Russia-Ukraine war latest: Austrian chancellor to meet Putin; Ukraine prepares for fresh onslaught in east – live | Ukraine

In his nightly address to the nation on Sunday night, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of having “lost connection with reality to a degree that they accuse us of committing what Russian troops have obviously done.”

They say about the murders in Bucha that it is not them, but allegedly us. Although it is obvious to everyone that people were killed while the Russian army controlled the city.

They say about the missile strike at Kramatorsk that it is not them, but allegedly us. Although it was their propagandists who announced this strike. Although missiles flew from the territory under their control. And about any of our destroyed cities, about any of our burned villages, they say the same thing, that it is not them either, but allegedly us…

Do you know why this is so? Because it’s cowardice.”

He said Russian leaders were “afraid to admit that for decades they have been placing erroneous bets and spending enormous resources in support of absolute nobodies who they thought would be the future heroes of Ukrainian-Russian friendship. And these nobodies were skillful at only one thing – taking money out of Russia into their own pockets.”

In the coming week, he said Russia was preparing to launch “even larger operations” in Ukraine’s east.

They can use even more missiles against us, even more air bombs. But we are preparing for their actions. We will respond. We will be even more active in providing Ukraine with weapons. We will be more active in the international arena. We will be even more active in the information field.

He also said he was grateful for the recent change in Germany’s position towards the conflict.

I spoke today with Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz. About how to bring to justice all those guilty of war crimes. How to strengthen sanctions against Russia and how to force Russia to seek peace. I am glad to note that the German position has recently changed in favor of the Ukraine. I consider it absolutely logical. Because this course is supported by the majority of the German people. And I am grateful to them. But I expect that everything we agreed on will be implemented. And this is very important,” Zelenskiy said.

Germany has been under pressure to wean itself off Russian energy and had also been criticized earlier in the war for its failure to supply weapons to Ukraine, a policy which has since been reversed.

At the end of last week, Scholz said his country would stop using Russian coal by the middle of this year and Russian oil by the end of the year.

Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer is set to meet Vladimir Putin on Monday, the first European leader to meet the Russian president since Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February.

In a tweet, Nehammer said Austria was “militarily neutral” but that it had a “clear stance on Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine”.

“It must stop! We need humanitarian corridors, a ceasefire and a complete investigation of war crimes.”

According to the news agency AFP, Nehammer plans to address alleged war crimes that took place in Bucha, outside Kyiv, during the visit.

The Austrian chancellor organized the meeting during a recent visit to Ukraine, a spokesperson said, adding that Nehammer wants “to do everything so that progress towards peace can be made” even if the chances are minimal.

On a visit to Ukraine this weekend, Nehammer toured Bucha, where mass civilian graves and street killings by Russian forces were discovered last week.

Hello, this is Helen Livingstone bringing you the latest updates from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Here’s a roundup of the latest developments:

• Karl Nehammer, the Austrian chancellor, plans to speak about alleged war crimes in Bucha during his visit to meet Putin on Monday. Nehammer will be the first European leader to meet the Russian president since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
• Vladimir Putin has appointed a new general to direct the war in Ukraine as his military shifts plans after a failure to take Kyiv. Alexander Dvornikov gained prominence while leading the Russian group of forces in syrian. the general is likely to usher in a fresh round of “crimes and brutality” against civilians, the US said.
• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy hit back against Russian propaganda on war crimes, the invasion of Crimea and the downing of MH17, saying: “They say about the murders in Bucha that it is not them, but allegedly us, although it is obvious to everyone that people were killed while the Russian army controlled the city … The Russian militaries have already lied to the fact that even after more than six weeks of war, they claim that they did not hit any of the civilian objects. Do you know why this is so? Because it’s cowardice.”
• Zelenskiy welcomed talks with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on war crimes and sanctions against Russia, adding: “I am glad to note that the German position has recently changed in favor of Ukraine.” Germany has been under pressure to wean itself off Russian energy and had also been criticized earlier in the war for its failure to supply weapons to Ukraine, a policy that has since been reversed.
• Russian forces pounded eastern Ukraine with heavy shelling over the weekend, killing 10 civilians, including a child and wounding 11 others around Kharkiv. The airport in the east-central Ukrainian city of Dnipro was also destroyed.
• Ukraine carried out the first staff rotation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in three weeks, the country told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Sunday. Russian troops left the power station north of Kyiv earlier this month but the site’s analytical laboratories for radiation monitoring were “destroyed and the analytical instruments stolen, broken or otherwise disabled”, Ukraine told the IAEA.
• Ramzan Kadyrov, the powerful head of Russia’s republic of Chechnya, has said that there will be an offensive by Russian forces not only on the besieged port of Mariupol, but also on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. Kadyrov, who has described himself as Putin’s “foot soldier”, said there should be no doubt about Kyiv: “I assure you: not one step will be taken back.”
• Nearly 3,000 people were evacuated on Sunday through humanitarian corridorsincluding 213 from Mariupol, said Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk.
• Pope Francis has called for an Easter ceasefire to allow for a push for peace in Ukrainecalling the war a “folly” that was leading to “heinous massacres” and “atrocious cruelty” against defenceless people.
• A total of 1,222 bodies have been found in the region around the capital, Kyiv, so far, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said. Ukrainian authorities are investigating 5,600 cases of alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops since the invasion began.
• Ukraine’s economy is expected to collapse by 45.1% this year, far worse than predicted, the World Bank reported in a dire forecast as the conflict drags on.
• The United Nations refugee agency calculates that more than 4.5 million Ukrainian refugees have fled Ukraine since the invasion began.
• Russian armed forces are seeking to strengthen troop numbers with personnel discharged from military service a decade agoas losses mount.
• The White House has renewed its condemnation of the Russian targeting of Ukrainian civilians as war crimes, citing recent events including Friday’s missile strike on a railway station as “cruel and criminal and evil”. The death toll from Kramatorsk train station attack has risen to 57, Ukraine said.
• More than 3,500 pro-Ukrainian demonstrators took to the streets of Germany in response to a motorcade of about 600 pro-Russian protesters in 400 cars flying Russian flags.