Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – April 19, 2022

ANKARA (AA) - Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments around the world.

Vowing continued Turkish efforts for peace in Ukraine, the nation’s president stressed a push for a cease-fire and then lasting peace to end the eight-week-old war.

Highlighting the significance of strengthening relations between Turkiye and US, the Turkish presidential spokesman said that ties between the two countries can be developed on the basis of mutual interest and respect.

Turkish security forces "neutralized" at least 19 PKK terrorists as Turkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in northern Iraq.

An operation led by Turkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) led to the arrest of two Daesh/ISIS terrorists in Syria.

The civilian death toll in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war reached 2,072 but is estimated to be much higher, while the number of people that have fled the country neared 5 million, the UN said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the start of a new Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Russia aims to capture four regions in its new offensive in eastern Ukraine, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian President's Office, said Monday.

Ukraine claimed that its air defense forces downed more Russian attack helicopters.

Some 20,600 Russian soldiers have been killed since the war began in Ukraine on Feb. 24, said the Ukrainian military.

Ukrainian officials said Russian missile strikes Monday on the western city of Lviv killed at least six people and wounded several more.

Detained Ukrainian pro-Russia opposition party leader Viktor Medvedchuk called on Ukrainian and Russian leaders to exchange him for civilians and troops in Mariupol, the besieged southeastern port city.

Ukraine's president on Monday handed over a completed questionnaire for his country obtaining EU candidate status to the bloc’s top official in his country.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it summoned Bulgarian Ambassador Atanas Krastin and handed him a note about the expulsion of Bulgarian diplomats from Moscow.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday that a logistics center near the Ukrainian city of Lviv was hit with high precision missiles, destroying large batches of weapons that were delivered to Ukraine from the US and European countries over the past six days.

Sardar Tanveer Ilyas of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was elected as the new prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Monday.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi threatened to strike "at the heart" of Israel if Tel Aviv makes the "slightest move" against Tehran.