Ukraine is preparing for “important battles” against Moscow’s forces in the east of the country, officials in Kyiv said, as Pope Francis on Sunday called for an Easter truce to end the war.
Evacuations continued from Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, where a missile strike on Friday killed 52 people at a railway station, while an airport in the central city of Dnipro was completely destroyed in fresh shelling on Sunday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky again condemned atrocities against civilians, and after speaking with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said they agreed “that all perpetrators of war crimes must be identified and punished”.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said the country was examining the alleged culpability of 500 leading Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, for thousands of war crimes.
Pope Francis, meanwhile, called for an Easter ceasefire in Ukraine to pave the way for peace through “real negotiation”. “Let the Easter truce begin. But not to provide more weapons and pick up the combat again — no! — a truce that will lead to peace, through real negotiation,” he told a public mass at Saint Peter’s Square.
Different appeal
But Russia’s Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a key ally of Mr. Putin, issued his own appeal against Russia’s “enemies”.
“In this difficult period for our fatherland, may the Lord help each of us to unite, including around power,” he said. “This is how true solidarity will emerge in our people, as well as an ability to push back external and internal enemies, and to build a life with more good, truth and love.”
The appeals came after Mr. Zelensky said Kyiv was readying for a Russian onslaught. “Sadly, in parallel we see the preparations for important battles, some people say decisive ones, in the east,” he said on Saturday. “We are ready to fight and to look in parallel to end this war through diplomacy.”
A senior U.S. official said Russia has appointed a new commander to oversee its war on Ukraine.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia has turned to one of its most experienced military officers, Gen. Alexander Dvornikov. Officials say the 60-year-old general has a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other theatres of war.
