Pope on Ukraine: ‘May international actors resume negotiations, not fuel war'

By Linda Bordoni

“I am always close to the tormented Ukraine, which is struck by a rain of missiles every day,” said Pope Francis during the Sunday Angelus.

Raising his voice, yet again, since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine that continues to wreak death, suffering, destruction and displacement, the Pope reiterated his appeal to the international community to seek a negotiated solution instead of fuelling violence.

The war continues

Russian missiles hit industrial facilities at a strategic city in southern Ukraine Sunday as Moscow continued efforts to expand its gains in the country's east.

The Mayor of Mykolaiv said that the Russian missiles struck an industrial and infrastructure facility in the city, a key shipbuilding center in the estuary of the Southern Bug river. There was no immediate information about casualties. Mykolaiv has faced regular Russian missile strikes in recent weeks as the Russians have sought to soften Ukrainian defenses. The Russian military has declared a goal to cut off Ukraine's entire Black Sea coast all the way to the Romanian border.

On Thursday, a Russian missile strike killed at least 24 people — including three children — and wounded more than 200 in Vinnytsia, a city southwest of Kyiv, the capital, far from the front lines that had largely been spared from the Russian bombardment before.

Ukraine’s President meanwhile claims that weapons supplied by the West are starting to have an impact on the war by affecting Moscow’s offensive potential.