A top Ukrainian aide said Russia has turned to “more destructive artillery,” hours after Russia said it used hypersonic “Kinzhal” missiles for a second time.
Ukraine expects to get its next batch of U.S. weaponry, including Javelins and Stingers, in the coming days. Evacuations continue even as heavy fighting continues, particularly in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, and Russian forces blocked several trucks carrying humanitarian aid.
Zelenskiy has announced the suspension of activities of some Ukrainian opposition parties with alleged connections to Russia, citing martial law. Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station caused a stir when they posed in yellow and blue uniforms; Moscow denied that was a show of support for Ukraine.
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U.N. Says 10 Million Have Fled Homes in Ukraine (1:25 p.m.)
Ten million people have fled their homes in Ukraine, including those who’ve left the country and others displaced within the nation’s borders, said Filippo Grandi, the top U.N. refugee official.
The majority of Ukrainian refugees have crossed first into Poland, some 2.08 million people so far. Another 40,100 Ukrainians crossed on Saturday and 6,900 early Sunday morning, Polish border authorities said.
Separately, Germany has tripled its expectation for the number of Ukrainian refugees the country may accommodate, to about 1 million from 340,000, Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported.
Ukraine Aide Says Russia Strikes Cities With ‘Kinzhal’ Missiles (12:40 p.m.)
Russia is using “more destructive artillery” including “Kinzhal” hypersonic missiles, against Ukrainian cities, said a top aide in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office.
Mykhailo Podolyak’s tweet was the first official Ukrainian response to Russian claims that it had used the powerful weapons twice, including Sunday to target a fuel depot in the Mykolaiv region.
Australia, World’s Top Alumina Supplier, Bans Exports to Russia (11:01 a.m.)
Australia announced a ban on alumina shipments to Russia, a move that will put further pressure on aluminum giant United Co. Rusal International PJSC. Australia accounts for nearly 20% of Russia’s supply of alumina, the key ingredient for producing aluminum.
Aluminum hasn’t been targeted by sanctions, but Rusal, which needs bauxite and alumina to feed its plants, is facing disruption to its supply chains as more companies pull back from doing business with Russia.
Humanitarian Corridors Agreed From Mariupol, Kyiv Outskirts (9:04 a.m.)
Seven humanitarian corridors, including from Mariupol to the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia, were agreed for Sunday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a video statement.
Residents of Mariupol, under attack from Russian forces for weeks, can use the corridor to travel to the port city of Berdyansk, from where they can move to Zaporizhzhia, she said. The routes also include two evacuation corridors from villages east and west of Kyiv, she said.
Russia on Saturday bombed an art school in the besieged city of Mariupol where about 400 civilians were sheltering, trapping people in the basement, the city council said early.
Russia Claims Second Firing of ‘Kinzhal’ Missile (8:43 a.m.)
Russia said it fired another “Kinzhal” hypersonic missile at Ukraine, along with Kalibr cruise missiles, to destroy a fuel depot in the Mykolaiv region, Interfax reported. Mykolaiv authorities issued an air-raid warning early Sunday for about an hour.
Russia claimed its used the new weapon on Friday to destroy an ammunition storage site in Ukraine’s southwest. It would have been the first use of the missile, introduced by Vladimir Putin in 2018, in combat. Ukrainian authorities haven’t confirmed either of the strikes.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow also said the Black Sea fleet targeted a repair base for armored vehicles in southern Ukraine with cruise missiles, the news service reported, citing spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
Swiss Start Blocking Sanctioned Russians’ Property (8:30 a.m.)
LetterOne co-founder Petr Aven’s apartment, located in the same building as the luxury hotel resort Les Hauts de Gstaad, has been blocked by Bern’s land registry, NZZ am Sonntag reported, citing a local official. That means the Russian billionaire’s apartment can’t be sold or pawned.
