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- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promises not to give up territory in the east of the country to end the war with Russia.
- Zelenskyy discusses plans for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction with the IMF managing director.
- Ukrainian forces in Mariupol continue to hold out after Russian deadline to surrender passes.
Here are the latest updates:
Russian TV shows second British soldier captured in Mariupol
A British soldier fighting with the Ukrainian army, Shaun Pinner, has been paraded on Russian television. This comes a few days after Russian media showed another captured British, soldier Aiden Aslin.
In this video the 48 year old says: “Hi, I’m Shaun Pinner. I am a citizen of the UK. I was captured in Mariupol. I am part of the 36 Brigade First Battalion Ukrainian Marines.”
Pinner is believed to have moved to Ukraine four years ago and lived with his wife in Donbas. In January he had told the Mail he was fighting to defend his family and “adopted city”. He also said he feared for his life as “the Russians will treat us differently if we are captured because we are British.”
Belgium, Estonia and Bulgaria ban Russian ships
Belgium, Estonia, Bulgaria have implemented a European Union ban on Russian ships entering their ports, starting on Sunday April 17.
This comes after Italy also barred Russian ships from entering its ports on Sunday as part of extended EU sanctions.
War in should be over in two to three weeks, Ukrainian defense advisor says
The “hot phase” of the war in Ukraine will end in two to three weeks, and the war should be completely over in two to three months, Fyodor Venislavsky, a member of Ukraine’s Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence (also know as Verkhovna Rada) said on television.
He said his assessment was based on a number of factors, including that Ukrainian armed forces “have demonstrated how can push the enemy back from Ukrainian lands,” and that “Western partners have not only changed their assessments that Ukraine urgently needs more new models of weapons, they are already being delivered.”
Mariupol fighters continue to hold out
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said the remaining Ukrainian forces in the port city of Mariupol were still fighting and continued to defy the Russian demand that they surrender.
“The city still has not fallen,” Shmyhal told ABC’s This Week programme.
Read the full story here.
Latest UN refugee agency figures
The UN refugee agency has said 4,869,019 million Ukrainians have left the country since Russia invaded on February 24 – up 32,574 on Saturday’s total.
“As Christians celebrate resurrection on this sombre Easter Sunday, we must stubbornly hope that in the days, months and years to come the methods and language of war will not prevail over those – more difficult, more complicated – that lead to peace,” he said. UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi.
The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said an addditional 215,000 third-country nationals have also escaped to neighboring countries since the war began.
Russian shelling of Kharkiv ‘deliberate terror’: Zelenskyy
Eighteen people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in Russian shelling in the past four days in the northeast Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s president has said.
On Sunday, five people were killed and 20 were injured when a missile and artillery fire hit the city center and the Saltivka suburb, regional governor Oleh Synyehubov said earlier.
Al Jazeera was unable to confirm the death toll.
Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that Russia’s shelling of Kharkiv has been constant.
“This is nothing but deliberate terror: mortars, artillery against ordinary residential quarters, against ordinary civilians,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy, IMF managing director discuss ‘post-war reconstruction’
Zelenskyy has said he spoke with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva about Ukraine’s financial stability and the country’s post-war reconstruction.
“Discussed with IMF Managing Director Georgieva the issue of ensuring Ukraine’s financial stability & preparations for post-war reconstruction. We have clear plans for now, as well as a vision of prospects. I’m sure cooperation between the IMF & Ukraine will continue to be fruitful,” he wrote in a tweet.
Discussed with IMF Managing Director @KJeorgieva the issue of ensuring Ukraine’s financial stability & preparations for post-war reconstruction. We have clear plans for now, as well as a vision of prospects. I’m sure cooperation between the IMF & 🇺🇦 will continue to be fruitful.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 17, 2022
Georgieva later confirmed the call in a post on Twitter. She wrote support is “essential to lay the foundations for rebuilding a modern competitive #Ukraine”.
Zelenskyy promises tough resistance in east
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is not willing to give up territory in the eastern part of the country to end the war with Russia and is preparing to offer tough resistance in the face of an expected large-scale offensive there.
Read the full story here.
Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine. Read all the updates from April 17 here.
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