A child sits on a bicycle as a Ukrainian serviceperson walks by while checking for booby traps in the streets of Bucha, the formerly Russian-occupied Kyiv suburb, Saturday, April 2, 2022.Vadim Ghirda/The Associated Press
Here are the latest updates on the war in Ukraine:
- A Red Cross convoy travelling to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol is making another attempt to evacuate civilians from the besieged port
- The EU is eyeing further sanctions for Russia, but ones that will not affect the energy sector
- Seven humanitarian corridors to evacuate people from Ukraine’s besieged regions are planned for Saturday, says Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk
- Ukrainian forces continue to advance against withdrawing Russian forces in the vicinity of Kyiv, British military intelligence said on Saturday
11:35 p.m. ET
Lithuanian documentary film director killed in Mariupol, reports say
Lithuanian film director Mantas Kvedaravicius was killed on Saturday in Ukraine’s Mariupol, where he had long documented the besieged port city, according to colleagues and a media report.
“Our friend Artdocfest participant, Lithuanian documentary writer Mantas Kvedaravicius, was murdered today in Mariupol, with a camera in his hands, in this shitty war of evil, against the whole world,” the Russian film director Vitaly Mansky, the founder of a festival of documentary movies Artdocfest, said on Facebook.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Kvedaravicius was known, among other works, for his conflict-zone documentary “Mariupolis,” which premiered at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival.
Filmed in Mariupol, it is the portrait of a Ukrainian city under siege with a strong will to live. The strategic port is in the breakaway region of Donetsk, neighbouring Russia, where pro-Russian fighters have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.
Now Mariupol, encircled since soon after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, is Moscow’s main target in Ukraine’s Donbas, the southeastern region including the Donetsk and Luhansk breakaway areas. Tens of thousands are trapped in the city with scant access to food and water.
- Reuters
10:20 p.m. ET
Ukraine blogger video fuels false information on Mariupol attack
A Ukrainian beauty blogger whom Russian officials accused of being a crisis actor when she was interviewed and photographed by The Associated Press in a bombed out Mariupol maternity hospital has emerged in new videos that are fuelling fresh misinformation about the attack.
A Russian government-linked Twitter account on Friday shared an interview with Marianna Vishegirskaya, in which the new mother says the hospital was not hit by an airstrike last month and that she told AP journalists she did not want to be filmed - assertions that are directly contradicted by AP reporting.
In the interview, conducted by Russian blogger Denis Seleznev and filmed by Kristina Melnikova, Vishegirskaya is asked to provide details about what occurred at the hospital on March 9, the day of the bombing. It is not clear where Vishegirskaya is, or under what conditions the interview was filmed.
The video was posted to Seleznev’s YouTube account and circulated on Telegram and Twitter, and similar videos were also shared on Vishegirskaya’s personal Instagram account. Russian officials have repeatedly tried to cast doubt on the strike in Mariupol, a key military objective for Moscow, since images were seen around the world and shed light on Russia’s attacks on civilians in Ukraine.
In the new videos, Vishegirskaya says those huddled in the basement of the hospital after the attack believed the explosions were caused by “shelling,” not an airstrike, because “no one” heard sounds that would indicate that bombs were dropped from planes.
But eyewitness accounts and video from AP journalists in Mariupol lays out evidence of an airstrike, including the sound of an airplane before the blast, a crater outside the hospital that went at least two stories deep and interviews with a police officer and a soldier at the scene who both referred to the attack as an “airstrike.”
- The Associated Press
8:00 p.m. ET
Fearing traps, Ukrainian troops move cautiously to retake territory
A woman cooks on an open fire outside an apartment building, which according to residents, has no gas, water, electricity and heating for more than a month in the formerly Russian-occupied Kyiv suburb of Bucha, Ukraine, Saturday, April 2, 2022.Vadim Ghirda/The Associated Press
Ukrainian troops moved cautiously to retake territory north of Kyiv on Saturday, even amid fears that Russian forces left booby-trapped explosives.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that departing Russian troops were creating a “catastrophic” situation for civilians by leaving mines around homes, abandoned equipment and “even the bodies of those killed.” His claims could not be independently verified.
Ukrainian troops took up positions in the town of Bucha, and were stationed at the entrance of Antonov Airport in Hostomel after retaking territory from Russian forces.
