Ukraine War: Russian forces have made advancements in Melitopol and have captured its mayor. (File)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russia had adopted a "fundamentally different approach" in talks to end the conflict. He said the approach was in contrast to earlier talks at which Moscow only "issued ultimatums".
Here are the top 10 updates on the Russia-Ukraine war:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he was "happy to have a signal from Russia" after President Vladimir Putin said he saw "some positive shifts" in their dialogue.
- Russian forces have advanced ever closer to the capital from the north, west and northeast. Russian strikes also destroy an airport in the town of Vasylkiv, south of the city.
- "Around 1,300" Ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of the invasion, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, the first time he has given a count for Ukraine's forces. Russia said on March 2 it had lost 498 soldiers, but Zelensky says it is closer to 12,000.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed what he said was the "flagrant violation" of international humanitarian law by Ukraine's forces as he held phone talks with the leaders of France and Germany, the Kremlin said.
- Ukraine's foreign ministry said that Russian forces shelled a mosque in Mariupol, where 80 civilians were taking shelter. "The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxolana (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled by Russian invaders. More than 80 adults and children are hiding there from the shelling, including citizens of Turkey," the Ukraine foreign ministry wrote on its Twitter account.
- Russian rocket attacks destroyed a Ukrainian airbase near the town of Vasylkiv in the Kyiv region today. The rocket attacks also hit an ammunition depot, Vasylkiv Mayor Natalia Balasynovych said.
- Ukraine expects a new wave of attacks on the Kyiv, Kharkiv and Donbass regions after a slowdown in Russia's offensive, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, said on Saturday.
- The Russian forces have made advancements in southern Ukraine's Melitopol and have captured the city's mayor. "A group of 10 occupiers kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov," Ukraine's parliament said on Twitter. "He refused to cooperate with the enemy," it added.
- Three missiles hit civilian buildings in the central city of Dnipro on Friday, destroying a shoe factory and killing one security guard. Dnipro had been considered a safe haven, suffering few attacks since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. A home for the disabled near Kharkiv was also bombed, with 330 people there at the time, officials say.
- Russia on Friday announced that the military airfields of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, in western Ukraine closer to the Polish border, have been "put out of action".
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