President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that "unfortunately, Russia rejected the proposal to establish an Easter truce".
"This perfectly shows how the leaders of this country actually treat the Christian faith, one of the most joyous and important holidays. But we remain hopeful. Hope for peace, hope that life will conquer death," Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
Physical damage to Ukrainian buildings and infrastructure since the Russian invasion has reached roughly $60 billion and will continue to rise as the war continues, World Bank President David Malpas said.
Malpas told a World Bank conference on Ukraine's financial aid needs that an early estimate of "narrow" damage costs did not include the growing economic costs of the war for Ukraine.
"Of course the war is still going on, so those costs are going up," Malpas said.
Today, Russian forces captured 42 villages in the eastern Donetsk region, but Ukraine could return them back, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, assistant chief of staff to the President of Ukraine, told national television.
"Today, 42 villages were added to the list of those that are occupied. This is at the expense of the Donetsk region," said assistant Olena Simonenko.
"This happened today and maybe our forces will bring them back tomorrow".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country needs $7 billion a month to compensate for economic losses caused by Russia's invasion of his country.
Zelenski, in a virtual address at the World Bank forum, said that the world community must immediately exclude Russia from international financial institutions and called on all countries to immediately end relations with Moscow.
He said that the Russian blockade of the Black Sea ports blocked Ukrainian exports, affecting food security in the world.
The Ukrainian military said Russian forces attempted to storm the Azovstal seaport and steel plant in the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Most of Mariupol is under Russian control, but the Ukrainian president said Ukrainian troops remain in part of the city.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told his defense minister not to attack the Azovstal plant to save the lives of Russian soldiers, and instead to blockade the plant, which is the main remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the city.
Russia's Foreign Ministry announced sanctions against 61 Canadian officials, journalists and military experts for supporting what it called the Canadian administration's "Russophobic" stance.
The list includes Special Operations Forces Commander Major General Steve Boivin, Central Bank Governor Tiff McClam, as well as John Tory and Jim Watson, mayors of Toronto and Ottawa.
The ministry announced that 61 people were banned from entering Russia indefinitely.
About 120.000 civilians have been blocked from leaving the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Responding to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's remarks that its forces control most of Mariupol, Zelensky said Russia controls most of the city, but Ukrainian troops remain in that part.
The rest of the Ukrainian troops in Mariupol are now holed up in the Azovstal steel plant from where they are resisting the Russian siege.
More than 600.000 people were internally displaced in Ukraine in the first 17 days of April, the International Organization for Migration announced today, bringing the total since the start of the war to 7,7 million, or 17 percent of the population.
A new assessment conducted from April 11 to 17 found that women represent at least 60 percent of those on the run. More than half of internally displaced persons, mostly in eastern Ukraine, reported a lack of some food items, the report added.
More than five million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion on February 24, according to UN figures.
About 200 people were waiting to be evacuated from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol today, but no buses had arrived by mid-day, Mayor Vadim Boychenko said, according to Reuters.
He said that a small convoy of buses evacuated people from Mariupol on Wednesday and was now heading to the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporozhye.
The parliaments of Estonia and Latvia were the first in the world to label Russia's actions in Ukraine as genocide, the Russian opposition media outlet Novaya Gazeta Evropa reports.
Russia ordered the closure of the consulates of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and asked their employees to leave the country as a reciprocal measure, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The announcement states that the consulates of Latvia in St. Petersburg and Pskov, the consulate of Estonia in St. Petersburg and its office in Pskov, as well as the consulate of Lithuania in St. Petersburg will be closed.
Earlier in April, Latvia and Estonia ordered the closure of two Russian consulates due to the attack on Ukraine, while Lithuania expelled the Russian ambassador from Vilnius, Reuters reminds.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the British fighters who were captured in Ukraine received food, water and that they were provided with the necessary assistance.
"Don't worry, the Russian side takes care of them. They are fed, watered and given the necessary help. As well as other foreigners who have surrendered or have been detained," said ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, as reported by Reuters.
Two British fighters, who were captured by Russian forces in Ukraine, requested on Monday, through the Russian state television Russia 24, to be exchanged for the pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who is being held captive by the Ukrainian authorities.
Reuters states that it is not clear whether Sean Pinner and Aiden Aslin, in the appeal for help sent to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, were able to speak freely.
Russia and Belarus will respond to the strengthening of NATO forces at the borders, Russian diplomat Alexei Polischuk said, according to Tass, as reported by Reuters.
"Together with the Belarusian allies, we must respond to the military strengthening of NATO forces on the borders of Russia and Belarus and the CSTO," Polischuk said.
Russia has decided to block the besieged Azovstal ironworks in Mariupol, because it cannot take it by force, said Alexei Arestovich, adviser to the Ukrainian president, Reuters reports.
"They physically cannot take Azovstal, they realized that, they suffered huge losses there. Our defenders are still holding it," Arestovich said at the briefing.
The adviser to the Ukrainian president Oleksiy Arestovich said that Russia has not made any progress on the main fronts during the past 24 hours, reports Reuters.
He added that Russia understands that it cannot seize the Azovstal ironworks by force.
The second-largest Ukrainian city of Kharkiv is under intense shelling, said Mayor Igor Terekhov, Reuters reports.
"Large explosions are heard in Kharkiv, the Russian Federation is heavily bombarding the city," Terekhov said in a televised address.
He said that about a million people remained in this city, while about 30 percent of the population was evacuated, mostly women, children and the elderly.
Vladimir Putin said that his army is blocking Azovstal so that "not even a fly can escape", while Irina Vereshchuk calls for an immediate evacuation from the besieged steel plant.
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