April 20, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance has estimated it will take $5 billion a month to keep the economy functioning, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Wednesday.

“We have been engaged very closely with the Ministry of Finance on the estimates they have provided or what would be necessary to retain the functioning of the economy over the next three months and they came up with the number of $5 billion a month,” she said.

Speaking as part of the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in DC, Georgieva said there was some “uncertainty” around this number, but it was unlikely to be outside the financial needs of the country, and that the IMF was working with its partners to mobilize “that kind of support.”

The IMF managing director added that they were already discussing a followup package of support with Ukraine and stressed that “high uncertainty” should not prevent them starting work on this new package. 

Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass are expected to meet with the Ukrainian prime minister and finance minister on Thursday to discuss further aid. 

Asked if $5 billion a month was a firm commitment from the fund, Georgieva said they were going to discuss this with the partners but added it was important to look at filling the financial gap with grant financing. When it came to fund support, Georgieva said it wasn’t “wise” to bring the new package in “while the hostilities are still ongoing because it is unfair to expect from Ukrainian authorities to develop and implement a far ranging package of reforms at this time.”

Howitzer rounds, a type of artillery ammunition, have arrived in Europe to be sent to Ukraine, a senior US defense official told reporters Wednesday. The Howitzer rounds started arriving yesterday, and there will be “more arriving today and in the coming days,” the official said. In the most recent $800 million drawdown package signed last week, the US said it will send 40,000 of them total.

Training of Ukrainians on how to use the Howitzer “has begun,” the official said. The training of about 50 Ukrainians is happening in a country outside of Ukraine, but the official would not say which country it’s taking place in. 

Shipments of aid for Ukraine from the US continue to arrive in Europe. In the last 24 hours, about four flights of aid shipments arrived in the region, the official said. These shipments are funded by the most recent $800 million presidential drawdown package, the official added.

Germany will phase out Russian oil imports “by the end of the year,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference in Riga with Baltic Foreign Ministers, Baerbock reiterated that coal imports would be phased out by the end of the summer. Gas imports would be phased out over a longer timeframe, she added.

A spokesperson for Germany’s Economy Ministry told CNN that Germany wants to achieve independence from Russian energy imports division by division and step by step, projecting independence from Russian oil by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had said he believed Germany would be able to end imports this year but added it would take the country longer to wean itself off Russian gas. 

According to a joint economic forecast by five leading German economic research institutes, in the event of an immediate interruption to Russian gas supplies, a total of 220 billion euros ($238 billion) in German economic output would be at risk in both 2022 and 2023. This would be equivalent to more than 6.5% of Germany’s annual economic output.

The United States was aware through international notification agreements that Russia was planning the intercontinental ballistic missile test ahead of Wednesday’s launch, according to two US officials.

The US knew of the launch window and tracked the missile and was not concerned, the officials said.

Both Russia and the US — under an existing international agreement — notify other nations of tests to avoid any incidents.

The US assesses this missile is not yet operational in Russian inventory, the sources said.

“Such testing is routine, and it was not a surprise,” said Pentagon press secretary John Kirby in off-camera comments to reporters.

Kirby said the US “did not deem the test to be a threat to the United States, or its allies.”

“The department remains focused on Russia’s unlawful and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine,” said Kirby.

Earlier: The Russian defense ministry announced that it had conducted a test launch of its intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat.

The missile was fired from a silo launcher at 3:12 p.m. Moscow time at the Plesetsk State Test Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk Region of northern Russia toward the Kura test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far east.

The defense ministry’s statement said that it landed in the “designated area in Kamchatka.”

Evacuees board a bus to leave the city of Mariupol on April 20.

Some 120,000 people remain trapped in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday. 

“I’m confident with combined efforts we can bring all of those responsible to justice, and I promise you we’ll find them all,” the Ukrainian president added. 

Michel and Zelensky spoke for two hours, discussing sanctions, weapons, Ukraine’s membership to the European Union and financial support, things that Ukraine “really needs,” Zelensky said. 

Zelensky praised the EU for its five previous packages of sanctions, but said that they are not sufficient to halt Russia’s funding of the invasion. He again called for Russian oil and gas to be included in the EU’s sixth package of sanctions, saying that its effects will be “empty” if the ban against Russian energy is not included, and also called for all Russian banks to be excluded from the international banking system SWIFT. 

Membership to the EU is a “priority” for Ukraine, and the country is “hoping and waiting” for the support from EU member states, Zelensky said. 

Ivan Fedorov, mayor of Melitopol in Ukraine, attends the Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square on April 17, in Vatican City, Vatican.

Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov spoke to the European Parliament in Brussels Wednesday, saying that Ukrainians today “are not thinking about comfort. They’re thinking about mere survival” and urged European lawmakers “to help Ukraine” through all possible means.

In an emotional address, the elected mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol said that the conflict in Ukraine was “a full-scale war — not only against Ukraine, but against the entire civilized world.”

If there isn’t an appropriate response to Russia’s “significant threat” in a timely fashion, he cautioned that “war will come to European cities and households.”

Remember: Mayor Fedorov was detained by Russian forces for five days in March and was later freed as part of a prisoner exchange. Melitopol fell to Russian control in early March and a new, pro-Russian mayor was installed. The unelected mayor has since instituted a number of pro-Russian moves, including mandating the broadcasting of Russian news outlets.

On Wednesday, he said the city of Melitopol had been “building an island of Europe in our city,” since 2014.

