Russia-Ukraine war highlights: Ready to discuss neutrality, non nuclear status, says Zelenskyy

Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia but such a pact would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in remarks aired on Sunday.

Russia is maintaining a distant blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea coast which is effectively isolating Ukraine from international maritime trade, Reuters quoted British military intelligence as saying on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the West of cowardice Sunday as his country fights to stave off Russia’s invading troops, making an exasperated plea for fighter jets and tanks to sustain a defense as the war ground into a battle of attrition, reports AP.

In-person talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams will resume this week, officials said. 

Russia's communications watchdog told Russian media on Sunday to refrain from reporting an interview done with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and said it had started a probe into the outlets which had interviewed the Ukrainian leader.

In a short statement distributed by the watchdog on social media and posted on its website, it said a host of Russian outlets had done an interview with Zelenskiy.

"Roskomnadzor warns the Russian media about the necessity of refraining from publishing this interview," it said. It did not give a reason for its warning.

The head of Ukraine's Lugansk separatist region says it could hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia.

"I think that in the near future a referendum will be held on the territory of the republic, during which the people will... express their opinion on joining the Russian Federation," Leonid Pasechnik is quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko slams the proposal as part of continued Russian efforts to "undermine Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity".

Russian authorities have blocked the website of German newspaper Bild, part of their efforts to control the message on Ukraine.

Communications and media regulator Roskomnadzor said Sunday it blocked Bild’s website at prosecutors' request.

France's President Emmanuel Macron warned on Sunday against a verbal "escalation" over Russia's invasion in Ukraine, after US President Joe Biden branded Vladimir Putin a "butcher" who "cannot remain in power.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Sunday for a global boycott of French retail giant Auchan, with pressure mounting on international brands to quit Russia over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

"Apparently, job losses in Russia are more important than the loss of life in Ukraine. If Auchan ignores 139 Ukrainian children murdered during this month of Russian invasion, let us ignore Auchan and all their products," he wrote on Twitter.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday President Vladimir Putin's position is "up to the Russians", playing down President Joe Biden's comments that suggested a desire for regime change in Moscow. Biden's point, Blinken said in Jerusalem, was that "Putin cannot be empowered to wage war, or engage in aggression against Ukraine, or anyone else".

Russia continued its "full-scale armed aggression", while Ukrainian forces had repulsed seven attacks in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said.

Russia's communications watchdog has restricted access to the website of German tabloid Bild at the request of the prosecutor general's office dated March 26, according to the regulator's website.

Roskomnadzor, the regulator, did not provide the reason for the move. Bild did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.

Russia is trying to split Ukraine in two to create a Moscow-controlled region after failing to take over the whole country, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence said on Sunday.

"In fact, it is an attempt to create North and South Korea in Ukraine," Kyrylo Budanov said in a statement, adding that Ukraine would soon launch guerrilla warfare in Russian-occupied territory.

For weeks, Russia’s military assault on Ukraine has been complemented by full-fledged information warfare. The Kremlin has propagandised Russian state media, and is trying to control the narrative online too.

We’ve seen a bombardment of “imposter content” circulating – including fake news reports and deepfake videos – while Ukranians and the rest of the world have scrambled to find ways to tell the real story of the invasion.

The instant messaging app Telegram has surfaced as one of the most important channels through which to do so. Read more

Russia struck a fuel depot being used by Ukrainian forces near Lviv with long-range missiles and used cruise missiles to strike a plant in the city being used to repair anti-aircraft systems, radar stations and sights for tanks, the ministry said.

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation continue offensive actions as part of the special military operation," the ministry said in a statement.

Russia used sea-based long-range missiles to destroy an arsenal of S-300 missiles and BUK anti-aircraft missile systems near Kyiv, the ministry said. Russian forces also destroyed a number of drones, it said.

Ukraine’s nuclear watchdog says that a nuclear research facility in Kharkiv again has come under shelling by Russia and the fighting makes it impossible to assess the damage, news agency AP reported.

The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate said that the neutron source experimental facility in the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology came under fire Saturday.

Ukrainian authorities have previously reported that Russian shelling damaged buildings at the Kharkiv facility, but there has been no release of radiation. The newly built neutron source facility is intended for the research and production of radioisotopes for medical and industrial needs.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy angrily warned Moscow that it is sowing a deep hatred for Russia among his people, as constant artillery barrages and aerial bombings are reducing cities to rubble, killing civilians and driving others into shelters, leaving them to scrounge for food and water to survive.

“You are doing everything so that our people themselves leave the Russian language, because the Russian language will now be associated only with you, with your explosions and murders, your crimes," Zelenskyy said in an impassioned video address late Saturday.

Chernihiv has 44 severely wounded people, including three children, who could not be evacuated for treatment since the northern city has been cut off by Russian forces, the mayor said. Chernihiv has 44 severely wounded people, including three children, who could not be evacuated for treatment since the northern city has been cut off by Russian forces, the mayor said.

Russian forces took control of a town where staff working at the Chernobyl nuclear site live and briefly detained the mayor, sparking protests, Ukrainian officials said Saturday.

"I have been released. Everything is fine, as far as it is possible under occupation," Yuri Fomichev, mayor of Slavutych, told AFP by phone, after officials in the Ukraine capital Kyiv announced earlier he had been detained.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says UK sanctions against Russia could be lifted if Moscow commits to a full ceasefire and withdraws its troops.

Truss says the Kremlin must also agree to "no further aggression" towards Ukraine for the British sanctions imposed on hundreds of people and entities to remain eased.

"Sanctions should only come off with a full ceasefire and withdrawal, but also commitments that there will be no further aggression," Truss told media outlet the Sunday Telegraph.

Russian rockets struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Saturday while President Joe Biden visited neighboring Poland. The back-to-back airstrikes shook the city that has become a haven for an estimated 200,000 people who have had to flee their hometowns.

The first strike involved two Russian rockets that hit an industrial area in the northeastern outskirts of Lviv and apparently injured five people, the regional governor, Maksym Kozytskyy, said on Facebook. A thick, black plume of smoke billowed from the site for hours.

A second rocket attack occurred just outside the city hours later and caused three explosions, Kozytskyy told a press briefing as another round of air raid sirens wailed. He said an oil facility and factory connected to the military, both in areas where people live, were struck Saturday, though he didn’t give more details.

A total of 5,200 people have been evacuated from Ukraine through humanitarian corridors on Saturday. According to Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, 10 humanitarian corridors were successful. She added that 4,000 people were able to leave Mariupol, reported Ukraine's media outlet The Kyiv Independent.

US President Joe Biden on Saturday castigated Vladimir Putin over the month-old war in Ukraine, bluntly calling the Russian leader "a butcher" who "cannot remain in power".

In an impassioned speech from the Royal Castle in Warsaw, delivered after meeting top Ukrainian ministers in Poland and earlier conferring with NATO and EU allies on the conflict, Biden plainly warned Russia: "Don't even think about moving on one single inch of NATO territory."

“Ukraine needed just 1% of NATO's aircraft and 1% of its tanks and would not ask for more,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday. 

"We've already been waiting 31 days. Who is in charge of the Euro-Atlantic community? Is it really still Moscow, because of intimidation?" he said.