Another property was reported in Geneva, though authorities aren’t disclosing the owner. The search process for identifying real-estate by almost 900 sanctioned Russians is a challenge because authorities need to manually search the names, the newspaper said.
Occupying Troops Use Harsh Policing Tactics (8:12 a.m.)
Russian artillery attacks killed at least five civilians, including a nine-year-old boy, in Kharkiv overnight, city police chief Vyacheslav Markov said on Facebook.
Russian troops have turned to harsh policing tactics in areas under their control, according to the Ukrainian armed forces General Staff. Troops blocked a humanitarian aid convoy near the southern city of Kherson and distributed leaflets ordering people to register with occupation officials. Russia is promising debt amnesty and preferences to local businessmen in occupied areas, in exchange for compliance, it said.
Russian forces continued assaults on Ukrainian positions near the southern town of Zaporizhzhia with tanks, helicopters and missiles, the regional administration said. The Defense Ministry said Russia had “significantly” reduced the use of its air force over the past day, and that Ukraine had shot down three Russian helicopters.
Russia Aims Heavy Firepower on Urban Areas, U.K. Says (8:04 a.m.)
Russia has increased “indiscriminate shelling of urban areas” as its forces bog down, even as a number of eastern Ukraine cities are encircled, according to the latest U.K. defence intelligence update.
“It is likely Russia will continue to use its heavy firepower to support assaults on urban areas as it looks to limit its own already considerable losses, at the cost of further civilian casualties,” the U.K. said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said early Sunday in a video message that Russia’s military had sustained “unprecedented losses,” with the front line of defense “littered with corpses of the Russian soldiers.”
EU Seeks to Bolster Protections Against Nuclear Threat: FT (6 a.m.)
The European Union has accelerated plans to bolster its preparedness to a potential nuclear threat after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Times reported, citing EU officials.
The European Commission wants EU member countries to stockpile iodine pills, other medicine and protective gear, the newspaper said. It is also working to boost its responses to potential biological and chemical attacks, the FT said.
Ukraine Suspends Russia-Linked Political Parties (2:21 a.m.)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the suspension of activities of some opposition parties with alleged connections to Russia, citing martial law.
“Given the full-scale war and ties of some political structures with this state (Russia), the National Security Council of Ukraine has decided to suspend any activity of a number of political parties,” Zelenskiy said in a video message on Sunday.
Russia Denies Space Suits Symbolize Ukraine Flag (9:55 p.m.)
Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station caused a stir when they posed in yellow and blue uniforms, but Moscow on Saturday denied that was a show of support for Ukraine.
Roscosmos spokesman Dmitry Strugovets said the yellow flight suits symbolize the emblem of Bauman Moscow State Technical University, from which all three cosmonauts graduated.
“This design was approved long time before the current events,” Strugovets said on Telegram. “To see the Ukrainian flag everywhere and in everything is crazy.”
Ukraine Expects to Get U.S. Weapons Soon (9:55 p.m.)
Ukraine will receive Stingers, Javelins and other U.S. weaponry announced by President Joe Biden in the coming days, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said.
“Those will be useful for our army will be on the territory of Ukraine in the nearest future,” Danilov said in an interview on Ukrainian television.
Danilov also urged International Atomic Energy Agency representatives to travel to Ukraine to control the situation at two nuclear power plants — Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia — occupied by Russian troops.
Mariupol Officials Accuse Russia of Forced Deportations (8:37 p.m.)
Mariupol was the scene of heavy fighting Saturday, with the city’s mayor Vadym Boychenko accusing Russian forces of war crimes and forcible deportation of some of the city’s residents to Russia.
“What the occupiers are doing today is familiar to the older generation, who saw the horrific events of World War II, when the Nazis forcibly captured people,” Boychenko said on Telegram.
The besieged city’s council likewise said in a statement that several thousand Mariupol residents were deported to Russia. “Some people were sent to far way cities of Russia, the fate of others is unknown,” the council said.