Ukraine: A series of explosions were heard early Sunday morning and smoke was seen in Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa. There was no official information about the attack. On Saturday, Ukrainian forces seized back all areas around Kyiv, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched the invasion, amid fears that Russian forces left booby-trapped explosives.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops retaking areas around Kyiv and Chernihiv are not allowing Russians to retreat without a fight, but are “shelling them. They are destroying everyone they can.” Ukraine’s troops have retaken more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv since Russia pulled back from the area this week, Ukrainian officials said.
Nearly 300 people have been buried in a mass grave in Bucha, a commuter town outside Kyiv, its mayor Anatoly Fedoruk said. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister says 765 residents managed to make it out of Mariupol in private vehicles on Sunday while a team of humanitarian workers is yet to reach the hard-hit city. Iryna Vereshchuk said the residents reached Zaporizhzhia, a city 140 miles (226 kilometres) to the northwest.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross said a team with three vehicles and nine staff members had planned to get into Mariupol, the scene of some of the war’s worst attacks, on Saturday to evacuate residents. A Russian group that monitors political arrests says 208 people were detained in demonstrations held Saturday across the country protesting Russia’s military. A new Prague-based internet radio station has started to broadcast news, information and music tailored to the day-to-day concerns of some 300,000 refugees who have arrived in the Czech Republic.