Russia-Ukraine war: What happened today (April 24)

As Sunday draws to a close in Kyiv and in Moscow, here are the key developments of the day:

Ukraine's deputy prime minister announced plans for an evacuation corridor from the besieged city of Mariupol. Iryna Vereshchuk announced the attempt to evacuate women, children and the elderly. The push to evacuate Mariupol follows the Kremlin's claim that the military has captured the port city, but Russian forces have continued to face resistance.

Sunday was Orthodox Easter, and many Ukrainians marked the day with prayers for those who are trapped in places like Mariupol. At a service in the capital city of Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged people not to let anger at the war overwhelm them.

Russian forces called in airstrikes on the besieged Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol to try to dislodge the last Ukrainian troops holding out there, Ukrainian officials said. If Mariupol were captured, it would deprive Ukraine of a vital port, free up Russian troops to fight elsewhere, and establish a land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula.

In-depth

NPR's Eyder Peralta followed a Ukrainian outfit searching for cluster munitions in the hopes of neutralizing them.

Earlier developments

You can read more daily recaps here. For context and more in-depth stories, you can find NPR's full coverage here. Also, listen and subscribe to NPR's State of Ukraine podcast for updates throughout the day.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.