Ukraine War LIVE: World Bank to discuss next-phase financing for Ukraine

Ukraine's armed forces command has observed signs that Russia is starting an anticipated new offensive in the east of the country, increasing the intensity of attacks in parts of the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, it said on Monday.

World Bank President David Malpass said on Monday that more countries are expected to announce contributions to help Ukraine to maintain its government through the World Bank's multi-donor trust fund and parallel funds this week. 

Swiss President Ignazio Cassis said Monday his country has joined the international community in implementing tough sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, but that does not mean it has abandoned its traditional neutrality.

A Ukrainian mayor described hours of "hard" interrogations when held for almost a week by Russian forces last month and said he had appealed to the pope for help to stop a war that had wrecked swathes of his city in southern Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Western countries had scored an own goal by imposing sanctions against Russia over Ukraine which he said had led to a "deterioration of the economy in the West".

Russian missiles hit the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Monday, killing at least seven people, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow’s troops stepped up strikes on infrastructure in preparation for an all-out assault on the east.

Two British fighters captured in Ukraine by Russian forces appeared on Russian state TV on Monday and asked to be exchanged for a pro-Russian politician who is being held by the Ukrainian authorities.

The Kremlin on Monday accused Ukraine of constantly changing its stance when it comes to issues that have already been agreed at peace talks.

Air strikes killed at least six people in Ukraine's western city of Lviv on Monday, as Russia pounded targets across the country while massing forces for an expected all-out assault in the east.

Four civilians were shot dead while trying to flee by car from the town of Kreminna in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region during a Russian attack, regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said in a post on messaging app Telegram on Monday, Reuters reported. A fourth person was seriously injured, he said. Reuters could not independently verify the information.

Ukraine said Monday it was halting for a second consecutive day the evacuation of civilians from frontline town and cities in the east of the country, accusing Russian forces of blocking and shelling escape routes, AFP reported. "Unfortunately, today, April 18, there will be no humanitarian corridors," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on social media.

US natural gas prices surged to the highest intraday level in over 13 years as robust demand tests drillers’ ability to expand supplies.

Futures rose as high as $7.558 per million British thermal units, topping January’s short squeeze-fueled rally and roughly double levels from the start of the year. Read more

Six Ukrainians were killed, and eight other wounded in Lviv as five powerful missiles struck the western city, news agency Reuters reported quoting regional Governor.

Witnesses said multiple explosions believed to be caused by missiles struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early Monday as the country was bracing for an all-out Russian assault in the east, news agency AFP reported.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Facebook that five missiles struck the city and that emergency services were responding to the blasts. He said more details would follow.

With missiles and rockets battering various parts of the country, Zelensky accused Russian soldiers of torture and kidnappings in areas they control.

Defenders of Mariupol were encircled by Russian forces but have not surrendered the crucial port city, Ukrainian officials said, hours after Kyiv warned of a possible naval landing operation and additional air strikes, Bloomberg reported.

Many of the remaining Ukrainian troops in the besieged city are thought to be within the giant Azovstal steelworks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of wanting to "destroy" the entire eastern region of Donbas, as the last remaining forces in the strategic port of Mariupol prepared Monday for a final defence.

President Joe Biden says he’s praying on Easter for those living in the “dark shadow” of war, persecution and poverty. Biden released an Easter message Sunday in which he says he’s also praying for peace, freedom and basic dignity and respect for all of God’s children.

Ukraine says it is pausing the evacuation of civilians from the east of the country for a day because of a failure to agree terms with Russian forces.

"As of this morning, April 17, we have not been able to agree with the occupiers on a ceasefire on the evacuation routes. That is why, unfortunately, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk states.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian troops in southern Ukraine have been carrying out torture and kidnappings, and he called on the world Sunday to respond.

“Torture chambers are built there,” Zelensky said in an evening address to the nation as per news agency AP. “They abduct representatives of local governments and anyone deemed visible to local communities.”

Implicitly criticizing Russia, Pope Francis pleaded for an end to the bloodshed and lamented the "Easter of war" during his address in St. Peter's Square after Mass.

"May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged," he said.