Local residents ride bicycles past flattened civilian cars, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, on a street in the town of Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 1, 2022. (Reuters)Russia Ukraine War Crisis Live: Brovary’s mayor said during a televised address on Friday evening that “Russian occupants have now left practically all of the Brovary district.” He added that the Ukrainian forces would begin working to clear the region of remaining Russian soldiers there as well as “military hardware, and possibly from mines”. The mayor said that many Brovary residents had already returned to the city, and that shops and businesses were reopening.
Meanwhile, Ukraine denied responsibility for a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil, at the outskirts of the city of Belgorod, about 25 km from the Ukraine border. Meanwhile, China said that it is not deliberately circumventing sanctions on Russia. In other news, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday conveyed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that India stands ready to contribute in any way to the peace efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and called for early cessation of violence in that country. Lavrov said that Russia has begun moving towards conducting trade in national currencies with India and other friendly countries to bypass the “impediments” of western sanctions.
As for talks with the United States, the White House said that top Indian-American US advisor Daleep Singh discussed goals and mechanisms of US sanctions imposed on Russia during his recent trip to New Delhi. The White House described the conversations as productive and said both sides committed to continue their close consultations.
Neighbours look at a group of villagers after arriving in Brovary, on the outskirts of Kyiv, evacuated by the Ukrainian government due to heavy fighting against Russia. (AP)
Ukrainian photographer and documentary maker Maks Levin has been found dead near the capital Kyiv after going missing more than two weeks ago, presidential aide Andriy Yermak said on Saturday.
"He went missing in the conflict area on March 13 in the Kyiv region. His body was found near the village of Guta Mezhygirska on April 1," he said on Telegram. (AFP)
Pope Francis came the closest he has yet to implicitly criticising 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 demilitarise and "denazify" 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.
"However, the icy winds of war, which bring only death, destruction and hatred in their wake, have swept down powerfully upon the lives of many people and affected us all," he said. (Reuters)
Ukraine on Saturday said Russian forces were making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around the capital Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv as the Red Cross prepared for a fresh evacuation effort from the besieged southern port of Mariupol. (AFP)
A Red Cross convoy heading to Mariupol will try again to evacuate civilians from the besieged port as Russian forces looked to be regrouping for new attacks in the southeast.
* Ukrainian forces continue to advance against withdrawing Russian forces in the vicinity of Kyiv, British military intelligence said.
* Russian missiles hit two cities in central Ukraine, damaging infrastructure and residential buildings, the head of the Poltava region said.
* Russia's defence ministry said high-precision air-launched missiles had disabled military airfields in Poltava and Dnipro.
* Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out an air strike against a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod on Friday, an incident the Kremlin said could affect peace talks, but a top Kyiv security official denied responsibility.
* Seven humanitarian corridors to evacuate people from Ukraine's besieged regions are planned for Saturday, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
* Pope Francis said he was considering a trip to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
* Russia's space director said the restoration of normal ties between partners at the International Space Station (ISS) and other joint space projects would be possible only once Western sanctions against Moscow are lifted.
* Ukraine's economy shrank 16% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year and could contract 40% in 2022 as a result of Russia's invasion, the economy ministry said, citing preliminary estimates.
* 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.
* British transport minister Grant Shapps said he has prevented the use of another private jet that has links to Russian oligarchs. (Reuters)
Brovary’s mayor said during a televised address on Friday evening that “Russian occupants have now left practically all of the Brovary district.” He added that the Ukrainian forces would begin working to clear the region of remaining Russian soldiers there as well as “military hardware, and possibly from mines”. The mayor said that many Brovary residents had already returned to the city, and that shops and businesses were reopening.
Earlier on Friday, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that satellite towns northwest of Kyiv were being targeted after Ukrainian fighters pushed back Russian troops, and that fighting had also taken place in Brovary. (Reuters)
Pope Francis said on Saturday that he was considering a trip to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
Asked by a reporter on the plane taking him from Rome to Malta if he was considering an invitation made by Ukrainian political and religious authorities, Francis answered: "Yes, it is on the table". He gave no further details.
Francis has been invited by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Ukraine's Byzantine-rite Catholic Church and Ukraine's ambassador to the Vatican, Andriy Yurash. (Reuters)
Russia's space director said Saturday that the restoration of normal ties between partners at the International Space Station (ISS) and other joint space projects would be possible only once Western sanctions against Moscow are lifted.
Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, said in a social media post that the aim of the sanctions is to "kill Russian economy and plunge our people into despair and hunger, to get our country on its knees".
He added, "they won't succeed in it, but the intentions are clear". "That's why I believe that the restoration of normal relations between the partners at the International Space Station (ISS) and other projects is possible only with full and unconditional removal of illegal sanctions," Rogozin said. (Reuters)
Ukraine's economy shrank 16% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year and could contract 40% in 2022 as a result of Russia's invasion, the economy ministry said in a statement on Saturday, citing preliminary estimates.
"Areas in which remote work is impossible have suffered the most," it said. (Reuters)
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)
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)
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)
In 2001, when the internet was staring at a slew of regulations from across the globe, Clyde Wayne Crews, a researcher at libertarian think-tank Cato Institute, proposed the idea of ‘splinternet’ — an internet splintered into disparate realms controlled by different dispensations or powers.
The fundamental proposal was to have more internets instead of having more regulations.
Over the past two decades, a splintering of internet has occurred in some limited ways. China’s ‘Great Firewall’ keeps American tech giants out while pushing online services developed indigenously. Russia, in 2019, passed the sovereign internet law — or the online Iron Curtain — that enabled the country to disconnect its internet from rest of the world.
Pope Francis headed to the Mediterranean island nation of Malta on Saturday for a pandemic-delayed weekend visit, aiming to draw attention to Europe's migration challenge that has only become more stark with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Pope Francis used a wheelchair lift to board the ITA aircraft rather than take the stairs, a sign that his painful knees were bothering him. It was the first time he has used the elevator and was an indication that the inflammation has gotten worse.
➡️ A Red Cross convoy heading to Mariupol will try again to evacuate civilians from the besieged port as Russian forces looked to be regrouping for new attacks in the southeast.
➡️ Ukraine recaptured more territory around Kyiv from Russian soldiers who left shattered villages and their own abandoned tanks as they moved away from the capital.
➡️ Russian missiles hit Poltava and Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, damaging infrastructure and residential buildings, the head of the region said.
➡️ The United States will work with allies to transfer Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine soon to bolster its defences in the Donbas region, the New York Times reported.
➡️ The US military, seeking to lower nuclear tensions with Russia, cancelled an intercontinental ballistic missile test that it had initially aimed only to delay, the Air Force told Reuters.
➡️ In the Russian border city of Belgorod, a logistics hub for its war effort, Moscow said Ukrainian helicopters struck a fuel depot, causing a huge fire. Ukraine denied responsibility. (Reuters)
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)
The Biden administration will work with allies to transfer Soviet-made tanks to bolster Ukrainian defenses in the country’s eastern Donbas region, a US official said Friday.
The decision to act as an intermediary to help transfer the tanks, which Ukrainian troops know how to use, comes in response to a request from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, the official said. It marks the first time in the war that the United States has helped transfer tanks.
The official said the transfers would begin soon, but declined to say how many tanks would be sent or from which countries they would come. They will allow Ukraine to conduct long-range artillery strikes on Russian targets in Donbas, said the official.
Ukraine and Russia carried out a prisoner exchange Friday, leading to the release of 86 Ukrainian servicemen and women, the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential administration Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.
He did not say how many Russian soldiers were swapped, but said the deal was a result of ongoing peace negotiations. He made the comments in an online post. (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declined to comment on whether he ordered an attack on a Russian fuel depot. In an interview with FOX News, Zelenskyy said he does not discuss any orders he issues as commander in chief.
Earlier, the secretary of Ukraine's national security council denied allegations from Moscow that two Ukrainian helicopter gunships had struck the facility in the city of Belgorod north of the border at around dawn Friday. The regional governor in Belgorod said two workers at the depot were injured, but Russian media cited a statement from state oil company Rosneft that denied anyone was hurt.
But if Moscow's claim is confirmed, it would be the war's first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace.(AP)
A Red Cross convoy travelling to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol will try again to evacuate civilians from the besieged port Saturday as Russian forces looked to be regrouping for new attacks in the southeast.
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 will try again on Saturday to facilitate the safe passage of civilians," the ICRC said in a statement. A previous Red Cross evacuation attempt in early March failed because the route was found to be unsafe. (Reuters)
China is not deliberately circumventing sanctions on Russia, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Saturday, a day after China and the European Union held a virtual summit during which the EU told Beijing not to allow Moscow to work around Western sanctions imposed over its 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. (Reuters)