In Bucha, AP reporters counted at least six bodies of civilians scattered along a street and in the front yard of a house. Ukrainian soldiers, backed by a column of tanks and armored vehicles, attached cables to the bodies and pulled them off the street for fear they may be booby-trapped. Soldiers also cleared barricades and inspected suspicious objects, placing red rags on remnants of unexploded ordnance to draw attention to the possibility of explosions.
Residents of the town said the civilians were killed by Russian soldiers without apparent provocation.
Ukraine and its Western allies reported mounting evidence of Russia withdrawing its forces from around Kyiv and building its troop strength in eastern Ukraine. The visible shift did not mean the country faced a reprieve from more than five weeks of war or that the more than 4 million refugees who have fled Ukraine will return soon.
- The Associated Press
4:50 p.m. ET
Russian retreat leaves trail of slain civilians in town near Kyiv
Dead civilians still lay scattered over the streets of the Ukrainian country town of Bucha on Saturday, three days after the invading Russian army pulled back from its abortive advance on Kyiv to the southeast.
The smell of explosives still hung in the cold, dank air, mingling with the stench of death.
Sixty-six-year-old Vasily, who gave no surname, looked at the sprawled remains of more than a dozen civilians dotted along the road outside his house, his face disfigured with grief.
Residents said they had been killed by the Russian troops during their month-long occupation.
To Vasily’s left, one man lay against a grass verge next to his bicycle, his face sallow and eyes sunken. Another lay in the middle of the road, a few metres from his front door. Vasily said it was his son’s godfather, a lifelong friend.
Bucha’s still-unburied dead wore no uniforms. They were civilians with bikes, their stiff hands still gripping bags of shopping. Some had clearly been dead for many days, if not weeks.
For the most part, they were whole, and it was unclear whether they had been killed by shrapnel, a blast or a bullet – but one had the top of his head missing.
“The bastards!” Vasily said, weeping with rage in a thick coat and woollen hat. “I’m sorry. The tank behind me was shooting. Dogs!”
“We were sitting in the cellar for two weeks. There was food but no light, no heating to warm up. “We put the water on candles to warm it … We slept in felt boots.”
– Reuters
3:50 p.m. ET
Russia says aid columns not able to reach Mariupol, blames Red Cross
Russia’s defence ministry on Saturday said aid convoys had not been able to reach the besieged city of Mariupol on Friday or Saturday and blamed “destructive actions” by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Interfax news agency said.
A Red Cross convoy travelling to the Ukrainian port turned around on Friday because it had become impossible to proceed with its mission to begin evacuating civilians, the ICRC said, vowing to try again on Saturday.
Interfax quoted Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, the director of the Russian National Center for Defense Management, as saying the ICRC had shown its inability to provide any help in preparing to evacuate civilians from the city.
Mizintsev said due to the actions of the Red Cross, the convoys had left very late on April 1 and 2 and were not able to reach Mariupol on time.
He said that on Friday, ICRC employees had made unplanned stops en route and some vehicles had broken away from the main convoy and then returned. The ICRC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
– Reuters
3:00 p.m. ET
Ukraine says 765 evacuate besieged Mariupol
Reuters
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister says 765 residents managed to make it out of Mariupol in private vehicles on Saturday.
Iryna Vereshchuk said the residents reached Zaporizhzhia, a city 226 kilometres to the northwest.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross said a team with three vehicles and nine staff members planned to get into Mariupol on Saturday to evacuate residents. The Red Cross said it could not carry out the operation Friday because it did not receive assurances the route was safe. City authorities said the Russians blocked access to the city.
By late Saturday, there was no word if the Red Cross convoy had reached Mariupol, scene of some of the war’s worst attacks. Around 100,000 people are believed to remain in the city on the Sea of Azov, down from a pre-war population of 430,000, and facing dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine.
The Mariupol city council said earlier Saturday that 10 empty buses were headed to Berdyansk, a city 84 kilometres west of Mariupol, to pick up people who managed to get there on their own. About 2,000 made it out of Mariupol on Friday, city officials said.
