LIVE UPDATES: UK PM Johnson Pledges 120 Armoured Vehicles, $500 Bln in World Bank Loans to Ukraine

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The serial number of the Tochka-U missile that hit the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, which is under the control of Ukrainian troops, shows that the tactical missile comes from a batch of weapons used by the Ukrainian forces, media report.

On April 8, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) headquarters announced that Ukrainian troops used a Tochka-U missile in an attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk. According to DPR data, at least 50 people were killed, while 87 others were injured. The Russian Defense Ministry has refuted claims of a Russian strike on the Kramatorsk train station, stressing that judging by the photos of missile fragments shared by witnesses, such missiles are only used by Ukrainian troops.

The Union Donetsk TV channel said on Telegram that the Tochka-U missile used in the Kramatorsk attack "was on the balance sheet of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - its serial number has been deciphered." Union said that Ukrainian troops had used several other missiles from the same batch in Donbas - twice in 2015 and twice this year.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Italy will not support a NATO intervention in Ukraine for fear it could tip the conflict into the third world war, Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio said on Saturday.

"We will oppose a military intervention by NATO in the war in Ukraine because this would lead to a military world war," he was quoted as saying by TGCom24 on the sidelines of an event near Naples.

"The operation of the OSCE SMM is declared unlawful in the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic and the presence of its officials — undesirable," a directive of the republic's militia read.

"Ukrainian nationalists continue to hold 6,362 foreign citizens from 13 countries hostage to use them as a human shield, while 77 foreign vessels from 18 countries continue to be blocked in Ukrainian ports," Mikhail Mizintsev told a briefing.

The military official suggested that the International Maritime Organization and ship owners should put pressure on Kiev to allow the vessels to leave. Russia keeps a maritime humanitarian corridor in Ukrainian waters open every day from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Moscow time (5:00 to 16:00 GMT).

Russia evacuated 716 civilians eastward from the flashpoint Ukrainian city of Mariupol in the past day, bringing the total number of evacuees up to 134,299, Russian Defence Ministry official Mikhail Mizintsev said.

The number of civilians evacuated to Russia from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics since the start of the special military operation rose to 704,434 on Saturday after 26,676 people were brought to safety over the past day.

Ukraine did not assist in the evacuations, Mizintsev said. Kiev has confirmed 10 humanitarian corridors but none of them to Russia. Ukraine has never guaranteed safety to people fleeing Mariupol to the port city of Berdiansk to the west, he added.

"Ukraine has never guaranteed the safety of this humanitarian corridor and has been intentionally slowing down humanitarian efforts," he told a briefing.

Ukrainian troops fired mortar rounds on Saturday at a border post near the Russian town of Elizavetovka in the Kursk region, the regional governor said.

"A border post near the town of Elizavetovka in the Glushkovsk district was attacked this evening from the direction of Ukraine. No one was hurt and no damage was done," Roman Starovoit said on Telegram.

The area is not far from the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy.

Russian border guards shot back at the firing nest and suppressed it, the governor added. He said the Russian military had been alerted to the firefight.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday promised Volodymyr Zelensky additional military assistance of 120 armored vehicles and an extra $500 billion in World Bank loans.

"The Prime Minister set out new military assistance of 120 armoured vehicles and new anti-ship missile systems, to support Ukraine in this crucial phase while Russia’s illegal assault continues," Johnson’s office said on the heels of his trip to Kiev.

The military aid is in addition to 100 million pounds ($130 million) worth of military equipment announced on Friday. It includes more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, 800 anti-tank missiles and loitering munitions for precision strikes.

Ukrainian troops detonated a tank of nitric acid in the contested eastern Ukrainian city of Rubezhnoye on Saturday, an officer with the Lugansk People’s Republic militia said.

"A tank of nitric acid was detonated in Rubezhnoye. The wind is coming from the southwest at a speed of 9-14 meters per second, so the cloud [of fumes] will go northeast," Lt. Col. Andrey Marochko said on Telegram.

Rubezhnoye is located some 85 kilometers northwest of Lugansk. The nearest village to it is militia-controlled Kudryashovka.

Marochko said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces blew up a tank of what appeared to be hydrochloric acid as they prepared to pull back from the contested region. He accused Ukrainians of planning attacks on acid tanks so that the wind carried toxic fumes to Kudryashovka.

The spokesman of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday that the government supports an independent investigation into what happened in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.

"Prime Minister Viktor Orban condemns the Bucha massacre. Hungary fully supports an international investigation to identify the perpetrators in this bloodshed," Bertalan Havasi was quoted as saying by the MTI news agency.

The Russian Defence Ministry has dismissed accusations of committing atrocities in Bucha, saying scenes of bodies strewn in the streets were staged. Russian President Vladimir Putin told Prime Minister Orban in a phone conversation this week that the alleged Bucha massacre was a blatant provocation orchestrated by Ukraine.