The horrors of Russia’s occupation are becoming clear as Ukrainian forces retake the greater Kyiv area.
In Bucha, northwest of the capital, images show civilian bodies found strewn across a street following the withdrawal of Russian forces, and CNN reporters observed a mass grave in the town, with residents saying they believe at least 150 people are buried there.
The alleged atrocities have drawn international outrage, with Western leaders calling for war crimes investigations and increasing sanctions on Russia.
The southern coastal city of Odesa came under attack Sunday, with a local official saying a Russian missile strike had hit “critical infrastructure.” A fuel depot in the city is burning, according to a CNN team on the scene.
In light of fierce Ukrainian resistance, US intelligence suggests Russia has revised its invasion strategy to focus on taking control of the Donbas and other regions in eastern Ukraine, with a target date of early May.
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Zelensky appears in taped message at the Grammy Awards
From CNN's Lisa Respers France
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky appears on screen during the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, Sunday night.
(Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images)
In a taped message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged for viewers and those in attendance at the Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion by any means possible, and to “tell our story, tell the truth about war” on social media and television.
Zelensky’s message preceded a musical performance dedicated to the people of Ukraine by John Legend and several Ukrainian artists.
He tied that to the music industry’s biggest night by saying, “The war doesn’t let us choose who survives and who stays in eternal silence.”
Read the rest of Zelensky’s message at the Grammys here.
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UK Defense Ministry: Heavy fighting and airstrikes ongoing in Mariupol
From CNN's Aliza Kassim
Local residents walk past a building destroyed during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol Ukraine on April 3.
(Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)
The besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which has been the center of intense Russian bombardment during the invasion, is still a hotbed for fighting and airstrikes, the UK’s Ministry of Defense said in its latest intelligence report.
The report highlights ongoing heavy fighting in Mariupol “as Russian forces attempt to take the city,” along with intense indiscriminate air strikes.
Why Mariupol matters: “Mariupol is almost certainly a key objective of the Russian invasion as it will secure a land corridor from Russia to the occupied territory of Crimea,” said the report.
Mariupol, which is ringed by Russian checkpoints, has suffered weeks of bombardment. Ukrainian officials have described the situation there for the remaining residents as a major humanitarian emergency, with no access to electricity, heat or water. Evacuation attempts are also ongoing.
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Here's what we know about Bucha, the Kyiv suburb ravaged by Russian occupation
A woman walks amid destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, April 3.
(Rodrigo Abd/AP)
Shocking images of carnage in the town of Bucha, near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, show civilian bodies littering the street after five weeks of near-constant firefights.
The photos were captured by Agence France-Presse on Saturday, the same day Ukraine declared the town liberated from Russian troops.
Here’s what we know so far:
Horrifying images: The images show the mounting civilian toll of Russia’s brutal assault: at least 20 civilian men found strewn across a street including a man with his hands tied behind his back with a piece of cloth, another tangled up in a bicycle by a grassy bank.
Civilian executions: “Corpses of executed people still line the Yabluska street in Bucha. Their hands are tied behind their backs with white ‘civilian’ rags, they were shot in the back of their heads. So you can imagine what kind of lawlessness they perpetrated here,” Bucha mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk told Reuters on Saturday.
Mass grave: A mass grave has been discovered in Bucha, where bodies were first buried in the first days of the war, residents say. A CNN team saw at least a dozen bodies in body bags piled inside the grave. Some were already partially covered. Residents told CNN that around 150 people are buried there. The mayor of Bucha said that there could be up to 300 victims buried on site.
Zelensky’s comments: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an end of Russian “war crimes” in a video address Sunday, and for Russian leaders to be held accountable for the military’s actions. “This is genocide,” he said. “I want all the leaders of the Russian Federation to see how their orders are being fulfilled.”
Russia’s response: The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the extensive footage was “fake,” saying “not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions,” during Russia’s occupation of Bucha. The Russian government has consistently responded to allegations of civilian casualties inflicted by Russian forces with blanket denials.
International outrage: Western leaders, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have called for war crimes investigations and increasing sanctions on Russia.EU Council President Charles Michel vowed further sanctions on Russia, while United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said an independent investigation into the civilians killed in Bucha was “essential.” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the images show a “brutality against civilians we haven’t seen in Europe for decades.”
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At a mass grave in a Kyiv suburb, the sense of loss is impossible to measure
From CNN's Vasco Cotovio, Frederik Pleitgen, Byron Blunt and Daria Markina
“Brother, we’ve been looking for you for so long,” he says, bursting into tears halfway through. His brother, Dmitry, has been missing for roughly a week and neighbors told Vladimir he might be buried here.
Inside the grave, the bodies are piled on top of one another, mostly inside black bags but some with limbs protruding. Only some are interred. A CNN team saw at least a dozen bodies on the mass grave, but the earth shows signs of recent movement, suggesting many more could lie beneath.
Kyiv Regional Police and local residents say they believe at least 150 people were buried in the mass grave, but the mayor of Bucha says the death toll could be as high as 300. CNN could not independently verify their claims.
Vladimir gathers himself, comforted by his wife, Anna, and a neighbour, Liubov, and leaves. He says he believes his brother is buried there, but the sad reality is he cannot know for sure — and might not for a very long time.
Residents say the grave, on the grounds behind the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, started being dug early in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, such was the death toll in this leafy suburb of Kyiv.
Lithuanian documentary filmmaker killed in Mariupol
From CNN’s Gena Somra and Mitchell McCluskey
A local resident crosses a street damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine on April 3.
(Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)
Lithuanian documentary filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius was killed in Mariupol, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s information agency reported Sunday on Twitter.
Mariupol has been the center of intense bombardment from Russian strikes in recent weeks.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda expressed his condolences in a statement.
“We have lost not only in Lithuania, but also in the world, a well-known creator, who until the last moment, despite the danger, worked in Ukraine, which was attacked by the aggressor Russia. I wish strength and strength to M. Kvedaravičius’ relatives, friends and all fans of his talent, ” Nausėda said.
Lana Estemirova, the daughter of Natalia Estemirova, a human rights investigator from Chechnya who was murdered in 2009, mourned the death of Kvedaravičius on Twitter.
“Mantas was a family friend, a frequent guest in our Grozny flat. A brave and kind soul. I can’t believe this,” Estemirova said.
“RIP dearest Mantas – a true artist, cinema poet, mysterious and brave soul. A terrible loss for Lithuanian cinema community and all the world. Our hearts are broken,” Lithuanian documentary director Giedre Zickyte said on Facebook.
In 2016, Kvedaravičius‘ documentary “Mariupolis” premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.
His 2011 documentary “Barzakh” focused on Russia’s war in Chechnya and earned him the Amnesty International Film Prize.
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Ukrainian president calls for an end to Russian "war crimes" after mass graves found in Bucha
From CNN’s Mitchell McCluskey in Atlanta
(AFP)
In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an end to Russian “war crimes.”
Zelensky called on Russian leaders to be held accountable for the actions of the nation’s military.
“I want all the leaders of the Russian Federation to see how their orders are being fulfilled. Such orders. Such a fulfillment. And joint responsibility. For these murders, for these tortures, for these arms torn off by explosions that lie on the streets. For shots in the back of the head of tied people. This is how the Russian state will now be perceived. This is your image,” Zelensky said.
In his address, Zelensky announced a “mechanism of justice” would be established to investigate crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukrainian territory. The mechanism would be supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the National Police, the Security Service, the Intelligence Service and other government branches, he said.
“This mechanism will help Ukraine and the world bring to concrete justice those who unleashed or in any way participated in this terrible war against the Ukrainian people and in crimes against our people,” he said.
Zelensky said he will provide more information on the state of Ukrainian territory that was occupied by Russian forces.
He also noted efforts are underway to restore electricity and water to Bucha, as well as reestablishing medical institutions and infrastructure.
Zelensky once again invoked the need for stronger sanctions against Russia.
“There will definitely be a new package of sanctions against Russia. But I’m sure that’s not enough. More conclusions are needed. Not only about Russia, but also about the political behavior that actually allowed this evil to come to our land,” he said.
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Ukrainians mourn the death of a soldier who died fighting the Russian army
From CNN's Erica Lee
Family and friends mourn at the casket of Ukrainian soldier Dmitry Zhelisko, who died fighting the Russian army near the town of Kharkiv.
