LONDON – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain plans to reopen its embassy in Ukraine’s capital next week.

Johnson announced the planned action on Friday during a trip to India. Diplomats from other European nations have returned to Kyiv since Russian troops withdrew from the capital region to focus on eastern Ukraine.

Johnson paid a surprise visit to Kyiv this month to show solidarity with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. At the time, the prime minister described a new package of economic and military aid, and Zelenskyy said Britain had promised to help rebuild the city after the war.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

– Possible mass graves near Mariupol shown on satellite images

– From Ukraine to Russia: Boy saferbut no closer to the father of the United States

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– EXPLANER: Why Washington is reinforcement of heavy arms for Ukraine

– The United States welcomes Ukraine refugees but no longer through Mexico

– War in Ukraine spurs attempts to take a closer look UN veto

– Follow all AP stories about Russia’s war against Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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OTHER DEVELOPMENT:

BERLIN – UN human rights chief says international humanitarian law appears to have been “thrown aside” in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Geneva-based Office for Human Rights said in a statement on Friday that “Russian armed forces have indiscriminately shelled and bombed populated areas, killing civilians and destroying hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure – acts that could lead to war crimes.”

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The office said its mission in Ukraine has so far verified 5,264 civilian casualties, including 2,345 deaths, since the war began on February 24. It said that 92.3% of these were registered in Ukrainian government-controlled territory.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet added that “the actual numbers will be much higher when the horrors of these areas of intense fighting such as Mariupol come to light.”

She said that “during these eight weeks, international humanitarian law has not only been ignored but apparently thrown aside.”

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PRAGUE – The Russian embassy in the Czech capital has been given a new address after authorities in Prague changed the name of part of the street where it is located.

Friday’s official ceremony comes after the decision to change the name to “Ukrainian Heroes” was approved by City Hall at the request of the Prague 6 district where the embassy is located.

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Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib unveiled the new street sign in the presence of Ukrainian Ambassador to Prague Yevhen Perebyinis and ambassadors from several EU countries.

Hrib has previously said the move honors the “incredible bravery of Ukrainian warriors.”

Neither the Russian government nor the embassy made any immediate comments on the change.

Two years ago, Prague renamed a square in front of the Russian embassy after Boris Nemtsov, in honor of the slain Russian opposition leader. That change prompted the embassy to change its address with the name of the street that has now changed its name.

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Russian authorities have launched a criminal case against prominent opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. for spreading “false information” about the country’s armed forces, his lawyer said on Friday.

Russia passed a law criminalizing the spread of false information about its military shortly after its troops rolled into Ukraine in late February, in an attempt to control the story of the invasion.

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The crime is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Advocates of human rights have counted 32 cases under the new law at the end of April, aimed at those critical of the invasion.

Kara-Murza was jailed earlier this month and jailed for 15 days for disobedience to a police officer. Lawyer Vadim Prokhorov says Kara-Murza would appear in court on Friday.

Kara-Murza was admitted to hospital twice with symptoms of poisoning, in 2015 and 2017. He is a journalist and collaborator of the late Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and the oligarch who became dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

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MOSCOW – A Russian military official says a “second phase” of the operation in Ukraine has begun with the aim of establishing full control over the eastern industrial heart of the Donbas and southern Ukraine.

Rustam Minnekayev, acting commander of Russia’s central military district, said on Friday at a defense industry event that the second phase started “just two days ago.” Minnekayev says that control of eastern and southern Ukraine “will provide a land corridor to the Crimea, as well as affect (over) the vital objects of the Ukrainian economy.”

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Russia had previously said it had full control of Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson on the shores of the Azov Sea and partial control of the nearby southern region of Zaporizhzhia.

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NEW DELHI – India and Britain have called on Russia to declare an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced measures to help move New Delhi away from its dependence on Russia by expanding economic and defense ties.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told reporters that their meeting on Friday focused on the situation in Ukraine, which emphasized the importance of diplomacy and dialogue.

Although India has condemned the killings of civilians in Ukraine, it has so far not criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin. India abstained when the UN General Assembly voted this month to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council.

