Russian forces that occupied the Chernobyl nuclear power plant stole lethal radioactive substances from research laboratories. This was stated by the Ukrainian state agency for the management of the exclusion zone, cited by the BBC. Russian troops, who had entered a storage area of the Ecocentre research base, stole 133 highly radioactive substances. "Even a small fraction of these substances are fatal if handled unprofessionally", explains the Agency, adding that "the place where the stolen substances were taken is unknown".

Other news of the day is that of the first visit by a Western leader to Moscow since the beginning of the invasion. This is the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who meets Putin on Monday. He wants to act as a "bridge builder," he says, even though he's not very optimistic about the outcome of the interview.

Meanwhile, when we are a month and a half after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, NATO is elaborating plans to deploy a permanent military presence on its borders to counter a future expansion of aggression by Moscow.

On the war front, between explosions in Odessa and a bombing that hit the Dnipro airport, the Russian effort appears increasingly concentrated in the east of the country, aimed at conquering the Donbass. Meanwhile, another mass grave with dozens of Ukrainian civilian bodies has been discovered in Buzova, a small liberated center a few kilometers west of the capital Kiev.

Today yet another clash between Rome and Moscow, foreign ministers are the protagonists. “Di Maio made a mess, as always. It is not Russia that blackmails the European Union with gas supplies, but the EU that blackmails Russia with sanctions and threats of new restrictions, strengthening the armed forces along the perimeter of Russian borders and supplying arms to Ukraine ”, Says Russian minister Maria Zakharova.

"The only real blackmail - the reply of Di Maio's spokesman - is to ask for the payment in rubles of gas contracts already in progress. A request that is clearly unacceptable".

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The day live.

Raid in Kharkiv with 10 dead, including a child

At least 10 civilians were killed, including a 7-year-old child, and 11 injured in a raid by Russian forces in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine. This was reported by the head of the regional military administration, Oleg Synegubov, quoted by Suspilne News.

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Kramatorsk attack, 57 victims

The death toll in the missile attack on the Kramatorsk railway station has risen to 57. This was announced by the governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, reports the Guardian online. 100 injured. The Ukrainian president called the attack a war crime. The US also accused Moscow of the massacre, while the Kremlin denied any responsibility.

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"Torture in the Orthodox Church"

"In recent days in Ukraine terrible crimes committed by the occupiers have been discovered. And on Sunday I would like to recall a circumstance that shocked all believers. In the Chernihiv region, and precisely in the Lukashivka village, in the Orthodox Church of the Ascension of the Lord - monument of architecture - the occupants moved their headquarters, desecrating the Orthodox church. They interrogated and tortured people there ". The major archbishop of Kiev, Msgr. Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church.

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Di Maio: "Blackmail is asking for payment in rubles"

"Blackmail? I would say that the real and only blackmail is to ask for the payment in rubles of gas contracts already in progress, and the Russian one is clearly an unacceptable request. Italy, in order to avoid facing any crises deriving from these inadmissible conditions, is acting to diversify the sources of supply. As the European Union, we are rightly strengthening an energy security plan to protect our citizens ": this is how Giuseppe Marici, spokesman for Minister Luigi Di Maio, replies to the words of Maria Zakharova, spokesman for the Minister of Russian foreign.

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Moscow to Di Maio: "It is the EU that blackmails us, not the other way around"

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio "confused, as always. It is not Russia that blackmails the European Union with gas supplies" but "the European Union that blackmails Russia with sanctions and threats of new restrictions , strengthening the armed forces of its countries along the perimeter of the Russian borders and supplying all kinds of weapons to Ukraine ". The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram, quoting Di Maio's sentence about his mission in Algeria to "deal with any Russian blackmail on gas".

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The Austrian Chancellor flies to Putin

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer will travel to Moscow tomorrow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. This was announced by an official source. Yesterday Nehammer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev.

It will be the first visit by the leader of an EU country to Moscow since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. The Austrian online newspaper Kronen Zeitung reports that the chancellor said he wanted to act as a "bridge builder", to seek a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict, although he said he was not too optimistic about it. Nehammer stressed that he had informed the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the German chancellor Olaf Scholz of his initiative.

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Five injured at Dnipro airport

Five people were injured in the attack on Dnipro airport, in eastern Ukraine, which was hit today by 3 Russian missiles. This was reported by the head of the regional council of the city, Mykola Lukashuk, quoted by the Kyiv Independent.

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Use: "Death and destruction will continue"

The change of military leadership by the Russians, with the decision to put in command a general responsible for "atrocities in Syria", indicates that destruction and death in Ukraine "will continue". This was stated by the spokesman of the White House, Jen Psaki.

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School and hospital also bombed in Buzova

On the road where the 50 bodies were found, in Buzova, the village landmark hospital was also hit, which was totally destroyed, as well as the village school. During the bombing of the school, there were 150 people inside the building - explains the principal - who were all saved by running to the shelter below. It is not yet clear whether there were people inside the hospital during the attack.

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Patriarch Kirill: "United against Moscow's enemies"

Russian Patriarch Kirill, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, called on supporters to unite to fight "Moscow's internal and external enemies". "In this difficult period for our homeland, may the Lord help each of us to unite, even around power," he said. "This is how true solidarity in our people will emerge, as well as the ability to reject external and internal enemies and to build a life with more good, truth and love." Tass reports it. Kirill, whose church has about 150 million followers, has repeatedly supported the military operation in Ukraine in his sermons.

