April 24, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of the war in Ukraine has moved here.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards a plane for departure, Saturday, April 23, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.

US Secretary of State?Antony?Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced trip?to Kyiv on Sunday where they met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky?and?other?Ukrainian?officials, making them the highest-level US officials to have traveled to the country since the Russian invasion began.?

Though Zelensky announced the visit in a press conference Saturday, US officials had declined to comment.?

While in Kyiv, Blinken and Austin met Zelensky, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Defense Minister Oleksiy?Reznikov, and Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky for?an?extended, roughly 90-minute?bilateral meeting, a senior State Department official said.

Blinken?said US diplomats would return to Ukraine this week, the senior State Department official said,?in a strong message of solidarity from the United States.?

Blinken also relayed that US President Joe Biden would nominate Bridget Brink?as US Ambassador to Ukraine, according to the senior State Department official.?The?post that has been without a confirmed ambassador since Marie Yovanovitch was recalled in May 2019. Brink is the current US ambassador to Slovakia.

In addition,?Blinken and Austin?discussed the deliveries of recent US military assistance to Ukraine, the ongoing training for Ukrainian soldiers, and the Biden administration’s intention to provide $713 million in additional foreign military financing to help Ukraine transition to NATO-capable?systems, according to the senior State Department official and a senior Defense Department official.?

Both officials briefed press who traveled to the region shortly before Blinken and Austin were due to arrive in Kyiv;?the traveling US press corps did not travel with the secretaries to the Ukrainian capital.

In the background briefing, the officials made clear that the US military?would still?not be involved directly in the war.?“The President has been very clear there will be no US troops fighting in Ukraine and that includes the skies over Ukraine,”?the defense official said.

?“This visit does not portend actual involvement by US forces,” they added.

The Ukrainian flag flies on top of the museum with others to commemorate Anzac Day at the?Auckland War Memorial Museum in New Zealand on April 25.

As thousands gathered across Australia and New Zealand to commemorate Anzac Day on Monday, leaders in both countries paid tribute to the people of Ukraine.?

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison addressed the crowd at a dawn service in the city of Darwin.?

At a service in neighboring New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern acknowledged “all who have been affected by war,” stating Ukraine was “a most grim reminder of the fragile nature of peace, and the devastating impact of war on people’s lives.”?

Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) Day falls on April 25. On that date in 1915, allied soldiers from Australia and New Zealand landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula during World War One.?

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech after his victory, in Paris, on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated French President Emmanuel Macron on his reelection Sunday, calling him a “true friend of Ukraine.”

Macron won France’s presidential election, fending off a historic challenge from far-right candidate Marine Le Pen?during Sunday’s runoff vote. Macron took 58.55% of the vote, making him the first French president to be reelected in 20 years.

A woman walks out of the Svyato-Troitsky church during the Orthodox Easter service, amid Ukraine-Russia conflict, in Mariupol, on April 24.

Ukrainian presidential adviser?Mykhailo Podolyak said Russian forces were “continuously attacking” the encircled Azovstal steel plant in the besieged city of Mariupol on Orthodox Easter Sunday. The site has become one of the last significant holdouts of Ukrainian forces in the city, and is sheltering hundreds of soldiers and civilians.

Here’s what we know about the situation:

New CNN drone footage shows the extent of destruction in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine.

In Horenka, Ukraine, new CNN drone footage shows destruction outside Kyiv, on Sunday, April 24.

In Horenka, Ukraine, new CNN drone footage shows destruction outside Kyiv, on Sunday, April 24.

In Horenka, Ukraine, new CNN drone footage shows destruction outside Kyiv, on Sunday, April 24.

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03:03 - Source: cnn

CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward worked closely with Alexey Navalny and his team to investigate the people behind the poisoning.

She spoke to CNN’s Ana?Cabrera about the investigation and the mistakes made by the Russian intelligence team.

Q: Why does he pose such a threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he wants him either in prison or dead?

A: A lot of people have been really confused, as to why President Putin has gone to such lengths to prevent Navalny from doing his work. The easy answer, I think, is that he has exposed the rampant corruption in Russia and he has mobilized a huge amount of support online, particularly with young people.

And there’s a sense that President Putin doesn’t have any tolerance for any real political opponents. You might remember that Boris Nemtsov was assassinated just a few hundred meters away from the Kremlin some years ago.

It’s a dangerous business getting involved with opposition in any way, shape or form in Russia. And Alexey Navalny is the single most galvanizing force that the opposition has had in many years. So, I think for those reasons, the Kremlin has done everything within its means to try to stop him.

Q: You worked closely with Navalny and his team as you investigated the assassination attempt against him. What was the most surprising thing you uncovered?

A: I think the most surprising thing, honestly, was to see how Russian Security Services Forces (the FSB) were in many ways very sloppy in their tradecraft.

The extraordinary moment of this documentary is when Navalny actually calls one of his would-be assassins on an open line posing as a senior aide to the National Security Council. And this man, who he speaks to him, actually ends up spilling the beans, believing Navalny, his claim to be the senior administration official, and telling the details of how the poisoning was done – the sprinkling of the poison in his underwear. And it’s this moment where your jaw drops because you realize sometimes there’s an aura of invincibility around Putin’s Russia and this sort of machiavellian slick image that he has cultivated. But we found time and again multiple instances where they were doing things other security services would be shocked at.