Now, the “dreams of millions of Ukrainians today have been shattered because they see how cities are being methodically destroyed,” he continued. 

CNN’s Tim Lister and Paul P. Murphy contributed to this reporting.

The Russian defense ministry announced Wednesday that it had conducted a test launch of its intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat.

The missile was fired from a silo launcher at 3:12 p.m. Moscow time at the Plesetsk State Test Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk Region of northern Russia toward the Kura test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far east.

The defense ministry’s statement said that it landed in the “designated area in Kamchatka.”

The ministry noted that after the completion of a test program, the Sarmat would go into service with Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces. The RS-28 Sarmat is designed to replace the Soviet-era Voevoda ICBM, known by the NATO designation SS-18 Satan.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin congratulated the military on their successful missile test, saying it would “give thought to those who are trying to threaten Russia,” according to the ministry statement as quoted by the state-run TASS news agency. 

The Sarmat was one of the weapons Putin mentioned in a 2018 speech boasting of new weaponry he said would render NATO defenses “completely useless.” US officials played down the threat at the time.

(Maj. Serhii Volyna)

Maj. Serhii Volyna, commander of Ukraine’s 36th Separate Marine Brigade, told CNN Wednesday that Russia continued its “constant” bombardment of Mariupol following his appeal for a third country to evacuate Ukrainian forces and civilians encircled in the city.

Strikes by Russian aviation and heavy artillery continued Wednesday, Volyna said, adding that Ukrainian defenders had been suffering serious losses.

Volyna spoke with CNN Tuesday and requested that a third country provide evacuation for troops and civilians trapped in the Azovstal steel plant under heavy Russian bombardment. The Russian military offered a ceasefire for Wednesday, but the extent to which it has been implemented is unclear.

Serhiy Hayday

Serhii Haidai, the head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, said 80% of his region’s territory is under Russian control. If Ukraine doesn’t resist, the official said, “Russia is certainly not going to stop here and will push further on.”  

Speaking to CNN’s Becky Anderson from an undisclosed location, Haidai concurred with the Russian characterization that the second phase of the war has begun, but cautioned that it is not yet a “complete and total invasion.”

“Certainly they (Russians) are spreading out a lot,” he said. “We’ve established our defenses in a lot of towns. They’re trying to encircle our troops, a lot of nasty business is going on there…but they haven’t had any successes so far. We are doing well to destroy their equipment.”

The official has been appealing to remaining civilians to leave the eastern region of Ukraine as fighting intensifies. He said out of the 350,000 people that lived in the Ukrainian territory of Luhansk before the war, around 70,000 remain today.  

“Most people have left on their own transport or using our national buses or volunteers. We have no idea when the humanitarian corridors will be established, but we are evacuating every day. The point is that Russia always violates the agreements. Shelling, despite the quiet hours, is still going ahead,” he added.

Haidai went on to say that shelling has been happening “without any respite” in the area, which has destroyed the electricity grid and all water supplies. For the 70,000 people that remain, most of them are living in bunkers, cellars and shelters.

“This is the second month we’ve had all these people living underground essentially,” he said. “We are trying to supply them with some kind of aid, trying to get sanitation and water to them and make sure that they don’t starve to death…there’s hardly any stable supply of gas so the situation is pretty desperate,” he added.

Asked to compare the situation in Luhansk to the besieged city of Mariupol — which has been facing a similar fate for weeks — Haidai said, “For us, at least that we can get aid through and we can actually still evacuate people. But bombing goes ahead every day until nightfall and so in that respect it’s very similar to Mariupol.”

The military governor appealed to the West to provide more military equipment to help them in defending Ukraine’s skies and land.

“We need aviation, air defense equipment, lots of UAVs from the United States and long range, heavy precision-fire artillery,” he said. “I think that recent events have shown that the much lauded Russian army is really not up to scratch, not what we thought, so I think it is possible for Ukraine’s armed forces, provided it gets this kind of equipment, to actually beat them.”

When asked how he sees the war ending, Haidai told CNN it’s likely there may be a cessation of hostilities through a political agreement, but added that he felt it was hard to trust the Russians.  

“They’re lying all the time,” he said. “Everybody knows about that. Nobody believes them. Everybody knows that an agreement with Russia is not worth the paper that it’s printed on. Russia is the enemy of the entire world today not just Ukraine. Their ambitions spread much further than Ukraine.”

General view across the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 28 in Wimbledon, London, England.

Wimbledon organizers confirmed a ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis players in a statement on Wednesday, saying, “it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of Government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible.”

Wimbledon, the third grand slam of the year, is set to begin on June 27.

The Kremlin said earlier on Wednesday that the ban on Russian players is “unacceptable.”

Government spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded to a question about the barring of Russian and Belarusian players from the tournament, which was first reported by The New York Times on Wednesday.

“Making athletes victims of some kind of political prejudices, intrigues, hostile actions towards our country, is unacceptable. One can only express regret here,” Peskov told a conference call with reporters.

“Considering that Russia is after all a very strong tennis country, our tennis players are in the top lines of the world ranking, the competition itself will suffer from their removal,” Peskov said. “… I would like to wish the guys to do everything in order not to lose shape and not lose their world tennis class.”

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which organizes and hosts the event, told CNN earlier this month that it was “continuing to engage in discussion with the UK Government, the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association), and the international governing bodies of tennis” in relation to the participation of Russian and Belarusian players.

