Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images Ukrainians are now ranked as the third most dominant ethnic group in US-Mexico border meetings, according to internal documents obtained by NBC News. Last week, authorities met an average of 1,058 Ukrainians a day, NBC reported. This contributed to the highest number of meetings recorded at the border since 2000, with 221,303 meetings recorded in March. This is about 8,000 more than the previous high reached in July. Ukrainians are allowed to seek asylum in the US after the Russian invasion. – Chelsea Ong
Austrian Chancellor: Putin believes he is winning the war with Ukraine
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer attends a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, March 31, 2022. Steffi Loos | Swimming pool Reuters Austrian Chancellor Carl Nehammer met personally with Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week and said the Russian president believed he was winning the war with Ukraine. Nehamer is the first European leader to do so since the invasion began on February 24. In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press”, Nehammer said: “We have to look him in the eye and we have to deal with what we see in Ukraine.” Nehamer said his conversation with Putin “was not a friendly conversation. It was an honest and tough conversation.” “I told him what I saw. I saw the war crimes. I saw the massive loss of the Russian army,” he said. Nehamer added, however, that while Putin believed he was winning the war, the Russian president told him: “It’s better to end the war sooner than later. So I think he knows exactly what is happening now.” – Terry Cullen Disclosure: NBCUniversal is a parent of NBC and CNBC.
Mariupol “no longer exists” after extensive disasters, says the Foreign Minister
A man passes in front of a residential building that was destroyed during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 17, 2022. Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba described an increasingly dire situation in Mariupol, saying the key port city was virtually “no more”. The southeastern city is being relentlessly bombed by Russian forces. About 95% of the city has been destroyed by bombing, the Ukrainian government said on its official Twitter account. Mayor Vadym Boychenko said in an interview with the Associated Press last week that at least 21,000 people had been killed and the bodies “carpeted in the streets.” It is difficult to determine the extent of the deaths in Mariupol, as the city is virtually cut off from communication. An estimated 120,000 people remain in the city, Boichenko added, far from the pre-war population of 450,000. Many trapped Ukrainians are left with few food, water, medicine, electricity or heat supplies. View of damage to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol under the control of Russian military and pro-Russian separatists, April 17, 2022. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images “The situation in Mariupol is both militarily tragic and heartbreaking,” Kuleba told CBS’s Face the Nation. “The city no longer exists,” he said, adding that “what is left of the Ukrainian army and a large group of civilians is basically surrounded by Russian forces.” Ukraine and international aid organizations have been fighting to evacuate civilians. Ukrainian and Russian officials could not agree on terms for opening a humanitarian corridor. The last one was to open on Sunday. “We are working hard to get the humanitarian corridors back on track as soon as possible,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told the Telegram. A man rides a bicycle near a damaged tank during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 17, 2022. Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters
At least 202 children have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the war, prosecutors say
Candles, children’s clothes and shoes are shown during a demonstration organized by the Ukrainian Union in Finland, to honor the memory of the children killed in Mariupol, Ukraine, in Helsinki, on April 10, 2022. Jussi Nukari | AFP | Getty Images At least 202 children have been killed since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office. More than 361 children have been injured in the war, the office said, citing evidence from juvenile prosecutors. Officials said the figures were not conclusive, as it was difficult to confirm reports of heavy fighting or occupation by Russian forces. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, despite evidence to the contrary. In addition to the victims, prosecutors said Russian troops had destroyed 1,018 educational institutions. Of these, 95 were completely destroyed. – Jessica Bursinsky
Zelensky says he spoke with IMF chief to discuss financial stability, post-war plans
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during a discussion at the UN Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow on November 3, 2021. Daniel Leal | AFP | Getty Images Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had spoken to International Monetary Fund Director Kristalina Georgieva about the country’s economic and post-war plans. “We discussed with IMF Managing Director @KGeorgieva the issue of ensuring Ukraine’s economic stability and preparations for post-war reconstruction,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter. “We have clear plans at the moment, as well as a vision of prospects. I’m sure that cooperation between the IMF and [Ukraine] it will continue to be fertile. “ Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in late February, has caused significant economic damage to the country. Earlier Sunday, a financial adviser to Zelenskyy said Ukraine could need $ 1 trillion to make up for its losses in the war. – Alex Sherman
Ukrainians identify dead relatives as volunteers dig up civilians killed by Russian soldiers
(WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENTS) Specialists in protective uniforms place human remains on the ground during the exhumation of corpses from another mass grave where civilians killed by Russian invaders are buried, Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, North Ukraine. Anatolii Siryk | Future Publishing | Getty Images Volunteers in Ukraine’s Mykulychi, a village outside the Kiev capital, are digging up the bodies of civilians killed by Russian soldiers who were temporarily buried by locals, according to the Associated Press. More than 900 civilian bodies have been found in towns and villages around Kyiv. Volunteers dig corpses temporarily placed in boxes weeks ago during a monthly Russian occupation. Loved ones have recently returned home as the violence has subsided, the AP reported. The wives of men shot and killed by Russian soldiers identified their wives as they mourned their loss together. Some of the bodies that have been excavated have not yet been identified by relatives, the report said. Two neighbors, Ira Slepchenko and Valya Naumenko, returned to identify their husbands, knowing where they had been temporarily buried. According to the AP, on the last day of the Russian occupation, Russian soldiers knocked on the doors of the inhabitants of the area. The AP reported that when Naumenko’s husband, Pavlo Ivanyuk, opened the door, soldiers took him to the garage of the house and shot him in the head. Slepchenko’s husband, Sasha Nedolezhko, heard the shooting, the report said. He opened his door and the soldiers shot him as well. “I want this war to end as soon as possible,” Slepchenko told the AP. – Alex Sherman
At least five dead and 20 wounded in an attack in Kharkov
The first correspondents appear at the scene of the Russian bombing in Kharkov, Ukraine, on April 17, 2022. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images Five people were killed in the Russian bombing of Kharkov, Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov told the Telegram. At least 20 people were injured, he added. Syniehubov said that the center of Kharkov was bombed by multiple rocket launchers, causing damage to residential buildings and infrastructure of the city. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, has been bombed intermittently since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in late February. —Jessica Bursinsky
World Central Kitchen creates new location after rocket attack
Employees of a local restaurant together with the organization World Central Kitchen prepare hot food for refugees and the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces in the city of Lviv in western Ukraine on April 1, 2022. Yuriy Dyachyshyn | AFP | Getty Images Chef Jose Andres, the non-profit organization Central Central Kitchen, resumes operations in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, a day after a rocket attack destroyed its restaurant. Four staff members were injured in the attack, but are doing well, the agency’s chief executive, Nate Mook, said on Twitter. “Today, the restaurant team is moving all the food and undamaged equipment to another kitchen location in Kharkov,” Mook said. Andres added that “everyone is ready and willing to start cooking in another location”. —Jessica Bursinsky
US President Biden is praying for peace this Easter
US President Joe Biden. Drew Angerer | Getty Images US President Joe Biden says he is praying Easter for those living in the “dark shadow” of war, persecution and poverty. Biden posted an Easter message on Sunday in which he said he also prayed for peace, freedom and basic dignity and respect for all of God’s children. Biden did not say which war he had in mind, but the president has been deeply involved in trying to force a …
