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Reuters

(Reuters) – Russia launched its long-awaited all-out assault on east Ukraine, unleashing thousands of troops in what Ukraine described as the Battle of the Donbas, a campaign to seize two provinces and salvage a battlefield victory.

FIGHTING

* Ukraine’s defence ministry said the aim of Russia’s new offensive in eastern Ukraine was to seize all of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, establish a land link between those territories and Crimea, and destroy Ukraine’s armed forces.

* An aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia’s new offensive in eastern Ukraine will fail because Moscow’s forces lack the strength to break through Ukrainian defences.

* A senior U.S. official said the latest offensive was the prelude to a much larger assault.

* Russia’s defence ministry said it had opened a corridor for Ukrainian forces who wanted to lay down their arms and safely leave the Azovstal steel works in the besieged city of Mariupol.

* Russian forces seized Kreminna, a city of over 18,000 people in eastern Ukraine, and Ukrainian forces withdrew, the regional governor said.

* Russia handed over 60 soldiers and 16 civilians to Ukraine in the fifth such exchange of prisoners of war, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said.

* At least three people were killed and 16 wounded in Russian shelling of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, the regional governor said.

DIPLOMACY

* U.S. President Joe Biden held a nearly-90-minute video call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and the leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Poland, Japan and Italy.

* “There was broad consensus on the need to step up pressure on the Kremlin, including by adopting further sanctions, and to increase Moscow’s international isolation,” the Italian government said.

* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the allies were cooperating to provide more financial and military support to Ukraine, including long-range artillery and anti-tank and air defence weapons.

* Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters it was hard to say when the next direct peace talks would be possible as Russia was now “seriously betting” on its offensive in eastern Ukraine.

* U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a four-day humanitarian pause over the Orthodox Easter to allow civilians to leave areas of conflict and humanitarian aid to reach hard-hit areas.

ECONOMY

* Russia’s invasion has damaged or destroyed up to 30% of Ukraine’s infrastructure at a cost of $100 billion, a Ukrainian minister said, adding reconstruction could be achieved in two years using frozen Russian assets to help finance it.

* World Bank President David Malpass will host a meeting on Thursday with Ukraine’s prime minister and finance minister to discuss further financial assistance. He said Ukraine’s debt burden had to be “reduced substantially” because of the pressures from Russia’s invasion.

* Russia flagged a likely further cut in interest rates and more budget spending to help the economy adapt to biting Western sanctions as it heads for its deepest contraction since 1994.

QUOTES

“Of course there are morons who draw ‘Z’, but 10% of any country are morons. 90% of Russians are AGAINST this war! … Dear ‘collective West’ please give Mr Putin a clear exit to save his face and stop this massacre” – wealthy Russian businessman Oleg Tinkov

“What has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cost? A crisis on top of a crisis, with devastating human costs and a massive setback for the global economy,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina told a food security panel.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)