Ukraine-Russia war live: Press Putin to end war, Germany urges China’s Xi Jinping

Three people have been killed and eight others injured in Russian attacks over the past 24 hours, regional authorities have said.

Two men, aged 63 and 65, were reportedly killed, while two other men, aged 38 and 65, and two women, aged 63 and 66, were injured in an attack on Kharkiv Oblast, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

An attack on the city of Krasnohorivka in Donetsk Oblast killed one person and injured two other, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Russian troops also reportedly attacked the Bakhmut, Kramatorsk and Pokrovsk districts, damaging 11 buildings, including three high-rise buildings, an infrastructure facility and an administrative building.

Russia has lost 455,340 troops in Ukraine since invading the country in February 2022, Ukraine has said.

Some 920 of those casualties occurred in the past day, according to a report by Ukraine’s general staff of the Armed Forces.

According to the report, Moscow has also lost 7,189 tanks, 13,809 armored fighting vehicles, 15,563 vehicles and fuel tanks, 11,609 artillery systems, 1,046 multiple launch rocket systems, 759 air defense systems, 347 airplanes, 325 helicopters, 9,277 drones, 26 ships and boats, and one submarine.

Ukraine’s air defence systems destroyed all nine drones launched in a Russian attack, the air force said on Tuesday.

The aerial weapons were destroyed over several eastern and southern regions, Ukraine’s air force said on the Telegram messaging app.

US house speaker Mike Johnson said spending legislation will be released later on Tuesday, as the house prepares to vote on four separate measures providing aid to Israel and Ukraine.

One of the bills will also include additional sanctions on Russia and Iran, Johnson told Fox News in an interview, and lawmakers are trying to include provisions to secure the US border.

Russian blogger Anastasia Ivleeva, the organiser of a "Nearly Naked" party that caused a major scandal, has been charged with discrediting the Russian army, according to the Moscow court service.

Ivleeva has been charged with an administrative offence, which could lead to a fine, and the hearing has been set for 25 April, the court service said.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday said he had asked Chinese president Xi Jinping to exert influence over Russia to end the war in Ukraine, adding that both leaders rejected attacks on nuclear facilities.

Speaking on the final day of his trip to China, Scholz also said China had agreed to open up beef and apple imports from Germany and facilitate pork imports.

Speaking on economic issues, Scholz said Europe wanted to reduce risks, intensify existing contacts and build new ones.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law a bill overhauling army mobilization rules, according to the parliamentary website.

The law will come into force a month after it is officially published.

It obliges men to update their draft data with the authorities, boosts payments to those who volunteer, and adds new punishment for draft dodging.

Some 15 Ukrainian civilians have been injured in a Russian airstrike on the city of Beryslav in the Kherson Oblast region.

The region’s prosecutor’s office said the 15 suffered concussions following a strike that damaged residential buildings, shops, a pharmacy and other buildings at around 11:30 local time.

All 15 received medical treatment at the scene.

A US citizen arrested on drug charges in Moscow amid soaring Russia-US tensions over Ukraine appeared in court on Monday.

Robert Woodland Romanov is facing charges of trafficking large amounts of illegal drugs as part of an organized group — a criminal offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

He was remanded into custody in January, and the trial began in the Ostankino District Court in late March. A new court hearing is scheduled for next week.

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One of the good decisions made by Michael Gove, who as housing and communities secretary was responsible for the Homes for Ukraine scheme when it was set up two years ago, was to allow the project to be driven from the bottom up.

The scheme was an expression of solidarity from the British people to the Ukrainian people, and the role of the British government, as Mr Gove saw it, was to enable and support it – but mainly to get out of the way.

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