• Russian forces have bombed an art school in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where about 400 residents had taken shelter, the city council said on Sunday.

• Pope Francis has called the conflict in Ukraine an unjustified "senseless massacre" and urged leaders to stop "this repugnant war."

• Fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces is going on inside the eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a televised interview on Sunday.

• The Russian National Guard claimed on Sunday to have captured several leaders of national formations and accomplices of the Security Service of Ukraine, along with several important documents. 

• The front lines between Ukrainian and Russian forces are "practically frozen" as Russia does not have enough combat strength to advance further, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video address.

• Sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine are hurting its economy and President Vladimir Putin, France's finance minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday, adding that banning Russian oil and gas imports into the European Union remained an option for Paris.

• Cruise missiles were launched from Russian ships in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, as well as hypersonic missiles from Crimean airspace, the Interfax news agency reported.

• Turkey's foreign minister said that Russia and Ukraine are nearing agreement on "critical" issues and he is hopeful for a ceasefire.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia's siege of the port city of Mariupol was "a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come."

• Local authorities reported on its Telegram channel that Russian forces had forcibly deported thousands of Mariupol residents across its border. 

• There is a high risk of an attack on western Ukraine's Volyn region being launched from Belarus, Zelenskyy's office said on Sunday, citing the military.

• Zelenskyy has signed a decree that combines all national TV channels into one platform, citing the importance of a "unified information policy" under martial law.

• Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said seven humanitarian corridors would open on Sunday to enable civilians to leave frontline areas.

• The number of people evacuated from Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors on Saturday was considerably fewer than managed to escape on Friday, according to local officials.

• Russian energy giant Gazprom said it continues to supply gas to Europe via Ukraine in line with requests from European consumers.

• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been roundly criticised for comparing the struggle of Ukrainians fighting Russia's invasion to British voting to leave the European Union in 2016.

SCHOOL 'BOMBED'

Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday that Russia's military bombed an art school sheltering some 400 people in the embattled port city of Mariupol.

It was the second time in less than a week that city officials reported a public building where residents had taken shelter coming under attack. A bomb hit a Mariupol theater with more than 1,300 believed to be inside on Wednesday, local officials said.

There was no immediate word on casualties from the reported strike on the art school, which independent media have yet to verify. Ukrainian officials have not given an update on the search of the theater since Friday, when they said at least 130 had been rescued.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia's siege of Mariupol was "a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come", while local authorities said thousands of residents there had been taken by force across the border.

"Over the past week, several thousand Mariupol residents were deported onto the Russian territory," the city council said in a statement on its Telegram channel late on Saturday.

Russian news agencies have said buses have carried several hundred people Moscow calls refugees from Mariupol to Russia in recent days.

POPE'S CONDEMNATION

Pope Francis called on Russia to stop its "violent aggression against Ukraine."

At his weekly Sunday address and blessing, he told about 30,000 people in St. Peter's Square, "It is a senseless massacre where every day slaughters and atrocities are being repeated....there is no justification for this." 

He added: "I beg all the players in the international community to truly commit themselves to stopping this repugnant war," drawing loud cheers and applause from the crowd.

"Even this week missiles and bombs hit civilians, the elderly, children and pregnant mothers," he said.

Russia denies targeting civilians.

Francis also asked people to guard against potential human trafficking of those fleeing Ukraine. Poland has seen indications that human traffickers may be targeting refugees fleeing the Ukraine war, officials and aid workers have said. 

UKRAINE'S BELARUSSIAN FEARS

Ukraine sees a high risk of an attack on western Ukraine's Volyn region being launched from Belarus, Zelenskiy's office said on Sunday, citing the military.

The Russian invasion has mostly focused on northern, southern and eastern areas of Ukraine, though missiles also hit the Yavoriv military base last week, close to the Polish border.

It was not immediately clear whether Ukraine saw the threat of an attack on Volyn from Russian forces or the Belarusian military, which has so far not publicly committed troops to supporting Russia.

While Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko is a close ally of Putin's and the country has served as a staging post for Russian forces, he has so far not publicly committed troops to supporting Russia.