LIVE UPDATES: Total Human Losses of Ukrainian Troops Exceed 23,300, Russian MoD Says

Ukraine will break off negotiations with Russia if Ukrainian troops in the city of Mariupol are eliminated, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Earlier in the week, 1,160 Ukrainian soldiers, including 176 officers, of the 36th Marine Brigade surrendered in Mariupol. The Russian Defence Ministry said it was ready to allow all Ukrainian troops to withdraw through humanitarian corridors and promised to spare Ukrainian nationalists who agree to lay down arms. The Ukrainian side declined the offer.

"Mariupol is, perhaps, like ten Borodyankas and I would like to say that elimination of our boys will put an end to all talks," Zelenskyy said, as quoted by Ukrainian news website Strana.ua.

Mariupol, a coastal city in the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) with a population of 450,000, went under the control of Ukrainian troops during the 2014 offensive. On 7 March, a senior DPR military said that Russian and DPR forces have surrounded the city and are clearing it of Ukrainian troops, including the neo-Nazi Azov battalion.

French skin care brand L'Occitane reversed its stance and announced the closure of all of its stores and online sales in Russia in the light of the special military operation in Ukraine.

On Thursday, the company told the BBC that it will not cease operations in Russia for fear that its employees will face "retaliation".

"Given the enormous human suffering being caused by escalating military action in Ukraine and to protect our employees worldwide from potential public aggression, we have decided to close our own stores and e-commerce websites in Russia," the company said in a press release published on Friday.

L’Occitane also announced suspending investment and expansion plans in Russia.

According to the company's 2021 annual report, it has over 100 retail shops located in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan and Yekaterinburg.

Ukrainian troops shelled the towns of Vasylievka and Tokmak in the Zaporozhye region on Thursday, killing at least one person and injuring five, as well as destroying houses and schools, local authorities said.

"On April 14, 2022, our city Vasylievka was under another shelling. People suffered as a result. A civilian woman died. Five civilians are injured," Deputy Mayor Denis Kalinin said, adding that both private and public property suffered damage, such as schools where shrapnel landed.

Sputnik has obtained a video showing the site of the shelling, which shows traces of a 9M27K rocket from the Uragan multiple rocket launcher system.

"Of course, these events baffle us. We, the city council, are doing everything to help people to at least protect communal property, [and] restore it if possible, bury or help with transport and burial of the dead, provide medical assistance through our hospital's personnel," Kalinin added.

The economic sanctions against Russia have had no effect so far, but there are ways of toughening the restrictions, Estonian Minister of Defence Kalle Laanet said on Saturday.

"It takes time for sanctions to hit. So far, only a relatively short period of time has passed, so we have not yet seen the desired effect. But we still have ways of tightening sanctions even further, for example, by boycotting oil and gas," the minister told German newspaper Handelsblatt.

He accused European countries of "financing" Russia's operation in Ukraine by continuing to buy fuel from it.

The number of Ukrainian refugees coming to Germany by train each day has decreased by nearly 70%, German Minister for Transport Volker Wissing said on Saturday.

"The number of people fleeing to Germany by train has fallen significantly compared to the peak at the beginning of war – from around 8,200 to the current 2,500 people per day. We continue to keep the logistics and transport structures in place, however, because … [we] can experience an increase in the number of refugees at any time. We must expect further escalation and be prepared. People who are in need in Ukraine should be able to find refuge in Germany," Wissing told the RND news agency.

Germany "cannot and will not" reject any refugees from Ukraine, he added.

According to Germany’s Interior Ministry, almost 300,000 refugees from Ukraine have been registered in the country as of 1 April, with most of them travelling by train. The ministry noted that the actual number is likely higher as not all Ukrainian refugees have registered with the police.

Ukrainian citizens holding a biometric passport are allowed to legally stay in EU member states for 90 days without contacting the migration authorities.

Italy will close its ports to Russian ships starting this Sunday, including those that have changed their flag since February 24, Italian media reported.

Last week, the European Union agreed on the fifth package of anti-Russian sanctions over Ukraine, which include a ban on access to EU ports for ships under the Russian flag. Romania also banned Russian-flagged vessels from entering Romanian ports — except for humanitarian emergency purposes and energy transit — starting Sunday.

According to newspaper La Stampa, citing the country's port authority, the vessels that are currently staying at Italian ports will have to leave immediately after concluding their commercial activities.