slumps in the German economy (should an embargo on Russian energy be imposed).”
12:28 PM
Russian regulator says French radio RFI's website blocked
Russia's media watchdog Roskomnadzor on Friday blocked access to the website of French radio station RFI, saying it had violated a law banning the dissemination of false or extremist information.
The RFI website appeared in Roskomnadzor's database of blocked websites and AFP journalists in Moscow were unable to access the station's English, French or Russian-language websites.
12:16 PM
Five million people have fled war in Ukraine, UN says
More than five million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion on February 24, United Nations figures showed on Friday.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 4,796,245 million Ukrainians had fled across the borders, while the UN's International Organization for Migration says nearly 215,000 third-country nationals have also escaped to neighbouring countries.
Refugees wait in a line after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland, Tuesday, April 12, 2022. - AP Photo/Sergei Grits
12:06 PM
North Macedonia orders another six Russian diplomats to leave the country
North Macedonia's Foreign Ministry on Friday ordered six Russian diplomats to leave the country over violations of diplomatic norms, the second such expulsion in less than a month, a statement said.
A diplomatic note has been handed over to Sergey Bazdnikin, Russia's ambassador to Skopje and the diplomats have five days to leave the country, it said.
"The six Russian diplomats in question were engaging in activities contrary to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," said the statement posted on ministry's website.
Officials from the Russian embassy in Skopje could not immediately be reached for comment.
On March 28, North Macedonia which is a Nato member and wants to join the European Union, expelled five other Russian diplomats.
The Balkan country joined has joined international sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".
12:05 PM
Ministry of Defence shares latest Defence Intelligence update on Ukraine
The illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is continuing.
The map below is the latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 15 April 2022
Ukraine's top steelmaker says it will never work under Russian occupation
Ukraine's biggest steelmaker Metinvest said on Friday its enterprises would never operate under Russian occupation and that Ukraine had lost access to 30 per cent to 40 per cent of its metallurgy production capacity in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
It told Reuters in a statement that Ukraine, one of Europe's biggest suppliers of iron ore, had already more than halved its iron ore production due to the invasion that Russia launched on Feb. 24.
11:41 AM
Russian Deputy PM says several buyers agree to pay in roubles for Russian gas
Several buyers of Russian gas have agreed to switch to payments in roubles, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.
"We expect the decision (to switch to roubles) from other importers," he added, in comments published in the ministry's in-house magazine. He did not disclose the identities of customers who had already switched.
President Vladimir Putin said last month that buyers of Russian gas from "unfriendly" countries should pay in roubles, a move rejected by European Union authorities under the bloc's sanctions regime against Moscow.
Putin has warned Europe it risked having gas supplies cut unless it pays in the Russian currency as he seeks to retaliate over the sanctions, imposed over what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.
In March, he proposed that energy buyers open accounts at Gazprombank, where payments in euros or dollars would be converted to roubles.
Armenia made several payments for supplies of Russian natural gas in roubles, its Economy Minister Vagan Kerobyan said in an interview with Russian media outlet RBC on Friday.
11:15 AM
Pictured: Man stands among the remains of his home in village near Kyiv
j - OLEG PETRASYUK/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
10:53 AM
Russia says 20 buildings and school damaged by Ukrainian shelling in Belgorod
More than 20 buildings and a school were damaged as a result of Ukrainian shelling of a Russian village in the Belgorod region on Thursday, TASS news agency reported on Friday, citing regional authorities.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the report.
10:35 AM
Russia blocks The Moscow Times website
Russia's communications watchdog has blocked access to the website of The Moscow Times, an English language newspaper that has covered Russia for three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
10:34 AM
Ukraine says seven killed in Russian attack on evacuees
Ukraine said Friday that seven people were killed and more than two dozen injured in a Russian attack on buses ferrying civilians from the war-torn east of the country.
"On April 14, Russian servicemen fired on evacuation buses carrying civilians in the village of Borova in the Izium district. Preliminary data shows seven people died. Another 27 people were injured," the office of Ukraine's prosecutor general said in a statement on social media.
10:22 AM
Russia says it wants to expand rouble use in energy exports but no deadlines yet
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia wanted to expand the use of the rouble for energy exports, but that it was too early to talk of deadlines and details.
"The president has set a methodical and step-by-step approach to expanding the use of national currencies", Peskov told reporters on a conference call.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the role of national currencies in export deals should rise, amid Russia's stated desire to switch to roubles in payments for its gas supplies, mainly to Europe.
09:41 AM
Russia warns of 'unpredictable consequences' if US keeps arming Ukraine
Russia has warned the United States that there will be "unpredictable consequences" if Washington keeps arming Ukraine, The Washington Post reported on Friday.
"We call on the United States and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarization of Ukraine, which implies unpredictable consequences for regional and international security," the Post quoted Russia saying in a diplomatic note to the United States.