To give you one more example, one of the would-be assassins actually made a call — opened his cell phone the night that Navalny was poisoned from a hotel just a few blocks away from where Navalny was. And this is what made it possible for Bellingcat and the Navalny team with us and some others to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

Read more:

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny delivers a speech during a demonstration in Moscow on September 29, 2019. - Thousands gathered in Moscow for a demonstration demanding the release of the opposition protesters prosecuted in recent months. Police estimated a turnout of 20,000 people at the Sakharov Avenue in central Moscow about half an hour after the start of the protest, which was authorised. The demonstrators chanted "let them go" and brandished placards demanding a halt to "repressions" of opposition protesters. (Photo by Yuri KADOBNOV / AFP) (Photo by YURI KADOBNOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny dupes spy into revealing how he was poisoned | CNN

Tune in tonight at 9 p.m. ET to watch the CNN Film “Navalny” on CNN.

The military head of the south-central city of Kryvyi Rih said Sunday that Ukraine had observed preparations for a possible offensive by Russian forces from the Kherson region, adding defenses were being bolstered in the area.

In televised remarks,?Oleksandr Vilkul said?Russian forces were “forming an offensive strike formation in our direction in the Kherson region. We are waiting for their possible transition to the offensive in the coming days. But we know more about them than they think; we understand all their plans; and we are fully prepared for any development in the situation.”

Vilkul said the Krivyi Rih garrison was in a state of readiness and had defenses prepared.

“A lot of work continues to help in evacuating people from the frontline zone,” he said. “Kryvyi Rih is providing buses and ambulances. We have provided medical assistance and social workers. But people are going out on bicycles and taking old people and children out in wheelbarrows.”

Earlier this week, a top Russian general said Moscow plans to establish “full control” over southern Ukraine in the second phase of its invasion of Ukraine.

Dmytro Lunin, head of the Poltava Regional Military Administration, said Sunday nine Russian missiles struck the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk.?

Most Ukrainians observed Easter celebrations on Sunday. Lunin gave no further details about the consequences of the strikes.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, accused of fraud and contempt of court, is seen on a screen via a video link during a court hearing at the IK-2 corrective penal colony in the town of Pokrov in Vladimir Region, Russia March 22.

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was sentenced to nine years in a maximum-security jail in March, according to Russian state-owned news agency Tass. He was convicted on fraud charges by Moscow’s Lefortovo court over allegations he stole from his Anti-Corruption Foundation.

Navalny, 45, was previously serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence in a detention center east of the Russian capital after being arrested in February 2021 for violating probation terms, a verdict he said was politically motivated.

After the sentence was announced, Navalny wrote on Twitter: “9 years. Well, as the characters of my favorite TV series ‘The Wire’ used to say: ‘You only do two days. That’s the day you go in and the day you come out.’”

He added: “I even had a T-shirt with this slogan, but the prison authorities confiscated it, considering the print extremist.”

The Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported that Navalny will appeal the guilty verdict, according to his lawyer.

Click here to read the full story.

Tune in tonight at 9 p.m. ET to watch the CNN Film “Navalny” on CNN.

The new CNN Films documentary “Navalny” chronicles the aftermath of top Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s poisoning, allegedly carried out by Russian agents (a charge the Kremlin denies).

CNN Audio talked with the film’s director, Daniel Roher, about how he was able to obtain intimate access to Navalny and his family, why it’s important to him for Russians to see the movie and what?Putin’s response to Navalny can tell us about his invasion of?Ukraine.?

Here are some highlights from the Tug of War podcast:

Daniel Roher on what made Navalny a captivating subject:?

“Navalny’s?greatest asset, I think, is his willingness to talk about anything. There was nothing that was off-limits when we interviewed him. There was nothing that I couldn’t ask him about, that he wouldn’t discuss. And I think that openness really comes through in the film.”?

Daniel Roher on Putin’s response to his documentary:?

“Putin was personally furious about the film and ordered it to be taken down from Russian torrent sites.”??

Daniel Roher on his hopes for Navalny:?

“I think if you spend enough time working with Navalny, you learn to have hope and optimism for the future, no matter how bleak things can be. And what I hope is that Alexey Navalny is able to one day get out of prison and that he is able to compete in a competitive, free and fair democratic election for the Russian presidency.”?

Click here to listen to the Tug of War episode.

Tune in tonight at 9 p.m. ET to watch the CNN Film “Navalny” on CNN.

A boy stands near damage and debris in Mariupol, Ukraine on April 24.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that a evacuation corridor for Mariupol was not opened Sunday because the Russian side did not guarantee a ceasefire.?

“We could not open humanitarian corridor for Mariupol, as Russia did not confirm the guarantee of a ceasefire regime,” Vereshchuk said in remarks on national television. “We will try again tomorrow.”

Guterres is expected to travel to Moscow Tuesday.?The UN secretary-general is also expected to travel next week to Ukraine, where he is expected to meet with President Zelensky on Thursday, according to a UN spokesperson.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Sunday said that?“immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access” to the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol is “urgently needed.”

What is it about?