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"Radioactive substances stolen from Chernobyl"

Russian forces that occupied the Chernobyl nuclear power plant stole radioactive substances from research labs that could potentially kill them. This was stated by the Ukrainian state agency for the management of the exclusion zone on Facebook, cited by the BBC.

The Agency reports that Russian troops, who had entered a storage area of the Ecocentre research base, stole 133 highly radioactive substances. "Even a small fraction of these substances are fatal if handled unprofessionally", explains the Agency, adding that "the place where the stolen substances were taken is unknown".

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US plans to supply more weapons to Kiev

The United States is working on a plan to supply more weapons to Ukraine. This was stated by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in an interview with CBS. Sullivan explains that there is also the possibility of training Ukrainians outside their national borders.

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Explosions in Odessa

Three distinct explosions, coming from the north of Odessa, were heard as the air-raid sirens warned the population to stay in shelters. The city, which today was supposed to host the anniversary of the liberation of the port from the Nazis in 1944, has been under a general daytime curfew since yesterday due to the attacks. About a hundred kilometers to the east, in the city of Mykolaiv, just before the front, the local press reported that a Russian Su-34 type fighter was shot down over the city.

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Dnipro airport bombed

A new Russian bombing hit the Dnipro airport in eastern Ukraine. This was reported by the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk oblast, stating that the airport was "completely destroyed".

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Buzona: "Dozens of bodies on the road to Kiev"

"On March 31, we found about fifty bodies along a 6-kilometer stretch of the main road leading to Kiev. Another 60 people are nowhere to be found." This was reported by the head of the village of Buzova, Taras Didich

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Over 1,200 dead in the Kiev region

Ukrainian Attorney General Irina Venediktova told Sky News today that Russia has committed war crimes across Ukraine. "Overall there are 1,222 deaths in the Kiev region alone - he said -. Of course, what we have seen on the ground in all regions of Ukraine are war crimes, crimes against humanity and we will do everything to prosecute them".

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Di Maio: "We need a ceiling on the price of gas"

"The European Union must establish a maximum ceiling, and we are asking as a government, on the price of gas. We cannot think at this moment of preferring speculative dynamics of prices to the safety of our families, who are unable, like businesses, to face increases of 200% on the electricity bill ". Thus in Maddaloni (Caserta) the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, who made a point on the situation of energy supplies.

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Zelensky: "Nobody deals with those who torture but we need a solution"

"Nobody wants to negotiate with a person or people who have tortured our nation. This is understandable. As a man, as a father, I understand this very well." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in an interview with the PA relaunched on his Telegram profile. But "we don't want to miss the opportunities, if we have them, of a diplomatic solution," he added. "We have to fight, fight for life. You cannot fight for dust when there is nothing and there are no people. This is why it is important to end this war," he said again.

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Kuleba: "The Bucha massacre is the result of years of hatred"

“Bucha is not the result of a day. For years, Russian elites and propaganda have been inciting hatred, fueling ideas about Russian superiority, the inhumanity of Ukrainians and laying the groundwork for these atrocities. I encourage students from all over the world to study what it has brought to Bucha. ”Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

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Kiev: "Russians kill civilians on the street in Mariupol"

"In Mariupol, the Russian occupiers have organized a 'cleanup' operation among civilians". This was supported by the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petr Andryushchenko on Telegram, according to reports from the UNIAN agency. "This is a search for 'Nazis'. A Nazi to the Russians, is anyone who loves their Ukraine and has not submitted to the occupier," he said, explaining that this "cleansing" takes place throughout the city and for this purpose. Russians have set up several checkpoints. "In the cleaning process, the occupants don't hesitate to kill civilians right on the street, then take pictures, bragging about 'victory'," he explains.

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Mass grave found near Kiev

A mass grave with dozens of Ukrainian civilian bodies was discovered in Buzova, a small liberated center a few kilometers west of the capital Kiev, local officials said, according to the Guardian. Taras Didych, head of the community of Dmytrivka, which includes Buzova and several other neighboring villages, told Ukrainian TV that the mass grave is located near a gas station. The exact number of victims is not yet known.

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Today nine trains to evacuate civilians from Lugansk

Residents of the Ukrainian region of Lugansk besieged by Russian forces will be able to evacuate today thanks to nine trains made available by the authorities, the regional governor said, according to the Guardian.

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Kiev: "In Severodonetsk bombs on buildings and a school"

"A school and two apartment buildings were bombed by the Russians in Severodonetsk in the morning", in Lugansk, and "two elderly people were saved". This was announced by the head of the Lugansk regional military administration, Serhi Gaidai, on Telegram. "Two apartment buildings in the new district of the city, as well as a building of a high school, were the subject of a heavy fire by the Russian army," explains Gaidai.

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The Russians fire 7 missiles in the Mykolayiv area

The Russian forces have launched seven missiles in the area of Mykolayiv, in southern Ukraine in the last hours: the southern Ukrainian operational command announced on its Facebook page indicating that so far no victims have been reported. The Kyiv Independent reports it. As Moscow seeks to strengthen the positions of its troops in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, the command notes, it also uses missile strikes to demoralize the population.

(Unioneonline)

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