Donbass region: The second phase of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday, adding that its goal was to “completely liberate” the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address Friday night that Ukraine’s armed forces are deterring attacks in the east and south. “The Izyum direction, Donbass, Azov, Mariupol, Kherson region are the places where the fate of this war and the future of our country is being decided,” he said.
Kharkiv region: Ukraine’s armed forces warned on Friday of a possible Russian offensive in the region, where Ukrainian defenders have intelligence that the Russian military is conducting air reconnaissance near the city of Izyum.
Mariupol: A day after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in the devastated Ukrainian port city, the European Council president said he had “urged” Putin to open humanitarian access to residents immediately. A small pocket of resistance, about 1,000 Ukrainian fighters and citizens who remain hidden in the steel plant, are surrounded. Also, the new images of two mass graves near Mariupol highlighted the scale of the devastation.
Kiev region: Most cities around the capital – where refugees are now returning – have suffered massive destruction of civilian infrastructure, the UN confirmed on Friday with satellite imagery. About 77 percent of Horenka, 71 percent of Irpin and 58 percent of Hostomel, all urban areas, were damaged or destroyed by the end of March, said UN spokesman Eri Kaneko.
Slavyansk: Russian forces fired on an eastern Ukrainian city on Friday damaged a high school building and residential buildings, Ukrainian prosecutors told Telegram, announcing an investigation into the use of cluster missiles banned by international law.
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