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Destroyed office building in Kyiv
Photo: IMAGO/Aleksandr Gusev / IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
On the 70th day of Russia's illegal war of aggression, further fighting is reported from eastern Ukraine.
People are still waiting for evacuation at the Mariupol Steel Plant.
According to the head of the regional administration, Olexander Pavlyuk, more than 1,200 bodies of civilians have been found near Kyiv.
A new package of sanctions from the European Commission could also include a ban on oil imports from Russia - if all member states agree to the proposal.
The developments at a glance:
military situation
The Russian military said it fired long-range missiles at several railway stations in Ukraine last night.
"Six railway substations near the stations of Pidbirtsi, Lviv, Volovets, Tymkove and Pyatikhatka, through which arms and ammunition were transported from the United States and European countries to the Ukrainian troops in Donbass, were destroyed," the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said , Igor Konashenkov.
In addition, he reported on heavy air and artillery attacks by Russian troops along the front.
Artillery units shelled around 500 targets, including command and base points, depots and troop concentrations.
More than 300 Ukrainian soldiers were killed.
Several Ukrainian artillery positions and air defense systems were knocked out by Russian missiles.
The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boichenko, reported "heavy fighting" on the site of the Azov steelworks in the port city.
Boichenko said on Ukrainian television that contact with the Ukrainian soldiers at the Azov plant had been lost.
Ukrainian fighters and probably a large number of civilians, including children, are still holed up in the plant.
Moscow denies the storming of the plant.
humanitarian situation
The United Nations is reviewing reports that Russian soldiers are raping men and boys in Ukraine.
This was reported by UN and Ukrainian officials at a press conference in Kyiv.
However, the reports have not yet been verified, said Pramila Patten, the UN special envoy on sexual violence during the war.
Male rape survivors can find it particularly difficult to report the crimes.
More than a month after the withdrawal of Russian troops, more civilian bodies are being found in the Kyiv area on an almost daily basis.
By Wednesday, a total of 1,235 murdered civilians had been discovered, said the head of the regional administration, Olexander Pavlyuk, on Wednesday in the Telegram news service.
Of these, 282 are still unidentified.
It was only on Tuesday that 20 new victims with signs of torture were brought to the morgue.
That says Kyiv
According to the Kiev leadership, Russia wants to stop the supply of western weapons with massive rocket attacks on Ukrainian railway systems.
This was written by the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, on Telegram on Tuesday evening.
Politically, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj interpreted the attacks as a sign of Moscow's impotence.
That's what the Kremlin says
Against the background of the war in Ukraine, Russia intends to present new weapons again this year at the traditional military parade on May 9 in Red Square.
President Vladimir Putin will give a speech.
The Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that he would consider arms transports from NATO countries to Ukraine as targets to be destroyed - as quoted by the Ria news agency.
This is how the international community is reacting
Pope Francis has put Russia's guilt in the war of aggression against Ukraine into perspective.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, he said that NATO's "barking" at Russia's door may have led to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
You can read more about the statements made by the head of the Catholic Church here.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has pledged further German aid to Ukraine and emphasized his willingness to talk to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He expresses this support during visits like the one in Romania - "and of course also in exchange with my Ukrainian counterpart, if that is possible".
What are the new sanctions?
With a sixth package of sanctions by the European Commission against Russia, a delivery stop for oil from Russia is within reach.
"In this way we maximize the pressure on Russia and at the same time keep collateral damage to us and our partners worldwide as low as possible," said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the European Parliament.
Because of their high dependency on Russian oil, there should be exceptions for Hungary and Slovakia.
The Czech Republic is also demanding an exception for itself.
All EU countries still have to agree to the proposal – Hungary in particular has reservations.
The largest Russian bank Sberbank is also affected by the new financial sanctions, said von der Leyen.
The bank is also to be excluded from the Swift international financial system, as are two other banks.
Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, is said to be on the sanctions list, according to the text available to the AFP news agency.
Kirill supports Russian President Vladimir Putin's war policy.
Read the whole message here.
You should read this
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Can Europe's energy boycott have a similar effect?
Or will the Russian tankers simply head for other continents?
The first refugees from the Azov steelworks in Mariupol have reached Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhia.
They describe a martyrdom that hundreds of those left behind continue to live through.
Weapons deliveries, financial aid, training of Ukrainian soldiers: the traffic light coalition supports Ukraine in the war against the Kremlin troops - and these are the consequences for the Federal Republic.
ani/AFP/dpa/Reuters