– The Associated Press
1:55 p.m. ET
Ukraine forces retake areas north of Kyiv as Russians look eastward
A woman walks by Ukrainian servicemen shortly after a convoy of military and aid vehicles arrived in the formerly Russian-occupied Kyiv suburb of Bucha, Ukraine, April 2, 2022.VADIM GHIRDA/The Associated Press
Ukrainian forces were advancing on Saturday into areas north of Kyiv littered with debris and destroyed Russian tanks as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused departing Russian soldiers of leaving behind mines.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Okeksiy Arestovych said Ukrainian troops had retaken more than 30 towns and villages in the region since Russia announced this week it would scale down operations around the capital to focus on battles in the east.
British military intelligence said Russian troops had abandoned Hostomel airport in a northwestern suburb of the capital, where there had been fighting since the first day of the invasion.
In the east, a Red Cross convoy was again seeking to evacuate civilians from the besieged port of Mariupol after abandoning an attempt on Friday because of a lack of security guarantees. But that renewed mission was not expected to reach the port until at least Sunday.
Russia has depicted its drawdown of forces near Kyiv as a goodwill gesture in peace negotiations. Ukraine and its allies say Russian forces have been forced to regroup after suffering heavy losses.
– Reuters
1:45 p.m. ET
New radio station helps Ukrainian refugees adapt in Prague
Natalia Churikova editor in chief of Radio Ukraine speaks at the studio in Prague, Czech Republic, March 31, 2022.Petr David Josek/The Associated Press
This is Radio Ukraine calling.
A new Prague-based Internet radio station has started to broadcast news, information and music tailored to the day-to-day concerns of some 300,000 Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in the Czech Republic since Russia launched its military assault against Ukraine.
In a studio at the heart of the Czech capital, radio veterans work together with absolute beginners to provide the refugees with what they need to know to settle as smoothly as possible in a new country.
The staff of 10 combines people who have fled Ukraine in recent weeks with those who have been living abroad for years. No matter who they are, their common goal is to help fellow Ukrainians and their homeland facing the brutal Russian invasion.
Natalia Churikova, an experienced journalist with Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said she couldn’t say no to an offer to become the broadcaster’s editor-in-chief.
“It was for my people. For people who really needed help, who really needed support, something that would help them start a new life or restart their lives here after they have lived through very bad things trying to escape from Ukraine,” Churikova said.
– The Associated Press
1:30 p.m. ET
Russian group says 208 detained in protests
A Russian group that monitors political arrests says 208 people were detained in demonstrations held Saturday across the country protesting Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
The OVD-Info group said demonstrations took place in 17 Russian cities, from Siberia to the more densely populated west. More than 70 people were detained in Moscow and a similar number in St. Petersburg, the organization said.
Video released by another group that monitors protests, Avtozak, showed some detainees being led to police prisoner transports as they smiled and carried flowers. Others were shown to be more harshly forced into the transports, bent over with their arms pinioned behind them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down heavily on dissent, even before Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
– The Associated Press
12:30 p.m. ET
Breakaway area denies Russian troops massing
Russian troops at the entrance of the village of Varnita, Moldova, March 3, 2022.LAETITIA VANCON/The New York Times News Service
Authorities in the tiny breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova denied “absolutely untrue” claims Saturday by Ukraine that Russian troops based there are massing to conduct “provocations” along Ukraine’s border.
Earlier Saturday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Russian troops already in Transnistria were preparing for “a demonstration of readiness for the offensive and, possibly, hostilities against Ukraine.”
“The information disseminated by the General Staff of Ukraine is absolutely untrue,” Transnistria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that leaders have repeatedly “declared the absence of any threat to Ukraine.”
Moldova’s Foreign Ministry also said Saturday there is “no information to confirm the mobilization of troops in the Transnistrian region” and that “state institutions are closely monitoring the security situation in the region.”
Transnistria is a Russia-backed region of Moldova that broke away after a short civil war in the early 1990s, and is unrecognized by most countries. An estimated 1,500 Russian soldiers are stationed there.
– The Associated Press
11:30 a.m. ET
Sanctions could imperil space station, Russian space chief says
The head of Russia’s space program said Saturday that the future of the International Space Station hangs in the balance after the United States, the European Union, and Canadian space agencies missed a deadline to meet Russian demands for lifting sanctions on Russian enterprises and hardware.
Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, told reporters that the state agency is preparing a report on the prospects of international co-operation at the station, to be presented to federal authorities “after Roscosmos has completed its analysis.”
Rogozin implied on Russian state TV that the Western sanctions, some of which predate Russia’s current military operations in Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS with cargo flights. Russia also sends manned missions to the space station.
