Russia 'destroys Ukrainian ammo warehouses'

Russia has destroyed a depot containing 70,000 tonnes of fuel near the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday.

It also said Russian forces had destroyed Ukraine army warehouses storing missiles, ammunition and other artillery weapons in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.

Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian authorities said a 50-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter were killed after Russian forces struck a residential building in the city of Zaporizhzhia.

A 50-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter were killed after Russian missiles struck a house in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, officials said on Sunday. It was the latest Russian strike on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

"The enemy carried out a missile attack on Zaporizhzhia and killed another Ukrainian family," the head of the State Emergency Service, Sergiy Kruk, said on social media.

05:05 PM

Today's top stories

• Weekend shelling by Russian forces killed at least seven civilians, Ukrainian officials reported

• Russia has destroyed a depot containing 70,000 tonnes of fuel near the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the Russian defence ministry said

• A 50-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter were killed after Russian missiles struck a house in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, officials said

• Pope Francis appeared to ask Russians to seek the truth about their country's invasion of Ukraine in his Easter message to the world

• Mothers hugged sons and daughters as they crossed the border from Belarus into Ukraine on Friday after a complex rescue mission involving travel across four countries.

04:49 PM

Seven killed over Easter weekend

Weekend shelling by Russian forces killed at least seven civilians, Ukrainian officials reported on Sunday.

While Russia continued to concentrate on seizing all of Ukraine’s industrial east, two other provinces – Kharkiv in the northeast and Zaporizhzhia in the southeast - came under missile, rocket and artillery fire, the Ukrainian military reported.

Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said two men died Sunday in shelling in Kupiansk, a city that Russia held before Ukrainian forces regained control of almost all of the province.

04:33 PM

Swiss pharma exports to Russia soar despite sanctions

Swiss exports to Russia have dropped only slightly despite the sanctions imposed by Bern, with pharmaceutical exports soaring to record levels, a report said on Sunday.

Switzerland has matched the 10 rounds of ever-tightening sanctions imposed by the European Union since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Though Swiss trade with Russia has come to a standstill in many key sectors, notably machines and watches, pharmaceutical exports are at a record high, the Neue Zurcher Zeitung am Sonntag newspaper said after analysing figures from the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security.

04:12 PM

In pictures: Britain's Challenger 2 tanks in action. The UK has promised to send 14 to Ukraine

03:39 PM

'Ukraine to buy more APCs from Poland'

03:29 PM

South Korea to discuss 'issues raised' from leaked documents with US

South Korea is aware of news reports about a leak of several classified US military documents and it plans to discuss "issues raised" as a result of the leak with the United States, a South Korean presidential official said on Sunday.

Several classified US military documents have recently been posted on social media offering a partial, month-old snapshot of the war in Ukraine, three US officials told Reuters on Friday, adding that Russia or pro-Russian elements were likely behind the leak.

02:55 PM

Father and daughter killed by Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia

A 50-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter were killed after Russian missiles struck a house in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, officials said on Sunday.

It was the latest Russian strike on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

"The enemy carried out a missile attack on Zaporizhzhia and killed another Ukrainian family," the head of the State Emergency Service, Sergiy Kruk, said on social media.

The girl died in an ambulance, said the head of Zaporizhzhia City Council, Anatoliy Kurtiev.

Zaporizhzhia has come under renewed attack since Moscow’s war entered its second year. In February Russia launched its heaviest rocket attack on the city since the war began, firing 17 missiles in an hour.

It comes amid a Russian offensive aimed at seizing the eastern Donbas region.

02:34 PM

The signed Wagner hammer put near the coffin of the slain pro-Russian blogger Vladlen Tatarsky

01:53 PM

Oscars's snubbing of Zelensky was 'example of the hypocrisy'

The Oscars's decision not to invite president Zelensky to deliver a speech at the awards ceremony in March was hyprocritical, said the foreign affairs minister.

“I think if ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ receives an Oscar as the Best Foreign Language Film, while President Zelensky, who is in the war, leading the country, fighting in the biggest war in Europe since World War II, is not allowed to speak at the Oscars recemony, you will not find a better example of the hypocrisy of the film industry’s top executives and producers,” said Dmytro Kuleba.

01:11 PM

'Poland donates 100 BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine'

12:42 PM

Russian troops have dug a 70-km long trench in Zaporizhzhia, according to a government advisor

12:19 PM

Russia says it has destroyed 70,000-tonne fuel depot near Zaporizhzhia

Russia has destroyed a depot containing 70,000 tonnes of fuel near the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday.

It also said Russian forces had destroyed Ukraine army warehouses storing missiles, ammunition and other artillery weapons in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.

Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian authorities said a 50-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter were killed after Russian forces struck a residential building in the city of Zaporizhzhia.

12:00 PM

Pope appeals to Russians on Ukraine in Easter message

Pope Francis appeared to ask Russians to seek the truth about their country's invasion of Ukraine in his Easter message to the world on Sunday and appealed for dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians following recent violence.

Francis, 86, presided at a solemn Easter day Mass in a sunny St. Peter's Square after unseasonal cold forced him to skip an outdoor service on Friday - a precaution following his hospitalisation for bronchitis at the end of March.

"Help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia," he said.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, Francis has at least twice a week referred to Ukraine and its people as being "martyred" and has used words such as aggression and atrocities to describe Russia's actions.

11:34 AM

Ukraine children back home after alleged deportation

Mothers hugged sons and daughters as they crossed the border from Belarus into Ukraine on Friday after a complex rescue mission involving travel across four countries.

The 31 children had been taken from areas occupied by Russian forces during the war.

Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since Moscow invaded in February last year, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.

11:08 AM

Mapped: Russian gains in Bakhmut

10:53 AM

Gazprom to ship 36.8 mcm of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Sunday

Russia's Gazprom said it would ship 36.8 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Sunday, compared with 37.2 mcm the previous day.

10:31 AM

More photos from Zaporizhzhia which Russia struck earlier today

09:59 AM

Latest update from the Ministry of Defence

09:54 AM

US Justice Dept opens probe into secret US documents leak

The US Department of Justice on Saturday said it has begun an investigation into a trove of leaked US documents, many related to Ukraine, that have spread to the internet.

The breach appears to include assessments and secret intelligence reports that touch not only on Ukraine and Russia but also highly sensitive analyses of US allies.

"We have been in communication with the Department of Defense related to this matter and have begun an investigation," a Justice Department spokesperson told AFP.