War in Ukraine Live: No truce in sight ahead of Orthodox Easter; According to a senior Russian officer Russia intends to “gain total control of Donbass and southern Ukraine.”

Live hosted by Jacky Goldberg

• A senior Russian officer, General Rustam Minnekayev, said that “one of the goals of the Russian army is togain full control of Donbass and southern Ukraine”, making it possible to secure “a land corridor to Crimea”, then “a corridor to Transnistria”, a pro-Russian separatist region in Moldova. Several experts are analyzing this statement as a “red herring” to divert Donbass attention to the south, as Russia currently lacks the military capabilities to achieve this goal.
• in Donbass, “Heavy shelling and fighting continues as Russia seeks to advance to locations such as Lyman, Buhaivka, Barvinkove and Popasna as part of its plan for the region,” Britain’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday morning.
• The strategic port of Mariupol, which Moscow is said to have “liberated” is still defying Russian forces, sources in Kyiv say, after which Ukrainian fighters continue to fiercely defend the vast Azovstal metallurgical complex, where civilians are also holed up. Vladimir Putin accuses Kyiv of preventing the surrender of Ukrainian fighters.
• European Council President Charles Michel, who represents EU member states, asked Vladimir Putin for a guarantee in a telephone interview on Friday humanitarian corridors in Mariupol on the occasion of the Orthodox Easter. For its part, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate has proposed organizing an Easter procession to the besieged city of Mariupol to evacuate wounded civilians and soldiers. Several humanitarian corridors in this city were canceled at the last minute.
• Satellite images released Thursday by American firm Maxar Technologies show “the existence mass graves in the north-west of Manhouch”, a village 20 kilometers from Mariupol. According to Maxar, the images show long rows of graves, more than two hundred, near an existing cemetery.
• The negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have not led to any discernible progress and “Skate,” said the head of Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously called the possibility of a war in Ukraine lasting until the end of 2023 “realistic” as Russia is determined to continue its offensive.
• The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres will travel to Russia on Tuesday, where he will meet Vladimir Putin for the first time since February 24, before traveling to Ukraine two days later, where he will be received by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The United Nations on Friday accused the Russian military of “possible amounts to war crimes” since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
• One sailor died and 27 others are still missing Sinking of the cruiser “Moskva” last weekannounced the Russian Ministry of Defense on Friday and admitted losses for the first time.
• The Russian opponent Vladimir Kara-Mourza, a bitter detractor of the Kremlin, was remanded in custody until June as part of an investigation into “false information” about the army’s activities in Ukraine, according to his lawyer on Friday.

Read all our articles, analysis and reports on the war in Ukraine

narrative. War in Ukraine: After the Russian occupation, the slow return to normality at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

decryptions. The war in Ukraine, priority of the Elysée

Report. Russia demands victory in Mariupol before its fall

References. Ukrainian and Russian exiles in France: “I hope to spend a few days with my parents in Kyiv – to see them, to touch them, to have peace of mind”

Factual. Arms shipments and military aid promised by Western countries

narrative. Putin, the cult of war

Factual. UNESCO, collateral victims of the war in Ukraine

Report. On the Donbass front, near Donetsk, the Ukrainian army is still waiting for the “big battle” promised by Moscow.

You can find our live yesterday on this link.

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