Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Fierce fighting in Severodonetsk – Kyiv President Volodymyr Zelenskyy maintains his forces will not give up their positions in the key eastern city where he says ‘fierce’ street fighting is continuing. Nastasia Vladimirovna poses for a picture at her home destroyed by attacks in Mostyshche, on the outskirts Kyiv, Ukraine.
European Council President Charles Michel asserts Russia’s blocking of food exports from Ukraine is “pushing people into poverty and destabilising entire regions”. UN official Pramila Patten declares the “unprecedented” displacement of millions of Ukrainians is “turning into a human trafficking crisis”.
A Ukrainian military leader says Russia has begun turning over the bodies of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steel works, with dozens of bodies transferred to Kyiv where DNA testing is being done to identify them.
A theatre in Ukraine’s capital has reopened for the first time since Russia invaded the country, and tickets sold out for Sunday’s performance. Russia’s ambassador to the United States has accused Washington of harassing Russian journalists in the US.
About 60 percent of Ukrainians need psychological help as a result of the war, Ukraine’s first lady has said, adding that Kyiv was working on establishing a national support system. Japan will freeze the assets of two more Russian banks and one more Belarusian bank as part of additional sanctions for Russia’s Ukraine invasion, Japan’s foreign ministry has said.