LIVE UPDATES: UN Humanitarian Chief Asks Russia, Ukraine to Hold Talks on Humanitarian Issues

Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday turned in Ukraine's questionnaire for obtaining EU candidate status to EU Ambassador in Ukraine Matti Maasikas.

"Even at the stage of acquiring the status of the EU candidate, questionnaire and its responses, the procedure takes years, and I wish to commend not only our team, but also yours for the pace, which provides us with opportunity to complete this procedure in weeks or a couple of months," Zelensky told Maasikas, while submitting the questionnaire.

Maasikas also noted the swiftness with which Ukraine filled out the questionnaire, saying that it is the next step for the country on its path to the EU.

"Another step on Ukraine's EU path. Honoured to receive from @ZelenskyyUa the answers to @EU_Commission questionnaire, handed over by @vonderleyen only 10 days ago. Extraordinary times take extraordinary steps and extraordinary speed," Maasikas said on his social media.

During the EU delegation's visit to Kiev on 8 April, European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen handed over the questionnaire to Zelensky to begin Ukraine's accession process. She emphasized that this questionnaire would lay the groundwork for further discussion on the country's membership in the future. Following that, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna said that Ukraine expects to acquire candidate status in June.

Ukraine applied for EU membership on 28 February, shortly after Russia launched its special military operation. Kiev was followed by Georgia and Moldova as they decided to fast-track submission of their applications and similarly received the EU questionnaire in mid-April.

On 24 February, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. In response, the EU rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow, which includes financial measures against Russian banks, sanctions in the fields of energy, transport, high technology, and the suspension of visa facilitation agreements for holders of Russian diplomatic and official passports.

On the night of April 7, unknown persons desecrated the memorial to Soviet soldiers-liberators in Treptow Park, pouring red paint over it and writing anti-Russian slogans on it. The monument in Treptow Park was erected in honor of the fallen soldiers of the Soviet Union in the Battle of Berlin in 1945. The Russian Embassy in Berlin sent a note of protest to the German Foreign Ministry demanding to eliminate the consequences of the vandal attack, which was quickly done on April 8.

UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said on Monday that he asked Russian and Ukrainian officials to convene for discussions on humanitarian issues during recent visits to the two countries.

“I also asked both to agree to an arrangement whereby the two parties, the Russian Federation and the Ukrainian authorities, would meet, convened by the UN, to discuss, on a virtual or actual basis, at any time, to discuss humanitarian issues,” Griffiths said during a press briefing on his trip.

The Ukrainian military in March used cluster munitions in an attempt to take control over a village near the city of Izium in the east of the country, the New York Times reported on Monday.

Cluster munitions, which include missiles, bombs, mortar and artillery shells, are banned under an international convention signed by more than 100 nations in 2010. However, Ukraine, along with the United States and Russia, is not among signatories of the convention.

The Ukrainian troops shelled the village of Gusarovka in an attempt to push back the Russian military units from the positions held there. International human rights groups accused Russia of using banned munitions there, but the New York Times said that based on reviewing evidence during the visit to the area it concluded the missile with cluster munitions had been launched by the Ukrainian troops.

Nobody was killed during the attack then but at least two civilians were killed in a subsequent attack by the Ukraine forces to retake the village, the report said.

Mary Wareham, advocacy director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch, said the Ukrainian troops hit their own people with cluster munitions and their use is unacceptable.

“It’s definitely dismaying to hear that evidence has emerged indicating that Ukraine may have used cluster munitions in this current conflict,” Wareham said.

The New York Times personnel at the scene said they collected metal parts of antipersonnel munitions from the used missile shells.

The attack in Gusarovka appears to be the first verified use of cluster munitions by Ukrainian troops since the beginning of Russia’s military operation, the report said. In 2015, Kiev used such munitions in the war in the Donbas, it added.

UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said earlier the United Nations is investigating allegations that Ukrainian forces have used cluster munitions during the ongoing conflict with Russia.

Russia, which has repeatedly said it does not violate existing conventions regulating armed conflict, has said Ukrainian troops are using typical terrorist methods, such as hiding behind civilians and positioning weapons systems in civilian areas. Russia has also accused the Ukrainian military of using cluster munitions, including in the March 14 missile attack on Donetsk that killed 21 civilians.

The UN Security Council will convene on 19 April to discuss Ukrainian refugees during the ongoing conflict in the country, a diplomatic source said.

The meeting is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. EST (19:00 GMT), the source said.

Earlier on Monday, Ukrainian border guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko said that most Ukrainian refugees will no longer be able to leave the country without international passports, and an exception can be made only for those who are fleeing regions hit by hostilities.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 4.2 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of Russia's special military operation on 24 February.

Swiss President Ignazio Cassis and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have agreed to toughen sanctions on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine, Japanese media reported on Monday.

Cassis, who also heads the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, embarked on his first trip to Japan on Monday to hold meetings with Kishida and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi. He will remain in Japan until Saturday.

"Russia's aggression shakes the foundation of order not only of Europe but also of the international community including Asia," Kishida was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency.

Kishida further noted that "there is no time that the unity of the international community is required as much as it is now." Cassis agreed with his colleague and expressed readiness to render assistance to Ukraine. The parties further agreed to maintain "strong" sanction regime on Russia, with no signs of easing them in sight, the outlet added.

Following talks with Kishida, Cassis announced on his social media that he had "substantial exchange with Japanese Prime Minister about the war in Ukraine and the consequences for Europe and the world," adding that the countries’ economic and scientific cooperation was also discussed.

"Japan is a trusted partner of Switzerland with shared values," Cassis said.

Militants from the Ukrainian neo-Nazi battalion Azov shelled the city hospital of Mariupol forcing people to jump out of the windows, commander of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) unit said.

Earlier this month, the DPR representative office in the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination of the ceasefire regime (JCCC) reported that several dozen people died at the hands of Ukrainian militants in this hospital. The Russian Investigative Committee worked on the spot.

"This hospital was destroyed by them – ‘Azov.' We went in, they started shooting. We saw that civilians were still there, but they fired anyway. Civilians jumped right out of the windows, but they still fired. It was obvious. They ignored and continued shelling. They do not care who to shoot at. Absolutely. Civilian or military," the commander said.

Mariupol, the second largest city in the DPR, at the time of the proclamation of its independence in 2014 was under control of the Ukrainian forces. The city has been a site of intense fighting in recent weeks.

Cyprus’s economy will lose hundreds of millions of euros this year after shutting its doors to about 900,000 travellers from Russia as well as Belarus and Ukraine, Cypriot media estimated.

The Phileleftheros Daily said the Mediterranean island nation's alignment with EU sanctions on Russia will blow a 550 million euro ($594 million) hole in its budget on top of losses caused by coronavirus lockdowns.

Despite this, Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios appeared upbeat as he spoke at an annual meeting of hotel managers last week. He said Cyprus could still have a better tourist season this year than in 2021 as it prepared to welcome more British, German, Israeli, French, Swiss and Austrian tourists.