The CNN film?“Navalny”?follows Russian opposition leader?Alexey Navalny, who was?poisoned?in August 2020 with a nerve agent during a flight to Moscow. The film paints an intimate portrait of one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics and takes viewers inside the harrowing search for answers following his poisoning.?

When and where can I watch it?

Sunday, April 24, at 9 p.m. ET on CNN

How long is the film?

98 minutes?

Who is Navalny?

Navalny?is a?Russian?opposition leader, Kremlin critic and activist. He has been a prominent organizer of street protests and has exposed corruption in the Russian government on social media.

He created the Anti-Corruption Foundation, a nonprofit organization that investigates corruption among high-ranking Russian government officials.

In March, Navalny?was sentenced?to nine years in a maximum-security jail, according?to the Russian state-owned news agency TASS, after being convicted on fraud charges over allegations that he stole from his Anti-Corruption Foundation. The Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported that Navalny will appeal the guilty verdict, according to his lawyer.

Who made the film?

Daniel Roher?directed the documentary.

“I want audiences to be reminded that bad guys win if people stop caring and stop paying attention, whether it be authoritarians rising in Brazil, Hungary, Turkey, Russia, China — or the US,” said Roher. “Alexey wants to remind us that we cannot be inactive. I want people to focus on that when they think about Alexey.”???????????

An Orthodox priest sprinkles holy water during the Orthodox Easter service next to The Nativity of the Holy Virgin Church damaged by shelling in the village of Peremoha, Ukraine on April 24.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he will meet top US officials in Kyiv on Sunday, as heavy fighting continues in the east and south of the country over Ukraine’s Easter weekend.?

Meanwhile, many Ukrainians are attempting to celebrate one of their most important holidays of the year, Orthodox Easter, two months after the?country was thrust into a devastating war

Zelensky said he was “expecting specific things and specific weapons” from world leaders who come to the country, after announcing that he would meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Kyiv on Sunday.

The White House has declined to comment or confirm the potential trip, which would be the first visit to Ukraine by top US officials since the war broke out.

Here are more of the latest headlines on the Russia-Ukraine war:

If you want to understand Vladimir Putin’s stranglehold on power in Russia, watch the?new film “Navalny,”?which premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.

Russia’s government has gone to great lengths to sideline the opposition leader?Alexey Navalny, who was sentenced to prison after surviving a poisoning attempt.

The film documents the improbable detective work that identified the team of Russian spies who hunted and then tried to kill Navalny, as well as his recovery in Germany and return to Russia, where he was immediately arrested.

I talked to one of the investigators who unmasked the spies, Christo Grozev — who works with the investigative group Bellingcat — about his methods, his new mission documenting war crimes in Ukraine and his views about how the ethics of journalism must change to fight government corruption.

Our conversation, edited for length and clarity, is below:

Catching Russian poisoners with digital breadcrumbs

WHAT MATTERS:?In the documentary, you put all these pieces together – from telephone numbers to car registrations and so forth — to figure out who poisoned Navalny. How have you and Bellingcat developed this process of investigation? And what made you apply it to Russia in particular?

GROZEV:?We started in a different way, by just piecing together social postings in the context of the initial Russian invasion of Ukraine in?2014.

The first investigation that Bellingcat did by just piecing together available pieces of data from the internet was the downing of (Malaysia Airlines)?MH17 in July 2014.

At that time, a lot of public data was available on Russian soldiers, Russian spies, and so on and so forth – because they still hadn’t caught up with the times, so they kept a lot of digital traces, social media, posting selfies in front of weapons that shoot down airliners.

That’s where we kind of perfected the art of reconstructing a crime based on digital breadcrumbs. … But as time went by, sort of the bad actors that we were investigating, they started hiding their stuff better. … By 2016, it was no longer possible to find soldiers leaving status selfies on the internet because a new law had been passed in Russia, for example, banning the use of mobile phones by secret services and by soldiers.

So we had to develop a new way to get data on government crime. We found our way into this gray market of data in Russia, which is comprised of many, many gigabytes of leaked databases, car registration databases, passport databases.

Most of these are available for free, completely freely downloadable from torrent sites or from forums and the internet.

And for some of them, they’re more current. You actually can buy the data through a broker, so we decided that in cases when we have a strong enough hypothesis that a government has committed the crime, we should probably drop our ethical boundaries from using such data – as long as it is verifiable, as long as it is not coming from one source only but corroborated by at least two or three other sources of data.

That’s how we develop it. And the first big use case for this approach was the …?poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal?in 2018 (in the United Kingdom), when we used this combination of open source and data bought from the gray market in Russia to piece together who exactly the two poisoners were. And that worked tremendously.

Click here to read the full story.

Rep. Victoria Spartz of Illinois speaks with CNN on Sunday April 24.

Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz of Illinois, who is the first Ukrainian-born member of Congress, on Sunday urged the US to restart diplomatic work in Ukraine, saying the move would send “a?strong message for Ukrainian?people.”

“A lot?of?countries are actually?bringing (diplomatic work) back to Kyiv. The least we can do – actually?bring it maybe to Lviv,” Spartz told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” “In any job – whether it’s a political job or diplomatic job – you do take some risks. You need to be smart.?But also, that’s a part?of?your job, to do?your service.?And if you’re not on?the?ground,?it’s very difficult to do your?job.”

