Ukraine claims 410 bodies found in recaptured towns; Zelenskyy accuses Russia of genocide. Follow our live updates

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a video address at the Grammy Awards ceremony during which he contrasted the "silence of ruined cities and killed people" in Ukraine with the music and freedom at the Grammys.

"Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded. In hospitals. Even to those who can't hear them. But the music will break through anyway," he said in the video message.

"Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today. To tell our story," he added.

He asked viewers to tell "the truth about the war" and support Ukraine.

— Abigail Ng

Intense fighting continues to flare around Mariupol in Ukraine's south as Russian troops try to capture the devastated port city.

"The city continues to be subject to intense, indiscriminate strikes but Ukrainian [forces] maintain a staunch resistance, retaining control of central areas," the U.K. Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update Sunday night.

Mariupol is one of the cities most devastated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It lies on the Sea of Azov, with the Russian border lying to the east and Ukraine territory already seized by Moscow's forces to the west.

"Mariupol is almost certainly a key objective of the Russian invasion as it will secure a land corridor from Russia to the occupied territory of Crimea," the British ministry said.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned over the weekend that Moscow is trying to seize territory in the eastern Donbas region and in the south where Mariupol is located.

The worst fighting in Ukraine appears to be shifting to the south and east, as Ukrainian forces have repelled Russian troops in northern areas, especially around Kyiv.

Ukrainian forces retaking ground around the capital say they have discovered hundreds of dead civilians, some apparently shot with their hands tied behind their backs.

Ukraine Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said in a video on Sunday that he expects to uncover further atrocities in Mariupol.

Kuleba is "trying to prepare myself for images and videos which will come from Mariupol when we liberate it," he said.

"Probably they will be even more devastating," Kuleba said.

— Ted Kemp

Satellite imagery of Bucha, Ukraine, from March 31 shows a 45-foot-long trench in an area where a mass grave has been identified, according to space company Maxar Technologies.

Before:

After:

View from the ground:

— Maxar Technologies; Reuters; Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images

As Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban looked set to win today's election, voters shrugged off concerns over Budapest's embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin while Orban called out Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as an "opponent."

"We will remember this victory until the end of our lives because we had to fight against a huge amount of opponents," Orban said in a speech, naming his perceived opponents as the Hungarian left, bureaucrats in Brussels, global media, George Soros, "and the Ukrainian president too — we never had so many opponents at the same time."

Orban is known for his hard-right anti-immigration policies and has opposed imposing tough energy sanctions against Moscow.

— Terri Cullen

Following the Biden administration's announcement that the U.S. would take in up to 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their homeland, refugees are lining up by the hundreds at American embassies in neighboring countries for visas and other travel documents, according to NBC News.

They're likely be in line for a while, with wait times for visitor visas ranging from 125 days in Poland to 301 days in Moldova, NBC News' Josh Lederman reports. Approval is not guaranteed. Ukrainians with Americans relatives stand a relatively good chance of getting an immigrant visa, but others applying to arrive in the U.S. as visitors may be rejected if they can't prove they plan to eventually return to Ukraine.

U.S. Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski told NBC News that officials are working to speed up the visa application process. Watch the video of Josh Lederman's report from Warsaw, Poland, here.

Photos show the interior of the Donetsk Regional Drama Theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, which bombed by Russia on March 16, 2022, while hundreds of civilians were sheltering inside. Local officials, citing witness accounts, estimate that 300 people were killed in the attack.

— Reuters

The dramatic recovery in the value of the Russian ruble is due, in large part, to "a lot of manipulation" from the government in Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken claimed in an interview Sunday.

The ruble traded at 84.62 per dollar, as of Friday, which is back near levels seen before the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine prompted historic economic sanctions against Russia. The ruble's value initially plummeted, trading as low as 151.5 per dollar on March 7, according to FactSet data.

"When it comes to the ruble, it's more than a little manipulation, it's a lot of manipulation. People are being prevented from unloading rubles," Blinken said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," referring to capital controls implemented by Russia's central bank.

"That's artificially propping up the value. That's not sustainable, so I think you're going to see that change," Blinken said, suggesting that the strict sanctions combined with Western businesses leaving Russia will, over the long term, weigh on the currency and economy writ large.

"The export controls that we've imposed on Russia, denying it the technology it needs to modernize industry after industry, that's going to have an increasing bite," he said.

