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Pope Francis says he is still suffering from a recent cold, chesty cough and mild bout of the flu. “I haven’t gotten over it,” the pontiff declared Saturday morning at the Vatican, addressing more than 3,000 staff.
A Vatican official - Filippo Ciampanelli of the Secretariat of State - read out Francis' message to members of the community of the Vatican-owned Rome children's hospital Bambino Gesù.
The message emphasised donation as a fundamental aspect of the history and vocation of the hospital. It encouraged medical staff to continue welcoming children in need from around the world, regardless of their social status, nationality or religion.
He urged the community "go forward in this blessed work".
Francis greeted some 200 young patients including some from Ukraine and Gaza.
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About 200 people, including 26 children, were evacuated from the Velyka Pysarivka hromada in northern Sumy Oblast of Ukraine.
The region borders with Russia, and has come under intensified Russian shelling in recent days.
On Saturday, Russian attacks killed a civilian in the Donetsk Oblast and injured at least 3 people in the Kherson Oblast.
Cyber-specialists from the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) have blocked the supply of enough spare parts to manufacture 1,600 shahed drones and 4,000 microcircuits for cruise missiles, according to local reports.
Death toll from Friday's Russian attack on Odesa rises as firefighter died in hospital on Saturday, the number of fatalities now stands at at least 21, with at least 73 wounded.
Odesa's former deputy mayor, Serhii Tetiukhin, and Oleksandr Hostishchev, the commander of the police special forces battalion Tsunami, were among those killed.
The Russian military claimed to have repelled an attempt by Ukrainian forces to enter a village in the Belgorod region bordering with Ukraine.
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Voters across Russia cast ballots on Saturday on the second day of an election set to formalise six more years of power for President Vladimir Putin, who faces no serious challengers after crushing political dissent over his nearly 25 years of rule.
The election comes against the backdrop of a ruthless crackdown that has stifled independent media and prominent rights groups. Putin’s fiercest foe, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic prison in February, and other critics are either in jail or in exile.
The 71-year-old Putin faces three token rivals from Kremlin-friendly parties, who have refrained from any criticism of him or his invasion of Ukraine. Putin has cast his war in Ukraine, now in its third year, as an existential battle against the US and other Western powers bent on destroying Russia.
That war was visible on Russia's streets Saturday as Ukrainian drone and missile attacks once again hit the country.
Two people were killed in Ukrainian shelling of Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram. Dozens of people have been killed there since the war began.
Elsewhere, a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at an oil refinery belonging to Russian oil giant Rosneft in the Samara region, 1,065 kilometres southeast of Moscow, the regional governor said.
In spite of the attacks, analysts say the Kremlin is looking for a high turnout in the elections as a sign that Russians approve of the war to legitimise Putin for another term.