Russian forces advanced ever closer to the capital from the north, west and northeast. They also expanded their offensive in Ukraine as they conducted airstrikes on new areas in the country's west. Ukrainian and UN authorities said Russian forces may be committing war crimes in cities such as Mariupol, which remains without water or heat and is cut off from humanitarian aid.
- In a phone call on Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not show a willingness to end a war with Ukraine, a French presidency official said. The French and German leaders reiterated their call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine as a condition for full negotiations, the official said.
- Britain's defense ministry said fighting was raging northwest of Kyiv on Saturday and that the bulk of Russian ground forces were now around 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the centre of the capital. The ministry said elements of the large Russian military column north of Kyiv have dispersed, likely to support an attempt to encircle the Ukrainian capital.
- The governors of two Ukrainian regions, Kyiv and Donetsk, said in separate statements that attacks were continuing in areas where Ukraine was trying to evacuate people and bring in aid through “humanitarian corridors”.
- Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz by phone on Saturday, asking them to pressure Russia to release the mayor of the city of Melitopol, whom Ukraine says was kidnapped on Friday by Russian forces.
- The UN said Russia may be committing war crimes in cities such as Mariupol, where people have been trying to flee Russian bombardment in a freezing city without water or heat that is running out of food. The situation is "desperate", a Doctors Without Borders official told AFP.
- European Union leaders said Friday they will continue applying pressure on Russia by devising a new set of “massive” sanctions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. The EU will ban the export of luxury goods to Russia, striking a "direct blow to the Russian elite" as the war in Ukraine rages, according to EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.
- The European Commission aims to double the EU's military aid to Ukraine and has proposed earmarking another €500 million for the cause. US, EU and G7 are set to revoke Russia’s “most favoured nation” status over its invasion of Ukraine.
- Civilian targets came under Russian shelling in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro Friday, killing one, according to emergency services, in what appeared to be the first direct attack on the city.
- The UN said the number of refugees fleeing Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 has surged past 2.5 million.
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(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP and AP)
