Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: UN chief to meet with Putin in Moscow on Tuesday

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Russia-Ukraine conflict continued on Saturday as Russia's forces destroyed a logistics terminal at a military airfield near Ukraine's Odessa. The following are the latest developments:

"This afternoon, high-precision, long-range air-based missiles fired by the Russian Aerospace Forces disabled a logistics terminal at a military airfield near Odessa, where a large batch of foreign weapons received from the U.S. and European countries were stored," said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov on Saturday.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said the Russian military has destroyed 141 aircraft and 110 helicopters, 264 anti-aircraft missile systems, 541 unmanned aerial vehicles, 2,479 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 278 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,081 field artillery and mortars, and 2,321 special military vehicles.

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 26 and 28, respectively, a UN spokesman said Friday.

Guterres will visit Moscow on April 26 and have "a working meeting and lunch" with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday he supports a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Russia, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

"There is a diplomatic path. There is a military one," Zelensky told a press conference in Kiev, adding he wants to end the conflict.

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Turkey has closed its airspace to Russian civilian and military aircraft that carry soldiers to Syria, state-run TRT broadcaster reported on Saturday, quoting Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying.

"It was agreed to suspend the use of the airspace for Russian military aircraft and even civilian aircraft carrying soldiers to Syria," Cavusoglu told TRT on his flight to Uruguay.

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Ukraine will continue the evacuation of civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol on Saturday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

Women, children and the elderly will be evacuated from Mariupol to the city of Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram.

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One of the tasks of the Russian Armed Forces during the second stage of the special military operation is to "establish full control over Donbass and southern Ukraine," Deputy Commander of Russia's Central Military District Rustam Minnekaev said Friday.

The control of Donbass would make it possible for Russia to create a land corridor to Crimea and influence Ukraine's vital facilities, including Black Sea ports where agricultural and metallurgical products are delivered to other countries, Minnekaev said at a defense industries meeting.

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On Friday, Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said that Kiev will complete the talks on security guarantees with partner countries within a week, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

"Weapons supplies, closure of the sky, military consultations and means for the rapid purchase of additional weapons are important for us. I think that these issues can be completed within a week," Podolyak said.