Ukraine war briefing: Captive Chinese soldiers appear before the press in Kyiv

Ukraine held a press conference with Chinese soldiers captured on the frontline after Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of recruiting fighters from China using social media. The men were led into a press centre handcuffed and flanked by armed Ukrainian guards and it was unclear if they were speaking of their own volition. The pair told journalists they hoped to be part of a prisoner swap.

Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, has accused Moscow of dragging Beijing into its invasion, saying that several hundred Chinese nationals were fighting at the frontline. The Kremlin has denied it claim while Beijing has warned parties to the conflict against making “irresponsible remarks”.

Zelenskyy accused Vladimir Putin of remaining focused on continuing the war, saying Russia had openly refused to engage in ceasefire talks. “There is only one reason for this – in Moscow, they are not afraid. If there is no strong enough pressure on Russia, they will keep doing what they are used to – they will keep waging war.”

Republicans supporters of Ukraine are pointing to Russia’s latest strikes as evidence Donald Trump needs to take a firmer tone with Putin, the Russian president, if he wants a ceasefire deal, Andrew Roth writes. GOP lawmakers – who generally tread carefully considering Trump’s apparent affinity for the Kremlin – have become invigorated and vocal in recent days after the deadly Palm Sunday strike in the Ukrainian city of Sumy.

Democrats in the US House introduced legislation to boost support for Ukraine after a similar move by those in the Senate, including funding for security and reconstruction. The bill would also include stiff sanctions on Russia if lawmakers deem it unwilling to engage in good-faith peace efforts.

Trump insisted on Monday he was working “diligently to get the death and destruction to stop” in Ukraine, while falsely blaming Zelenskyy and the previous US president, Joe Biden, for allowing the invasion to take place. Trump wrote on Truth Social: “We have to get it to stop, and fast.”

Russia has claimed the attack on Sumy, which killed at least 35 people, including two children, was targeting a gathering of Ukrainian troops, not civilians. A spokesperson for the Kremlin accused Kyiv of using civilians as shields by holding military meetings in dense city centres. Russia gave no evidence to back up its claims, and during the war there have been widespread Russian attacks killing many civilians.

Ukrainians mourned victims of the Palm Sunday strikes at gatherings on Monday. “It was chaos. There were mountains of corpses,” a combat medic who helped the injured said. “My shoes were covered in blood. I haven’t cleaned them yet, it’s the blood of the wounded.”

Ukraine’s air force said another Russian missile and guided bombs struck the outskirts of Sumy on Monday – no casualties were reported.

The US held “constructive” talks with Ukraine last week about a proposed minerals deal, a senior official said on Monday. The two countries were supposed to finalise a pact in March to extract Ukraine’s mineral resources, but those plans were derailed after Trump and Zelenskyy clashed at the White House.