The organizers added that they had planned to make a decision ahead of their entry deadline in mid-May. 

The ban prevents several high-ranked players from competing at the iconic grass court grand slam. Four Russian men, including world number two and reigning US Open Champion Daniil Medvedev, are currently ranked in the top 30 of the ATP Tour. 

Russia has five women in the top 40 of the WTA Tour rankings. 

Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka is currently ranked fourth in the world and was a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year while compatriot Victoria Azarenka, a former world number one, is currently ranked 18th.

The AELTC’s decision is the first time Russian and Belarusian players have been prohibited from competing in an elite tennis event. 

Tennis governing bodies had banned Russia and Belarus from international team competitions following the invasion. Individual players are allowed to compete on the ATP and WTA Tours but not under the name or flag of their countries.

More than 400 Ukrainian children with cancer have been evacuated for treatment abroad since the war started, according to the Ukrainian Presidency.   

The flights to transfer the Ukrainian children with cancer who are in the combat zones were organized with the assistance of the leadership of foreign countries and agreements between Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska and the first ladies of other countries, a statement from the presidency said.  

The flights started in “the first weeks of the war through cooperation with volunteer and medical organizations,” the statement added. 

“Currently, more than 400 young patients continue treatment in peaceful countries,” according to the statement.   

Zelenska also thanked all the doctors involved in the effort on her Facebook page and wrote about each doctor’s story at the Western Ukrainian Specialized Children’s Medical Center. 

“It’s time to introduce you to the doctors who do all this, who live at work, treat not only diseases but also souls, because during the war they became psychologists, counselors, friends, family for those who need it,” she wrote.   

A doctor from Texas has already traveled to Ukraine three times to help local doctors treat the wounded of war.

“As a physician first, it’s our duty and our ethics to help every needy person in the world,” Dr. Monzer Yazji told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Yazji, a Syrian American, ran more than 30 medical missions to Syria during the war that began in 2011 there.

As of last week, the World Health organization has verified nearly 120 attacks on health care since the invasion of Ukraine began.

Yazji said there are complicated surgeries needed to be performed in Ukraine. One man lost half his shoulder, but he survived, he said. There are also issues with water, medical supplies and electricity shortages.

“When I see Ukrainian doctors suffering because [they’re] exhausted mentally, physically and that attack on them, I see us, ourselves, we were there. That’s why this … all make[s] me come to Ukraine and be with them,” he said.

Watch the interview here:

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Western allies were quick to slap sanctions on the wealthy oligarchs closely aligned with Vladimir Putin. But are they having an impact?

In the latest episode of CNN’s “Tug of War” podcast, CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty examines who is in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, how they work hand-in-hand with the Kremlin, and why Russia is so desperate for anything it can call a “victory” on the battlefield.

Listen to “Putin’s ‘Yes Men’” here.

U.S. State Department Under Secretary for Public Affairs Victoria Nuland speaks during a briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on January 27.

There “was some hope that the Russians might allow” safe passage for civilians and wounded soldiers from Mariupol, a top US State Department official said Wednesday, adding that her understanding is “there will be NATO allies involved in that if it happens.”

However, such an arrangement “has fallen apart a number of times before,” and ultimately, it is up to the Russians to allow safe passage, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland cautioned.

The siege of Mariupol speaks “to the brutality of this war” and the war crimes Vladimir Putin is committing, Nuland added.

Ukrainian servicemen check the area of a missile strike in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on April 19.

Early in Russia’s expanded offensive in the Donbas, the US assesses there have been no major territorial gains for Russia so far since the start of the new push, according to two senior US officials with direct knowledge of the assessment.

The US has observed some new attacks by Russian forces, which appear to be probing attacks to test Ukrainian defenses, one of the officials said. However, the frontlines remain static with no major territory changing hands as of yet.  

To help prepare Ukrainian forces for the battles to come, a new $800 million weapons package will be focused on artillery, specifically 155mm howitzers and ammunition, according to a senior US official and a congressional source with knowledge of the draft plan. The US has asked “many” NATO allies to help contribute artillery to this new planned weapons shipment, a senior US official told CNN.

The head of the Luhansk regional military administration in eastern Ukraine, Serhii Haidai, warned Wednesday of possible Russian “provocations” during upcoming Easter services and called for religious observations online. 

“The Russians will be staging provocations on Easter Sunday,” he said. “Save your life, stay at home! I appeal to the residents of Luhansk region remain in the region and who have already been evacuated. There are almost no surviving churches left in Luhansk region; they were destroyed by Russia. Churches that were subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate [of the Orthodox Church] were attacked by the ‘Russian World.’” 

Many Ukrainians celebrate Easter according to the Julian calendar, with Easter Sunday falling this year on April 24. Haidai recommended Easter celebrations be attended online.

The head of the Sumy regional military administration in northern Ukraine earlier this week urged local residents to attend virtual Easter services amid similar warnings. 

Malcolm Nance, a former national security analyst for MSNBC who is now volunteering to defend Ukraine against Russia, says he would be willing to die in the country during the war.

With his own career and his family’s spent in the armed forces, he says he believes in defending democracy and sees it being threatened in Ukraine “on a strategic scale.”

“Ukraine is now involved with a nation that has sworn they would eliminate it as a culture, as a language, as a people,” the former Naval intelligence officer said Wednesday. “This isn’t a joke to the people here in the international legion.”

