kyiv, to the east of the capital. the mayor said that some infrastructure objects were hit in the early hours of sunday morning. for the latest on the situation in kyiv and in the besieged city of mariupol, here s our correspondent dan johnson. there are reports this morning of more attacks on the edge of kyiv in a district to the east of the capital city, where the local mayor says an attack has hit some of the local infrastructure there. we re not quite sure exactly what the target was or what the level of damage is, but that s a pattern that s been repeated for a few nights now after russia threatened to step up its attacks once again and there were air raids right across the country.
as we know, millions of ukrainians have fled their country in search of safety. about 6,000 people have been granted humanitarian visas in australia, allowing them to work and study for up to three years. the bbc s phil mercer has met some of the first ukrainian refugees to arrive on australian soil. for this woman and her eight year old son, andre, fleeing their home in kyiv was the start of a torturous journey. horrified by war, australians are doing what they can to welcome refugees from ukraine. among the displaced, there is a relief but also fear for family members left behind. i went from kyiv to slovakia to poland, and then from poland to austria and then from austria to australia. in australia, i feel very safe. our dream is for the war to end soon so my parents and husband will be safe. maria is a ballet dancerfrom kyiv, now given sanctuary half
translation: for me, the exchange of emotion is very important. - we give the children our emotions and they give us theirs and that lifts our spirits. we can t name it, you have to feel it when you see the reaction. and in the capital, kyiv, an easter vigil takes place, another moment of normality in a country where that is now rare. they pray for salvation, they pray for an end to war. tim allman, bbc news. let s cross live to st peter s square in vatican city because pope francis has been celebrating easter mass, during his
where air defences reportedly destroyed four russian cruise missiles. earlier this week, russia s prize warship sunk in the black sea ukraine says it struck the vessel, the kremlin denied that, saying an explosion onboard caused it to sink. now the russian defence ministry has published images showing what it says is the ship s crew, the undated video showing sailors on parade being inspected by the commander in chief of the russian navy. the focus today will be on what happens next in mariupol. will the remaining ukrainian soldiers there ignore russia s deadline offer to lay down their arms and continue to defend the city to the end? helena wilkinson, bbc news. and there have been reports of more attacks on the ukrainian capital, kyiv. russia s defence ministry said it struck a military plant outside
ukraine says its naval units are preparing for a russian landing operation in the area. in a late night address, president zelensky accused russia of deliberately trying to destroy mariupol and everyone in it. mr zelensky warned that eliminating ukrainian fighters in the city would put an end to peace talks. meanwhile, explosions have again been heard in the capital, kyiv, and in the western city of lviv. air raid sirens have been going off across much of the country overnight. this report is from helena wilkinson. forweeks, mariupol has been battered by sustained russian attacks. the kremlin says it s now cleared urban areas of ukrainian forces and it s made this offer to ukrainian soldiers fighting in the port city lay down your arms by later this morning and your safety will be guaranteed. earlier, the president of ukraine had this warning for russia.