Ukraine: As they buried children and other victims of a Russian missile attack on this central Ukrainian city on Sunday, friends and family wept next to the coffins as more people were killed elsewhere in fighting.
When two missiles hit an apartment block in Uman on Friday, nearly all 23 victims of the attack perished. Six children were among the dead, according to Ihor Klymenko, the interior minister of Ukraine.
At his sister Sofia Shulha's funeral on Sunday, Mykhayl Shulha, 6, wept and embraced family members next to the coffin while others paid their respects to a 17-year-old boy.
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The priest at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Quick to Hear" waved a vessel containing incense over the coffins as mourners held candles, crossed themselves, and sang. He claimed that the deaths had severely affected the entire community.
Father Fyodor Botsu replied, "I live close by. "I personally baptised the youngest children in this church, knowing them since they were very young. Since I have children, am a citizen of this nation, and have lived in this city for 15 years, I am concerned for everyone.
He declared that he prayed "that the war should end and peace should come to our homes, city, and country." People in Uman brought flowers and pictures of the victims to the damaged building. More people died elsewhere on Sunday as a result of Russia's 14-month war.
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Four people were reportedly killed in a Ukrainian rocket attack, according to the governor of a region in Russia that borders Ukraine. According to Alexander Bogomaz, the regional governor of Bryansk, the rockets struck homes in the village of Suzemka, nine kilometres (six miles) from the Ukrainian border. He claimed that two additional locals had been hurt and that some of the approaching shells had been deflected by the defences.
Throughout the war, there have been sporadic cross-border shelling incidents in Bryansk and the nearby Belgorod region. Two fatalities were reported in March in what authorities claimed to be a Ukrainian saboteur incursion in the Bryansk region.
Also on Sunday, the Ukrainian governor Oleksandr Prokudin claimed that 27 times in the previous 24 hours, Russian artillery fire struck his region of Kherson, killing one civilian.
The Kherson region, a gateway to Crimea and other Russian-occupied territory in the southern Ukrainian mainland, could be the focus of an anticipated springtime counteroffensive by Ukraine. Russian forces suffered a significant setback last year when Ukrainian forces drove them out of Kherson, the regional capital.
The counteroffensive, according to Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelenskyy, wouldn't wait for the arrival of all the promised military hardware.
In an interview with journalists from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, Zelenskyy stated, "I would have really wanted to wait for everything that was promised." But unfortunately, the terms (of weapon deliveries and counteroffensive) do not exactly match up. And I'll be honest: We keep an eye on the weather.
Ukraine is especially hopeful that it will get Western fighter jets, but Zelenskyy said his forces wouldn't wait for those planes to arrive before launching the counteroffensive, lest they "reassure Russia that we still have a few months to train on the planes, and only then will we start."
Zelenskyy claimed that he spoke with Emmanuel Macron on Sunday about the supply of weapons and was pleased with its "speed and specificity."
According to Macron's office, he reaffirmed France's commitment to giving Ukraine "all the aid necessary to restore its sovereignty and territorial integrity," and they also talked about long-term European military assistance.
Even more specific timing for the Ukrainian counteroffensive was provided by the head of the Wagner mercenary group, which is in charge of the Russian battle in the Bakhmut city in eastern Ukraine. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner, stated in a video interview with a Russian journalist posted on Saturday that the Ukrainian military will launch the counteroffensive by May 15 because by that time, heavy rains will have stopped and the ground will be dry enough for tanks and artillery to move.
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Additionally, the Sumy and Chernihiv regions, which border Bryansk and Belgorod, came under fire 11 times on Sunday night, according to Ukraine's northern command.
Russian shelling in the Dnipropetrovsk region resulted in the death of a 48-year-old resident of Nikopol and two injuries, according to Governor Serhii Lysak. He claimed that in addition to numerous other buildings, gas pipelines, and a power line, six multi-story buildings and six single-family homes were also damaged.