Ukraine

Orthodox Easter weekend did not stop Russian forces from attacking their targets in eastern Ukraine.

Russia had a reputation for being highly skilled in secretive military communications. That notion has been largely shattered by the bumbling way it has been operating in Ukraine.

Project Dynamo says it has now rescued more than 550 people from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

Signaling renewed support for Ukraine, the U.S. says it will slowly return diplomats back to the Ukrainian capital. It also promised new military aid for the besieged country.

The sun came out as Ukrainians marked Orthodox Easter in the capital, Kyiv, on Sunday with prayers for those fighting on the front lines and others trapped beyond them.

Russian forces called in airstrikes on a besieged steel factory in the southern city of Mariupol, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would meet in Kyiv with two top American officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Sunday. The State Department declined to comment to NPR.

Ukrainian officials have estimated that about 2,000 of their troops are inside the plant along with the civilians sheltering in the facility's underground tunnels.

Last month, Ukrainian forces pushed the Russians out of the village of Mala Rohan. NPR goes inside the warehouse Russia had used as temporary barracks.

Russia is still making billions of dollars on oil exports since invading Ukraine. That crude is still flowing abroad thanks in part to a controversial group of oil traders.

The president says Russia's attacks on the Donbas region require different types of weapons and military support from the U.S. He also plans to ask Congress for more funding next week.

Spooked by reports that traffickers are waiting at the Ukraine-Poland border, a Polish woman started an all-women car service to drive Ukrainian refugee women and children to homes or shelters.