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Ten civilians killed amid Russian shelling in eastern Ukraine

Russian forces have pounded further targets in eastern Ukraine with missiles and artillery, with weekend bombardments leaving ten civilians dead and a further 11 others injured around Kharkiv, the region's governor has said.

Yesterday's bombardments hit four towns around and to the southeast of Kharkiv, Oleg Synegubov posted on Telegram, adding that one of those killed was a child.

"In the course of the day, the occupiers bombarded the civil infrastructure at Balakliya, Pesochin, Zolochiv and Dergachi," he added.

"At the current time we know of 10 people killed, including a child, and 11 wounded."

Russian forces fired rockets into Ukraine's Luhansk and Dnipropetrovsk regions earlier today, officials said. Missiles completely destroyed the airport in the city of Dnipro, said Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the central Dnipropetrovsk region.

Smoke is seen rising from the airport in Dnipro, which officials say has been completely destroyed

It comes as Austria's leader plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the United States pledged to give Ukraine "the weapons it needs" to defend itself against a new Russian offensive.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he would meet with Mr Putin on Monday in Moscow for the Russian leader's first face-to-face meeting with a European Union counterpart since Russia's invasion began on 24 February.

"We are militarily neutral, but (have) a clear position on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine," Mr Nehammer said, adding: "It must stop. It needs humanitarian corridors, ceasefire and full investigation of war crimes."

Mr Nehammer met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv yesterday, the same day as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who promised to give Ukraine 120 armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems.

Karl Nehammer met with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv yesterday
Karl Nehammer met with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv yesterday

Russia has failed to take any major cities since it launched its invasion on 24 February, but Ukraine says it has been gathering its forces in the east for a major assault and has urged people to flee.

Since Russia invaded, Mr Zelensky has appealed to Western powers to provide more defence help, and to punish Moscow with tougher sanctions, including embargoes on Russian energy exports.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said: "We're going to get Ukraine the weapons it needs to beat back the Russians to stop them from taking more cities and towns".

In excerpts from an interview with CBS, Mr Zelensky said he had confidence in his own armed forces but "unfortunately I don't have the confidence that we will be receiving everything we need" from the United States.

Ukrainian forces fire GRAD rockets toward Russian positions in Donbas

Mr Zelensky said earlier on social media that he had spoken on the phone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about additional sanctions, as well as more defence and financial support for his country. Mr Zelensky also discussed with Ukrainian officials Kyiv's proposals for a new package of EU sanctions, his office said.

In a video address late last night, Mr Zelensky renewed his appeal for a total ban on Russian energy products and more weapons for Ukraine.

The EU on Friday banned Russian coal imports among other products, but has yet to touch oil and gas imports from Russia.

Mounting civilian casualties have triggered widespread international condemnation and new sanctions.

A grave with at least two civilian bodies has been found in Buzova village near Kyiv, said Taras Didych, head of the Dmytrivka community that includes Buzova, the latest such reported discovery since Russian forces withdrew from areas north of the capital to focus on the east of the country.

Territorial guards strengthen their position in the town of Barvinkove, eastern Ukraine

Mr Sullivan said earlier he expected Russia's newly appointed general overseeing Ukraine, Aleksandr Dvornikov, to authorise more brutality against the Ukrainian civilian population. He did not cite any evidence.

Moscow has rejected accusations of war crimes by Ukraine and Western countries.

Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in what it calls a "special operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its southern neighbour. Ukraine and Western nations have dismissed this as a baseless pretext for war.

Russia's invasion has forced about a quarter of Ukraine's 44 million people from their homes, turned cities into rubble and killed or injured thousands.

Some cities in the east are under heavy shelling, with tens of thousands of people unable to evacuate.

A Ukrainian serviceman stands guard near a mass grave in Bucha

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Calls by Ukrainian officials for civilians to flee gained more urgency after a missile strike hit a train station on Friday in the city of Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region, that was full of people trying to leave.

Ukrainian officials said earlier that the death toll from the strike rose to 57, while 109 were wounded. Russia has denied responsibility, saying the missiles used in the attack were only used by Ukraine's military.

Residents of the region of Luhansk would have nine trains to get out on today, the region's governor, Serhiy Gaidai, wrote on the Telegram message service.

Ukraine's deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said 2,824 people were evacuated today through humanitarian corridors, including 213 from Mariupol, which has been under siege for weeks.

In a Palm Sunday homily, Pope Francis called for an Easter truce in Ukraine and, in an apparent reference to Russia, questioned the value of planting a victory flag "on a heap of rubble".