The US and other countries pulled their diplomats and evacuated embassies and consulates from Kyiv in the days leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, shifting them to the western city of Lviv. Those officials were soon moved to Poland, commuting into Lviv, and the State Department suspended all diplomatic services in Lviv just before Russia’s invasion began.

Spartz also called on President Joe Biden to visit Ukraine, saying: “I think we can do it. We’re strong people, we’re a strong country. We definitely can arrange for our people to come here and visit Ukraine.”

The comment comes the same day US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plan to visit Kyiv.

White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said Sunday to expect more announcements on US assistance to Ukraine “in the week ahead,” highlighting the billions of dollars in security aid the US has delivered so far.???

When asked if the US was ready to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, Finer said that the administration continues to look into “additional steps” when it comes to punishing the Kremlin for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.?

“I think we’ve been clear that we’re looking at that as we’re looking at a whole range of other additional steps that we could take to hold Russia accountable for the crimes that it’s perpetrating on the ground in Ukraine,” Finer said.?

CNN reported on Monday that the US State Department was looking into adding Russia to the list of countries labelled as state sponsors of terrorism — which include North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Syria — a move that would further cement the Kremlin’s status as a pariah state.???

Finer also pointed out Russia’s “shifting” war aims since its invasion of Ukraine started two months ago, noting that it is “quite clear” that the Kremlin’s forces have “had to adjust” in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance to focus more on the South and East of the country.?

Asked about whether a further push by the Russians into southern Ukraine would change US strategy, Finer said that the US has remained “nimble.”

“We’ve shown ability to be nimble to adjust our assistance and our approach as the Russian war aims have evolved. And we will continue to do that over time depending on how things evolve on the battlefield,” Finer said.?

On the talks between the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Finer said that Ukrainians should be the “touchstone” in any discussions.?

Asked to confirm whether the US would be sending a high-level delegation to Ukraine, as Zelensky said would be happening, Finer reiterated that the US would not announce such a visit in advance.?

“We’ve also been quite clear that if we were going to take some sort of high-level visit to Ukraine, we would not be announcing that in advance,” Finer said.

Rep. Victoria Spartz, a Republican from Indiana, spoke to CNN’s Dana Bash this morning from Kyiv, Ukraine. Spartz, the first Ukrainian-born representative in the US Congress, said that she traveled to Ukraine to be with family to celebrate Orthodox Easter.

Spartz said that she met with the head of?the Ukrainian church in Kyiv during her trip.

She said, “people, you?know, even they go through?trouble but they try to?celebrate” the Easter holiday.?She said that she was able to attend Easter church services with her 88-year-old grandmother today. She also has another grandmother, who is 95, that also still lives in Ukraine. Asked if she worries about their safety, Spartz said, “I do.”

Spartz said of her grandmother that she was with earlier today, that her father and mother were shot during World War II and that what’s going on in the country today is “unbelievable” to her.

“The atrocities that are?happening in this country, even?some man I talked to was crying,” Spartz added.?

“This?is?so bad.?You know, I mean, this?is?something that’s unbelievable.?And the world has to help?Ukraine to win this war, bring?the peace back to Europe and?bring the international order?back.?That’s the responsibility for?us.?We need to put more pressure on?Russia,” she said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that an evacuation of civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol “must be organized.”

In a tweet Sunday, Zelensky said that “on the eve” of Erdogan’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he?stressed to the Turkish leader “the need for immediate evacuation of civilians from Mariupol, including Azovstal, and immediate exchange of blocked troops.”

The two leaders’ remarks echo calls Sunday from the International Committee for the Red Cross to be granted “immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access” to Mariupol so that voluntary evacuations of civilians can take place.

Turkey has previously offered to evacuate people trapped in the besieged city by boat. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told reporters in early April that the country can “provide vessel support for evacuations from Mariupol.”

On Sunday, Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s “readiness to provide any help necessary in the negotiation process” between Russia and Ukraine, maintaining that he “has a positive view on the issue of guarantees,” the readout said.

Zelensky said he also raised issues relating to Ukraine’s?“defense capabilities and global food security,” highlighting the threat posed by the blockade of navigation in the Black Sea.

View Zelensky’s Twitter thread here:

A woman takes a selfie with a group of Ukrainian refugees in front of the St. George Russian Orthodox Monastery in Milmersdorf,?Germany on Sunday April 24.

Germany’s federal police has recorded?376,124 refugees from Ukraine to date, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.?

These are predominantly children, women and elderly people, they said in a Sunday tweet.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said that?“immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access” to the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol is “urgently needed.”

In a press release Sunday, the ICRC said it is “deeply alarmed by the situation in Mariupol, where the population is in dire need of assistance.”

Russian forces continued to attack the city on Sunday, Ukrainian Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar said in an Easter message. Troops of Azov – originally formed as a nationalist volunteer battalion but subsequently folded into the Ukrainian military – continue to hold out in the besieged Azovstal plant, along with other Ukrainian forces as Ukrainian officials estimate that 100,000 civilians require evacuation from the devastated city.

“Immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access is urgently required to allow for the voluntary safe passage of thousands of civilians and hundreds of wounded out of the city, including from the Azovstal plant area,” the ICRC continued.

