Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

April 22 (Reuters) – A Russian general said Moscow wants to seize all of southern and eastern Ukraine, far wider war aims than it had acknowledged as it presses on with a new offensive. read more

Rustam Minnekayev said Moscow aimed to seize the entire eastern Donbas region, link up with the Crimea peninsula, and capture Ukraine’s entire south as far as a breakaway, Russian-occupied region of Moldova. That would mean pushing hundreds of miles beyond current lines.

* Ukraine’s general staff said Russian forces had increased attacks along the whole frontline in the east of the country and were trying to mount an offensive in the Kharkiv region, north of Russia’s main target, the Donbas.

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian forces control most of Mariupol but Ukrainian troops remain in a part of it. About 120,000 civilians were blocked from leaving, he said.

* The mayor of Mariupol appealed for the “full evacuation” of the city.

* The U.N. human rights office sounded the alarm about growing evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, urging both Moscow and Kyiv to order combatants to respect international law.

* U.S. President Joe Biden pledged $800 million in more weaponry for Ukraine and said he would ask Congress for more money to help the Ukrainian military. read more

* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said NATO must avoid a direct military confrontation with Russia that could lead to a third world war.

* Plans for Pope Francis to meet in June with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who has backed Russia’s war in Ukraine, have been suspended, the pope told an Argentine newspaper.

* Ukraine is working with lawyers on a mechanism to use frozen Russian funds to compensate it for its economic losses, its justice minister told Reuters.

* World Bank President David Malpass said the food security crisis caused by the war was likely to last months and that Ukraine had suffered some $60 billion worth of physical damage.

“If you have a helmet and a bulletproof vest, but you do not have a gun in your hands, you are doomed,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, appealing for military aid.

Compiled by Robert Birsel, Kim Coghill and Angus MacSwan

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