The international legion is a group made up of thousands of foreign nationals who have volunteered to fight with Ukraine and defend its territory as Russia invades. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other US officials have warned Americans not to travel to the Ukraine to fight in the war, encouraging them instead to help support NGOs that are working to provide humanitarian assistance.

Watch more here:

People walk past a heavily damaged residential building in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 18.

The mayor of Mariupol on Wednesday called on residents of the besieged city to evacuate along a corridor announced earlier in the day by Ukraine’s deputy prime minister.

Evacuation would begin at 2 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET) at a designated central meeting point, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said in a statement released by the city council. Additional boarding locations would be available near the Azovstal steel factory — a bastion of Ukrainian military defense — and a shopping mall.

The evacuation column, he said, would proceed west from Mariupol toward the Russian-held city of Berdiansk and then onward through the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia via Tokmak.

Boichenko said 200,000 Mariupol residents had been able to leave the city and were now safe. The city had a prewar population of over 400,000, and Ukrainian authorities have accused Russia of forcing thousands of other residents into separatist-held and Russian territory. He urged citizens with relatives in Mariupol to spread the word about evacuation points.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 7.

The United States’ military is keeping a constant watch on Russia’s nuclear arsenal as the war in Ukraine continues.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is being briefed two or three times a week by the top US general who oversees US nuclear weapons and defenses, according to multiple defense officials.

The US has not seen any indication Russia has made any moves to prepare nuclear weapons for use during the war, but two sources familiar with recent intelligence assessments told CNN that US officials are more concerned about the threat of Russia using them than at any time since the Cold War.

The sources stressed, however, that it is still unlikely Russian President Vladimir Putin would use any kind of nuclear weapon and one of the sources put the chances of use at around 1%.

Adm. Charles Richard, head of the US Strategic Command, is providing Austin and other top Pentagon leaders with a highly classified operation and intelligence update on the status of Russia’s arsenal and any moves that might cause concern, according to the defense officials.

It includes input from the intelligence community which closely monitors statements from Putin and other senior Russian leaders. The officials emphasized that if there are any sudden developments in between scheduled meetings, Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley would be quickly briefed before updating the White House.

Monitoring any possible nuclear activity has always been a high priority for the Pentagon but the urgency of efforts increased shortly after Russia launched its invasion in February when Putin put the country’s deterrence forces, including Moscow’s nuclear weapons, onto the highest state of alert.

On Tuesday, Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pushed back on a warning from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a CNN interview last week that Russia could be prepared to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, stressing that Russia historically has been against the use of such weapons.

Read more here:

Related article US defense secretary being regularly briefed on any potential Russian nuclear moves

The escalating conflict in eastern Ukraine remains a central focus, as Russian forces continue their siege of Mariupol.

A port city said to be of critical strategic importance, Mariupol’s fate rests on its Azovstal iron and steel plant, which remains under the control of Ukrainian forces despite relentless Russian attacks.

Officials say hundreds of civilians are sheltering in the basements of the plant, and a Mariupol police official told CNN that food and water supplies were dwindling amid the heavy bombardment. 

A corridor has been agreed on with Russia for evacuation of women, children and the elderly from Mariupol, according to the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, but Russian forces are reported to be attempting an advance towards a city that forms part of the route.

Here are the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict:

Siege of Mariupol continues: Despite weeks of heavy attacks as Russia attempts to “close the circle” around Mariupol, Ukrainians continue to defend the city. However conditions may soon worsen, with a Ukrainian military commander telling CNN from one of the remaining holdouts that they may have “only a few days or even hours left.”

Steel plant “completely surrounded”: Ukrainian troops and civilians remain trapped in Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant under heavy Russian bombardment. An estimated 1,000 civilians, including women, children and the elderly were sheltering inside the plant, Myhailo Vershynin, chief of the Mariupol patrol police, told CNN earlier this week. The commander of Ukraine’s 36th Separate Marine Brigade, Maj. Serhii Volyna, told CNN by phone Tuesday evening that the plant was “completely surrounded” and requested international assistance in evacuating hundreds of troops and civilians.

Evacuation corridor for Mariupol agreed: Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Wednesday that a corridor had been agreed on with Russia for the evacuation of women, children and the elderly from Mariupol. She said the convoy was set to move from the besieged city toward Manhush and then onward through the Russian-held city of Berdyansk, then north toward the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia.

Russian forces attempt advance on corridor city: Zaporizhzhia, part of the evacuation corridor, is in the direction of an attempted advance by Russian forces, the city’s Regional Council said Wednesday. As fighting intensifies across the country’s east, the council said that the Russian military was trying to advance “in the direction” of Zaporizhzhia “but suffers losses and focuses its main efforts on maintaining the occupied frontiers.”

European officials highlight alleged war crimes: Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Tuesday that Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is “comparable to the darkest pages in our European history” adding “that there can be no impunity for war crimes.” On Wednesday, President of the European Council Charles Michel said that “history will not forget the war crimes” committed in Ukraine.

Russian billionaire blasts war: Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov has blasted Russia’s war in Ukraine, calling on the West to do more to “stop this massacre” in an Instagram post Tuesday. “I don’t see a single beneficiary of this insane war,” the founder of Tinkoff Bank wrote. Tinkov was among the 65 individuals and entities sanctioned by the United Kingdom for “supporting Russia’s illegal invasion.”

Germany will provide training and maintenance to the Ukrainian military, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Latvia Wednesday.