The ICRC have made several attempts to evacuate civilians from the city with one of its teams detained overnight by police in early April during one attempt to reach the city. After the team were released, an ICRC spokesperson said the incident?showed “how volatile and complex the operation to facilitate safe passage around Mariupol has been for our team.”

“Each day, each hour that passes has a terrible human cost,” the ICRC stressed on Sunday, adding that it “stands ready” to help the parties to the conflict to agree upon voluntary evacuation arrangements.?

Its teams “are in place to facilitate safe passage operations as soon as such agreement is reached and security guarantees are provided,” the ICRC concluded.?

A priest delivers a short prayer before making his way around the room blessing the meal during a special Easter Sunday brunch for displaced Ukrainians in Lviv, Ukraine, on April 24.

Orthodox Christians across Ukraine are marking Easter Sunday. But this year’s celebrations have been deeply marred by Russia’s ongoing and brutal invasion.

Today the sun shines brightly in the western city of Lviv – a welcome signal of spring after days of colder temperatures, grey skies and rain. It’s fitting on this most important of holidays, which emphasizes reflection and rebirth.

At a high school in the city center, teachers are putting on a special Easter brunch for displaced Ukrainians who fled here from war-torn parts of the country.

“It’s a great honor for us. I wanted all the people to get together and to have this lunch especially because this is the day when we really hope for our victory. And I do believe that we will win,” principal Svitlana Matys?tells CNN.

She explains the school has been providing food and shelter to many in the weeks since the conflict erupted. Today, a priest has come to bless a bountiful buffet of paska (traditional Easter bread), sausages and salads prepared by the school’s staff.

Matys?says eight of the teachers worked until 11 p.m. last night – delayed at one point by air raid sirens across the city – to put finishing touches on their offerings and ensure everything was perfect for their guests. ?

Shrugging it off, she says: “It was late but when we are at home preparing for this holiday, we do it all night – it’s a habit.”

Tetiana, 73, from Severodonetsk in Luhansk region is seen during special Easter Sunday brunch?on Sunday April 24.

It’s a welcomed gesture from those here today, who include 73-year-old Tetiana from Severodonetsk in Luhansk region.

“We feel joy and gratitude for sheltering us. We were provided with all the convenience here and now such a nice holiday was organized for us,” she says.

“Yesterday we went to the church and today we are here. Easter for me is first of all peace. We wish the war to be finished as soon as possible,” she continues as tears started to fall from her eyes.

After mingling among the diners, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reflects on the significance of celebrating this year.

“For Ukrainians, Easter is one of the most important holidays of the year – it symbolizes resurrection,” he explains. “Always when there are hard times for Ukraine we say: ‘Christ was resurrected, and Ukraine will be resurrected.’ And it’s really a sign, because Ukrainians in their nature are optimistic and believe in kindness.”

In an Easter message Captain Svyatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of Ukraine’s Azov Regiment, said Sunday that Russian forces were continuing to bombard the city of Mariupol, underscoring the need for evacuation of civilians and encircled Ukrainian forces.??

Palamar added: “We would like to thank those who are trying to help the civilians of Mariupol to evacuate from this dangerous area, with actions, not just words. I thank those who are making every effort to withdraw our military from the encirclement, who were left alone with the overwhelming forces of the enemy.”

The Azov Regiment, sometimes referred to as the Azov Battalion, is a unit that began as an ultra-nationalist volunteer battalion but has since integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces.

Azov troops have been holding out in Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal plant, along with other Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian presidential adviser?Mykhailo Podolyak said earlier that Russian forces were “continuously attacking” the encircled Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on Easter Sunday.

Ukrainian officials have said around 100,000 civilians require evacuation from the city, which has been ruined by weeks of Russian bombardment.

Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov speaks with CNN on Sunday April 24.

Melitopol mayor?Ivan Fedorov told CNN’s Boris Sanchez Sunday that Ukraine urgently needs support to win the war.

Fedorov called on the United States and the European Union specifically, saying he hopes they will give enough support and enough weapons “to win this war.”

Remember:?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.

Melitopol mayor?Ivan Fedorov, who was detained by Russian forces for five days in March, told CNN Sunday that his city is in a “very difficult and dangerous situation.”

Russian forces occupied Melitopol, in southeastern Ukraine, within days of the invasion beginning, but the city has seen sporadic protests since.?

A new mayor was installed in the city, which is under Russian military control, after Fedorov was kidnapped. Fedorov was later released as part of a prisoner exchange.

He told CNN New Day’s Boris Sanchez that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goal was to “kill all of Ukrainian nation,” starting by occupying its cities.

The mayor added that Melitopol’s citizens are not able to receive aid:

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

He said that the conflict in Ukraine was “a full-scale war — not only against Ukraine, but against the entire civilized world,” cautioning that “war will come to European cities and households” without an appropriate and timely response to Russia’s “significant threat.”

Russian forces continued heavy shelling of Ukrainian cities on the eve of Orthodox Easter celebrations, Liudmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights ombudsman, said Sunday.

Among the strikes Denisova reported were the shelling of the city of Kharkiv, which injured three policemen and one woman, and the shelling of a house in the village of Slatine in Kharkiv region, which killed two men.