— Kevin Stankiewicz

A view of the wreckage of the Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane at an airshed in Hostomel, Ukraine, on April 3, 2022. The Mriya was once the world's biggest aircraft but it was destroyed on or about Feb. 27, 2022, by Russian shelling as Russia's attack on Ukraine continued.

— Anadolu Agency

EDITOR'S NOTE: Image in this post contains graphic content

Russia denied widely reported allegations it had killed civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, describing footage and photographs of dead bodies as a "provocation" and a "staged performance" by Kyiv.

Ukraine has accused the Russian military of massacring residents in the town, located northwest of the capital, an area Ukrainian troops said they recaptured on Saturday.

"All the photos and videos published by the Kyiv regime, allegedly testifying to the 'crimes' of Russian servicemen in the city of Bucha, Kyiv region, are another provocation," Russia's defense ministry said, in a statement.

"During the time that Russian armed forces were in control of this settlement, not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions," it said.

Moscow has previously denied allegations that it has targeted civilians, and has rejected accusations of war crimes.

— Reuters

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called for a meeting with European heads of state "as soon as possible" to impose hard-hitting sanctions on Russia following reports that the nation's forces executed scores of Ukrainian civilians.

"The massacre in Bucha is more than an alarm bell for Europe and the world. It is a terrible cry for justice, freedom and the right to life; for basic and universal values," Morawiecki said in a Facebook post. He added that Russian troops committed "acts of genocide."

"The EU must confiscate all Russian assets in its western banks as well as those of Russian oligarchs. It must sever all trade relations with Russia without delay. European money must stop flowing to the Kremlin. Putin's criminal and increasingly totalitarian regime needs to have one thing imposed on it: SANCTIONS WHICH ACTUALLY WORK," he said.

— Jessica Bursztynsky

Ukraine minister of foreign affairs Dmytro Kuleba said in a video on Sunday that "Russia is worse than ISIS," referring to the Islamic extremist group.

"In its atrocities, in its crimes — both the scale of these crimes and the ruthlessness of the behavior of the Russian army in Ukraine," Kuleba said in a video on Twitter.

"I don't know where these soldiers were educated — what kind of values they have, if any," Kuleba added. "It's unspeakable.

"Rapes, tortures, murders — of civilians."

He noted that Ukraine has begun work to prosecute "everyone involved in these crimes."

Kuleba also said that he is "trying to prepare myself for images and videos which will come from Mariupol when we liberate it."

"Probably they will be even more devastating," Kuleba said.

— Michael Sheetz

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday Western allies would agree further sanctions on Russia in the coming days over its invasion of Ukraine and the "atrocities" committed by Russian troops in a town near Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir "Putin and his supporters will feel the consequences" of their actions, he said, in a statement to reporters in the chancellery. "And we will continue to make weapons available to Ukraine so the country can defend itself against the Russian invasion."

—Reuters

Civilians are seen taking shelter from Russian artillery in the Kharkiv area of Ukraine.

—Getty Images

The United States will give Moldova $50 million to help it cope with the impacts of Russia's war against Ukraine, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during a visit to the former Soviet republic on Sunday.

She said the funding would support programs, training and equipment for border management, efforts to counter human trafficking, help to improve accountability and transparency in the justice sector, and combat corruption and cybercrime.

Nearly 400,000 refugees have already fled Ukraine through Moldova, with about a quarter remaining in the country, since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Moscow says it is carrying out a "special military operation" that aims to destroy Ukraine's military infrastructure.

The money pledged to Moldova by the United States on Sunday comes on top of $30 million announced last month to assist refugee relief efforts in Moldova over the next six months.

Moldova, sandwiched between Ukraine and European Union member Romania, is one of Europe's poorest countries and has 2.6 million people. Like Ukraine it aspires to join the EU.

— Reuters

America's top diplomat on Sunday stopped short of agreeing with those who claim Russia is committing genocide against Ukrainian civilians during its invasion.

"We will look hard and document everything that we see, put it all together, and make sure the relevant institutions and organizations that are looking at this, including the State Department, have everything they need to asses exactly what took place in Ukraine, who is responsible and what it amounts to," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on CNN's "State of the Union."

In a CBS interview that aired Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed the Russian military is committing "genocide" against Ukrainian people.

The U.S. government has formally accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine. That's one of four main crimes over which the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction. Genocide, crime against humanity and crime of aggression are the other three.

