Zelensky: Russian army “stopped” in eastern Ukraine

9:09 am: One person was killed in shelling in the western Russian region of Kursk, which borders Ukraine, according to officials. Another woman was wounded as a result of an attack by the Ukrainian armed forces, the governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said in a telegram. Information cannot be independently verified.

According to him, the town of Goncharovka in Chudja district, a few kilometers from the border with Ukraine, opened fire in the morning, presumably from artillery. In addition, the village of Vnesapnoye was shelled and gas and electricity lines were damaged. So four cities are cut off from the energy supply, writes Starvoid. There is currently no information on this from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Russian border areas near Ukraine are increasingly reporting shelling from the neighboring country. However, the number of victims and the extent of damage cannot be compared to the scale of destruction caused by the Russian military in Ukraine.

9:01 am: SPD leader Lars Klingbeil said he did not vote for President Olaf Scholz's (SPD) delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine and rejected the option to replace the ring. Klingbeil said on ARD “Morgenmagazin” that European partners should finally focus on producing more ammunition and supplying it to Ukraine. When asked about the ring exchange, Klingbeil says: “Everyone should focus on that, not on other discussions.”

In an interview with “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, British Foreign Minister David Cameron suggested exchanging a ring, which could ease Scholz's worries. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbach (Greens) said on the ARD program “Caren Miosga” on Sunday that it “would be an option”. Read more here.

In a ring swap, Germany could supply Great Britain with Taurus cruise missiles — and London, its own Storm Shadow missiles, with Ukraine. Scholz rejects the delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine within 500 kilometers, as he fears their use could draw Germany into the war. Klingbeil emphasizes that the chancellor has full support for this position.

9.30 pm: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky strongly rejected Pope Francis' plea for peace talks with Russia. The church is with the people, Zelensky says in his evening video address. “And not two and a half thousand kilometers away, somewhere, almost to mediate between someone who wants to live and someone who wants to destroy you.”

“When Russian evil started this war on February 24, all Ukrainians stood up to defend themselves. Christians, Muslims, Jews – everyone,” Zelensky said. He thanked every Ukrainian clergyman in the army and defense forces. They are on the front line, they protect life and humanity, they support with prayers, conversations and actions. “That's what the church is—with the people.”

7:16 pm: An unconfirmed report says that Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, the commander of the Russian Navy, has retired. This was reported by “Izvestia” citing unnamed sources. Yevmenov was replaced by Admiral Alexander Moiseev, the previous commander of the Northern Fleet. At first there was no information about this on the website of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Izvestia did not give a reason for the personnel change. More recently, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has suffered significant losses of warships and soldiers from attacks by Ukrainian missiles and so-called maritime drones — that is, unmanned boats loaded with explosives. Due to the threat of Ukrainian forces, Russian naval combat units have largely withdrawn from the occupied Crimean peninsula.

6:35 PM: According to a US media report, Russia's military has gained a tactical advantage by increasing the use of guided-missile bombs on targets in Ukraine. According to news channel CNN, Ukraine has no defense options against the FAB-1500 cruise bomb. The bomb, which weighs about 1.5 tons, can be dropped on its targets by air from a distance of 60 to 70 kilometers beyond Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses. The small wings allow the bomb to hit its target with relative accuracy. Due to its impact, a 15 meter wide crater has been created.

Speaking to CNN, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat confirmed that the increased use of these glide bombs was most recently recorded in the fight for the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. “Within 24 hours, 250 of them were hired,” he says. Russia is converting its old bombs to new, controlled types at a factory near Moscow. “It's not a cheap or quick transition, but it still costs less than millions per rocket,” says Ihnat.

5:24 PM: According to the Justice Department, Ukraine is making progress in punishing Russian war crimes. Ukrainian Attorney General Andriy Kostin told AFP during a visit to Brussels that his country had convicted 81 Russian war criminals since the war of aggression began well over two years ago. Of those, 17 were personally tried and sentenced to prison in Ukraine.

Most Russian defendants were convicted in absentia, Kostin continues. For relatives, judgments are an important sign. “Russia must be defeated not only on the battlefield, but also in the courtroom,” insists Kostin. According to him, Ukraine is investigating more than 500 suspects in total. Nearly 360 cases are to be transferred to the Judiciary soon.

Kostin accused Russia of “repeating Nazi crimes.” Civilians are being targeted and women and girls are being raped in the war against Ukraine. In addition, about 20,000 Ukrainian children were trafficked to Russia, of which only 400 could be brought back. “This policy was planned by the highest political and military leadership,” criticizes the chief investigator.

1:29 pm: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has been promoting closer ties between the US and Europe. “The post-war era is over. We live in new times: the pre-war era,” the head of government wrote on Platform X on Saturday. “That's why NATO and the unity between Europe and America are more important than ever.”

11.35 am: The head of the Catholic Church has invited warring parties in Ukraine to talks. Especially in Ukraine people face allergies. You can read more about it here.

9:18 am: Ukraine's military says it repelled a large-scale Russian attack by combat drones on Sunday night. The Ukrainian Air Force announced this morning that it had intercepted 35 of 39 incoming drones. “I thank everyone who reached this conclusion,” Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on his Telegram channel.

According to the military, an enemy drone struck an industrial building in the southern Odesa region. No one was injured. A transmission line was damaged in Mykolive area. Shahed drones of Iranian design were launched from the Russian coast of the Sea of ​​Azov and the annexed Crimean Peninsula. Russia also fired four repurposed S-300 anti-aircraft missiles at ground targets in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, according to military sources.

8.11 am: Advantage in war? Russia is using a new type of drone. It has decisive advantages. You can read more about it here.

7:23 am: According to local governor Roman Starovoit, a Ukrainian drone struck the Russian Kursk region on the border with Ukraine and set fire to an oil storage facility. “Firefighting and rescue services are on site,” Starvoid explains on the messaging service Telegram. He did not initially provide additional details.

Starovoit writes that a woman died and her husband was seriously injured in the village of Gulbaki. The couple's apartment building caught fire as a result of the shelling. Another house in the village was damaged and electricity was cut off. The report could not be independently verified.

Kursk Oblast borders Ukraine. There have been repeated explosions there and in other border areas, which the Russian side blames on Ukrainian armed forces or pro-Ukrainian saboteurs. The leadership in Kiev usually does not comment on such incidents.

4:00 am: A summit will be held in Switzerland in May to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine. This is reported by “Tagesspiegel”. According to the report, the federal government is making progress toward a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine war. “The phase in which the national security advisers implemented Volodymyr Zelenskij's peace plan is now over,” German government sources confirmed to “Dagespiegel” (Sunday): “Intensive work is underway to confirm next spring – May. Considered – a summit of heads of state and government in Switzerland.”

Ukraine's plan is to “adopt a joint statement that takes up some elements of the Kyiv peace plan.” A spokesman for the Swiss foreign ministry told the newspaper: “The aim is to start a process towards a common understanding for peace in Ukraine, which is supported by as many states as possible at the highest political level.” “Various meetings” have already taken place over the past few weeks.