Denisova said Russian strikes killed four civilians in the Donetsk region, and a further eight people in the Luhansk region. Three people working in a garden in Zaporizhzhia were killed by Russian artillery on Saturday, she said.

In Kherson region, where Ukrainian officials have warned of Russian preparations to stage a sham independence referendum, Denisova said the situation was “tense.”

Russian forces “are shelling the settlements of the region and in the direction of neighboring regions,” she said, adding: “Kherson region is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe.”

An adviser to President Zelensky’s administration said Sunday?that Russia was “trying to depopulate the east of Ukraine,” amid heavy fighting there.

When asked about the hope Ukraine is still holding out for a visit by US President Joe Biden, Mylovanov said Biden should go to Kyiv since that would help demoralize Russian troops and further isolate Moscow.

Russia has?revealed?that the goal of its invasion is to take “full control” of southern Ukraine as well as?the eastern Donbas region?and to establish a land corridor connecting Russia to Crimea, the peninsula it annexed in 2014.

Ukraine has “repelled numerous Russian assaults along the line of contact in the Donbas this week,” according to an intelligence update from the UK’s Ministry of Defence Sunday.?

Mylovanov, who is also president of the Kyiv School of Economics, said Ukraine needs long-range artillery from the U.S. to fight Russia.

He explained that “the terrain is different” in Donbas, so “the tactics of Russian forces (are) different.” He added that financial assistance and military training is also needed.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is working to “facilitate the release” of several of its Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) members who have been “deprived of their liberty in Donetsk and Luhansk,” it said Sunday.

“The OSCE is extremely concerned that a number of SMM national mission members have been deprived of their liberty in Donetsk and Luhansk,” it said in a statement posted to Twitter. “The OSCE is using all available channels to facilitate the release of its staff.”

Some context: The SMM is an unarmed civilian division of the OSCE, which is tasked with observing and reporting on conflict zones.

The mission has maintained a presence in Ukraine since 2014 – at the request of the government – following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of conflict in the Donbas region.

On March 31, the OSCE SMM’s mandate in Ukraine expired after Russia, which is one of the organization’s 57 participating states, blocked its extension.

The SMM has been operating in an administrative capacity in Ukraine to ensure the security and safety of its staff since April 1, but the OSCE has continued to report on violations of international law by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he will meet top US officials in Kyiv on Sunday, as heavy fighting continues in the east and south of the country over Ukraine’s Easter weekend.?

The White House has not confirmed the visit, which Zelensky said Saturday would include US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Meanwhile, many Ukrainians are attempting to celebrate one of their most important holidays of the year, Orthodox Easter, two months after the?country was thrust into a devastating war

Here’s what you need to know.

Expected visit: Zelensky said he was “expecting specific things and specific weapons” from world leaders who come to the country, after announcing that he would meet Blinken and Austin in Kyiv on Sunday.

The White House has declined to comment on the potential trip, which would be the first visit to Ukraine by top US officials since the war broke out.

Steel plant under attack: Ukrainian presidential adviser?Mykhailo Podolyak said Russian forces were “continuously attacking” the encircled Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on Easter Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed earlier this week that Russia forces had achieved the “liberation” of Mariupol, but ordered his forces to stop short of taking the Azovstal plant, which is the last major bastion of Ukrainian defense in the city.?

Podolyak said the Russian Federation “should think about the remnants of its reputation,” urging Russia to announce an Easter truce in Mariupol, open an evacuation corridor and agree on a?“special round of negotiations” for exchanging military forces in the city.

Ukraine successfully “repelled” numerous Russian assaults in Donbas: Ukraine has “repelled numerous Russian assaults along the line of contact in the Donbas this week,” the UK Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence update on Sunday.?

“Despite Russia making some territorial gains, Ukrainian resistance has been strong across all axes and inflicted significant cost on Russian forces,” the assessment continued, without clarifying whether the resistance was being led by Ukrainian armed forces or civilian groups.?

Moscow’s plan: Russia revealed the goal of its invasion is to take “full control” of southern Ukraine as well as the eastern Donbas region and to establish a land corridor connecting Russia to Crimea, the peninsula it annexed in 2014.

Humanitarian crisis: An evacuation corridor from the besieged southern city of Mariupol was “thwarted” by Russian forces on Saturday, according to a Ukrainian official. Ukrainian officials have said more than 100,000 people remain in the bombarded city, which the Russian government claims to control. Ukrainian fighters continue to hold out in the city’s massive Azovstal steelworks, where civilians have sheltered for weeks and supplies are running low.

Forced deportations: Ukraine officials claimed on Saturday that Russia was forcibly deporting some Mariupol citizens to Primorsky Krai in Russia’s Far East region, some 8,000 kilometers (4,970 miles) from Ukraine. In early April, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereschuk estimated that some 45,000 Ukrainian citizens had been forcibly deported to Russia since the war began.

Civilian conscription: Ukrainian intelligence has also accused Russia of planning to conscript Ukrainian civilians from the occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, according to a Saturday UK military intelligence update. This would be in violation of international law, the UK Ministry of Defense statement said.

Two children were killed in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk amid Russian fighting, according to the region’s governor?Pavlo Kyrylenko.