Here are photos from his funeral at the Church of St. Luke in Rusyn, Ukraine:
Sergey Zhelisko, center, family and friends mourn at the casket of his son, Ukrainian soldier Dmitry Zhelisko, during his funeral at the Church of St. Luke on April 03 in Rusyn, Ukraine. Zhelisko died fighting the Russian army near the town of Kharkiv.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
A band leads a funeral procession for Ukrainian soldier Dmitry Zhelisko to the cemetery on April 03.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Ukrainian military members carry the casket of fellow soldier Dmitry Zhelisko to his grave site on Sunday in Rusyn.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Sergey Zhelisko is hugged as his son, Ukrainian soldier Dmitry Zhelisko, is buried in Rusyn.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Sergey Zhelisko, center, along with family and friends, watch as his son, Ukrainian soldier Dmitry Zhelisko is buried on Sunday.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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In victory speech, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban calls Ukraine's Zelensky an opponent
From CNN’s Susanna Capelouto in Atlanta and Balint Bardi in Budapest
Hungary's Viktor Orban addresses cheering supporters during an election night rally in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday.
(Petr David Josek/AP)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in his victory speech on Sunday his re-election sends a message not only to the EU, but also to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Oban is known as an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The election campaign was dominated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which put Orban’s lengthy association with Putin under scrutiny.
While Hungary ultimately supported most EU sanctions unveiled so far, Orban has been adamant that measures are not extended to imports of Russian oil and gas. Most of Hungary’s oil and natural gas imports come from Russia.
Correction: This post misstated Viktor Orban’s title. He is the Prime Minister of Hungary.
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More than 2,600 evacuated through humanitarian corridors in Ukraine on Sunday, Ukrainian deputy PM says
From CNN staff
A total of 2,694 people were evacuated through humanitarian corridors on Sunday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced in a post on Telegram.
Vereshchuk said 469 Mariupol residents have traveled by their own vehicles via humanitarian corridors from Mariupol and Berdiansk to Zaporizhzhia.
In the Luhansk region, 1,467 people were evacuated from the cities of Lysychansk, Severodonetsk, Rubizhne and Kreminna.
Seven buses accompanied by a delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross reached Manhush on Sunday. Vereshchuk said negotiations are underway to continue the convoy’s movement to Mariupol on Monday.
A convoy of buses carrying more than 350 people from Mariupol and Berdiansk passed through checkpoints, she said.
Ten more buses carrying 408 Mariupol residents from Berdiansk are currently passing through Vasylivka, Vereshchuk said.
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Ukrainian lawmaker pleads for additional aid while visiting US Congress
From CNN's Dana Bash / Written by CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
Ukrainian Parliament Member Anastasia Radina is on a mission to advocate for more aid from US lawmakers as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues.
Radina visited members of Congress in Washington, DC, describing and showing them the dire situation on the ground.
“We are receiving a lot of support and we also are glad to hear that, there is an understanding that action is needed and not just words, but we are calling for this action to happen immediately,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash during her visit this week alongside other Ukrainian parliament members.
Asked if she was frustrated Radina responded, “A bit. But we are also very much determined to fight until the end because that’s basically our only choice.”
For Radina, the trip to the US was a difficult decision. She left behind her two-year-old son and elderly father. Radina told CNN she uses an an app on her phone to monitor air raid warnings as she visits DC. She said that the app has alerted to a few air raid alarms. “It’s probably one of the most terrifying experiences in my life.”
Radina said that “As a mother, I feel guilty, but I also have a duty to speak on behalf of all Ukrainian mothers…as privileged as I am to spread the message across the world about what is happening in Ukraine and what kind of support Ukraine needs to stop that.”
During her visit in Congress, Radina carried a binder filled with pictures of the dire situation in Ukraine, including a particularly devastating image of a mother in Mariupol mourning her 19-month-old child, who died after a shelling.
Radina became emotional while describing the situation. “He was shelled in Mariupol, if I’m not mistaken. They managed to get him to a hospital but there’s nothing the doctors could do,” she explained.
“I cannot look at this picture without tears because what I think of when I look at this picture is my son who is staying in Ukraine right now,” Radina said.
Watch the full interview here:
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It's Sunday evening in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know
From CNN staff
Damaged vehicles are seen in the Hostomel region on April 03.
(Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Shocking images came to light from Bucha, Ukraine, on Saturday of at least 20 civilian men dead and lining a single street. The images were captured by Agence France-Presse on the same day Ukraine declared the town liberated from Russian troops.
Accounts of alleged Russian atrocities are emerging as its forces retreat from areas near Kyiv following a failed bid to encircle the capital.
European leaders have condemned the alleged atrocities in Bucha, and called for an investigation into the Russian military and new sanctions. The Russian Ministry of Defense denied the allegations on Sunday.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Sunday called the deaths of civilians in Bucha a “brutality” after allegations they were executed by Russian forces in the area.
Here are more of the latest headlines from the Russia-Ukraine conflict:
CNN reporters observed a mass grave in Bucha: A mass grave has been discovered in the town of Bucha, in the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, a CNN team found. Bodies were first buried in the grave, on the grounds of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, in the first days of the war, residents told CNN. CNN saw at least a dozen bodies in body bags pilled inside the grave. Some were already partially covered. According to residents, more bodies are already buried on site. They said they belong mostly to civilians killed in the fighting around Bucha. Residents told CNN that around 150 people are buried there.
Ukrainian president reacts to images from Bucha: “This is genocide,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, speaking after the images emerged of civilian bodies strewn across the streets of Bucha. “The elimination of the whole nation, and the people. We are the citizens of Ukraine. We have more than 100 nationalities. This is about the destruction and extermination of all these nationalities,” he said during an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
Russia’s response to images from Bucha: The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the extensive footage was “fake,” saying “not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions,” during Russia’s occupation of Bucha. “In the settlements of the Kiev region, Russian military personnel delivered and issued 452 tons of humanitarian aid to civilians,” it said in a statement. A separate statement claimed the footage was staged. The Russian government has consistently responded to allegations of civilian casualties inflicted by Russian forces with blanket denials.
UN secretary general calls for an “independent investigation” into civilians killed in Bucha: The top UN official said an “independent investigation” into the civilians killed in Bucha, Ukraine, is “essential” to ensure “effective accountability.” “I am deeply shocked by the images of civilians killed in Bucha, Ukraine,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said in a statement Sunday.
US secretary of state says images of dead Ukrainians in Bucha “a punch to the gut”: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the State Department would help document any atrocities the Russian military committed against Ukrainian civilians, following new images from AFP out of the town of Bucha. “You can’t help but see these images as a punch to the gut,” Blinken told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” Sunday.
State Department spokesperson suggests US will take additional actions against Russia “very soon”: State Department spokesperson Ned Price, meanwhile, hinted at additional US action against Russia coming “very soon” when asked about Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s request for greater G7 sanctions in response to the latest atrocities in Bucha. “When it comes to our sanctions, we’ve always said that we will continue applying pressure on President Putin, on the Kremlin, on all of those around him including oligarchs and cronies who are empowering this war of choice against Ukraine, until and unless the Kremlin deescalates, until and unless the violence diminishes, and until and unless these kinds of atrocities come to an end. So I suspect you will very soon see additional pressure applied,” Price told MSNBC Sunday.
NATO chief warns attacks in Ukraine will continue: This is not a “real withdrawal of Russian forces,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, warning that attacks in Ukraine will continue. “What we see is not a real withdrawal. But we see that Russia is repositioning its troops and they are taking some of them back to rearm them, to reinforce them, to resupply them. We should not in a way be too optimistic because the attacks will continue,” Stoltenberg told CNN’s Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash on Sunday.
Ukrainian city of Chernihiv mostly destroyed, mayor says: The northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv is about 70% destroyed following an assault by Russian troops, Vladyslav Atroshenko, the city’s mayor, said Sunday. The “consequences” of the attack by Russia in Chernihiv are “severe,” similar to the aftermath in other badly damaged cities and towns like Bucha, where bodies of civilians were found in the streets, as well as in Kharkiv and Mariupol, he said. The most urgent issues facing residents is a “concentration of Russian troops on the Belarusian border,” and concerns the city will be hit with more missiles and air bombs, Atroshenko added.
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Ukrainian official: Shelling and warnings of missile strikes in Kharkiv region
From CNN's Nathan Hodge in Lviv and Kostan Nechyporenko in Vasylkiv
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in a house damaged by Russian shelling in Kharkiv on April 3.
The regional military governor of Kharkiv said Sunday Russian forces had fired on a district of the city of Kharkiv, causing civilian casualties, and he warned of threats of missile strikes in the region.
Syniehubov warned as well of “threats of missile strikes” south of Kharkiv in the community of Lozova.
“We recommend evacuating the population. Tomorrow we plan to transport Lozova residents in the direction of the Poltava region by electric train,” he said.
The military governor said the most intense fighting was in the vicinity of Izium. He claimed the Ukrainian Air Force shot down a Russian Su-34 bomber in the Izium area, taking the pilot prisoner. The claim could not be immediately verified.
