Ukraine-war highlights: Amid war, Kyiv urges online Easter celebrations

Ukrainian President said on Saturday that his government will quit talks with Russia if it destroys Ukraine's civilians in Mariupol and holds "pseudo-referendums" in Russian-occupied areas. 

Ukrainian authorities have urged those celebrating Orthodox Easter to follow religious services online and to respect curfews amid the intensifying Russian offensive. 

An official in Mariupol city told news agency AFP on Saturday that evacuation was 'thwarted' by Russian forces. 

Ukraine's military intelligence has claimed that two Russian generals have been killed while one was injured near Kherson, The Kyiv Independent quoted the Ukraine Defense Ministry’s Intelligence Directorate.

A Russian strike killed at least five people, including a baby, and wounded 18 others in Ukraine's Black Sea city of Odessa on Saturday, Kyiv said, warning the toll would likely rise, AFP reported. "Five Ukrainians killed and 18 wounded. And those are only the ones that we were able to find. It is likely that the death toll will be heavy," the head of Ukraine's presidential office Andriy Yermak said on Telegram. "A three-month-old baby was among those killed."

The UN high commission for refugees said that nearly three million people fled Ukraine for Poland, The Kyiv Independent reported.

Ukrainian interior minister's adviser has claimed that Russian forces have fired at least six cruise missiles at the Black Sea port city of Odesa, AP reported. Anton Gerashchenko said in a Telegram post on Saturday that Ukrainian forces were able to shoot down several missiles, but at least one landed and exploded.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Saturday that he was absolutely sure that his country will win the war against Russia very soon. 

"We are absolutely sure that Ukraine will win in this war and victory will be in (a) very short period," Denys Shmyhal told CNN as he was asked about British PM Boris Johnson's remark that there was a realistic possibility Moscow could still win.

An artillery strike on the front line town of Zolote in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region killed two civilians on Saturday and wounded two others, Governor Serhiy Haidai said in an online post, Reuters reported. 

Ukraine has claimed that Russia forcibly deported 308 Mariupol residents including 90 children to Vladivostok. The advisor to Mariupol governor claimed the children will be forced to learn Russian, the Kyiv Independent reported. Vladivostok is located over 9,000 kilometers east of Mariupol.

Germany must do everything in its power to help Ukraine win the war against Russia but without endangering its own security and NATO's defence capability, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Saturday. "We must do everything in our power to help Ukraine win, but the limit of the ethical responsibility is endangering our own security and endangering the defence capability of NATO territory," Reuters quoted the minister

Ukraine's armed forces claimed that Russia lost 400 more soldiers in the last 24 hours, taking the total casualties to 21,600. The Ukrainian forces claimed Moscow also lost a total of 854 tanks, 177 aircraft among so far.

Russian forces resumed airstrikes in their latest attempt to dislodge Ukrainian fighters holed up at Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Oleksiy Arestovych said in video statement, Bloomberg reported

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Russia had captured the city, and ordered the steelworks sealed off. Even so, the U.K. Defense Ministry says heavy fighting continues. Some 2,000 Ukrainians troops and many civilians in the Azovstal complex.

Members of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra have expressed hope that the music will boost the Ukrainian culture, this amid intense fight with the Russian forces which is set to enter the third month.

Ukraine claimed that the Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian border guards in Chernihiv. The Kyiv Independent reported that ten grenades fired from the Russian territory exploded not far from the Senkivka village, located several kilometers away from both the Russian and Belarusian borders.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed outrage after a Russian general said the Kremlin aims to secure control of the entire south of Ukraine as well as the eastern Donbas, Bloomberg reported. Friday’s comments by Major General Rustam Minnekayev, acting commander of Russia’s Central Military District, were at odds with Moscow’s stated, more limited ambitions in Ukraine.

Ukraine will make a new attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol, the heavily destroyed city largely controlled by Russian forces, at noon on Saturday, AFP quoted Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. "Today we will again try to evacuate women, children and the elderly," Vereshchuk said on Telegram, calling for people to gather on the motorway close to the Port City shopping centre in the city.

Russia has accepted the losses in the Moskva ship sinking for the first time days after it sunk to the bottom of the black sea. Russia has claimed that one crew member died and 27 went missing in the tragedy. Russian defence ministry has also claimed that the remaining 396 members had been evacuated from the sinking ship. Watch this video

The Ukrainian forces claimed to have liberated three settlements in Kharkiv, namely Bezruky, Slatine and Prudianka, the regional governor was quoted by news website The Kyiv Independent

Russia plans to deploy the first military unit armed with nuclear-capable ballistic Sarmat missiles no later than this autumn,  Reuters quoted TASS news agency citing Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency. The unit will be based in Uzhur, in the Krasnoyarsk region, about 3,000 km (1,860 miles) east of Moscow, TASS quoted him as saying in an interview with the state Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Ukraine's foreign ministry tweets a video of soldiers saving a pup from a trench.

"Our heroes are risking their lives to save animals.We are grateful to all the shelters and volunteers working to save animals affected by the war in #Ukraine," the post read.

Ukraine will make a new attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol, the heavily destroyed city largely controlled by Russian forces, at noon on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

"Today we will again try to evacuate women, children and the elderly," Vereshchuk said on Telegram, calling for people to gather on the motorway close to the Port City shopping centre in the city. "If everything happens as planned, we will start the evacuation around noon."

Russia heads into the third month of its invasion of Ukraine on Sunday with no end in sight to fighting that has killed thousands, uprooted millions and reduced cities to rubble.

In the face of mounting sanctions and fierce Ukrainian resistance bolstered by Western arms, Russia has kept up its long-distance bombardment and opened up a new offensive in the east.

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Russian forces have made no major gains in the last 24 hours despite increased activity, as Ukrainian counterattacks continue to hinder their efforts, British military intelligence said on Saturday.

Despite Russia's claimed conquest of the port city of Mariupol, heavy fighting continues to frustrate Moscow's attempts to capture the city, impeding their progress in the Donbas region, the Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin.

Russia's air and maritime forces have not established control in either domain owing to the effectiveness of Ukraine’s air and sea defences, it said.