Russian convoy heads toward eastern Ukraine as new Mariupol ...

The French castles being used to house Ukrainian refugees Friends flee Eastern Ukrainian town to OdessaPentagon monitoring unconfirmed reports of chemical weapons use in MariupolThe latest on key battlegrounds and retaken citiesKyiv comes back to life with a mix of sorrow, dark humor and triumphPentagon: New Russian leader in Ukraine has history of ‘disregard’ for civiliansCanada imposes sanctions on Russian defense sector France expels six Russian diplomats accused of spying10,000 Mariupol civilians killed in Russian siege, mayor saysMore bodies found in Borodyanka rubbleBiden urged Modi not to increase Russian oil imports, White House saysNew Russian convoy ‘clear evidence’ of plan to focus on Donbas, Pentagon saysItaly signs pledge with Algeria to reduce gas reliance on Russia Defense official: No evidence Russia destroyed S-300 air defense systemRussia issue on the table as Biden meets virtually with India’s ModiThe French castles being used to house Ukrainian refugees Friends flee Eastern Ukrainian town to OdessaPentagon monitoring unconfirmed reports of chemical weapons use in MariupolThe latest on key battlegrounds and retaken citiesKyiv comes back to life with a mix of sorrow, dark humor and triumphPentagon: New Russian leader in Ukraine has history of ‘disregard’ for civiliansCanada imposes sanctions on Russian defense sector France expels six Russian diplomats accused of spying10,000 Mariupol civilians killed in Russian siege, mayor saysMore bodies found in Borodyanka rubbleBiden urged Modi not to increase Russian oil imports, White House saysNew Russian convoy ‘clear evidence’ of plan to focus on Donbas, Pentagon saysItaly signs pledge with Algeria to reduce gas reliance on Russia Defense official: No evidence Russia destroyed S-300 air defense systemRussia issue on the table as Biden meets virtually with India’s ModiAn eight-mile convoy of Russian troops heading toward Ukraine’s Donbas region is the latest evidence that Moscow is preparing for a large-scale attack on the country’s east, while staggering fatality figures that emerged from Mariupol on Monday underscored the devastating effect of Russia’s siege tactics.The long line of Russian vehicles, visible in satellite images, looks to be part of an effort to reinforce and resupply the Kremlin’s forces in the area, a Pentagon official said. But now we cannot do that,” Movchun told Tung.Their husbands, who are miners, stayed behind.The U.S. Defense Department is monitoring unconfirmed reports that Russia has used chemical weapons during its siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, a senior official said Monday evening.American intelligence has not been able to verify the accounts, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said, but Western leaders have for weeks warned that Moscow could employ such tactics.“We are aware of social media reports which claim Russian forces deployed a potential chemical munition in Mariupol, Ukraine,” Kirby said in a statement. “This could augur in for a more protracted and a very bloody next phase of this conflict.”He noted, however, that the Ukrainians have put up a “very stiff, very effective, very capable” resistance that the invaders will have to reckon with, “whatever the Russian plans are, whatever the goals for this new commander are.”TORONTO — Canada said Monday that it will impose sanctions on several dozen entities in the Russian defense sector that “have provided indirect or direct support to the Russian military and are therefore complicit in the pain and suffering stemming from Vladimir Putin’s senseless war in Ukraine.”The additional sanctions, which were announced in a statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, will be levied on 33 entities, including the Central Research Institute of Automation and Hydraulics and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.Canada’s foreign ministry said the country had imposed sanctions on more than 700 people and entities from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.“Canada has always and will always stand by Ukraine,” Joly said in a statement. But we also recognize different countries have their own calculations.”In a statement Monday afternoon, the White House said Biden and Modi “committed to strengthening the U.S.-India relationship through cooperation on clean energy, technology and military cooperation, and expanded economic and people-to-people ties.”“The two Leaders also discussed the destabilizing impacts of Russia’s war against Ukraine, with a particular focus on global food supply,” the White House said.Russia has begun to resupply and reinforce its forces in Ukraine’s northeastern Donbas region, including with a sprawling convoy of vehicles, but it has not yet begun an expected new offensive there, the Pentagon said Monday.The eight-mile long convoy has maneuvered north of the city of Izyum from the Russian border and is believed to include a command element, a support battalion, helicopter support and other forces, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon.“We believe that this is an effort to reinforce and resupply their forces in the Donbas,” the official said, adding that Russia also has begun to reinforce its posture southwest of the city of Donetsk with artillery units.It is unclear how quickly the convoy will move or what its ultimate destination is, the official said. Addressing the Italian Senate in late March, Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani — who traveled Monday with Draghi and Di Maio — had hypothesized an increase in Algerian supply of up to 9 billion cubic meters, an estimate based on available infrastructure.After eight centuries of Murano glassmaking, a gas crisis is threatening its futureDraghi also said that Italy would team up with Algeria on the development of renewables and green hydrogen, which is generated by renewable energy or low-carbon power.“In the past month and a half, I’ve been to Algeria, Qatar, Angola, Mozambique and Azerbaijan,” Di Maio said Sunday as he detailed Italy’s efforts to strengthen energy partnerships and diversify its supply.The new declaration of intent, he said, “will allow us to reckon with potential Russian blackmail.”Russian forces carried out an airstrike on the international airport on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, but there is “no evidence” suggesting that it destroyed an S-300 air defense system, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday.The strike Sunday destroyed infrastructure at the airport, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon.Russian officials said they used Kalibr cruise missiles to carry out the strike on a hangar on the outskirts of Dnipro.Russian officials have said they plan to invigorate their campaign to take out Ukrainian air defenses, which have partly survived despite weeks of Russian airstrikes and shelling.The Pentagon is aware that Russia has stated that as a goal, but U.S. defense officials said they have not seen it follow through.“The Ukrainians have been very nimble and very agile in … where and how and when they’re placing their air defense systems, and we would expect that they would continue to do what they need to do to protect those systems,” the senior U.S. defense official said.The latest: President Putin will meet with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Monday in the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and a European leader since his country’s invasion of Ukraine.