He stressed that the Western partners need the space station and “cannot manage without Russia, because no one but us can deliver fuel to the station.”
Rogozin added that “only the engines of our cargo craft are able to correct the ISS’s orbit, keeping it safe from space debris.”
Rogozin later Saturday wrote on his Telegram channel that he received responses from his Western counterparts vowing to promote “further co-operation on the ISS and its operations.”
He reiterated his view that “the restoration of normal relations between partners in the ISS and other joint (space) projects is possible only with the complete and unconditional lifting” of sanctions, which he referred to as illegal.
– The Associated Press
11:00 a.m. ET
Canada’s foreign affairs minister to visit Europe for meetings on Ukraine
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly responds to questions in the Foyer of the House of Commons, March 15, 2022, in Ottawa.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Canada’s foreign affairs minister is travelling to Europe for meetings to address the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mélanie Joly announced Saturday that she will visit Finland, Germany and Belgium.
Joly is to meet with her Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto in Helsinki, where she says they will work to strengthen the Canada-Finland bilateral relationship.
The pair is also to discuss ways to co-ordinate efforts on Arctic issues and to further support Ukraine.
While in Berlin, Germany Joly will attend the conference of the Moldova Support Platform where discussions will focus on assistance to Ukrainian refugees forced into that country as a result of the Russian invasion.
In Brussels, Belgium the minister will attend G7 and NATO foreign ministers’ meetings, where discussions will examine continued co-ordination to enhance regional security in Eastern Europe.
“The war in Ukraine affects us all, and we must work together with the international community to respond to Vladimir Putin’s egregious acts,” Joly said in a news release. “Ukraine’s security isn’t just important for Ukraine, but for the world.”
– The Canadian Press
9:44 a.m. ET
Pope Francis implicitly criticizes Putin over Ukraine for first time
Pope Francis came the closest he has yet to implicitly criticizing President Vladimir Putin over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying on Saturday a “potentate” was fomenting conflicts for nationalist interests.
Moscow says the action it launched on Feb. 24 is a “special military operation” designed not to occupy territory but to demilitarize and “de-nazify” its neighbour. Francis has already rejected that terminology, calling it a war.
“From the east of Europe, from the land of the sunrise, the dark shadows of war have now spread. We had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street fighting and atomic threats were grim memories of a distant past,” the pope said in an address to Maltese officials after arriving on the Mediterranean island nation for a two-day visit.
– Reuters
9:33 a.m. ET
Death toll rises to 35 from strike on government building in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv
At least 35 people have been confirmed killed as a result of Tuesday’s rocket strike on the regional administration building in Ukraine’s southern port city of Mykolaiv, Governor Vitaliy Kim said in an online post on Saturday.
Rescue workers have continued to dismantle the rubble and search for victims after the strike blasted a hole through the side of the building in central Mykolaiv.
– Reuters
9:31 a.m. ET
Ukraine faces big battles in eastern and southern regions, says senior official
Heavy battles are coming up in Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions and for the besieged city of Mariupol in particular, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Saturday.
Speaking on national television, Arestovych said Ukrainian troops around Kyiv had retaken more than 30 towns or villages in the region and were holding the front line against Russian forces in the east.
“Let us have no illusions – there are still heavy battles ahead for the south, for Mariupol, for the east of Ukraine,” he said.
– Reuters
9:15 a.m. ET
Ukrainian photographer and Reuters contributor, Maksim Levin, killed covering war
Ukrainian photographer Maksim Levin carries a cat near the line of separation from Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 25, 2022.STRINGER/Reuters
Maksim Levin, a photographer and videographer who was working as a journalist for a Ukrainian news website and was a long-time contributor to Reuters, was killed while covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He leaves behind his wife and four children.
His body was found in a village north of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on April 1, the news website LB.ua where he worked said on Saturday.
Levin, born in 1981, was a documentary film maker who had contributed to Reuters’ coverage of the country since 2013.
He had been working in the village of Huta Mezhyhirska. There had been heavy shelling in that area.
– Reuters
8:56 a.m. ET
Red Cross tries to reach besieged Mariupol
The International Committee of the Red Cross says a team of nine staffers is trying to get to the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol again after it had to abandon an earlier attempt when conditions on the ground made it impossible to proceed.