However, the U.S. is not a member of the ICC, which defines genocide as "the specific intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group by killing its members or by other means."

— Kevin Stankiewicz

Germany's defense minister said on Sunday that the European Union must discuss banning the import of Russian gas after Ukrainian and European officials accused Russian forces of committing atrocities near Kyiv.

"There has to be a response. Such crimes must not remain unanswered," the defense ministry quoted Christine Lambrecht as saying in an interview with the public broadcaster ARD.

Berlin has so far resisted growing calls to impose an embargo on energy imports from Russia, saying its economy and that of other European countries are too dependent on them. Russia supplies 40% of Europe's gas needs.

But Lambrecht said EU ministers would now have to discuss a ban, according to a tweet from her ministry.

—Reuters

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said graphic reports coming out of Bucha and Irpin are "more evidence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his forces "are committing war crimes in Ukraine."

"I will do everything in my power to starve Putin's war machine," Johnson said in a statement. "We are stepping up our sanctions and military support, as well as bolstering our humanitarian support package to help those in need on the ground."

Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of executing civilians prior to their retreat of areas surrounding the capital of Kyiv. Ukraine's Defense Ministry posted a video early Sunday that showed bodies in civilian clothing on the side of the road, accusing Russian forces of executing the residents.

Earlier in the day, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called for the attacks to be investigated as war crimes, adding the U.K. would support any investigations by the International Criminal Court.

Russia has denied committing the atrocities, according to The New York Times.

"No denial or disinformation from the Kremlin can hide what we all know to be the truth – Putin is desperate, his invasion is failing, and Ukraine's resolve has never been stronger," Johnson said in a statement.

—Jessica Bursztynsky

The U.S. has not provided Ukraine an official security guarantee, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CBS' "Face the Nation."

In an interview that aired Sunday, Zelenskyy said he was grateful for the support Washington has offered Ukraine to date to assist the country in defending against Russia's invasion. The U.S. has provided Ukraine more than $1 billion in security assistance, which includes more than 1,000 Stinger anti-aircraft systems and other military equipment like ammunition and body armor.

"But nevertheless, the United States have not provided the security guarantees to us," Zelenskyy said, according to a full CBS transcript.

Ukrainian officials have recently focused on the concept of security guarantees in their diplomatic peace talks with Russia. According to Reuters, Ukraine has said it would be willing to adopt neutral status if it's able to enter agreements with a group of countries that pledge to militarily defend Ukraine if Ukraine is attacked in the future.

Zelenskyy described the security guarantees as "an enforceable document," not just a "piece of paper." He suggested that receiving such commitments from allies are critical for peace discussions with Russia to advance because so far, sanctions have yet to deter Russian aggression.

"We don't believe in papers any longer. So we are very grateful for the support of the United States," Zelenskyy said. "It's a very powerful support. But in terms of security guarantees, we have not received them yet from anyone, and we have to get them."

— Kevin Stankiewicz

At least 1,417 civilians, including 121 children, have been killed since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said.

An additional 2,038 have been injured, including 171 children, from Feb. 24 to April 2, it added.

The agency expects the actual figures to be "considerably higher." It's been difficult for officials to determine the extent of injuries and deaths in areas with heavy fighting or that have been taken over by Russian forces.

The bulk of the injuries have been caused by the use of explosive weapons with a "wide impact area," such as shelling from heavy artillery and missile and air strikes, the agency said.

—Jessica Bursztynsky

Russia's war against Ukraine has thrown up a new obstacle to the global auto industry's attempts to recover from a Covid-related global shortage of semiconductor chips and other key parts – and the result is likely to keep prices of new and used vehicles sky-high for a while longer, The Associated Press reports.

Ukraine is a key supplier of automotive wiring harnesses to automakers, particularly European automakers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen – or at least it was before the invasion. Now, the Associated Press is reporting that automakers find themselves scrambling to replace the Ukrainian production – further hampering their efforts to restore full production and ease the new-car supply crunch that has driven auto prices sharply higher since the beginning of the pandemic.

The average price of a new vehicle in the U.S. is up 13% in the past year, to $45,596, according to an Edmunds.com report cited by The Associated Press. Average used prices have surged far more: They're up 29% to $29,646 as of February.

Before the war, S&P Global had predicted that global automakers would build 84 million vehicles this year and 91 million next year. Now it's forecasting fewer than 82 million in 2022 and 88 million next year, according to the AP.

— John Rosevear