Pope calls for Easter truce: ‘No victory in planting a flag on a pile of rubble.’ Live Ukraine updates.
Pope Francis concluded his Palm Sunday service in St. Peter’s Square by calling for an Easter truce in Ukraine, saying there “was no victory in planting a flag on a pile of rubble.”
“Let the weapons be put down! Let the Easter truce begin,” the pope told tens of thousands gathered for the service that takes place one week before Easter Sunday. “But not to provide more weapons and pick up the combat again – No! – a truce that will lead to peace, through real negotiation.”
Thousands of civilians have been killed in relentless bombing of Ukraine’s cities since Russia invaded more than six weeks ago. More than a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people have been forced from their homes, and over 4.5 million have fled the country. Large swaths of cities such have Mariupol and even the capital, Kyiv, have been left in ruin by the onslaught.
The pope pleaded for “an end to a war whose end is not in sight, a war that daily places before our eyes heinous massacres and atrocious cruelty committed against defenseless civilians.”
USA TODAY TELEGRAM: Join our new Russia-Ukraine war channel to receive updates straight to your phone.
LATEST VISUAL EXPLANATIONS: Mapping and tracking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Latest developments:
► Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday for a global fundraising event that raised more than 10 billion euros for Ukrainians who have had to flee their homes.
► At least 176 children have been killed and 324 injured since the Russian invasion into Ukraine began, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said Saturday.
show of support from European leaders over the weekend, as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer made visits to Kyiv. The European Union announced it will be restoring its diplomatic presence in Ukraine now that Russian forces have retreated from areas around the capital.
Johnson said Britain and its partners “are going to ratchet up the economic pressure … not just freezing assets in banks and sanctioning oligarchs, but moving away from use of Russian hydrocarbons.” Johnson also pledged additional military equipment to the Ukrainian military, including 120 armored vehicles and anti-ship missile systems.
Ukraine says 19,000 Russian troops have been killed
The Defense Ministry of Ukraine said Russia has lost over 19,000 troops and thousands of pieces of military equipment in 46 days of war. The ministry posted its tally to Twitter early Sunday.
Ukraine listed Russia’s human toll at about 19,300 personnel. The ministry calculated Moscow’s military equipment loss at 1,384 vehicles, 722 tanks, 1,911 armored vehicles and seven watercraft.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told British media on Thursday that Russia had experienced “significant losses of troops.” On Friday, he pointed to the official defense ministry tally of 1,351 soldiers dead.
In late March, NATO estimated that Russia may have lost as many as 15,000 troops, and up to 40,000 killed, wounded or taken prisoner.
– Katie Wadington
Refugee count rises to 4.5M
The number of people who have streamed out of Ukraine since war broke out on Feb. 24 has risen to over 4.5 million, the U.N. reported Sunday.
The U.N. refugee agency reported on its data site the higher number, which originates from a number of sources, but mainly border crossing points.
Nearly 2.6 million of those refugees have arrived in Poland, followed by over 686,000 in Romania. As many as 404,000 have arrived in Russia since war broke out, according to the figures. The agency notes many refugees may have moved on to other countries, beyond the neighboring country into which they initially crossed.
– Katie Wadington
Contributing: The Associated Press