TOP HEADLINES

• U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a four-day Orthodox Easter humanitarian pause in fighting in Ukraine to allow for the safe passage of civilians to leave areas of conflict and the delivery of humanitarian aid to hard-hit areas.

• Ukraine's lead negotiator said on Tuesday it was hard to predict when peace talks might resume because of Russia's siege of Mariupol and what he said is Moscow's desire to strengthen its position through a new military offensive. 

• Moscow said that Russian forces had opened a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian troops who agreed to lay down their arms to leave the embattled city of Mariupol. Meanwhile, the governor of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region told CNN on Tuesday that fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces is "ongoing" in the strategic port city of Mariupol.

• At least three people were killed and 21 were injured in new Russian shelling on Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv Tuesday, local authorities said. 

• Ukraine said it had got back 60 soldiers and 16 civilians in a prisoner swap with Moscow, without giving details on how many Russians went home in the exchange. 

• U.S. President Joe Biden consulted with U.S. allies on the latest developments in Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, the White House said on Tuesday.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia's large-scale offensive in the eastern Donbas region has begun. "We can now confirm that Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, which they have been preparing for a long time. A large part of the Russian army is now dedicated to this offensive," he said on Telegram.

• Russia's forces carried out dozens of air strikes in eastern Ukraine overnight. The defense ministry said that "high-precision air-based missiles" had hit 13 Ukrainian positions in parts of the Donbas, and that other air strikes "hit 60 military assets of Ukraine," including in towns close to the eastern frontline.

• The New York Times reports it has seen evidence that cluster munitions were used by Ukrainian troops trying to retake Husarivka in eastern Ukraine while it was under Russian occupation. 

• The United States and other western countries are doing everything to drag out Russia's military operation in Ukraine, the TASS news agency quoted Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying on Tuesday.

• Rising food prices that have been pushed even higher by the conflict in Ukraine could force upwards of 10 million people into poverty, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Tuesday.

• Russia will retaliate against Poland if its embassy in Warsaw stops working because it cannot receive fresh funds from Moscow, its ambassador warned on Tuesday.

• Meta, the social media firm, has filed an appeal against a Russian court ruling that banned it from operating in Russia on the grounds of "extremist activity", Interfax news agency said.

• The war in Ukraine will heavily weigh down on economic growth in the eurozone, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said, as the conflict continues to impact energy prices and the manufacturing sector. 

• Ukraine economy will collapse by 35 percent and Russia's will fall by 8.5 percent, according to the IMF.

• Wealthy Russian businessman Oleg Tinkov condemned what he called Moscow's "crazy war" in Ukraine, saying 90 percent of his countrymen did not support it and calling on the West to offer Vladimir Putin a dignified way to withdraw.

• Russia's army says it has destroyed a large depot of foreign weapons recently delivered to Ukraine near the western city of Lviv, one of 16 Ukrainian military sites it claims to have hit on Monday.

• Ukraine said there would be no humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians in the country on Tuesday for a third consecutive day because there has been no agreement with Russia.

• Greece seized a crude oil Russian tanker as part of EU sanctions against Russia, a Greek shipping ministry official said.

IN DETAIL

Ukrainian governor says fighting 'ongoing' in Mariupol

Fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces is "ongoing" in the strategic port of Mariupol, the local governor told CNN Tuesday.

"There is fighting ongoing in Mariupol. This is street fighting," said Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. 

Ukrainian forces there are "under heavy bombardment" but "continue to defend Mariupol." 

"There are certain districts where street fighting is continuing. I can't say the Russians are controlling them," Kyrylenko said, adding that the fighting was "not just small-arms fighting, but also tank fighting."

It is not possible to verify information given by either side given the scale of the fighting and the lack of communication.

Russian forces are believed to have gradually pushed their way into the city, pinning Ukrainian troops down to giant factories near the port, which are equipped with vast underground tunnels.

Russia on Tuesday called on Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to "immediately" lay down their arms in a new ultimatum. 

Its defense ministry said Ukrainian forces still holed up inside the devastated city's main metallurgical plant Azvostal were facing a "catastrophic situation." 

"Everyone who lays down their arms will be guaranteed survival," it said. 

Mariupol's city council said Monday that hundreds of civilians are also taking shelter in the factory. 

"There are at least 1,000 civilians in the underground shelters of the metallurgical plant. Mostly women with children and the elderly," it said on Telegram. 

WHO struggles to deliver generators to Ukraine hospitals

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday it was struggling to deliver two generators to hospitals in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, fearing the worst for its hard-hit health system.

The WHO said it was trying to pre-position supplies closer to the frontlines to speed up delivery if a window opens. 

The organization is hoping to deliver 15 generators to hospitals across Ukraine, from a base in the western city of Lviv.

Two were due to head to the eastern city of Kharkiv, while another three are destined for the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east, which have seen heavy fighting.

Two more were for Mariupol, also in the east, WHO Europe spokesman Bhanu Bhatnagar told reporters in Geneva via videolink from Lviv.

"We will only move the generators to their final destinations when we can ensure the safety of our personnel and the precious cargo they are transporting," he said. 

"The generators will help meet the minimum energy needs of medical and surgical units of referral hospitals, where power supply is limited or non-existent."

Donbas: 'Believe in our army, it is very strong'

Russian forces tried to push through Ukrainian defenses along almost the entire front line in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, launching what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the "Battle of the Donbas" – the long-awaited second phase of the war.

A "very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive," Zelenskyy said in a video address overnight. "No matter how many Russian troops they send there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves."

Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, assured Ukrainians their forces could hold off the offensive. "Believe in our army, it is very strong," he said.

Driven back by Ukrainian forces in March from an assault on Kyiv in the north, Russia has diverted troops to the east to regroup for a ground offensive in two provinces known as the Donbas. It has also been launching long-distance strikes at other targets including the capital.

Ukrainian media reported explosions along the front line in the Donetsk region, with shelling taking place in Marinka, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Blasts were also heard in Kharkiv in the northeast, Mykolaiv in the south and Zaporizhzhia in the southeast while air raid sirens were also going off in main centres near the front line, officials and media said.

Ukraine's top security official, Oleksiy Danilov, said Russian forces attempted to break through Ukrainian defenses "along almost the entire front line of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions".

Russia's defense minister said Moscow was seeking to "liberate" east Ukraine, but accused the West of dragging out the military operation by supplying Kyiv with arms.

"We are gradually implementing our plan to liberate the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics," Sergei Shoigu said in reference to eastern Ukraine's rebel regions, adding that Washington and its allies were trying to "drag out" the campaign through their weapons supplies.