2023-04-17T06:59:38Z
A 50-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter were killed after Russian forces struck a residential building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early on Sunday, authorities said. Edward Baran reports.
China is willing to work with Russia to forge close strategic communications between their militaries, Chinese state media reported Minister of Defence Li Shangfu as saying. Li met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday.
* Ukraine’s agriculture minister said Kyiv would aim to secure the re-opening of food and grain transit via Poland as a “first step” at talks in Warsaw on Monday, after Poland and Hungary announced bans on grain and other food imports from Ukraine to protect their agricultural sectors.
* Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has again proposed establishing a group of countries not involved with the Russia-Ukraine war to broker peace, saying he had recently discussed the matter with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
* Russia’s most powerful mercenary group, Wagner, sent at least 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war back to Ukraine to mark Orthodox Easter, according to a video posted by the group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
* Russia’s defence ministry said that Wagner mercenary units captured two more city blocks in the northwest and southeastern parts of Bakhmut.
* Russia’s regular spring military draft is proceeding as scheduled and there are no plans to send out mass electronic notices under a system just signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, a top official said.
* Slovakia has handed over all 13 MiG-29 fighter jets it had pledged to Ukraine, the Slovak defence ministry said.
Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield reports.
* India and Russia are discussing a free trade agreement to guarantee investment between their countries, Russia’s deputy prime minister said.
* A new international economic support package of $115 billion gives Ukraine more confidence that it can prevail in battling Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko told Reuters.
* ANALYSIS-Russia’s military production, state splurge ease sanctions pain
* INSIGHT-Ukraine’s tech entrepreneurs fight war on different front
* Ukraine says it is finding more Chinese components in Russian weapons
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu attend a meeting in Moscow, Russia, April 16, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via REUTERS
Ukrainian servicemen return from heavy fighting amid Russia?s attack on Ukraine, close to Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 15, 2023. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
A Ukrainian serviceman looks on as he returns from heavy fighting amid Russia?s attack on Ukraine, close to Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 15, 2023. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Emergency workers and volunteers work at the site of an apartment building damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Sloviansk, Donetsk region, Ukraine April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Anna Kudriavtseva
Volunteers work at the site of a residential building damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Sloviansk, Donetsk region, Ukraine April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Anna Kudriavtseva
Ukrainian artillery fires towards the frontline during heavy fighting amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 13, 2023. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Smoke is seen during a shelling on the outskirts of the frontline city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 10, 2023. REUTERS/Oleksandr Klymenko
A Ukrainian serviceman clears a trench at the front line near Donetsk, Ukraine, April 8. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
FILE PHOTO; A police officer inspects remains of a Russian missile which hit a residential area, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine April 9, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer
Serhii (35), a Ukrainian sniper with the 1st Tank Brigade, is fully disguised as he tests his weapon prior to a mission amid Russia?s attack on Ukraine at the frontline near Donetsk, Ukraine, April 8, 2023. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Ukrainian service member from 28th mechanised brigade launches an RPG at the frontline, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine in the region of Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
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