In a tweet posted on Sunday Kyrylenko said two girls, aged 5 and 14, died after their family home was destroyed “by Russian occupiers.”

Russia has stepped up its offensive in the Donbas region in recent weeks, according to Ukrainian officials, with heavy fighting reported almost daily throughout the?Donetsk?and Luhansk regions.

At least 184 children have been killed and 286 injured since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, according to the latest report from the UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which recorded casualties up to 21 April.

The Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine is seen on April 22.

Ukrainian presidential adviser?Mykhailo Podolyak said Sunday that Russian forces were “continuously attacking” the encircled Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on Easter Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed earlier this week that Russia forces had achieved the “liberation” of Mariupol, but ordered his forces to stop short of taking the Azovstal plant, the last major bastion of Ukrainian defense in the city.?

“RF should think about the remnants of its reputation,” Podolyak said, urging Russia to announce an Easter truce in Mariupol, open an evacuation corridor for civilians and agree on a?“special round of negotiations” for exchanging military forces encircled in the city.

As the?barrage of Mariupol continues, the city’s sprawling Azovstal steel plant has become one of the last significant holdouts of Ukrainian forces.

The industrial complex is sheltering hundreds of soldiers and civilians – and supplies are running low.

On Thursday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister?Iryna Vereshchuk said there were “about 1,000 civilians and 500 wounded servicemen there.”

Yuriy Ryzhenkov, the CEO of the company that owns the plant, told CNN on Thursday that the situation there was “close to a catastrophe.”

Ukraine has “repelled numerous Russian assaults along the line of contact in the Donbas this week,” the UK Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence update on Sunday.?

The Defense Ministry also cited “poor Russian morale and limited time to reconstitute, re-equip and reorganize forces from prior offensives” as the likely causes for Russia’s hindered “combat effectiveness.”?

On Friday, Russia declared that the primary goal of its invasion in Ukraine is to take “full control” over southern Ukraine and the eastern Donbas region. The announcement, which came from a top military official, marked the first time since the conflict started that Russia admitted it was fighting to establish a land corridor through Ukrainian territory connecting Russia to Crimea, the peninsula it annexed in 2014.

Some context: Russia has stepped up its offensive in the Donbas region in recent weeks according to Ukrainian officials, with heavy fighting reported almost daily throughout the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.?

Worshippers attend a service marking Orthodox Easter at Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church, in Lviv, Ukraine, on April 23.

They’ve endured intense battles, brutal airstrikes and unimaginable loss, but this weekend many Ukrainians will attempt to celebrate one of their most important holidays of the year:?Orthodox Easter.

Traditionally a time of reflection and rebirth, this Sunday will also mark exactly two months since the?country was thrust into a devastating war?after Russian forces invaded on February 24.

In his nightly address Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruminated on the significance of the date. “Today was Holy Saturday for Christians of the Eastern Rite. The day between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. It seems that Russia is stuck on such a day,” he said.

As?fighting escalates in the south and east, many in Ukraine are leaning into their faith in search of solace, while others are opting to journey home from neighboring Poland to be among loved ones for Easter commemorations.

Nine months pregnant when the war broke out, Nykyforchyn was one of more than?five million?who have made the difficult call to leave. She returned two days ago with her baby Marharyta.

Read the full story here.

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire on a warehouse amid Russian bombardments in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, April 23.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he will be meeting with top US officials on Sunday in Kyiv, as heavy fighting continues in the east and south of the country over Ukraine’s Easter weekend.?

The White House has yet to confirm the visit, which Zelensky said would include US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

As a new day breaks in the capital, here’s what you need to know.

Expected visit: Zelensky said he was “expecting specific things and specific weapons” from world leaders who visit the country, after announcing that he would meet with Blinken and Austin in Kyiv on Sunday. The potential visit would be the first from top US officials since the war broke out. The White House declined to comment on the potential trip.

Odesa toll: At least eight people are dead, including a three-month-old baby, following Russian missile strikes on the southwestern port city of Odesa, Zelensky said Saturday, condemning the attack which took place a day ahead of when many Ukrainians celebrate the Easter holiday.

Humanitarian crisis: An evacuation corridor from the besieged southern city of Mariupol was “thwarted” by Russian forces on Saturday, according to a Ukrainian official. Ukrainian officials have said more than 100,000 people still remain in the bombarded city, which the Russian government claims to control. Ukrainian fighters continue to hold out in the city’s massive Azovstal steelworks, where civilians have sheltered for weeks and supplies are running low.

Moscow’s plan: Russia revealed the goal of its invasion is to take “full control” of southern Ukraine as well as the eastern Donbas region and to establish a land corridor connecting Russia to Crimea, the peninsula it annexed in 2014. A British Ministry of Defense briefing on Saturday said Russian forces had made no major gains in the past 24 hours, in the face of Ukrainian counterattacks.??

Forced deportations: Ukraine officials claimed on Saturday Russia was forcibly deporting some Mariupol citizens to Primorsky Krai in Russia’s Far East region, some 8,000 kilometers (4,970 miles) from Ukraine. In early April, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereschuk estimated some 45,000 Ukrainian citizens had been forcibly deported to Russia since the war began.