The humanitarian group said the team with three vehicles was on the way to help facilitate the safe passage of civilians on Saturday after a failed attempt Friday.
The group said in a statement late Friday it would try to accompany a convoy of civilians out from Mariupol to another city in Ukraine.
– The Associated Press
8:54 a.m. ET
EU eyeing further Russia sanctions that will not affect energy sector
The European Union is working on further sanctions on Russia but any additional measures will not affect the energy sector, the EU’s Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said in Cernobbio on Saturday.
The 27-nation bloc will be faced with a growth slowdown caused by the war in Ukraine but not a recession, he added, saying the 4% growth forecast was too optimistic and the EU would not reach it.
– Reuters
8:53 a.m. ET
Ukraine expects good news over weekend regarding Mariupol evacuations, says presidential adviser
Ukraine expects good news over the weekend regarding evacuations of people from the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelesnskiy said on Saturday.
“Our delegation has reached an agreement in Istanbul (during Ukraine-Russia peace talks) to provide evacuations,” Oleksiy Arestovych told Ukraine’s television.
“I think that today or maybe tomorrow we will hear good news regarding the evacuation of the inhabitants of Mariupol.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sent a team on Friday to lead a convoy of about 54 Ukrainian buses and other private vehicles out of the city, but they turned back, saying conditions made it impossible to proceed. They were due to try again on Saturday.
– Reuters
8:51 a.m. ET
Ukraine says seven humanitarian corridors planned for evacuations on Saturday
Seven humanitarian corridors to evacuate people from Ukraine’s besieged regions are planned for Saturday, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
The planned corridors include one for people evacuating by private transport from the city of Mariupol and by buses for Mariupol residents out of the city of Berdyansk, Vereshchuk said.
– Reuters
8:50 a.m. ET
Ukraine continue to advance against Russian forces near Kyiv, U.K. says
Ukrainian forces continue to advance against withdrawing Russian forces in the vicinity of Kyiv, British military intelligence said on Saturday.
Russian forces are also reported to have withdrawn from Hostomel airport near the capital, which has been subject to fighting since the first day of the conflict, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in a regular bulletin.
“In the east of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have secured a key route in eastern Kharkiv after heavy fighting,” the ministry added.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
– Reuters
April 2, 2022 – 8:50 a.m. ET
Russian missiles strike two central Ukraine cities – local official
Russian missiles hit two cities in central Ukraine early on Saturday, damaging infrastructure and residential buildings, the head of the Poltava region said.
“Poltava. A missile struck one of the infrastructure facilities overnight,” Dmitry Lunin wrote in an online post. “Kremenchuk. Many attacks on the city in the morning.”
Poltava city is the capital of the Poltava region, east of Kyiv, and Kremenchuk one of the area’s major cities.
There was no immediate information about possible casualties, Lunin said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
– Reuters
April 1, 2022 – 11:45 p.m. ET
China says it’s not deliberately circumventing sanctions on Russia
China is not deliberately circumventing sanctions on Russia, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Saturday, a day after the European Union warned Beijing against allowing Moscow to work around measures imposed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Wang Lutong, director-general of European affairs at China’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters that China is contributing to the global economy by conducting normal trade with Russia.
“China is not a related party on the crisis of Ukraine. We don’t think our normal trade with any other country should be affected,” he said.
Wang’s comments come a day after an EU-China virtual summit that included the EU’s comments on sanctions and China offering assurances that it would seek peace for Ukraine but “in its own way.”
Beijing, which has forged closer ties with Moscow, has refused to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine or call it an invasion and has repeatedly criticized what it calls illegal and unilateral Western sanctions.
– Reuters
April 1, 2022 – 11:09 p.m. ET
Retreating Russians leave many mines behind, Zelensky says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned his people early Saturday that retreating Russian forces were creating “a complete disaster” outside the capital as they leave mines across “the whole territory,” even around homes and corpses.
He issued the warning as the humanitarian crisis in the encircled city of Mariupol deepened, with Russian forces blocking evacuation operations for the second day in a row, and the Kremlin accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil.
Ukraine denied responsibility for the fiery blast, but if Moscow’s claim is confirmed, it would be the war’s first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace.
“Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, five weeks after Moscow began sending upwards of 150,000 of its own troops across Ukraine’s border.
Russia continued withdrawing some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv after saying earlier this week it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv.
– The Associated Press