Baerbock said that while “other partners are now providing artillery,” Germany would “help with training and maintenance.” Baerbock said that Germany could not provide further weaponry as the country had no weapons it could “deliver quickly and without delay right now.”

Speaking at a news conference in Riga with her Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevics, Baerbock added that Germany had chosen not to make public all the weapons it had previously sent to Ukraine.

“We have supplied anti-tank weapons, Stingers [air defense systems] and many other weapons that we haven’t spoken about in public,” the foreign minister said.

More than five million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in late February, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday.

In addition to the 5,012,708 registered refugees, at least seven million people have been internally displaced in Ukraine having been forced to flee their homes, according to the latest International Organization for Migration (IOM) report from early April.

The majority of those fleeing Ukraine have traveled to neighboring Poland, while others have arrived in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Russia and Belarus.

According to the UNHCR, 90% are women or children.

Oleg Tinkoff speaks at a conference during the Hong Kong Fintech Week event in Hong Kong, China, on October 31, 2018.

Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov has blasted Russia’s war in Ukraine, calling on the West to do more to “stop this massacre.”

Tinkov, who was among the 65 individuals and entities sanctioned by the UK on March 24 for “supporting Russia’s illegal invasion,” made the comments in an Instagram post Tuesday.

The Russian tycoon, who founded Tinkoff Bank in 2006, wrote that “90% of Russians” opposed the conflict.

The letter “Z” became a sign of popular support for the war among some Russians after Russian military vehicles were seen marked with the symbol just ahead of the invasion.

Switching to English at the end of his post, Tinkov called on the “collective” West to “give Mr. Putin a clear exit to save his face and stop this massacre.”

“Please be more rational and humanitarian,” he added.

Other Russian business leaders call for peace: In March, Russian oil firm Lukoil called for an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

Oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska also spoke out against the conflict in late February following Russia’s invasion.

Fridman, who was born in western Ukraine, said in a letter to staff that he wanted the “bloodshed to end.” Deripaska wrote in a post on Telegram: “Peace is very important! Negotiations need to start as soon as possible!”

Earlier this month, the chairman of the Russian metals firm Rusal called for an impartial investigation into the killing of civilians in Bucha.

Russia’s invasion has turned the life of so many Ukrainians upside down – including that of Oleksandr Zhugan and Antonina Romanova.

The couple previously worked in theater, but when Russia launched its invasion nearly two months ago, they decided to join Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Force.

“The most unusual thing was holding a gun for the first time in my life. It was the same for Antonina too. We have compulsory military service, but Antonina and I didn’t go to the army due to health conditions and it was the first time here when we took guns and weapons in our hands.

“We were taught to shoot, how to disassemble it and clean it. We had some tactical training as well.”

Asked about handling weaponry for the first time, Zhugan added: “It’s much more comfortable than it was at the beginning. We got the guns on the 25th [of February] and it’s been 56 days of war now. It’s much more comfortable now.”

Joining the Territorial Defense Force hasn’t been the only major change in their lives – the couple also got engaged after Romanova proposed at a checkpoint during the war.    

Same-sex marriage is not currently allowed in Ukraine, but Zhugan says they hope to get married at some point in the future.  

Watch the full interview here:

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04:45 - Source: cnn

European Council President Charles Michel walks near damaged buildings in Borodyanka, Ukraine, on April 20.

“History will not forget the war crimes” committed in Ukraine, President of the European Council Charles Michel said Wednesday.

Pictures posted to Michel’s social media account showed the former Belgian Prime Minister visiting Ukraine, with one titled “In Borodyanka.”

Russia has denied allegations of war crimes and claims its forces do not target civilians, but CNN journalists on the ground in Ukraine have seen firsthand evidence of atrocities at multiple locations across the country.

Earlier on Wednesday, Michel shared a picture of his arrival at a train station in the capital of Kyiv. “In the heart of a free and democratic Europe,” he said.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Tuesday that Russia’s aggression in Ukraine was “comparable to the darkest pages in our European history.”

He added that it was “heart-breaking to see that something like this can still happen in Europe” and that “that there can be no impunity for war crimes.”

BUCHA, UKRAINE - APRIL 06: (EDITORS NOTE: Image depicts death.) A man works to catalogue some of 58 bodies of civilians killed in and around Bucha before they are transported to the morgue at a cemetery on April 6, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has accused Russian forces of committing a "deliberate massacre" as they occupied and eventually retreated from Bucha, 25km northwest of Kyiv. Hundreds of bodies have been found in the days since Ukrainian forces regained control of the town. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Related article Putin gives honorary title to brigade accused of Bucha war crimes

A Ukrainian tank on the road between Pokrovske and Zaporizhzhia on April 12 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

Russian forces are attempting an advance toward the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, said the city’s Regional Council on Wednesday, as fighting escalates across the east of the country.

“Russian troops continue to shell the positions of our troops and conduct offensive operations in the direction of Pokrovske - Huliaipole,” the council added.

Zaporizhzhia lies north of the besieged city of Mariupol, and is set to form part of an evacuation corridor reportedly agreed on with Russia for Wednesday.

Women, children, and the elderly would be evacuated from the southeastern port city toward Manhush, onward through the Russian held-city of Berdyansk and then toward Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

Russian forces occupy the southern part of the region, and according to the council they have established a base in the city of Melitopol, near residential areas.

Sham referendums: The council claims Russian forces are planning to hold sham referendums in occupied territory, similar to those carried out in the separatist-held parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014.