09:38 AM
Russia says it has captured steel works in Mariupol
Russia's defence ministry has claimed it had captured the Ilyich steel works in Mariupol, one of the last industrial areas holding out in the besieged eastern city that has seen the war's heaviest fighting and the worst humanitarian catastrophe.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said it had repelled Russian offensives in the town of Popasna and Rubizhne, in an area north of Mariupol. Both reports could not be independently confirmed.
Moscow now says its main war aim is capturing the Donbas, an eastern region of two provinces that are already partly held by Russian-backed separatists and that Russia wants Kyiv to cede. It has sent a new column of thousands of troops into the east for what Ukraine anticipates will be a major assault.
Moscow says it hopes to seize all of Mariupol soon, which would be the only big city it has captured so far.
09:09 AM
Russia has lost approximately 20,000 troops, Armed Forces of Ukraine say
These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of April 15, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/qCuWOiMieJ
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 15, 2022
08:49 AM
Russia says killed up to 30 'Polish mercenaries' in Ukraine
Russia said on Friday that it has killed up to 30 Polish mercenaries fighting for Ukrainian forces in the war-torn country's northeastern region of Kharkiv.
The Russian defence ministry said its strategic rocket forces "eliminated up to 30 Polish mercenaries" in a strike on the village of Izyumskoe, not far from the city of Kharkiv.
08:35 AM
Ukraine says it has swapped captured soldiers with Russia
Ukraine said on Friday that it had swapped several captured soldiers with Russia in the south of the war-scarred country, where Moscow's invading forces have solidified their greatest gains.
"After tense negotiations, we managed to reach agreements on a prisoner exchange near the village of Posad-Pokrovskoye, where four Russian military personnel were exchanged for our five," Ukraine's defence ministry said.
Russian troops have captured the city of Kherson, which is the administrative capital of the eponymous region where Friday's declared swap took place.
The exchange followed an announcement from Kyiv on Thursday of a fourth swap of prisoners since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said a total of 30 people on the Ukrainian side were involved in that exchange.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky this week offered to swap pro-Kremlin tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk, one of the richest people in Ukraine and who was arrested by Kyiv after escaping house arrest, for Ukrainians captured by Russia.
08:29 AM
The latest pictures from Ukraine
fg - Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images A woman looks for goods dropped from the apartment building partly damaged by shelling, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Thursday, April 14, 2022. - AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko d - AP Photo/George Ivanchenko
08:17 AM
China must 'pay price' for Russia backing, says US senator in Taiwan
China must pay a greater price for backing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a senior United States senator said Friday, during a trip to Taiwan in which American lawmakers vowed that Washington would not abandon the island.
Beijing threatened "strong measures" in response to the delegation led by Lindsey Graham, a vocal China hawk, which arrived in Taipei late Thursday for a two-day visit.
Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine - which Beijing has refused to condemn - has heightened fears that China might one day follow through on threats to annex its smaller neighbour.
During a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen, Mr Graham said the United States would "stand for what we love, we would stand with you".
"To abandon Taiwan would be to abandon democracy and freedom... it would reward the worst in humanity."
"We are going to start making China pay a greater price for what they are doing all over the world. The support for Putin must come with a price," he added.
08:09 AM
Moody's says Russia may be in default on dollar bonds
Moody's Investors Service has said that Russia may be in default after it made payments on dollar bonds with roubles.
"Russia reportedly made payments on two bonds maturing in 2022 and 2042 in rubles rather than US dollars which represents a change in payment terms relative to the original bond contracts and therefore may be considered a default under Moody's definition if not cured by 4 May, which is the end of the grace period," Moody's said in a statement on Thursday.
If Russia is considered in default it would be its first major default on foreign bonds since the years following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
Russia says it wants to service its debt but the West has prevented it from paying by imposing crippling sanctions after President Vladimir Putin on February 24 ordered a special military operation in Ukraine.
07:47 AM
Moscow warns it will intensify attacks on Kyiv
Russia's defence ministry warned Friday it will intensify attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in response to strikes on Russian soil, after accusing Ukraine of targeting Russian border towns.
"The number and scale of missile strikes against targets in Kyiv will increase in response to any terrorist attacks or sabotage committed by the Kyiv nationalist regime on Russian territory," the ministry said in a statement. Russia hit a "military" factory outside Kyiv late Thursday using Kalibr sea-based long-range missiles, it added.
07:22 AM
Ukraine's Luhansk governor urges residents of six towns to evacuate
The governor of Ukraine's Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, on Friday urged residents of six towns to evacuate, adding that one person had been killed and five wounded in Russian shelling of the town of Kreminna.
Mr Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app: "Don't hesitate and leave while that possibility remains. ... Choose life, buses are waiting for you at the pickup points. As are trains, of which there are enough."
Reuters could not immediately verify Mr Gaidai's statements.
07:21 AM
Nine humanitarian corridors agreed for Friday
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said nine humanitarian corridors had been agreed for Friday to evacuate civilians, including by private car from the besieged city of Mariupol.
Other evacuation routes include ones from Berdiansk, Tokmak, Enerhodar and Sievierodonetsk.
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