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European leaders condemn images from Bucha and call for investigation of Russian military
A Ukrainian soldier patrols a street in the town of Bucha in an armored vehicle on April 2.
(Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
The bodies of at least 20 civilian men were found strewn across a street in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area, according to disturbing images released by AFP on Saturday.
European leaders have condemned the alleged atrocities and called for an investigation into the Russian military. The Russian Ministry of Defense denied the allegations on Sunday.
Here’s a look at how leaders from around the continent are reacting:
UK: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Sunday accused Russian forces of committing “appalling acts” in the Ukrainian towns of Bucha and Irpin and demanded that they be investigated as war crimes.
“As Russian troops are forced into retreat, we are seeing increasing evidence of appalling acts by the invading forces in towns such as Irpin and Bucha,” Truss said in a statement on Sunday.
Truss stressed that Russia should not be allowed to “cover up their involvement in these atrocities through cynical disinformation,” adding that the UK will play its part in ensuring this doesn’t occur.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also released a statement on Sunday condemning the events in Ukraine.
“Russia’s despicable attacks against innocent civilians in Irpin and Bucha are yet more evidence that Putin and his army are committing war crimes in Ukraine,” the statement said.
“No denial or disinformation from the Kremlin can hide what we all know to be the truth – Putin is desperate, his invasion is failing, and Ukraine’s resolve has never been stronger,” the leader added.
“I will do everything in my power to starve Putin’s war machine. We are stepping up our sanctions and military support, as well as bolstering our humanitarian support package to help those in need on the ground,” the statement said.
Truss committed the UK’s full support to “any investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its role as the primary institution with the mandate to investigate and prosecute war crimes.” On March 24, the UK offered the ICC an additional £1 million funding to assist efforts to investigate Russian war crimes.
Last week, the Attorney General for England and Wales Suella Braverman offered the assistance of top UK lawyer Howard Morrison QC to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General.
She said in a statement that he would “provide independent and expert legal advice to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova in relation to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.”
European Union: Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, tweeted on Sunday: “Appalled by reports of unspeakable horrors in areas from which Russia is withdrawing. An independent investigation is urgently needed.”
“Perpetrators of war crimes will be held accountable,” she continued.
European Parliament chief Roberta Metsola, who became the first leader of a European Union institution to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion began when she paid a visit to Kyiv on Friday, said the images from Bucha and other liberated areas in Ukraine show the “cold reality of Putin’s war crimes.”
In a tweet Sunday, Metsola said she was “appalled” by the “atrocities of Russian army in Bucha & other liberated areas” and stressed that the world must be made “aware of what is happening” in Ukraine and “tougher sanctions must be imposed” on Russia in retaliation.
“The perpetrators & their commanders must be brought to justice,” she concluded.
Germany: German chancellor Olaf Scholz called the Bucha images “terrible and horrifying” and said the perpetrators must be held accountable.
“We must relentlessly investigate these crimes committed by the Russian military. I demand that international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross be given access to these areas in order to independently document the atrocities. The perpetrators and those who commissioned them must be held consistently accountable,” Scholz said.
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, meanwhile, said the images coming out of the Ukrainian town of Bucha were “unbearable.”
Baerbock tweeted on Sunday that “Putin’s unrestrained violence wipes out innocent families and knows no boundaries,” and called for those responsible for “war crimes” to be held accountable.
“We will tighten the sanctions against Russia, and will support Ukraine even more with their defense,” she tweeted.
France: French President Emmanuel Macron also called the images of Bucha “unbearable.”
“The images that reach us from Bucha, a liberated city near Kyiv, are unbearable. In the streets, hundreds of civilians were cowardly murdered. My compassion for the victims, my solidarity with the Ukrainians,” Macron said in a tweet.
“The Russian authorities will have to answer for these crimes,” he added.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned that if what he called “massive abuses” in Bucha, Ukraine turn out to be war crimes, those responsible will be “tried and convicted.”
“The strongest possible economic and international pressure must be maintained and reinforced on Russia to force the Russian authorities to put an end to the war of aggression that they launched on February 24 against Ukraine, the human cost and humanitarian impact of which are becoming more serious every day,” Le Drian said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
Italy: Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy on Sunday condemned Russia’s alleged violence against civilians in Bucha.
“The images of the crimes committed in Bucha and in the other areas liberated by the Ukrainian army leave us astonished,” he said in a statement released by his press office.
“The cruelty of the massacres of unarmed civilians is frightening and unbearable. The Russian authorities must immediately cease hostilities, stop the violence against civilians, and must account for what has happened,” he added.
Spain: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed “horror, pain, and outrage” after seeing images of civilians killed in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, in a tweet on his official account on Sunday.
The war crimes that are being committed cannot go unpunished,” Sánchez said. “All our solidarity, help and support to the Ukrainian people.”
CNN’s Nathan Hodge, Max Foster, James Frater, Stephanie Halasz, Niamh Kennedy, Nicola Ruotolo and Amy Cassidy contributed reporting to this post.
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UN secretary general: "Independent investigation" into civilians killed in Bucha is "essential"
From CNN staff
The top UN official said an “independent investigation” into the civilians killed in Bucha, Ukraine, is “essential” to ensure “effective accountability.”
“I am deeply shocked by the images of civilians killed in Bucha, Ukraine,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said in a statement Sunday.
“It is essential that an independent investigation leads to effective accountability,” he continued.
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Regional military governor: 14 taken to hospital and 1 dead in shelling of Mykolaiv
From CNN's Kareem Khadder in Mykolaiv
Vitalii Kim, the regional military governor of Mykolaiv region, said a total of 14 people were taken to the hospital following the shelling of the city of Mykolaiv.
It was not clear from the statement if the person who died was among those delivered to the hospital.
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Here's what a CNN team on the scene of a mass grave in the Ukrainian town of Bucha saw
From CNN's Fred Pleitgen, Vasco Cotovio, Daria Markina and Byron Blunt in Bucha
People stand near a mass grave in Bucha, Ukraine on April 3.
(Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images)
A mass grave has been discovered in the town of Bucha, in the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, a CNN team found.
Bodies were first buried in the grave, on the grounds of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, in the first days of the war, residents told CNN.
CNN saw at least a dozen bodies in body bags pilled inside the grave. Some were already partially covered.
According to residents, more bodies are already buried on site. They said they belong mostly to civilians killed in the fighting around Bucha.
Residents told CNN that around 150 people are buried there.
The mayor of Bucha said in public remarks on Saturday that there could be up to 300 victims buried on site.
CNN was unable to independently verify those numbers or the identities and nationalities of those buried in the grave.
The earth on the church grounds appeared to have been recently moved so it is feasible that a larger number of bodies is buried there.
Bucha has seen some of the heaviest fighting since the war started.
Destroyed Russian vehicles line the streets and most houses have been damaged in some way, with a large portion of the buildings there completely destroyed.
CNN’s Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen, producer Vasco Cotovio, producer Daria Markina and photojournalist Byron Blunt also saw people at the site of the mass grave crying and looking for the bodies of lost loved ones.
Listen to CNN’s eyewitness account:
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Ukrainian city of Chernihiv mostly destroyed, mayor says
From CNN staff
A man rides his bicycle near damaged residential buildings in Chernihiv, Ukraine on March 4.
(Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images)
The northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv is about 70% destroyed following an assault by Russian troops, Vladyslav Atroshenko, the city’s mayor, said Sunday.
The “consequences” of the attack by Russia in Chernihiv are “severe,” similar to the aftermath in other badly damaged cities and towns like Bucha, where bodies of civilians were found in the streets, as well as in Kharkiv and Mariupol, he said.
The most urgent issues facing residents is a “concentration of Russian troops on the Belarusian border,” and concerns the city will be hit with more missiles and air bombs, Atroshenko added.
“Russians move around Ukraine like at home. And the fact that they left does not mean that they will not come back tomorrow. It takes about an hour and a half for them to get to us … Today we can say it is quiet, there is cleaning, there is demining,” he said.
A city market is damaged in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on March 30.
(AP)
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Ukrainian president reacts to images from Bucha: "This is genocide"
From CNN's Niamh Kennedy and Anastasia Graham Yooll in London
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, April 2.
(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/AP)
“This is genocide,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, speaking after images emerged of civilian bodies strewn across the streets of Bucha, northwest of the capital of Kyiv, following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area.
When asked during an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” program if Russia is carrying out genocide in Ukraine, Zelensky replied: “Indeed. This is genocide.”
Ukraine doesn’t want to be “subdued to the policy of the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said, adding that this “is the reason we are being destroyed and exterminated.”
“This is happening in the Europe of the 21st century. So, this is the torture of the whole nation,” the president stressed to viewers.