Earlier this week, Russian-backed separatist leader Denis Pushilin said that the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic would support a Russian-occupied district in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Pushilin alleged that Zaporizhzhia had made “an appeal” to secede from Ukraine and join the breakaway republic.

Ukrainian officials have said Russian forces appear to be preparing for a similar sham referendum in southern Kherson region.

Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo addresses the media in Ghent, Belgium, on April 19.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has said that Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is “comparable to the darkest pages in our European history” and that it is “heart-breaking to see that something like this can still happen in Europe.”

Speaking Tuesday evening in the Belgian town of Ghent, following a rare joint meeting of the Dutch and Belgian cabinets, De Croo added “that there can be no impunity for war crimes.”

He said that both Belgium and the Netherlands are “going to make efforts to ensure that everything is documented,” in the hope that “prosecutions can take place for the terrible stories we hear of rapes of women, rapes of girls.”

Russia has denied allegations of war crimes and claims its forces do not target civilians, but CNN journalists on the ground in Ukraine have seen firsthand evidence of atrocities at multiple locations across the country.

Iryna Venediktova, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, said last week that her office was investigating 5,800 cases of alleged Russian war crimes, with “more and more” proceedings opening every day.

De Croo said that the Belgian Government was supporting the International Criminal Court and the Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council and was “looking to be able to send forensic experts” to Ukraine.

“It is the first step to ensure that the barbarians who did this will be prosecuted,” he added.

The giant Azovstal Iron and Steel Works fills the skyline in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 19.

The fate of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol rests on the Azovstal iron and steel plant – a huge compound spanning four square miles in the southeastern corner of the port city.

Ukrainian forces have consolidated around the factory and continue to resist Russian attacks, but a Ukrainian commander has called the situation “critical.”

According to Maj. Serhii Volyna, commander of Ukraine’s 36th Separate Marine Brigade, the steel plant is “completely surrounded.”

“There are civilians on the territory. They are also suffering from explosions, blasts on them, next to them. They [the Russians] use heavy aircraft bombs against us and strike with artillery.”

Officials say hundreds of civilians are sheltering in the basements of the plant – which previously employed 10,000 people – and a Mariupol police official told CNN that food and water supplies were dwindling amid the heavy bombardment. 

A video shared by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs appears to show dozens of children and families who have been sheltering there for weeks. CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the video or when it was taken. However, after reviewing thousands of photos and videos of the steel plant, the walls of the shelter appear to match the lime-green painted walls of the steel plant’s basements.

Volyna called for assistance from a third country to provide an evacuation route – such as by boat or helicopter – to take troops and civilians to safety.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on Tuesday that Russian forces are blocking evacuation routes from Mariupol.

Meanwhile, the Security Service of Ukraine released a purported communications intercept of a Russian ground unit commander, who said Russian aircraft were planning to “level everything to the ground” around the factory.

Mariupol, situated in the southeast of Ukraine, has been heavily targeted by Russian forces during the war due to its strategic position on the coast of the Sea of Azov.

Taking it would allow Russia to create a continuous land bridge from Donbas to Crimea, the peninsula it illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Speaking to CNN last week, Zelensky said nobody knows how many civilians have died in Mariupol.

“Several thousand, tens of thousands, were forced to evacuate in the direction of the Russia Federation and we don’t know where they are, they’ve left no document trail,” he said.

Read more about the Azovstal plant here:

Smoke rises above a plant of Azovstal iron and steel Works company and buildings damaged in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 18, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

Related article Mariupol's defenders dig in for last stand

Fighting in the Donbas region continues to escalate, with Ukrainian forces repelling “numerous attempted advances” by Russia, according to UK defense intelligence.

The battle for the Donbas represents a new and potentially decisive phase in the conflict, with the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol a key battleground.

Referenced as a “critical logistics hub” for Ukrainian forces, Mariupol continues to be in Ukrainian control despite weeks of Russian bombardment, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the situation remains “brutal and unchanged.”

With tens of thousands of civilians remaining in Mariupol, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister said Wednesday that a corridor had been agreed on with Russia for the evacuation of women, children and the elderly from the city.

Here are the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict:

A local resident walks along a street past burnt out buses in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 19.

A humanitarian corridor had been agreed on with Russia for the evacuation of women, children and the elderly from the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. 

The convoy would move from Mariupol toward Manhush and then onward through the Russian-held city of Berdyansk, then north toward the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia, Vereshchuk said.

Tens of thousands of civilians remain in the city, which has been encircled by Russian forces for weeks and under relentless bombardment.

Dmitry Nekazakov was walking his dog before he went to work when the Russian shelling started on Hostomel, a city on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv. The sky buzzed with low-flying helicopters from which Russian troops jumped, while rockets rained down.

It was 6:40 am on Feb. 24, the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and for almost a month, the bombardment didn’t stop. Nekazakov said he spent 20 days sitting on the ground in his basement during the night. In the cold light of day, he and other residents would emerge to witness the damage that had been inflicted on their homes and devise plans to find safer places to shelter.

The Russian missiles and rockets that decimated buildings, lives and homes were fired from a sprawling Russian base, hidden in the forest some 4 kilometers (around 2.5 miles) away.

Now, only the remains of that sprawling military camp sit among the trees. CNN was shown around the camp by Ukrainian special forces, who are picking up clues as to what Russia’s plans may have been for the capital among the debris.

