April 17, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv has now been without piped water for four days, forcing people to use water from streams and rivers.

Access to water was lost when the pipeline from Dnipro was damaged during fighting several days ago.

The head of Mykolaiv regional military administration Vitalii Kim said Sunday that attacks by Russian forces were continuing including cruise missile strikes.

He said the water problem would soon be fixed:

Kim said the military situation was in the defenders' favor. "While the enemy is preparing troops and mobilization, weapons are coming towards us."

Some context: The territory between Mykolaiv and Kherson to the south has seen intense fighting over the last three weeks as Ukrainian forces have launched counter-attacks

Mykolaiv itself has been regularly shelled by Russian forces but remains under Ukrainian control.

Ukrainian forces will continue to defend the city of Mariupol despite an ultimatum by Russia, Mariupol officials said Sunday.

An adviser to the mayor of Mariupol has responded to the demand by the Russian Ministry of Defense that Ukrainian soldiers still resisting in part of the city should surrender, saying Ukrainian forces continue to fight.

"In the (Saturday) evening, the occupiers announced they would provide 'a surrender corridor' for the remaining troops," Petro Andriushchenko said on Telegram.

"But as of today, our defenders continue to hold the defense," he said.

Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov, lies in the center of Russia's push to link up its forces in the east and south of Ukraine.

Andriushchenko also said resistance to the Russians continued beyond the Azovstal steel works, a gigantic facility that has been a bastion for Ukrainian forces fighting in Mariupol.

"Despite the occupiers' desire to show that the place of hostilities is limited to the Azovstal steel plant, this does not correspond with reality," he said. "Last night there were fights on the Taganrog Street that is located five kilometers away from Azovstal."

He said that "during the fighting, the occupiers shelled private residential houses with heavy artillery again. The shelling of the port area also continued."

CNN could not immediately confirm fighting elsewhere in Mariupol.

As Russia continues its relentless and devastating attack on Mariupol, it has issued an apparent ultimatum demanding Ukrainian fighters to surrender by Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, Kyiv and its surrounding region have been under attack once again, following a lull in strikes around the city. 

Here are the latest developments:

The Ukrainian armed forces said Sunday that as Russia continues to prepare reinforcements for an offensive in the east, its troops are facing supply problems.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the Ukrainian armed forces claimed that "the Russian military is constantly complaining about the lack of rotation, equipment that is constantly failing, the quality of food and fuel supplied."

Ukraine reported relatively little combat overnight but said that Russia continued to launch air strikes on Mariupol, where Ukrainian units surrounded in a steel plant are still putting up resistance.

The armed forces also asserted that in areas under Russian occupation "looting and violence by the Russian military against the civilian population continues. These actions are encouraged by their military command."

Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation, which is responsible for military action in the east, said 10 attacks by Russian troops had been repulsed Saturday, and that 15 Russian tanks and other equipment had been destroyed.

Some Russian shelling continued into the night, according to regional authorities. 

Serhii Haidai, head of Luhansk Regional Military Administration, said four high-rise buildings in the city of Severodonetsk were hit and caught fire. He provided no details on casualties.

Haidai has previously estimated that 70% of the city is already destroyed.

"There is almost nothing to destroy there. The enemy have destroyed most of the housing stock during the past six weeks," Haidai said. 

Haidai also said one person had been injured in shelling of the nearby town of Kreminna.

The Kyiv suburb of Brovary cane under attack by rockets on Sunday morning, according to its mayor, Ihor Sapozhko.

Sapozhko said infrastructure facilities have been damaged, and that it's possible there are interruptions to power and water supply.

Russian forces have struck targets in the Ukrainian capital and its surrounding region over the past three days, following a lull in attacks around the city. 

In its latest intelligence update on Sunday, the United Kingdom's Defense Ministry said Russian forces in Ukraine were directing supplies provided by its ally Belarus toward the country's eastern region, where attacks have been intensifying.

"Though Russia's operational focus has shifted to eastern Ukraine, Russia's ultimate objective remains the same," it added. "It is committed to compelling Ukraine to abandon its Euro-Atlantic orientation and asserting its own regional dominance."

The Russia-Belarus relationship: Belarus has been used as a springboard for many of Russia's air operations in Ukraine, according to intelligence collected by NATO surveillance planes.

The Ukrainian military says it has shot down several missiles fired towards its territory from Belarus. After Russia failed to gain the ground it wanted around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, forces retreated back into Belarus to regroup and redeploy.

The US has punished Minsk with sanctions targeting Belarusian defense firms, the country's defense minister and has suspended normal trade relations with the country.

But Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko -- a Kremlin-backed, Putin ally -- has shown no remorse for his role as a facilitator.

Russia is continuing a brutal assault on Mariupol, and has ordered Ukrainian forces still defending the southeastern city to surrender by Sunday. Meanwhile, Russian attacks are escalating in eastern Ukraine, as well as parts of the country's south.

Here are the latest developments:

Russia’s unrelenting assault on the city of Mariupol and the likely discovery of more Russian crimes against civilians will make further diplomatic talks impossible, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday.

It added that while Zelensky was open to discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, that is becoming less likely as Russia continues to escalate its war. If more apparent Russian war crimes surface, “there will be no chance that negotiations will be held," Zelensky said.

The article was titled: "The more Russia escalates, the less likely the President of Ukraine is to negotiate." 

Russia has demanded Ukrainian forces still fighting to defend the besieged city of Mariupol lay down their weapons. The apparent ultimatum comes as Russia continues its relentless and devastating attack on the southeastern city.

Russian state media Ria reported that "without exception" all "Ukrainian armed units and foreign mercenaries" must exit from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Moscow time (same as local time) "without any weapons and ammunition," citing the Russian Defense Ministry.

An estimated 100,000 people remain in Mariupol and its immediate surroundings, which are reported to be largely under Russian control, with Ukrainian troops confined to pockets of resistance.

Some context: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zekensky late Saturday called the situation in the besieged city of Mariupol "inhuman," saying the situation remained "as severe as possible."

"Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there in Mariupol," he said in his latest video address.