The alleged atrocities in Bucha have drawn international outrage, with Western leaders calling for war crimes investigations and fresh sanctions on Russia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the State Department would help document any atrocities the Russian military committed against Ukrainian civilians. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the deaths of civilians in Bucha a “brutality” and said “I strongly welcome” an investigation by International Criminal Court, which has opened an investigation into war crimes in Ukraine.
Russia’s response: The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the extensive footage was “fake,” saying “not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions,” during Russia’s occupation of Bucha. “In the settlements of the Kiev region, Russian military personnel delivered and issued 452 tons of humanitarian aid to civilians,” it said in a statement.
A separate statement claimed the footage was staged. “Stories about Bucha appeared in several foreign media outlets at once, which looks like a planned media campaign,” the statement said. “Taking into account that the troops left the city on March 30, where was the footage for four days? Their absence only confirms the fake.”
The Russian government has consistently responded to allegations of civilian casualties inflicted by Russian forces with blanket denials. After the Russian air force bombed a maternity hospital on March 9, Russian officials attempted to cast doubt on widespread media reports, with one Russian diplomat accusing a victim of the bombing — a woman who escaped from the bombing, bloodied and still pregnant — of being an actor and not a real victim.
CNN has not been able to independently confirm the details around the men’s deaths. CNN had requested comment from the Russian defense ministry regarding allegations of the execution of civilians in the Kyiv region and other parts of Ukraine.
CNN’s Nathan Hodge, Chandelis Duster and Jeremy Herb contributed reporting to this post.
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State Department spokesperson suggests US will take additional actions against Russia "very soon"
From CNN's Sarah Fortinsky
US State Department spokesman Ned Price speaks during a news conference on March 10, in Washington, DC.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
State Department spokesperson Ned Price hinted at additional US action against Russia coming “very soon” when asked about Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s request for greater G7 sanctions in response to the latest atrocities in Bucha.
“When it comes to our sanctions, we’ve always said that we will continue applying pressure on President Putin, on the Kremlin, on all of those around him including oligarchs and cronies who are empowering this war of choice against Ukraine, until and unless the Kremlin deescalates, until and unless the violence diminishes, and until and unless these kinds of atrocities come to an end. So I suspect you will very soon see additional pressure applied,” Price told MSNBC Sunday.
Shocking images came to light from Bucha, Ukraine Saturday by Agence France-Presse of at least 20 civilian men dead and lining a single street. The photos were released the same day Ukraine declared the town liberated from Russian troops. Accounts of alleged Russian atrocities are emerging as its forces retreat from areas near Kyiv following a failed bid to encircle the capital.
CNN has not been able to independently confirm the details around the men’s deaths and has requested comment from the Russian defense ministry regarding allegations of the execution of civilians in the Kyiv region and other parts of Ukraine.
Asked about peace talks, Price said, “We have not seen any indication yet that the Russians are truly serious about deescalating this war.”
Price also dismissed reports that the Russian ruble is recovering from the sanctions, saying, “This is almost entirely artificial. The ruble is on life support with draconian measures that the Kremlin has been forced to take to artificially prop up the value of the ruble.”
Price noted that the government is preventing Russians and others from selling rubles “precisely to establish this floor and ensuring that the value we see reflected on the market isn’t actually the actual worth of the ruble today.”
“When it comes to the Russian economy, 30 years of economic integration have been undone in the past five weeks alone,” Price said.
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US will provide $50 million to Moldova to assist with Ukrainian refugees
From CNN's Richard Roth
Ukrainian refugees cross the border into Moldova on March 30.
(Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images)
The US will provide $50 million to help Moldova assist with the impacts of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, including supporting programs training and equipment for border management, and efforts to counter human trafficking, according to a news release.
The US mission said the funding will also provide assistance “to improve accountability and transparency in the justice sector, and combat corruption and cybercrime,” the release said.
“You have welcomed them with open arms. And for this, your hospitality and generosity are now known around the world. I want you to know that, in all your efforts, you have a committed partner in the United States. We know that this assistance will go far in your hands,” she continued.
The US funding will also support “key lines of effort of the Moldova Support Conference, taking place April 5 in Berlin, to advance international support for Moldova’s resilience and reform agenda,” the US mission said.
According to the US mission, more than $178 million has been provided inside Ukraine, and over $123 million has been given to neighboring countries and the EU to support humanitarian efforts and the host of millions of refugees.
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NATO chief warns attacks in Ukraine will continue: This is not a "real withdrawal of Russian forces"
From CNN's Niamh Kennedy in London
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks with CNN on Sunday.
(CNN)
This is not a “real withdrawal of Russian forces,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, warning that attacks in Ukraine will continue.
Stoltenberg was speaking in the wake of reports from the Ukrainian government Saturday that the entire Kyiv region had been “liberated” from Russian forces. “Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel and the whole Kyiv region was liberated from the invader,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a Facebook post.
CNN has not confirmed that the entire Kyiv region has been cleared of Russian troops by Ukrainian forces, but the Ukrainian military has in recent days regained control of suburbs around the capital, which has remained under government control. The Russian military has said it is “de-escalating” around Kyiv.
NATO is also “also concerned about potential increased attacks especially in the in the south and in the east,” the alliance’s chief said.
“So, this is not a real withdrawal but more a shift in the in the in strategy. Focusing more on the on the south and east,” he added.
CNN’s Nathan Hodge contributed reporting to this post.
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White House chief of staff says the war in Ukraine is "far from over"
From CNN's Jasmine Wright
Ron Klain speaks during a House Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing in Washington, DC, in 2020.
(Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden’s White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said the war in Ukraine is “far from over” this morning in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.”
Klain continued: “But I think we have to be very clear. I think there’s a lot of evidence that Putin is simply taking his troops out of the northern part of the country to redeploy them to the eastern part of the country to relaunch a battle there. So I think there have been victories for the Ukrainians so far, but this war, sadly, is far from over.”
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NATO secretary general calls civilian deaths in Bucha a "brutality"
From CNN's Chandelis Duster
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Sunday called the deaths of civilians in a town northwest of Kyiv a “brutality” after allegations they were executed by Russian forces in the area.
The bodies of at least 20 civilian men were found strewn across a street in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area in disturbing images released by AFP on Saturday. CNN has requested comment from the Russian Ministry of Defense regarding allegations of the execution of civilians in the Kyiv region and other parts of Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said, “I strongly welcome” an investigation by International Criminal Court, which has opened an investigation into war crimes in Ukraine.
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US secretary of state: Images of dead Ukrainians in Bucha "a punch to the gut"
From CNN's Jeremy Herb
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting on April 1 in Washington, DC.
(Olivier Douliery/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the State Department would help document any atrocities the Russian military committed against Ukrainian civilians, following new images from AFP out of the town of Bucha northwest of Kyiv showing the bodies of at least 20 civilian men found lying strewn across the street.
Last month, the US State Department formally accused Russian forces of war crimes in Ukraine. Asked Sunday whether Russian troops were committed genocide, Blinken said, “We will look hard and document everything that we see, put it all together, make sure that the relevant institutions and organizations that are looking at this, including the State Department, have everything they need to assess exactly what took place in Ukraine, who’s responsible and what it amounts to.”
“I think the most important thing is we can’t become numb to this, we can’t normalize this,” Blinken added. “This is the reality that’s going on every day as long as Russia’s brutality against Ukraine continues. That’s why it needs to come to an end.”
Blinken declined to confirm reporting from CNN and others that the US was helping facilitate the transfer of Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine, which was one of the weapons systems Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been seeking.
But Blinken said the US and NATO countries were helping to get Ukraine the weapons it needed, adding there would soon be 10 anti-tank weapons systems in Ukraine for every one Russian tank that’s in Ukrainian territory.
“Across the board, what we’re trying to do is make sure the Ukrainians have the systems they need that they can use and they can use right away,” Blinken said.
Asked about the prospect of Ukraine maintain neutrality between the West and Russian as part of a negotiated end to the war, Blinken said the Biden administration would support what the Ukrainians want to maintain their sovereignty.
“When it comes to the future, we and allies and partners are going to want to make sure to do everything we can to ensure that this can’t happen again and that Ukraine has the means to defend itself, to deter further Russian aggression,” he said. “So we will look at anything we can do back up that kind of outcome.”
Watch the interview:
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It's 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know
From CNN Staff
Ukrainian soldiers patrol the streets of Bucha, Ukraine on April 2.
(Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)
The Russian defense ministry on Sunday confirmed a strike on an oil refinery and fuel storage facilities in the key Ukrainian port city of Odesa, which has largely been spared the full brunt of Russian assaults since the invasion began in February.
