Ukraine attacks continue amid Easter pleas for peace

Local residents stand near a crater left by a Russian missile in Zaporizhzhia , Ukraine (Kateryna Klochko/AP)

Weekend shelling by Russian forces killed at least seven civilians, Ukrainian officials reported on Sunday as Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby used their traditional Easter messages to highlight the war in Ukraine and other conflicts around the world.

While Russia continued to concentrate on seizing all of Ukraine’s industrial east, two other provinces – Kharkiv in the north east and Zaporizhzhia in the south east – came under missile, rocket and artillery fire, the Ukrainian military reported.