Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy condemns deadly Sloviansk strike

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there has not been "a single hour without Russian killings and terror" in the past week.

He made the remarks during his nightly address after Russian missiles struck residential buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk on Friday.

"This is an evil state, and it will lose. To win is our duty to humanity as such. And we will win," Zelenskyy said.

According to Ukrainian sources, at least 11 people, including a two-year-old child, were killed, more than 20 were injured and several are still missing.

Several houses and high-rise buildings were hit in the strike.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said "no fewer than seven spots [were] hit" in Sloviansk, west of Bakhmut, the center of the war's heaviest fighting.

Sloviansk and the nearby city of Kramatorsk are both coveted by Russian forces, currently bogged down in nearby Bakhmut, as they push ahead with their invasion of Ukraine.

On Friday, a British assessment said Ukrainian troops had been forced to withdraw from parts of Bakhmut.

Ukrainian military commanders this week rejected Russian statements that its forces now controlled 80% of the city, saying Moscow's claims were an exaggeration. 

Here are some of the other notable developments concerning Russia's war in Ukraine on Saturday, April 15

Finland building fence on southeast border with Russia

The construction of a barbed-wire fence has begun along Finland's southeastern border with Russia, near the town of Imatra.

Finland's border guard said that the erection of approximately 3 kilometers (1.8 miles)  of fencing had begun near Imatra and described it as "a new and significant part of border control."

Finland share's a 1,320 kilometer (832 mile) border with Russia, the longest of any EU member state.

The section of the fence is expected to be completed by June 2023.

Finland became a member of NATO April 4, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine seen as being the primary reason the Baltic state pushed to join the alliance after decades of non-alignment. 

Poland bans imports of grain from Ukraine

Poland has banned imports of grain and other food from Ukraine to protect local farmers, ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said.

Large quantities of Ukrainian grains have transited through the EU to other countries after Russia's invasion of Ukraine blocked the usual Black Sea routes.

Part of that supply is now piling up in eastern Europe and driving down local prices, which led to protests from farmers and resignation of Poland's agriculture minister earlier this month.

"Today the government decided on a regulation to ban the entry, imports of grain into Poland, as well as of dozens of other kinds of food," Kaczynski said at a convention of his right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party. 

Kaczynski stressed that Poland was still standing by Ukraine, saying, "We remain, without even the slightest change, friends and allies of Ukraine."

Parliamentary elections are set to be held in Poland later this year to elect members of the lower house of the Parliament, the Sejm, and the Senate.

Russia: Wagner mercenaries seize two more areas in Bakhmut

Fighters of Russia's Wagner mercenary group have captured two more areas of the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, Russia's Defense Ministry said.

"Wagner assault units have successfully advanced, capturing two districts on the northern and southern outskirts of the city," the ministry said in a briefing. 

It was not possible to independently confirm the report.

Bakhmut has become a fixation of military commanders despite having little strategic value, leading to a brutal nine-month war of attrition.

Ukrainian troops have been forced to withdraw from some territory in Bakhmut as Russia mounts a renewed assault there with intense artillery fire over the past two days, Britain said in an intelligence update on Friday.

According to Russian the ministry, Ukrainian troops "while retreating, are deliberately destroying city infrastructure and residential buildings in order to slow the advance" of Moscow's forces. 

Brazil's Lula accuses Washington of 'encouraging war' in Ukraine

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on the United States to stop "encouraging war" in Ukraine "and start talking about peace."

Speaking to reporters at the end of a visit to Beijing for talks with President Xi Jinping, Lula said the European Union also "needs to start talking about peace."

He said the international community would then be able to "convince" the Russian and Ukrainian leaders that "peace is in the interest of the whole world."

Lula's visit to China, Brazil's top trading partner, focused on strengthening ties and spreading the message that "Brazil is back" as a key player on the global stage.

Unlike Western powers, neither China nor Brazil has imposed sanctions against Russia after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, and both seek to position themselves as mediators to achieve peace.

Before the trip, Lula had proposed creating a group of countries to mediate in the war and said he would discuss this in Beijing.

But the Brazilian president is walking a fine line as he also seeks closer ties with Washington. 

Germany calls for EU nuclear energy sanctions on Russia

Germany's economics minister has called on the European Union to expand its sanctions on Russia into the nuclear energy field.

In statements to the German DPA news agency on Saturday, Robert Habeck said Russia was selling nuclear energy to EU countries to generate revenue, as it strives to fund its war on Ukraine.

The minister stressed the importance of Europe achieving full independence from Russia across the EU.

"We have already come a long way in many areas, including energy. The nuclear sector is still open," he said. 

Russia is a uranium supplier of nuclear fuel rods. It also stores radioactive waste on its territory.

The German minister noted the "extremely sensitive" nature of nuclear technology. He warned that "Russia can no longer be considered a reliable partner," DPA reported.

Habeck called on the EU to add the nuclear sanctions to its coming round.

Putin signs bill allowing electronic conscription notices

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation allowing electronic notices for draftees and reservists.

Russia's military service rules previously mandated in-person delivery of notices to conscripts and reservists for duty.

Now, local military conscription offices will send notices via mail, which will be considered valid once they are posted on a state portal for electronic services.

In the past many Russians avoided the draft by staying away from their address of record.

The new law fueled fears that the government was considering another wave of mobilization following the one that Putin ordered in the fall.

Britain's Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence briefing that the new measures "don't specifically indicate a major new wave of enforced mobilization," adding that Russia is for now "prioritizing a drive to recruit extra volunteer troops. 

But the ministry warned that the measure is likely part of a longer-term approach to provide personnel as "Russia anticipates a lengthy conflict in Ukraine."

Germany's Baerbock discusses war during China visit

The war in Ukraine would again feature high on German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's agenda on Saturday, the last day of her trip to China.

She was expected to discuss the conflict during talks with Chinese foreign policy chief Wang Yi.

On Friday, her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang assured her Beijing would not supply Russia with weapons to use against Ukraine.

Baerbock was expected to touch on the same issues with Wang, who outranks Qin.

"At the top of my agenda on this trip, however, is our interest in bringing the war on our European doorstep in Ukraine to a swift, lasting and just end," Baerbock said before departing to China.

Military analyst: Russia failed in winter offensive

Russia's military "didn't succeed" in its winter offensive in Ukraine, defense expert Nico Lange told German media.

"We know of very high losses on the Russian side," he said in an interview with the public TV news program Tagesschau. "But despite this massive push that has been going on for months, Russia is struggling to capture even smaller cities like Bakhmut and Avdiivka, and is far from making any kind of strategic progress."

Lange, who is a senior fellow of the Munich Security Conference’s “Zeitwende” (Turning Point) initiative, said that during the past few months, Russia was only able to conquer an additional 0.02% of Ukrainian territory — while sustaining five-digit losses.

He added said it was important to "correct the mythical image of Russia's strength and Ukraine's weakness." 

Ukraine's basic approach seems to be working, the analyst said, by "holding the front line against the Russian attacks and at the same time forming new units, equipping them with the armored personnel carriers and main battle tanks."

Once the Ukrainian units complete their training on new equipment, "they have a good chance of breaking through the current frontline with a counteroffensive and liberating other areas," he added.

mm, lo/wd (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)