Russia continues its offensive in Ukraine on Saturday, bombarding a convoy of Western weapons, and US President Joe Biden signed the law bringing US 40 billion in aid to Kyiv.
Here are the latest developments, minute by minute
4:17 p.m. | Moscow evokes an exchange of Ukrainian prisoners for a close friend of Putin
Russia will study the possibility of exchanging fighters from the Ukrainian Azov regiment taken prisoner for Viktor Medvedchuk, a close associate of Vladimir Putin, said Saturday a deputy and Russian negotiator, Leonid Sloutski.
12:11 | Russia publishes list of 963 Americans banned from entering
Joe Biden, Mark Zuckerberg, Morgan Freeman…: Russian diplomacy published on Saturday a list of 963 American personalities banned from entering Russia, in retaliation for similar sanctions imposed by Washington since the offensive in Ukraine.
11:51 am | Burial day at Kharkiv Cemetery
Sadness and tears. Kharkiv Cemetery No. 18, which includes a military section dating back several years, houses the remains of soldiers who have died since the start of the war against Russia. On Saturday, several funerals of soldiers took place there.
9:48 | ‘No alternative’ to Ukraine’s EU bid, says Zelensky
Any alternative to Ukraine’s candidacy for the European Union would be a “compromise” with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday, in response to the “European political community” project proposed by his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron .
6:46 | US President Joe Biden signed the law, passed by Congress on Thursday, bringing a gigantic 40 billion dollars envelope for the Ukrainian war effort against Russiathe White House announced on Saturday.
5:16 am | The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its forces had destroyed a large shipment of weapons supplied by the West in northwestern Ukraine.
4:39 | Only “diplomacy” will end the war in Ukraine, says Zelensky
“There are things that we will only be able to achieve at the negotiating table. We want everything back” as before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, which “Russia does not want”, he added, without giving further details.
1h14 | Russian gas for Finland has been cut off
Finland’s natural gas supply from Russia was cut off on Saturday, Finland’s state-owned energy company Gasum said, after the Nordic country refused to pay supplier Gazprom in roubles.
READ | Trenches and concrete blocks: Kharkiv ready to withstand a second Russian assault
New trenches around the city, concrete blocks, sandbags, numerous checkpoints: Kharkiv, which has already repelled a first Russian assault in February, does not lower its guard and organizes its defense in view of a possible second attack Russian.
0h45 | “Putin destroyed everything”: former pro-Russian, the mayor of Odessa castigates Moscow
For him, a point of no return has been crossed: there can no longer be any question of any Russian-Ukrainian friendship. He castigates the air raids, the blockade of the Black Sea and the millions of tons of grain stuck in the ports, including Odessa.