A black plume of smoke was visible over the city Sunday morning, and a fuel depot in the Ukrainian city of Odesa was burning, according to a CNN team on the scene, with one witness telling CNN they heard six explosions at the fuel depot before sunrise.
The Odesa City Council confirmed an air attack on their Telegram account Sunday morning, saying that some Russian missiles were downed by their air defense system and that fire had broken out in some districts.
The coastal city of Odesa has been a place of relative calm during the Russian invasion and a haven for displaced Ukrainians from areas that have seen the worst fighting. But Odesa has been bracing for a Russian attack for weeks, with its city center full of anti-tank barricades to fortify against an invasion.
Here are more of the latest headlines to catch you up on the Russia-Ukraine conflict:
Bodies discovered in the streets of Bucha: Civilian bodies were found littering the streets of a Ukrainian town northwest of Kyiv following the withdrawal of Russian forces, according to images released by AFP on Saturday – the latest horrifying mark of the mounting civilian toll of Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine. The Russian withdrawal comes as Moscow attempts to shift its focus to eastern Ukraine and away from the areas around Kyiv, where Russian forces have faced fierce Ukrainian resistance. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister said Saturday that the Kyiv region had been “liberated” from Russian forces. Following the events in Bucha, Ukraine’s foreign minister said Sunday that Russian forces are brutally targeting any Ukrainian citizens they come across. “Bucha massacre was deliberate. Russians aim to eliminate as many Ukrainians as they can,” Kuleba tweeted Sunday. Kuleba posted his tweet alongside the graphic pictures of the bodies released by AFP.
EU Council president vows fresh sanctions and accuses Russia of committing atrocities in Bucha: European Council President Charles Michel vowed fresh sanctions against Russia on Sunday, after shocking images emerged of 20 civilian corpses sprawled across the ground in the town of Bucha. “Shocked by haunting images of atrocities committed by Russian army in Kyiv liberated region #BuchaMassacre,” Michel wrote on Twitter. “EU is assisting #Ukraine & NGO’s in (the) gathering of necessary evidence for pursuit in international courts. Further EU sanctions & support are on their way.”
Russian aircraft remain “vulnerable” to Ukrainian defenses: Ukraine continues to present a “significant challenge” to Russian air and missile operations, leaving Russian aircraft vulnerable to short and medium range air defense systems, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday. “Russia’s inability to find and destroy air defence systems has seriously hampered their efforts to gain broad control of the air, which in turn has significantly affected their ability to support the advance of their ground forces on a number of fronts,” the ministry wrote in a defense intelligence update posted on Twitter. The ministry also reported a concentration of Russian air activity towards southeastern Ukraine, “likely a result of Russia focusing its military operations in this area,” it said.
Evacuation attempts from Mariupol to pick up again on Sunday: Attempts to evacuate people from the besieged port city of Mariupol will pick up again on Sunday, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. Vereshchuk said a total of 17 buses will set off from near the southern city of Berdiansk, with a view to evacuating people from Berdiansk and neighboring Mariupol. “10 (buses) to evacuate the people of Mariupol and local residents from Berdiansk … seven buses will try to approach Mariupol accompanied by the Red Cross,” Vereshchuk said in a video posted to social media Sunday.
Ukraine says Russian forces hold 11 Ukrainian mayors captive and kill one in detention: Russian forces are holding 11 mayors of Ukrainian local areas captive and have killed one mayor in detention, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Sunday. In a message posted to social media, Vereshchuk said that 11 local mayors from Kyiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv and the Donetsk regions “are in Russian captivity.” She added that Ukraine will “inform the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN and other organizations about their captivity.” Vereshchuk said the Ukrainian government learned on Saturday that Olga Sukhenko, the mayor of Motyzhyn — a village in the Kyiv region — was killed in captivity by Russian forces.
About 2.5 million Ukrainian refugees have crossed the border into Poland so far: The Polish Border Guard says 2.461 million refugees have crossed the Ukrainian border into Poland. More than 4.1 million refugees have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the UN. The same data shows that while the vast majority of these refugees have fled to Poland, others have also crossed into neighboring countries in Europe including Romania, Moldova and Hungary. In late March, a senior Biden administration official announced the United States would welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians and others fleeing Russia’s aggression.
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"Several missile strikes" reported in Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, mayor says
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva and Nathan Hodge in Lviv
Oleksandr Syenkevych, the mayor of the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, said in a Facebook post Sunday that there were “several missile strikes” on the city, adding that authorities were gathering information.
In a statement on Telegram, Vitalii Kim, the head of the regional military administration, said, “I’ll tell you about the shelling tomorrow. Everything’s fine.”
In a separate video, Kim said, “The orcs [a slur for Russians] are so dumb … they said they should hit Mykolaiv with harassment fire so everyone would panic. We have lineups of cars at the entrance to the city!”
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There's a "post-apocalyptic picture" in towns retaken from Russian forces, says Ukrainian presidential adviser
From CNN's Julia Presniakova in Lviv
A resident walks amid debris in Bucha, Ukraine on April 2.
(Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)
Reports emerging from towns in the Kyiv region show a “post-apocalyptic picture” of life under Russian occupation, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Sunday.
“This is a special appeal aimed at drawing the world’s attention to those war crimes, crimes against humanity, which were committed by Russian troops in Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel,” Arestovych said.
“It of course will be taken into account by the Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine and law enforcement agencies and international criminal courts,” the official noted.
Evidence of the horrors of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine continued to emerge on Saturday, when images released by AFP showed the bodies of at least 20 civilian men lying strewn across the street in the town of Bucha, following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area.
Human Rights Watch also released a report on Sunday alleging war crimes perpetrated by Russian forces in Ukraine against civilians in the occupied areas of Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kyiv regions, including summary executions, rape and looting.
CNN’s Jonny Hallam contributed reporting to this post.
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Lithuania becomes first EU member state to refuse Russian gas imports, country's prime minister says
From CNN's James Frater in Brussels and Niamh Kennedy in London
Lithuania has become the first European Union member state to refuse Russian gas imports, according to the country’s prime minister.
“From now and so on Lithuania won’t be consuming a cubic cm of toxic Russian gas,” Ingrida Šimonytė said in a tweet Sunday.
This makes Lithuania the “first EU country” to refuse Russian gas imports, she added.
The EU has committed itself to reducing its dependence on Russian gas by 66% by the end of this year.
Some background: The European Union depends on Russia for about 40% of its natural gas. Russia also supplies about 27% of its oil imports, and 46% of its coal imports. Taken together, that trade is worth tens of billions of dollars a year to Russia.
It has promised to diversify its energy supplies before, notably back in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Little progress was made, partly because Germany — Russia’s biggest energy customer in Europe — didn’t want to rock the boat with Moscow.
But President Vladimir Putin’s decision to order last month’s invasion changed all that.
In early March, EU officials outlined plans to slash Russian gas imports by 66% this year.
A few days later, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the bloc’s leaders had agreed to spend the next two months drafting proposals for eliminating the EU’s dependency on Russian energy imports by 2027.
And on March 25, US President Joe Biden announced a new initiative that includes the United States working toward supplying Europe with at least 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas in 2022, in partnership with other nations, the White House said.
Overall, Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and oil has proved a major sticking point in Western efforts to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. While the US banned Russian energy imports, Europe found it far more difficult to cut off its supplies.
CNN’s Mark Thompson and Kevin Liptak contributed reporting to this post.
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Ukrainian forces regain control of Pripyat, the ghost town near the Chernobyl nuclear plant
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Lviv
Ukrainian troops have reclaimed control of Pripyat, the ghost town near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Sunday.
“Today, April 3, units of paratroopers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine took control of the area of the city of Pripyat and the area along the State Border of Ukraine with the Republic of Belarus,” it said on a Facebook post.
The post included a photograph of the Ukrainian flag flying over the town.
Some background: Pripyat was evacuated in 1986 following the explosion and fire at Chernobyl, the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
More than 30 people died in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, which tore through Chernobyl’s No. 4 reactor on April 26, 1986.
In late February, during the first week of the war, Chernobyl plant and its surrounding territory fell into the hands of Russian troops.
But on Thursday, Russian troops announced their intention to leave and hand over control to Ukrainian personnel, according to the state enterprise overseeing Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.
“It was confirmed that the occupiers, who seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and other facilities in the Exclusion Zone, marched in two columns towards the Ukrainian border with the Republic of Belarus,” said Energoatom in a statement published on Telegram.
CNN’s Gul Tuysuz, Tamara Qiblawi and Nathan Hodge
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Pope Francis prays for "martyred" Ukraine during his visit to Malta
From CNN's Hada Messia in Rome
Pope Francis celebrates mass on April 3 in Floriana, Valletta, Malta.
(Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images)
Pope Francis called the country of Ukraine “martyred” and Russia’s ongoing invasion “sacrilegious” during his message to the faithful at the end of a mass in Malta on Sunday morning.
Francis ends his two day visit to the Mediterranean island Sunday and is expected to return back to Rome.
The Pope’s comments come a day after he said a trip to Ukraine “is on the table” while speaking to journalists.
When asked by a reporter on Saturday if he was considering visiting Kyiv, Pope Francis replied after a long pause and said, “Yes, it is on the table.”
While Pope Francis has not yet visited Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, he has shown his support for Ukrainian refugees and called for an end to the war.
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Human Rights Watch documents alleged war crimes by Russian forces in occupied regions of Ukraine
From CNN's Tara John in Lviv
Rape, summary executions and unlawful violence are some of the alleged war crimes perpetrated by Russian forces in Ukraine against civilians in the occupied areas of Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kyiv regions, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Sunday.
The independent rights group says it has documented allegations of war crimes which “include a case of repeated rape; two cases of summary execution, one of six men, the other of one man; and other cases of unlawful violence and threats against civilians between February 27 and March 14, 2022.”
“Soldiers were also implicated in looting civilian property, including food, clothing, and firewood. Those who carried out these abuses are responsible for war crimes,” it added.
CNN has not independently verified the details of those reports.
Russian forces in Bucha, about 19 miles northwest of Kyiv, “rounded up five men and summarily executed one of them” on March 4, HRW wrote. A witness told the rights group that soldiers forced the men to kneel on the road and pulled their shirts over their heads before shooting one of the men in the back of the head.
Days before, on February 27, six men were rounded up in the village of Staryi Bykiv, in the Chernihiv region, and were later executed, HRW wrote.
In Malaya Rohan, a village in the Kharkiv region, a Russian soldier repeatedly raped a woman in a school where she was sheltering with her family on March 13, the victim told HRW. “She said that he beat her and cut her face, neck, and hair with a knife,” HRW wrote.
The woman fled to Kharkiv the following day, “where she was able to get medical treatment and other services,” HRW wrote.
In the village of Vorzel, 31 miles northwest of Kyiv, Russian soldiers “threw a smoke grenade into a basement, then shot a woman and a 14-year-old child as they emerged from the basement, where they had been sheltering,” the rights group added.
“The cases we documented amount to unspeakable, deliberate cruelty and violence against Ukrainian civilians,” Hugh Williamson, HRW’s Europe and Central Asia director said in the statement. “Rape, murder, and other violent acts against people in the Russian forces’ custody should be investigated as war crimes.”
CNN has requested comment from the Russian Ministry of Defense regarding the report.
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EU Council president vows fresh sanctions and accuses Russia of committing atrocities in Bucha
From CNN's Amy Cassidy and James Frater
European Council President Charles Michel speaks during a press conference in Brussels, Belgium on March 25.
The images were published by AFP on Saturday after journalists accessed the area following the withdrawal of Russian forces.
“EU is assisting #Ukraine & NGO’s in (the) gathering of necessary evidence for pursuit in international courts. Further EU sanctions & support are on their way.”
Meanwhile, Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union, tweeted, “I congratulate Ukraine on liberation of most of Kyiv region.”
“Shocked by news of atrocities committed by Russian forces. EU assists Ukraine in documenting war crimes. All cases must be pursued, namely by the International Court of Justice,” Borrell added. “The EU will continue strong support to Ukraine.”
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About 2.5 million Ukrainian refugees have crossed the border into Poland so far
From CNN's Anna Odzeniak and Sana Noor Haq
Ukrainian refugees arrive at Przemysl station in Poland on April 2.
(Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
The Polish Border Guard says 2.461 million refugees have crossed the Ukrainian border into Poland.
More than 4.1 million refugees have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began on February 24, according to the latest figures from the UN.
The same data shows that while the vast majority of these refugees have fled to Poland, others have also crossed into neighboring countries in Europe including Romania, Moldova and Hungary.
The decree read, “For personal courage and selfless actions shown during the coverage of the Russian aggression, I enact: To award the Order ‘For Courage’ of the III degree to LEVIN Maksym - photojournalist (posthumously).”
Some background: The body of Maksym (Maks) Levin – who had been documenting the ongoing conflict – was found with two gunshot wounds in the Vyshgorod district which sits just north of the capital, the Ukrainian attorney general’s office said Saturday in a Facebook post, citing preliminary reports.
“According to the preliminary information, the soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces killed the unarmed Maksym Levin with two gunshots,” it claimed. His next of kin have been informed, the office told CNN.
A criminal investigation is being carried out by the Vyshgorod District prosecutor’s office into alleged violations of “laws and customs of war,” the attorney general’s office said, adding that “measures are being taken to establish all circumstances of the crime.”
Levin in Donetsk region, Ukraine on January 25.
(Stanislav Kozliuk/Reuters)
Levin worked for a number of major Western news outlets, including Reuters and the BBC.
Photographer Markiian Lyseiko told CNN that he was last in touch with his friend, known as Maks, on March 12, the day before he went missing in a district north of Kyiv, where he had been reporting on the fighting and fleeing civilians.
In their final conversations, Lyseiko said that Levin had asked him to come to the Ukrainian capital so they could cover the war together.
“The best way to understand Maks is to look at his work,” Lyseiko said. “When you watch Maks’ films or see his photos, you will understand him, without words.”
CNN’s Mariya Knight, Amy Cassidy and Eliza Mackintosh contributed reporting to this post.
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Ukraine accuses Russia of trying to "eliminate as many Ukrainians as they can"
From CNN's Eoin McSweeney in Abu Dhabi
Russian forces are brutally targeting any Ukrainian citizens they come across, Ukraine’s foreign minister said Sunday after the bodies of at least 20 civilian men were found strewn across streets in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv.
Kuleba posted his tweet alongside graphic pictures of the bodies released by AFP on Saturday.
He demanded fresh sanctions from G7 nations, including a total energy embargo, the closure of all ports to Russian vessels, and a ban on Russian banks using SWIFT – a messaging service that connects financial institutions around the world.
Some background: The shocking images were released by AFP on Saturday following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area.
The dead, all in civilian clothing, were found in a variety of awkward poses, some face down against the pavement, others facing upwards with mouths open. The body of one man was seen with his hands tied behind his back.
The Mayor of Bucha, Anatoliy Fedoruk, said the dead civilians had received inhumane treatment at the hands of Russian forces.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the bodies of the men found with hands tied, “were shot dead by Russian soldiers,” in a tweet on Saturday.
Podolyak added, “these people were not in the military. They had no weapons. They posed no threat. How many more such cases are happening right now in the occupied territories?”
CNN has not been able to independently confirm the details around the men’s deaths.
Russian forces withdrew from several towns near Kyiv in recent days after Moscow’s bid to encircle the capital failed, with Ukraine declaring that Bucha had been “liberated.”
CNN’s Jonny Hallam contributed reporting to this post.
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Russian forces hold 11 Ukrainian mayors captive and kill one in detention, says Ukrainian minister
From CNN's Niamh Kennedy and Anastasia Graham Yooll in London
Russian forces are holding 11 mayors of Ukrainian local areas captive and have killed one mayor in detention, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Sunday.
In a message posted to social media, Vereshchuk said that 11 local mayors from Kyiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv and the Donetsk regions “are in Russian captivity.”
She added that Ukraine will “inform the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN and other organizations about their captivity.”
Vereshchuk said the Ukrainian government learned on Saturday that Olga Sukhenko, the mayor of Motyzhyn – a village in the Kyiv region – was killed in captivity by Russian forces.
CNN could not independently verify those claims. Russian forces have detained local government officials in a number of instances around Ukraine.
The bodies of at least 20 civilian men have been found lying strewn across the street in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area in shocking images released by AFP on Saturday.
CNN has requested comment from the Russian defense ministry regarding allegations of the execution of civilians in the Kyiv region and other parts of Ukraine.
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Evacuation attempts from Mariupol will pick up again on Sunday, Ukrainian minister says
From CNN's Niamh Kennedy in London
Attempts to evacuate people from the besieged port city of Mariupol will pick up again on Sunday, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
Vereshchuk said a total of 17 buses will set off from near the southern city of Berdiansk, with a view to evacuating people from Berdiansk and neighboring Mariupol.
“10 (buses) to evacuate the people of Mariupol and local residents from Berdiansk … seven buses will try to approach Mariupol accompanied by the Red Cross,” Vereshchuk said in a video posted to social media Sunday.
On Saturday, an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team that had set off from Zaporizhzhia failed to reach Mariupol, spending the night en route to their destination, according to an ICRC press officer.
