Denis Pushilin

Day 697 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

The Moscow-appointed leader of Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, said on his Telegram channel on Wednesday morning that two children were among those injured in attacks on the city taken by Russian forces in 2014.

President Joe Biden said Monday the United States would not provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, as Kiev expands the list of weaponry it needs to be better able to drive Russian forces from occupied territories.

Fighting continued at key points along the long front as Russian forces sought to expand their hold on territory in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

The daughter of a Russian nationalist ideologist who is often referred to as "Putin's brain" was killed when her car exploded on the outskirts of Moscow, officials said Sunday.

The Investigative Committee branch for the Moscow region said the Saturday night blast was caused by a bomb planted in the SUV driven by Daria Dugina.

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Syria has recognized the DPR and LPR

Syria has decided to recognize the independence and sovereignty of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, SANA news agency and Syrian state television reported, citing an official source from the foreign ministry.

Although the Ministry of Defense announced a ceasefire in order for civilians to leave the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Kyiv says that there was no agreement between the two sides on the humanitarian corridor.

This is stated in the decree published on the website of the leader of the Republic.
"I consider creating a local administration of the Donetsk People's Republic - the administration of the city of Mariupol," the document reads.
The decree is dated March 31.
Pushilin previously spoke about the situation in Mariupol.

A shell fired from Ukraine hit the Federal Security Service's border post in Rostov, the Federal Security Service's (FSB) border service said on Monday.

"On February 21, at 09:50 local time, an unidentified projectile fired from the territory of Ukraine completely destroyed the duty patrol of the border patrols," the FSB Public Relations Center said.

Leaders of Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine announced a general military mobilization today after yesterday ordering women and children to be evacuated to southern Russia over the threat of conflict, Reuters reported.

Separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine ordered a full military mobilization on Feb. 19 amid a spike of violence in the war-torn region and fears in the West that Russia might use the strife as a pretext for an invasion.