Read the full story:

Related article An abandoned Russian military camp in a forest near Kyiv reveals horrors of the invasion

Local resident Tamara, 71, cries in front of a destroyed apartment building in Mariupol, on Tuesday.

Russian attacks on the besieged southern port city of Mariupol continue and the situation remains “brutal and unchanged,” according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Conditions may soon worsen, with a Ukrainian military commander telling CNN from one of the remaining holdouts that they may have “only a few days or even hours left.”

Here are the latest developments:

Denis Pushilin arrives to deliver a press conference in Donetsk, on April 11.

A Russian-backed separatist leader said that the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic would support a Russian-occupied district in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region after it purportedly made what he called “an appeal” to secede from Ukraine and join the breakaway republic.

Separatist leader Denis Pushilin made his comments to Russian state media outlet Russia-24 on Tuesday, saying that the separatist republic would not immediately accept the district into its “administrative border,” but instead would resolve that question at a later date. 

Video published by a Russian journalist on Tuesday claimed that the Rozovsky district, which is located just 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Mariupol, held a vote on Tuesday in favor of seceding from Ukraine to join Pushilin’s Russia-backed separatist region. 

CNN is not airing the video because it could not verify its authenticity, that it was taken in the Rozovsky district, that the individuals were actually Ukrainian citizens, or that they were not pressured into voting in favor of the measure. 

Some context: This is the first time during the war that a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine has purportedly tried to secede from the country, and it could end up being the first attempt by the Russians and Russian-backed separatists to annex additional Ukrainian territory.

However, it’s not the first time during the war that an area of Ukraine has had its political status changed significantly while under Russian occupation.

Shortly after Melitopol fell to Russian control in early March, the city’s mayor was detained by armed men and a new pro-Russian mayor was installed. The unelected mayor has since instituted a number of pro-Russian moves, including mandating the broadcasting of Russian news outlets.

City workers and Russian troops also staged a propaganda stunt in which they took down the Ukrainian flag, signed it, and claimed they were sending it to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

President Joe Biden’s visit to the critical swing state of New Hampshire to sell his domestic agenda was overshadowed by new economic warning signs of how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is creating greater uncertainty and volatility in the world economy, compounding the obstacles the President and his party are facing in November.

This time last year, Democratic strategists had hoped Biden and his Democratic colleagues in Congress would be out on the campaign trail this spring pointing to America’s roaring comeback after the dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Instead, Biden and many vulnerable Democrats are gingerly trying to maneuver around inflation that is at a 40-year high, the threat that new Covid-19 variants could derail the recovery — amid fresh confusion over masking — and the ripple effects of a war in Ukraine that some western officials now believe may stretch until the end of the year.

Read the full analysis:

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Amanda Sabga/UPI/Shutterstock (12900935n) U.S. President Joe Biden discusses updates and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law during his remarks at the New Hampshire Port Authority in Portsmouth, NH on 19, April 19, 2022. United States President Joe Biden Speaks in Portsmouth, New Hampshire - 19 Apr 2022

Related article Analysis: Signs point to more economic turbulence as the war in Ukraine intensifies

A man walks by racks of Moment glue by Henkel at a store in Moscow, on Tuesday.

German manufacturer Henkel will cease operations in Russia, the company announced on Tuesday.

The Düsseldorf-based company manufactures various consumer goods, such as laundry and cleaning products. Its 2,500 employees in Russia will continue to be employed and paid, Henkel said. The company was not able to provide an outlook on how this will impact the company’s finances.

In March, Henkel announced that it would freeze future investments in Russia and launched a financial aid package for Ukraine, but stopped short of closing down operations altogether.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the move in a video address on Tuesday.

Zelensky has made it a point while speaking in addresses to other nations that more multinational corporations should cease business in Russia due to their invasion of Ukraine.

A white lion that was evacuated from the Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv is seen in Odesa, Ukraine on April 14.

Two employees of a zoo in Kharkiv who stayed behind last month to take care of animals amid heavy shelling from Russian forces were found dead, the zoo said in a statement Tuesday.

The Feldman Ecopark zoo said it received confirmation on Monday that the employees had been shot and killed by Russian soldiers and found barricaded in a room. 

It was not clear from the statement when the employees died but the zoo said they went missing in early March.

Several animals were evacuated during the shelling, the zoo said, including lions, jaguars, silver foxes and hyenas.

The two employees stayed behind to feed the remaining animals. When other staff returned to the park on March 7, the employees were missing, according to the zoo.

Parts of the park have been damaged from shelling. A pair of bison were killed, leaving behind a 10-month old calf, the zoo said.

Some context: Kharkiv, located in northeast Ukraine, has faced intense shelling and attacks since the start of the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian shelling had killed five residents and wounded 15 others on Sunday. He added that in the last few days, 18 people in total have been killed and 106 have been wounded by Russian shelling in the city.

Two new videos posted on social media show the damage caused by Russian military strikes in Rubizhne and Lysychansk, two towns on the outskirts of Severodonetsk in Ukraine’s Luhansk region.

CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the videos.

A video taken Tuesday in Lysyschansk shows a car driving northwest on Route 66 and pans to the damage surrounding it. The images show a shopping center, a seafood market and a grocery store, all of which appear to have been destroyed in a strike. Nearby, a sheet metal blue fence has been ripped to shreds.

The person speaking says the Ukrainian forces are holding their ground, despite the shelling. 