Mariupol, which is ringed by Russian checkpoints, has been under weeks of intense bombardment. Ukrainian officials have described the situation there for the remaining residents as a major humanitarian emergency.
Ukrainian authorities are also planning on evacuating people from Severodonetsk, Popasna, Lysychansk, Rubizhne, and the village of Nizhny in the Luhansk region on Sunday, Vereshchuk added.
Some background: Evacuation efforts across Ukraine have been ongoing, with over 4,000 civilians evacuated through corridors on Saturday, according to Vereshchuk.
Humanitarian convoy with 42 buses arrive at a refugee hub in Zaporizhzhia from Mariupol after 42 hours evacuation process on Saturday April 1.
(Andrea Carrubba/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
In a statement on Telegram, Vereshchuk said 1,263 people from the besieged city of Mariupol and the Russian-held city of Berdiansk reached the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia using their own vehicles.
An evacuation convoy of 10 buses from the city of Berdiansk with more than 300 Mariupol residents also passed Vasylivka en route to Zaporizhzhia on Saturday, she said.
CNN’s Mariya Knight and staff in Lviv contributed reporting to this post.
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Russian military confirms fuel facility strike on the southern coastal city of Odesa
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva and Nathan Hodge in Lviv
A man stands with his dog as smoke rises after an Russian attack in Odesa, on April 3.
(Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)
The Russian defense ministry on Sunday confirmed a strike on an oil refinery and fuel storage facilities in the key Ukrainian port city of Odesa, which has largely been spared the full brunt of Russian assaults since the invasion began in February.
“This morning, high-precision sea and air-based missiles destroyed an oil refinery and three storage facilities for fuel and lubricants near the city of Odesa, from which fuel was supplied to the group of Ukrainian troops in the Mykolaiv direction,” a statement on Telegram read.
Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov said there were no casualties following the strike.
Trukhanov said civilian buildings and private houses were damaged in the attack.
The mayor also speculated that Russia would at some point use a contingent of troops stationed in Transnistria – a separatist republic in the neighboring country of Moldova – echoing concerns previously raised by Ukrainian officials.
“Of course, at some point sooner or later they will use them,” he said. “It’s difficult to say in which direction, but there’s a threat. (Ukraine’s Armed Forces) know this and are working on this.”
Russian troops stationed in Transnistria are not known to have been involved in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Some background: A CNN team witnessed the aftermath of the strike, which occurred on Sunday morning and sent thick black clouds of smoke over the city.
A fuel depot in the Ukrainian city of Odesa was burning, the CNN team on the scene witnessed, with one local telling CNN they heard six explosions at the fuel depot before sunrise.
Speaking about the strike, Serhii Bratchuk, spokesman of the Operational Staff of Odesa regional military administration said, “One of the critical infrastructure objects was hit this this morning.”
“Currently the situation is under control, the respective services are working on site. The details will be announced later,” Bratchuk added.
The Odesa City Council confirmed an air attack on their Telegram account Sunday morning, saying that some Russian missiles were downed by their air defense system and that fire had broken out in some districts.
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'Critical infrastructure' in Odesa hit: Regional military administration
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva
(CNN)
A Russian strike had hit “critical infrastructure” in the southern port city of Odesa, Serhii Bratchuk, spokesman of the Operational Staff of Odesa regional military administration said Sunday.
A black plume of smoke was visible over the city Sunday morning, and a fuel depot in the Ukrainian city of Odesa was burning, according to a CNN team on the scene, with one witness telling CNN they heard six explosions at the fuel depot before sunrise.
The Odesa City Council confirmed an air attack on their Telegram account Sunday morning, saying that some Russian missiles were downed by their air defense system and that fire had broken out in some districts.
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Russian aircraft remain "vulnerable" to Ukrainian defenses: UK Ministry of Defense
Ukraine continues to present a “significant challenge” to Russian air and missile operations, leaving Russian aircraft vulnerable to short and medium range air defense systems, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday.
The ministry also reported a concentration of Russian air activity towards south eastern Ukraine, “likely a result of Russia focusing its military operations in this area,” it said.
Russian naval forces continued to prevent Ukrainian resupply by sea with a “distant blockade” of the Ukrainian coast in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, the ministry said, though an amphibious landing from Russian forces was likely to be “increasingly high risk” due to Ukrainian preparations.
Reported mines within the Black Sea also “pose a serious risk” to maritime activity, the ministry said, adding that although the origin of such mines remains unclear and disputed, “their presence is almost certainly due to Russian naval activity.”
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Odesa hit by Russian strikes: local government
From CNN’s Nathan Hodge
(CNN)
Russian missile strikes hit Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa Sunday morning local time, according to the city council.
“Odesa was attacked from the air. Some of the missiles were downed by our air defense system. In some districts fire has broken out,” the Odesa City Council posted to its official Telegram account.
A fuel depot in the Ukrainian city of Odesa is burning Sunday morning, according to a CNN team on the scene, with one witness telling CNN they heard six explosions at the fuel depot before sunrise.
Some context: The coastal city of Odesa has been a place of relative calm during the Russian invasion and a haven for displaced Ukrainians from areas that have seen the worst fighting. But Odesa has been bracing for a Russian attack for weeks, with its city center full of anti-tank barricades to fortify against an invasion.
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Analysis: Russians in the dark about true state of war amid country's Orwellian media coverage
Analysis from Jill Dougherty
The heartbreaking video looks just like the pictures western TV viewers are getting from the war in Ukraine: a grandmother, bundled up in a thick jacket against the cold, stands weeping in front of her wooden house that’s smoldering from a rocket that hit her village. “They destroyed everything!” she cries. “Nothing is left.”
But this is the Russian government-controlled TV channel Rossiya24 and, in this report, the soldiers attacking her village are Ukrainian, not Russian. The Russian correspondent calls them “nationalists.” Other reports on the channel call them “neo-Nazis,” “fascists,” or “drug addicts” who use civilians as “human shields.”
Almost all reports of the conflict are from the breakaway Donbas region in Ukraine’s east, specifically the two self-proclaimed “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk, primarily Russian-speaking entities that Russia recognized as independent statelets on February 21.
Police officers detain a man during a protest against Russian military action in Ukraine, in central Moscow on April 2.
(AFP/Getty Images)
On Russian broadcasts, the war in the rest of Ukraine, the war most people around the world are witnessing, is largely ignored – the wreckage of Mariupol left in the wake of Russian bombing; the charred skeletons of houses and buildings in Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Kherson, Zhytomyr and other towns decimated by Russian airstrikes; residential neighborhoods in the capital Kyiv, along with their shellshocked, bleeding residents fleeing Russian shelling – almost none of this is shown on Russian TV. When it is, it’s blamed of course on Ukrainian forces. There is also no accurate coverage of the recent military setbacks suffered by the Russian military.
In an Orwellian touch, the conflict in Ukraine can be called only a “special military operation.” Under a law passed on March 4, it’s illegal to call the war a “war,” or to describe it as an “attack” or “invasion.” Violators can be punished with up to 15 years in prison, as can news organizations that disseminate anything deemed “fake news” about the “operation” or the Russian military.
From CNN's Sarah Sirgany, Ed Lavandera and Konstantin Hak in Odesa, Ukraine
(CNN)
A fuel depot in the Ukrainian city of Odesa is burning Sunday morning, according to a CNN team on the scene.
One witness told CNN they heard six explosions at the fuel depot before sunrise.
Multiple witnesses told CNN they had seen drones in the skies around the area over the past two days.
Video taken by CNN shows plumes of thick black smoke rising to the air from the fuel depot which sits next to a railway track. The plumes could be seen for miles in the distance. The CNN team heard no air raid sirens.
At least one secondary explosion was heard as firefighters were trying to control the blaze. It is unclear whether there have been casualties.
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It's 7 a.m. in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know
Civilian bodies were found littering the streets of a Ukrainian town northwest of Kyiv following the withdrawal of Russian forces, according to images released by AFP on Saturday – the latest horrifying mark of the mounting civilian toll of Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine.
The Russian withdrawal comes as Moscow attempts to shift its focus to eastern Ukraine and away from the areas around Kyiv, where Russian forces have faced fierce Ukrainian resistance. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister said Saturday that the Kyiv region had been “liberated” from Russian forces.
As day breaks on Sunday in Ukraine, these are the latest developments in the war:
Horrors of occupation: The bodies of at least 20 civilian men have been found lying strewn across the street in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv following the withdrawal of Russian forces in images released by AFP on Saturday. At least one corpse can be seen with his hands tied behind his back. The Mayor of Bucha, Anatoliy Fedoruk, told Reuters Saturday the civilians had been executed by retreating Russian forces.
