Live blog: Children among those killed as Ukraine, Russia exchange fire

Saturday, April 15, 2023

At least four people have been killed and 10 wounded by Ukrainian shelling of a residential area in a Russian-controlled town in eastern Ukraine, the top Russian-installed official in the region said.

The official, Denis Pushilin, said a seven-year-old girl was among those wounded in the town of Yasynuvata, just north of Donetsk.

Yasynuvata is about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Sloviansk, where Russian missiles hit residential buildings on Friday and killed at least nine people, including a two-year-old child.

Russia also said it was pushing further into the hotspot of Bakhmut, 45 kilometres (27 miles) southeast of Sloviansk, which is one of the cities that will be at risk if Kiev loses the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.

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0417 GMT —  Brazil's Lula in China tells US to stop supporting Ukraine war

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that the United States should stop "encouraging war" in Ukraine "and start talking about peace".

"The United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace, the European Union needs to start talking about peace," Lula told reporters in Beijing at the end of a visit to China where he met with President Xi Jinping.

Lula has used his visit to push the message that "Brazil is back" as a key player on the global stage — and to warn others that the South American country's deepening relations with China are non-negotiable.

He lashed out at the power of the US dollar and the IMF and met representatives from Chinese tech giant Huawei in Shanghai, before meeting his counterpart Xi.

2000 GMT — Ukraine's place is in NATO: Zelenskyy 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he discussed UK's undivided support to Kiev as well as the acceleration of delivery of weapons and the next steps with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

"With Prime Minister [Rishi] Sunak we discussed the weapons for our soldiers — what we agreed with Britain, what will help our active steps, completely just steps. We discussed the acceleration of delivery," Zelenskyy said.

In his address, Zelenskyy said he held another meeting on Euro-Atlantic integration and Ukraine's bid to join the NATO.

"It is obvious that Ukraine's place is in NATO, a legal place. And we do not want the outdated illusions, which until now held back our joining the alliance, continued taking time away from Ukraine and its partners," he said.

2012 GMT — Ukraine says it wants security guarantees before joining NATO

The head of Zelenskyy's office, Andriy Yermak, has also expressed his gratitude for Britain's strong support to Kiev during a meeting with UK's envoy to Ukraine Melinda Simmons.

Yermak briefed her on the urgent need for Ukraine to continue its fight for independence and both discussed the preparations for the upcoming NATO summit in July this year in Vilnius.

Yermak also raised the issue of formalising security guarantees for Ukraine, something that Kiev wants before joining NATO.

Citing "Kiev Security Compact", Yermak said he is sure the recommendations, if taken into account, will provide reliable security guarantees as well as build a new system of security for Europe and the world.

For our live updates from Friday (April 14), click here.