[EN DIRECT] 58th day of war in Ukraine: here are all the latest developments

The war continues for a 58^and day in Ukraine, as a senior Russian military official says Russia is aiming for full control of Donbass and southern Ukraine.

Here are the latest developments, minute by minute

8 p.m. | After Russia, UN chief Guterres to visit Ukraine next week

5:40 p.m. | Ukraine’s allies must do more, says Brian Mulroney

Former Prime Minister of Canada calls on NATO member countries to provide Ukrainians with “military armaments [dont] they need to win this war”, right now.

3:55 p.m. | In northern Donbass, Ukrainians between denial and fatalism

Lyssychansk, this city in the Lugansk region still under Ukrainian control, has been emptied of its inhabitants by two months of strikes. The shops are all closed, wooden planks on the windows and the doors barricaded.

3:21 p.m. | Sinking of the Moskva cruiser: Russia gives a death toll of one dead and 27 missing

A sailor has died and 27 others are still missing after the sinking of the cruiser Moskva last week, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday, acknowledging casualties for the first time.

2:03 p.m. | Trump allegedly accused NATO allies of failing to protect them

Donald Trump said on Thursday that when he was president he threatened NATO allies that they would not come to their defense in the event of an attack from Russia unless they funded the alliance more, in a bluffing strategy, according to him.

1:31 p.m. | Ukraine: “concerned”, Moldova summons the Russian ambassador

Moldova summoned the Russian ambassador on Friday to protest against statements by a Russian general that Moscow wanted to take control of southern Ukraine to gain access to a breakaway Moldovan region.

1:18 p.m. | Military aid and arms deliveries from Western countries to Ukraine

Several countries have provided Ukraine with military aid and weapons to help it defend against the Russian invasion since February 24.

12:45 | Putin will receive UN chief in Moscow next week

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will travel next week to Russia where he will be received by Vladimir Putin, their first meeting since the start of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, the Kremlin announced on Friday.

11:48 am | Russian gas embargo would cost Germany dearly, Bundesbank warns

An immediate European embargo on Russian gas could cost Germany, heavily dependent on this resource, up to 5% of its GDP this year, according to an estimate published by the German central bank on Friday.

11:30 a.m. | IAEA intervention in Chernobyl next week

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit the Chernobyl power plant next week to “intensify efforts to prevent the danger of a nuclear accident”, according to a statement released Friday.

10:56 am | The Netherlands wants to get out of Russian energy “by the end of the year”

The Dutch government announced on Friday its ambition to emerge from independence with Russian oil, gas and coal by the end of the year, betting on energy saving, sustainable energy and increasing imports from other countries.

10:39 am | War in Ukraine: negotiations “skate”, according to Russia

Negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv aimed at finding a solution to the conflict are “skating”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday, the talks having given rise to no apparent progress.

10:26 am | Russia: Communists celebrate Lenin and the offensive in Ukraine

Russian communists on Friday expressed their support for Vladimir Putin’s offensive in Ukraine, which they see as a struggle between Moscow and Washington, at a ceremony marking Lenin’s birthday.

10:11 am | Russia: Lev Ponomarev, 80, historic human rights activist, leaves the country

Lev Ponomarev, who at 80 is a historic human rights activist in Russia, announced on Friday that he had left the country “temporarily” in the face of “permanent” threats in the midst of a crackdown on the latest critics of the Kremlin.

9:25 am | High inflation and falling exports will hit Russian economy hard, IMF warns

Inflation is expected to exceed 20% this year in Russia and the Russian economy will suffer in the future from a decline in energy exports which are currently largely offset by rising energy prices, says the Monetary Fund (IMF) in its report on Europe published on Friday.

9am | More than 5.1 million refugees

The number of Ukrainian refugees who fled the invasion of their territory by the Russian army in late February continues to increase, but at a daily rate much lower than at the start of the war, according to figures from the UN High Commission for refugees published on Friday.

8:51 am | Mariupol: Putin accuses Kyiv of preventing the surrender of Ukrainian fighters

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Kyiv refused the surrender of the last Ukrainian soldiers entrenched in the industrial zone of Azovstal, in the besieged port of Mariupol.

8:20 am | ‘Realistic possibility’ of war lasting until end of 2023, says Boris Johnson

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday described as “realistic” the possibility that the war in Ukraine could last until the end of 2023 because of Russia’s determination to continue its “appalling” offensive.

7:30 am | Renowned Russian opponent under investigation for “false information” about the army

An investigation for spreading “false information” about the Russian army has been opened in Russia against Vladimir Kara-Mourza, an opponent of the Kremlin and critic of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, his lawyer said on Friday.

7:13 am | Russia says ready for truce ‘at any time’ at Mariupol’s Azovstal site

The Russian army said on Friday it was ready to observe “at any time” a truce “on all or part” of the industrial site of Azovstal, the last bastion of Ukrainian forces from Mariupol, to allow the evacuation of civilians and the surrender of fighters.

7:11 am | London plans to deliver tanks to Poland to help Ukraine

IN 5 MINUTES | The last fortress in Mariupol

7:06 | The future of the war “depends on the fate of Mariupol”

The future of the war in Ukraine “depends on the fate of Mariupol”, a besieged port in the south-east of the country, almost entirely under Russian control, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told AFP on Friday.

6:41 am | The United Kingdom will reopen its embassy in Kyiv “next week”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Friday the reopening “next week” of the British embassy in Kyiv, which had been closed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

6:40 am | Ukrainian soldiers trained in the UK, according to Boris Johnson

Ukrainian soldiers are being trained in the United Kingdom in the use of armored vehicles that London will provide to Ukraine to counter the Russian invasion, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.

READ | ‘Don’t just think about Ukrainians’: Afghans cry for help

The displaced Ukrainians, “we give them everything, papers, accommodation, but we also need it!”, Laments Lal Mohamed, an Afghan who fled the Taliban regime and forced to sleep in a makeshift camp in Pantin, in the Paris region.

6:29 | One dead, two injured in troop carrier crash

A Ukrainian An-26 troop carrier crashed on Thursday during a “technical flight” in the Zaporizhia region of southeastern Ukraine, killing one and injuring two, according to the regional administration .

6:20 am | The Ukrainian Orthodox Church under Moscow offers an Easter procession to Mariupol

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Patriarchate of Moscow has proposed to organize an Easter procession to the besieged city of Mariupol in order to evacuate wounded civilians and soldiers there.

6:07 | UN accuses Russia of possible war crime

The UN on Friday accused the Russian army of actions “could amount to war crimes” in Ukraine since the invasion of February 24 and notes that humanitarian law has “been thrown overboard”.

5:35 am | Brewing giant AB InBev wants to sell a joint venture in the Russian market

The world’s number one beer AB InBev announced on Friday that it was in “active negotiations” with its Turkish partner Anadolu Efes to sell it its minority stake in their joint venture, which is active in particular on the Russian market.

5:32 | Russian military aims for ‘full control of Donbass and southern Ukraine’

Russia is aiming for full control of southern Ukraine and the eastern region of Donbass to have a land bridge to Crimea annexed by Moscow, a senior Russian military official said on Friday.

5:15 am | Japan hardens the tone on its territorial dispute with Russia

For the first time since 2003, Japan considers again that four small islands in the north of the Archipelago are “illegally occupied” by Russia, while Russian-Japanese relations have seriously deteriorated with the war in Ukraine.

5:13 am | No evacuation corridor for civilians on Friday, Kyiv says

No evacuation corridor for civilians can be organized Friday in Ukraine, said a Ukrainian government official, judging the situation too “dangerous” on the roads.