Civilian conscription: Ukrainian intelligence has also accused Russia of planning to conscript Ukrainian civilians from the occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, according to a Saturday UK military intelligence update. This would be in violation of international law, the UK Ministry of Defense statement said.

Ukraine’s military said it hit 17 air targets on Saturday, according to a Telegram statement from the country’s Ministry of Defense (MoD).

The targets included three Russian aircraft, five cruise missiles and nine unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to the statement.

Earlier on Saturday, the MoD said on Telegram that at 10pm local time, soldiers in the Odesa region shot down two Russian cruise missiles fired from the Black Sea by a Russian ship heading towards the South Port.

A Ukrainian priest blesses traditional cakes and painted eggs prepared for an Easter celebration in the in Lviv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 23.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of being a “sponsor of terrorism” in his nightly address Saturday, decrying a deadly attack on the southern port of Odesa that coincided with the observance of Holy Saturday before the Easter holiday celebrated on April 24 by many Christians in Ukraine.

At least eight people, including a three-month-old baby, were killed in Russian missile strikes in Odesa on Saturday, Zelensky said. A Ukrainian official earlier said?at least six cruise missiles?were launched at the port city, as Russia continues its brutal offensive in south and east of the country.

In his remarks Saturday evening, Zelensky thanked the country’s defenders “who ensure our security this night before Easter and every day,” and vowed justice for Ukraine.

Many Ukrainians celebrate Easter according to the Julian calendar, with Easter Sunday falling this year on April 24.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pose for a photograph at the State Department in Washington, on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Kyiv on Sunday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in what would be the first visit of high-level US officials to the embattled country since the war broke out.?

The potential visit, which has not been confirmed by Washington, would come on the heels of several high-profile visits from European leaders to the capital and moves to reopen evacuated embassies.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson toured parts of the capital on foot alongside Zelensky on April 9, and European Union leaders visited the previous day.

The British government is expected to re-open its embassy next week, “dependent on the security situation,” its government confirmed, following an announcement from Johnson Friday. The European Union earlier this month said it too was restoring its diplomatic presence in the capital.?

The shift comes after Moscow rerouted its focus away from the capital and to Ukraine’s south and east, following intense Ukrainian defense in the areas surrounding Kyiv and Russian supply issues. Kyiv had for weeks braced for an attack of Russian forces, pushing embassies to close their operations there.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, speaking at a press conference in Washington on Friday, also called on ambassadors from all countries, including the United States, to return to their embassies in Kyiv.

The White House and State Department declined to comment Saturday potential visit from top US officials Blinken and Austin. CNN has reached out to the US Department of Defense for comment.

Last week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that if an administration official were to visit Ukraine, the White House would not publicly disclose that information ahead of the time, citing security concerns.

Ukrainian intelligence has accused Russia of planning to conscript Ukrainian civilians from the occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, according to a Saturday UK military intelligence update.?

The statement said under Article 51 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, occupying powers cannot compel “protected persons” – which, in this context, includes civilians in occupied territories – to serve in its “armed or auxiliary forces.” Additionally, pressure or propaganda aiming to secure volunteers to enlist is not allowed.?

“Any enlistment of Ukrainian civilians into the Russian armed forces, even if presented by Russia as being voluntary or military service in accordance with Russian law, would constitute a violation of Article 51 of the Fourth Geneva Convention,” the UK Ministry of Defense statement said.?

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, holds a press conference at the Independence Square metro station in Kyiv, on Saturday, April 23.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that leaders who plan to visit Ukraine “should not come here with empty hands.” Zelensky made the comments when?asked about what he expects from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to Kyiv on Sunday.

“The same about the leaders of other countries; they know we discussed these things in quietness, as our diplomats say, it’s quiet diplomacy. I don’t like very much, but it exists,” Zelensky said.??

“We will be happy to see?you, but please bring to us the?assistance?which we discussed, which you have or which you have the opportunity to bring,” Zelensky said. He added, “that’s why the visit from the US is very important.”??

People react as they leave a multi-store building in Odesa after Russian troops strike, on Saturday, April 23.

Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov said in a statement on Telegram a total of eight people were killed in the port city after Russian missile strikes.?

In a separate statement, local authorities said rescue work was still underway in a damaged residential building. A total of 86 people were been evacuated, and rubble was still being dismantled.

Ukraine officials claimed on Saturday that Russia has forcibly deported Mariupol citizens to Primorsky Krai in Russia’s Far East region.?

According to Denisova, volunteers told her a train arrived in the city of Nakhodka on April 21 with 308 Ukrainians from Mariupol, including mothers with young children, people with disabilities and students.

Denisova also included photos showing the Ukrainian citizens’ arrival at the train station in her Telegram post.

Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor, also claimed on April 21, “the Russians brought 308 deported Mariupol residents to Vladivostok.”

The Mariopul mayor’s official telegram post said 90 out of 308 deported residents were children.

“People were accommodated in schools and dormitories. Later it is planned to send them to different settlements of the Primorsky Krai,” the mayor’s Telegram post reads.

Photo and videos published on a Russian local news portal in Vladivostok, vl.com, also showed evacuees from Mariupol arriving by train.?

Denisova also claimed Mariupol residents were sent by bus to temporary accommodation in the city of Wrangel and were expected to receive new documents that will allow them to work in Russia.