The second video, taken on Monday, shows the damage to a residential area on the southeastern side of Rubizhne. It shows the ruins of an apartment building, still smoking after a military strike, and debris from the building that has been thrown roughly 100 feet (32 meters) onto the road.

Correction: An earlier version of this post gave the incorrect location for the towns of Rubizhne and Lysychansk, which are in the Luhansk region.

Russian forces have begun a new phase in the war, launching the battle for the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

Satellite images have shown Russian military convoys moving toward the region in preparation for a large-scale invasion — one that is likely to shape the fate of the war.

In the southeastern port city of Mariupol, an unknown number of defenders are making their last stand at the Azovstal steel plant.

If you’re just catching up on the news, here are the latest developments:

Part of Mariupol’s Azov shipyard has been heavily damaged by fighting in the city, a new video released by the Mariupol City Council shows.

CNN has geolocated the video and verified its authenticity. 

In the video, the shipyard’s entrance sign and gate can be seen. Debris is scattered outside the gate, where a car and a forklift appear to have been strategically placed to block access.

The small building next to the gate has been destroyed by an explosion.

Toward a fence, two Czech hedgehogs — three metal beams welded together to act as an anti-tank barrier — can be seen.

Some context: Ukrainian forces are continuing to resist Russian attacks in the southeastern port city of Mariupol, with a Ukrainian commander telling CNN the situation at the nearby Azovstal steel plant — one of the city’s last bastions still under Ukrainian control — is “critical” as a large number of troops are wounded and time is limited. 

The United States believes Russia will target routes used for weapons shipments, according to a defense official, in an attempt to slow the supply of US and partner weapons flowing into Ukraine.

Russian forces have not frequently struck moving targets such as convoys or rail deliveries, but they could try to destroy the bridges, roads and rails used to transport the weapons and supplies into the country, the official said.

Even if the Russians were successful in striking those routes, the official said, they would be unable to stop the shipments in their entirety. There are simply too many shipments going in. 

Weapons into Ukraine: The US and partner nations have shipped nearly 70,000 anti-tank and anti-armor weapons into Ukraine, including Javelins, NLAWs, RPGs and more, the official said. The shipments have also included nearly 30,000 anti-aircraft missiles, such as Stingers, and some 7,000 launchers for these weapons.

Earlier this month, Joints Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee that some 60,000 anti-tank weapons and 25,000 anti-aircraft weapons had been sent into the country. Since then, the US has authorized hundreds of millions more dollars in military assistance.

Slowing down Russian invasion: The US and NATO have assessed that Ukrainian forces have used these systems very effectively to slow down and in some places stymie the Russian invasion. Part of that success has come from Ukraine’s adaptation of a decentralized command and control which allows junior commanders to make important battlefield decisions without higher authorization, the official said

Russia retains some advantage: The official also noted that Ukraine has had years to prepare for Russia’s offensive in southeast Ukraine, since the Donbas region has seen regular fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed proxies.

Ukraine has prepared trenches, anti-armor ambushes and more ahead of this imminent fight, the official said, but warned that Russia still retains the advantage in military technology and overall military power. Instead of spreading that power out over much of Ukraine, it is now concentrated in the south and east for what may be a massive assault.

A shelter above the sarcophagus covering the exploded reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine, seen on Saturday, April 16.

Direct communications between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was restored late Tuesday, according to a press statement from IAEA’s Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.

Russian forces held Chernobyl for five weeks before withdrawing on March 31. IAEA lost contact with the nuclear power site on March 10.

The statement added that a “mission of IAEA experts” plans to visit the site later this month to “conduct nuclear safety, security and radiological assessments, deliver vital equipment and repair the Agency’s remote safeguards monitoring systems.”

Maj. Serhii Volyna, commander of Ukraine’s 36th Separate Marine Brigade, spoke by phone with CNN from the besieged city of Mariupol Tuesday evening and requested that a third country provide evacuation for troops and civilians trapped in the Azovstal steel plant under heavy Russian bombardment. 

Ukrainian forces inside the besieged city have consolidated around the massive Azovstal steel factory. 

Ukrainian officials have said hundreds of civilians are sheltering in the basements of the massive steelworks. A Mariupol police official told CNN food and water supplies were dwindling amid heavy bombardment. 

Asked how an evacuation might be facilitated, Volyna said, “This should be at the level of agreements. If we talk about practical application, it could be a ship with helicopters, for example, that could pick us up. Or an international humanitarian mission that can come to us and guarantee our security and accompany us on the way to the state that will make such commitments.”

Volyna described the situation at the plant as “critical,” with a large number of wounded troops and limited medical care. 

“We are completely surrounded,” he said. “There are about 500 wounded military, it is very difficult to provide them with medical care. They literally rot. There are civilians on the territory. They are also suffering from explosions, blasts on them, next to them. They [the Russians] use heavy aircraft bombs against us and strike with artillery.”

“This happens all the time. The city is destroyed. Enemy groups outnumber us dozens of times, they have a complete advantage in air, artillery, equipment, manpower. We fight to the last, but we have very little time left,” he continued.

The Ukrainian commander estimated that there were “hundreds of civilians” sheltering on the territory of the plant. 

Volyna declined to comment on the number of military holding out at Azovstal. 

“If the world hears us, if the world leaders hear us, we very much hope so, and the extraction procedure will be carried out, then everyone will understand the quantitative composition of the people who were in captivity,” he said.