Shift to the east: Russia has revised its Ukraine war strategy to focus on taking control of the Donbas and other regions in eastern Ukraine with a target date of early May, according to several US officials familiar with the latest US intelligence assessments. A Ukrainian presidential adviser warned on Saturday that fighting in the days ahead “will not be easy” in those regions.
Pressure on Putin: Russian President Vladimir Putin is under pressure to demonstrate he can present a victory as heavy setbacks mount up, and eastern Ukraine is where he is most likely to achieve that, US officials say. US intelligence intercepts suggest Putin is focused on celebrating some kind of “Victory Day” on May 9, a prominent holiday on the Russian calendar marking the Nazi surrender in World War II.
Diplomatic potential: A member of the Ukrainian negotiating team in talks with Russia, said Saturday that the Russian side had responded positively to Ukrainian positions on several issues and there was a possibility of “direct consultations” between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the future.
Further evacuations: More than 4,000 Ukrainian civilians were able to flee via evacuation corridors on Saturday, according to the country’s deputy prime minister. A renewed attempt by the International Committee for the Red Cross to reach Mariupol is expected to continue Sunday.
Tank transfer: The US is expected to help facilitate the transfer of Soviet-era tanks “within days” to Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the plan. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak earlier on Saturday called on the US and its allies to deliver heavier weaponry to Ukraine.
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Civilian bodies found littering streets of Ukrainian town following withdrawal of Russian forces
From CNN's Jonny Hallam
A man walks with bags of food given to him by the Ukrainian Army in Bucha, Ukraine on April 2.
(Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)
The bodies of at least 20 civilian men have been found lying strewn across the street in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area in shocking images released by AFP on Saturday.
The dead, all in civilian clothing, are found in a variety of awkward poses, some face down against the pavement, others facing upwards with mouths open.
“Three of them are tangled up in bicycles after taking their final ride, while others, with waxy skin, have fallen next to bullet-ridden and crushed cars,” according to AFP journalists who accessed the town after it had been cut off for nearly a month.
One corpse can be seen with his hands tied behind his back with a white cloth.
The Mayor of Bucha, Anatoliy Fedoruk, said the dead civilians had received inhumane treatment at the hands of Russian forces.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the bodies of the men found with hands tied, “were shot dead by Russian soldiers,” in a tweet on Saturday.
Podolyak added, “these people were not in the military. They had no weapons. They posed no threat. How many more such cases are happening right now in the occupied territories?”
CNN has not been able to independently confirm the details around the men’s deaths.
Russian forces withdrew from several towns near Kyiv in recent days after Moscow’s bid to encircle the capital failed, with Ukraine declaring that Bucha had been “liberated.”
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Russian aircraft "still vulnerable" to Ukrainian air defense: British military intelligence
From CNN’s Sahar Akbarzai and Jonny Hallam
British military intelligence said on Saturday that Ukraine’s air defense capability continues to pose significant challenges to Russian aircraft, despite the invading forces’ continued effort to diminish Ukraine’s air defenses.
Russia has not been able to obtain control of the air due its inability to find and destroy Ukrainian air defense systems, the ministry said. Thus, this inability has significantly affected Russia’s, “ability to support the advance of their ground forces on a number of fronts,” according to the MOD.
The ministry also reported that there has been significant Russian air activity towards southeastern Ukraine, “likely a result of Russia focusing its military operations in this area.”
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Ukrainian negotiator claims advances in talks with Russia, possibility of 'direct consultations' between Zelensky, Putin in future
David Arakhamia, left, Mykhailo Podolyak, center and Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev speak with the media after their meeting with Russian negotiators in Istanbul, Turkey on March 29.
(Mehmet Emin Caliskan/Reuters)
David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team in talks with Russia, said the Russian side has responded positively to Ukrainian positions on several issues and there is a possibility of “direct consultations” between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, something he said had been facilitated in part by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ukrainian officials have outlined their vision of a roadmap to a potential truce, which would include possible neutral status for Ukraine backed by a broad alliance of security guarantors.
The status of Crimea – annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 – has been a sticking point in potential negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine and most of the international community consider the peninsula to be illegally occupied. The Kremlin consistently says the status of Crimea is settled.
The Ukrainian side said there had been agreement to suspend negotiations on the status of Crimea for 15 years, but the Russian side has not confirmed, and the Kremlin has publicly reiterated its position Crimea is part of Russia.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said there was no official confirmation of those positions in writing, according to Arakhamia.
However, Arakhamia added: “Orally, as of yesterday, in a video conference, we heard that the Russian side does not object to such [Ukrainian] positions.”
The possibility of a role for China as a potential security guarantor for Ukraine appears to be credible, according to Arakhamia.
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Russia shifting focus to eastern Ukraine, US officials say
From Barbara Starr, Jim Sciutto, Katie Bo Lillis, Alex Marquardt and Jeremy Herb
A column of tanks marked with the Z symbol stretches into the distance as they proceed northwards along the Mariupol-Donetsk highway on March 23.
(Maximilian Clarke/SOPA/Sipa/Reuters)
Russia has revised its Ukraine war strategy to focus on taking control of the Donbas and other regions in eastern Ukraine with a target date of early May, according to several US officials familiar with the latest US intelligence assessments.
More than a month into the war, Russian ground forces have been unable to keep control of areas where they have been fighting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is under pressure to demonstrate he can show a victory, and eastern Ukraine is where he is most likely to achieve that, officials say. US intelligence intercepts suggest Putin is focused on May 9, Russia’s “Victory Day,” according to a US official.
May 9 is a prominent holiday on the Russian calendar, a day on which the country marks the Nazi surrender in World War II with a huge parade of troops and weaponry across Red Square in front of the Kremlin. The officials say Putin wants to celebrate a victory of some kind in his war that day.
But other officials note even if there is a Russian celebration, an actual victory may be further off.
Still, US and European officials say any deadlines Moscow may set rhetorically don’t change the reality on the ground that Russia appears to be preparing for the prospect of an extended conflict.
A European diplomat said while the Kremlin is talking optimistically, Putin is preparing for a “Chechnya-style long, drawn-out war, because he, to a certain extent, has nowhere else to go on this.”
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Entire Kyiv region "liberated" from Russian forces, senior Ukrainian defense official says
From CNN staff in Lviv
Civilians cheer along with a Ukrainian serviceman as a convoy of military and aid vehicles arrives in the formerly Russian-occupied Kyiv suburb of Bucha, Ukraine on Saturday, April 2.
(Vadim Ghirda/AP)
Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, said Saturday that the Kyiv region had been “liberated” from Russian forces.
She said in a post on Facebook that Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and “the whole Kyiv region was liberated from the invader.”
CNN could not immediately verify that the entire Kyiv region had been cleared of Russian troops by Ukrainian forces, but the Ukrainian military has in recent days regained control of suburbs around the capital, which has remained under government control. The Russian military has said it is “de-escalating” around Kyiv.
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Number of Ukrainians at US-Mexico border seeking US asylum grows
An improvised camp of Ukrainians seeking asylum in the United States is seen on the Mexican side of the San Ysidro crossing port in Tijuana, Mexico on April 2.
(Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images)
Hundreds of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion of their country have arrived at the Mexican border city of Tijuana to seek US asylum and more are expected, a Tijuana city official and a volunteer told CNN on Saturday.
Enrique Lucero, director of migrant affairs for the city of Tijuana, said there were around 1,500 Ukrainians in the city currently and he expected the number to increase to 2,000 by the day’s end.
Lucero said he expects all the migrants to enter the United States, but said American authorities have been slow to process them. The city was working to convert a sports facility into a temporary shelter to house all the incoming arrivals, Lucero told CNN.
Inna Levien, an Orange County, California resident who belongs to a group that is spearheading a volunteer effort to assist Ukrainians gathered near the border, told CNN that the number of Ukrainians has quadrupled in the past three days.
A Ukrainian child seeking asylum in the United States is seen inside a bus station on the Mexican side of the San Ysidro crossing port in Tijuana, Mexico on April 2.
(Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images)
Once the migrants arrive at the border, Levien’s group puts them on a list and assigns them a number, that way they don’t have to wait in line the entire time for entry. She said the wait to get across can take more than 24 hours.
The city of Tijuana has been instrumental in providing relief, Levien said. A bus stop was recently converted by the city into a temporary shelter while a network of churches has sprung to help house families as they wait for their turn to be processed, Levien added.
CNN has reached out to the State Department and US Customs and Border Protection but did not receive a response Saturday.
Some context: The Department of Homeland Security is allowing Ukrainians, on a case-by-case basis, to be exempted from Trump-era pandemic restrictions on the US-Mexico border. Those restrictions will end on May 23, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday. The US will welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and others fleeing Russia’s aggression, the Biden administration announced last month.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.
