A woman stands in front of an apartment block destroyed by Russian shelling of besieged Mariupol in southern Ukraine, March 17, 2022 (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

Saturday’s Coverage: How Many Crew Died When Russia’s Flagship Sank?

UPDATE 1423 GMT:

The death toll from Russia’s rocket and artillery attacks on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv (see 1135 GMT) has risen to five, says Maksym Haustov, head of the regional administration’s health department.

UPDATE 1420 GMT:

At least two people were killed and four injured by Russian shelling of Zolote in eastern Ukraine on Sunday.

Two floors were destroyed in a high-rise building.

UPDATE 1135 GMT:

Russian rocket and artillery attacks have killed at least three civilians in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine.

Another 31 people were injured, wrote regional governor Oleh Syneyhubov on Sunday.

He said Russian troops carried out 23 shellings and a missile attack.

UPDATE 1130 GMT:

Russian State media reports that Ukrainian troops have killed an eighth Russian general, Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov, deputy commander of the Eighth Army.

Western intelligence assessed that there were 20 Russian generals involved in the Ukraine invasion when it was launched.

A Russian admiral has also been slain.

UPDATE 1040 GMT:

In his Easter address to 50,000 in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis has implicitly criticized Russia over an “Easter War”, with Ukraine “sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged”.

UPDATE 0904 GMT:

Ukrainian intelligence services claim the Russian machine-building company Uralvagonzavod has halted new production, including of T-72, T-90, and T-14 tanks, because of international sanctions.

UPDATE 0848 GMT:

Russia has blocked any safe evacuation of Ukrainian civilians on Sunday.

Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, “We have not been able to agree…about ceasefires on evacuation routes. That is why, unfortunately, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today.”

The Russians refused any humanitarian corridor for civilians and wounded Ukrainian troops from besieged Mariupol.

UPDATE 0845 GMT:

A Russian missile attack early Sunday damaged infrastructure in the city of Brovary, near Kyiv, said Mayor Igor Sapozhko.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed it hit an ammunition depot.

UPDATE 0618 GMT:

Implementing European Union sanctions, Italy is barring all Russian ships from its ports from Sunday.

Ships already in port must leave immediately “after completing their commercial activity″.

Bulgaria has also announced the closure of its ports to Russian ships.

UPDATE 0605 GMT:

The mayor of Irpin, west of Kyiv, says more than 70% of buildings in the town were damaged or destroyed by Russian forces.

Oleksandr Markushin said 115 buildings are completely destroyed, 698 significantly damaged, and 187 partially damaged.

UPDATE 0557 GMT:

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer says Vladimir Putin thinks he is winning his war on Ukraine.

On Monday, Nehammer was the first leader of a European Union country to meet Putin since the February 24 invasion. He told the Russian that he is “losing the war morally” and that “all those responsible” for war crimes must be brought to justice.

But the Chancellor assessed:

I think he is now in his own war logic, you know? He thinks the war is necessary for security guarantees for the Russian Federation. He doesn’t trust the international community. He blames Ukrainians for genocides in the Donbas region. So while he is now in his own world, I think he knows what is going on now in Ukraine.

[But] I think he believes he is winning the war.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Unable to conquer the port city of Mariupol despite bombarding and starving the residents with a siege of more than seven weeks, Russia’s forces have issued another “surrender or die” ultimatum.

The 6 a.m. deadline passed on Sunday without any capitulation by Mariupol’s defenders; however, Moscow claimed that it is close to overrunning the remaining holdouts in the city in southern Ukraine on the Sea of Azov.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the situation is “extremely severe” without acknowledging an imminent collapse: “The situation is very difficult. Our soldiers are blocked, the wounded are blocked. There is a humanitarian crisis….Nevertheless, the guys are defending themselves.”

He added, “The elimination of our troops, of our men (in Mariupol) will put an end to any negotiations.”

Russia launched its attacks on Mariupol on the first day of its February 24 invasion. The Russian forces quickly seized a coastal corridor, including the cities of Kherson and Melitopol. However, they were unable to overrun Mariupol, and failed to occupy any other cities outside the south, abandoning the quest to overrun the capital Kyiv and northern Ukraine at the end of March.

The siege continued, cutting off all water, electricity, and heating and almost all food to about 100,000 people who remain. The Russians blocked all humanitarian access, turning back the Red Cross’s attempts at aid and organized evacuations of civilians.

Mayor Vadym Boychenko estimates that 21,000 people have been killed, but as the Russians have taken away many bodies, a toll is unlikely to ever be established. Ukrainian officials, including President Zelenskiy, say thousands more civilians have been forcibly transferred to Russia.

The Russians claim that they now control one of the city’s two iron and steel complexes, but fighting continues in the other.

Defence Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov asserted that more than 4,000 Ukrainian fighters have been killed and another 1,464 have surrendered.

The entire urban area of Mariupol has been completely cleared. Remnants of the Ukrainian group are currently completely blockaded on the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant.

Their only chance to save their lives is to voluntarily lay down their arms and surrender.

Some Crew Surface From Sunken Russian Flagship

Russia has presented some of the 508 crew of its Black Sea flagship Moskva, which sank early Thursday, possibly after a Ukrainian missile strike.

The Russian Defense Ministry — which has issued a series of false, misleading, or incomplete statements since the explosion on the Moskva late Wednesday — has still not acknowledged any casualties. Lithuania’s Prime Minister said a Turkish ship rescued 54 of the crew.

Ukrainian officials say the captain, Anton Kurpin, was among those who died in the blast.