Ukraine braces for ‘important battles’ as Pope urges ceasefire

Ukraine
Ukraine is preparing for "important battles" against Moscow s forces in the east of the country, the president said, as Pope Francis on Sunday called for an Easter truce to end the war.

Evacuations continued from Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, where a missile strike on Friday killed 57 people at a railway station, according to a revised toll.

Read more: Russia suspended from UN rights body

Meanwhile a strategic airport in the city of Dnipro was badly damaged in fresh shelling on Sunday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky again condemned atrocities against civilians, and after speaking with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said they had agreed "that all perpetrators of war crimes must be identified and punished".

Ukraine s prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said the country was examining the alleged culpability of 500 leading Russian officials for thousands of war crimes, including President Vladimir Putin.

And White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan pledged the US would "work with the international community to make sure there s accountability" for what he called "mass atrocities".

Pope Francis called for an Easter ceasefire in Ukraine to pave the way for peace.

"Let the Easter truce begin. But not to provide more weapons and pick up the combat again -- no! -- a truce that will lead to peace, through real negotiation," he told a mass at Saint Peter s Square.

The pontiff denounced a war where "defenceless civilians" suffered "heinous massacres and atrocious cruelty".

But Russia s Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a key Putin ally, issued his own appeal against Russia s "enemies".

"In this difficult period for our fatherland, may the Lord help each of us to unite, including around power," he said.

"This is how true solidarity will emerge in our people, as well as an ability to push back external and internal enemies, and to build a life with more good, truth and love."



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