Russia-Ukraine war: Russian deadline for Mariupol defenders to ‘surrender or die’ passes – live

‘I feel really lost but not lonely’: a Kherson mother’s diary of flight from a war zone

Olha spent weeks living under Russian occupation in her home town of Kherson, southern Ukraine. Now she tells her story of fleeing the violence and travelling across Europe with two children and a cat in tow.

Groups of people who wanted to leave Kherson appeared on Telegram. People shared information and exchanged ideas. The first message in our group from anyone who had escaped came from a girl called Alinka. Her boyfriend took her out along a country road. It gave us a ray of hope.

Russia’s demand that Ukrainian forces in Mariupol surrender by 3am GMT passed without immediate signs of a response, as Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that peace talks would be scrapped if the city’s remaining defenders were killed.

As air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine, including in the Kyiv region, early on Sunday, Russia said its troops had cleared most of the besieged city, with only a small contingent of Ukrainian fighters remaining in the giant Azovstal steelworks in the south-eastern port, as missiles hit Kyiv and other cities.

If it falls, it would be Russia’s first seizure of a major city.

Ukraine’s president said in a video address: “The situation in Mariupol remains as severe as possible. Just inhuman … Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there.” He added: “The elimination of our troops, of our men [in Mariupol] will put an end to any negotiations”, and called on the west to immediately provide heavy weapons.

While life seemed to be slowly returning to the streets of Kyiv, a fresh series of Russian airstrikes came as a reminder this weekend that the war in the Ukrainian capital is far from over.

Following two weeks of relative calm, on Friday the Russian forces destroyed a plant which allegedly produced one of the missiles used to sink the Moskva warship in the Black Sea. The attack was the most significant revenge strike by the Kremlin after the sinking of Russia’s flagship vessel.

Then, on Saturday, Russian rockets allegedly hit a military hardware factory in the capital’s Darnytskyi district. “They are making us pay for destroying the Moskva,” Andrei Sizov, the 47-year-old owner of a nearby wood workshop.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who met with Vladimir Putin this past week in Moscow — the first European leader to do so since the invasion began Feb. 24 — said the Russian president is “in his own war logic” on Ukraine.

In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Nehammer said he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war and “we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.’’

Nehammer said he confronted Putin with what he saw during a visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where more than 350 bodies have been found along with evidence of killings and torture under Russian occupation, and “it was not a friendly conversation.”

The UK government’s latest intelligence update this morning says:

• Russian forces continue to redeploy combat and support equipment from Belarus towards eastern Ukraine. This includes locations close to Kharkiv and Severdonetsk.
• Russian artillery continues to strike Ukrainian positions throughout the east of the country where Russia plans to renew its offensive activity
• Though Russia’s operational focus has shifted to eastern Ukraine, Russia’s ultimate objective remains the same. It is committed to compelling Ukraine to abandon its Euro-Atlantic orientation and asserting its own regional dominance

Russia told Ukrainian forces fighting in Mariupol to lay down arms on Sunday morning to save their lives, but there were no immediate reports of activity two hours after the ultimatum took effect at 3am GMT in the strategic southeastern port.

Russia’s defence ministry claimed it had all but taken control of Mariupol, aside from a few Ukrainian defenders left in a steel plant, but the claim could not be independently verified. It would be the first major city to have fallen to Russian forces since the invasion which began on 24 February

For a comprehensive visual guide on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, look no further than this excellent interactive piece prepared by my colleagues earlier this week

Good morning from Delhi and happy Easter to those who celebrate. Hannah Ellis-Petersen here on the live blog for the next few hours following the developments in Ukraine. Here is a summary of today’s events so far:

• The 3am GMT deadline set by Moscow for Ukrainian soldiers in the besieged city of Mariupol to “surrender or die” has passed, with no reports yet from the Ukrainian or Russian sides if the city has fallen fully to Russian control. On Saturday, the Russian defence ministry said it had cleared urban areas of Ukrainian forces, and the remaining defenders were trapped in a steelworks.
• The Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the situation in Mariupol as “inhuman” and called on the west to prove more arms. “The successes of our military on the battlefield are really significant, historically significant. But they are still not enough to clean our land of the occupiers,” he said.
• Russian forces have renewed missile strikes on Kyiv and intensified shelling of Kharkiv, in an apparent strategy to hobble Ukraine’s defences ahead of an expected full-scale Russian assault in the east. Explosions were heard in the early hours on Sunday in Kyiv. Russia had warned it would step up its missile bombardment following the sinking of its battleship Moskva.
• Russian air defence units have reportedly brought down a military transport plane carrying Western arms outside Odesa.
• The Ukraine president warned that the world “needs to prepare” for the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons. On Saturday, the mayor of Trostianets, a city in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, claimed that authorities have found the remains of chemical weapons including Sarin in the village of Bilka, which had been occupied by the Russians. The allegation has not been verified.
• Russia’s foreign ministry barred entry to the country for Johnson and other British government politicians and members in response to the government’s “hostile action” including sanctions. The Kremlin said it would expand restrictions against British politicians over what it calls a “wave of anti-Russian hysteria.”