A statement from the British High Commission said Britain was offering next-generation defense and security cooperation. Johnson said he and Modi also discussed new collaboration on clean and renewable energy.

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India gets relatively little of its oil from Russia, but recently increased its purchases due to discounted prices. India is a major buyer of Russian weapons and has recently purchased advanced Russian air defense systems.

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BELGRADE, Serbia – The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, has demanded an “unconditional” peace in Ukraine in an Easter message.

Porfirije said on Friday that “every war, anywhere and anytime produces only losers, and is a defeat for human dignity, defeat and shame for every human being as an image of God.”

Some Orthodox Christian churches, including the Serbian and Russian ones, celebrate Easter this weekend. The Serbian and Russian churches have close historical ties.

Serbia is still the only country in Europe that has not joined sanctions against Russia because of the war in Ukraine. The Balkan nation is formally seeking EU accession, but it has maintained close relations with the traditional Slavic ally Russia.

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Porfirije says he prays for “unconditional peace, an end to suffering and for all refugees to return to their homes.”

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STOCKHOLM – Sweden is helping Ukraine rebuild a “secure electricity supply” by sending equipment to repair power grids that were destroyed during the war.

Sweden’s Energy Minister Khashayar Farmanbar said that “a secure electricity supply is necessary to maintain socially important activities in Ukraine.”

Svenska kraftnät, the authority responsible for Sweden’s electricity transmission system, received a request from Ukraine via the European Network of Transmission System Operators to contribute equipment for repairing electricity networks.

The equipment for Ukraine will be taken from Sweden’s emergency warehouse, which is available for repair of electricity networks and will not affect the Swedish emergency preparedness request, the Ministry of Energy said in a statement on Thursday.

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LONDON – The British Ministry of Defense says Russia’s decision to end its efforts to capture a heavily defended steel plant in the city of Mariupol is an attempt to free up troops for deployment in other parts of eastern Ukraine.

In an intelligence update published on Friday morning, the ministry said that “a complete ground attack by Russia on the facility would likely result in significant Russian casualties, further reducing their overall combat efficiency.”

The ministry says heavy shelling and fighting will continue in the Donbas region as Russia seeks to advance settlements of Krasny Lyman, Buhayikva, Barvinkove, Lyman and Popsana.

The ministry also says that previous losses are still affecting the Russian military, which is now being forced to return damaged equipment to Russia for repair while trying to rearm impoverished forces.

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UNITED NATIONS – Russia and Ukraine discussed at the UN on Thursday whether Russia’s war is to blame for rising food prices and hunger around the world.

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Together, the two countries account for almost a third of global wheat and barley exports, and millions of people in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia depend on them for affordable bread and noodles. Ukraine is also a major supplier of maize and the largest exporter of sunflower oil.

“As long as Russia continues its efforts to invade Ukraine, the threat of hunger will be felt in many countries around the world,” Ukrainian adviser Natalia Mudrenko said on Thursday at an informal UN Security Council meeting to discuss conflict and hunger. .

Russian Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Chumakov claimed that sanctions, trade wars, the coronavirus pandemic and Western economic policies were shaking global food, energy and financial markets.

Chumakov said Russia’s critics were trying to divert focus from sanctions and “the economic egoism of developed countries during the pandemic.”

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KYIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the United States for the new $ 800 million package of military aid, which he said was “exactly what we were waiting for.”

The latest military support, announced on Thursday by President Joe Biden, includes heavy artillery, ammunition and drones for the escalating battle in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

Zekenskyy has called on Western countries to speed up arms supplies to help Ukraine avert the Russian offensive.

“The occupiers continue to do everything in their power to give themselves a reason to speak of at least some form of victory,” Zelenskyy said late Thursday in his nightly video to the nation. “They are building up their forces, taking in new tactical battalions and even trying to start a so-called ‘mobilization’ in the regions they occupy in Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy also warned Ukrainians in areas under Russian control not to provide troops with their IDs, which he said could be used “to falsify a so-called referendum on our country” to create a pro-Moscow government.