April 12, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

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

Theirs is a world of private jets, posh Parisian apartments, Austrian ski vacations and schooling at elite universities in London and New York.

Their parents own prime real estate on the most exclusive avenues of Europe’s capitals. Their social media profiles are filled with designer dresses and red-carpet events. One young woman posted photos of her 22nd birthday, poolside at the Adriatic Sea villa of one of Putin’s oligarchs.

Meet the kids of the Kremlin.

While their parents publicly rail against the West, their kids grow up in the very countries whose societies they claim to reject.

Read the full story:

Related article Kremlin-connected children grew up in the very countries whose societies their parents claim to reject

In Kyiv, a group of small business owners are busy at work.

There’s a war raging around them and they’re reminded how close the danger is whenever the warning sirens go off in the Ukrainian capital.

They describe it as a jarring sound, yet they push through the fear because they say Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began nearly 50 days ago, on Feb. 24, has given them a new purpose — to serve their community and country in a different way.

Before the invasion, these entrepreneurs ran growing startups or family-owned businesses passed down for generations. Their companies sold products like custom shoes, baked goods and pizza in Kyiv’s historic district and e-learning tools for students, teachers and professionals.

In the midst of war, they’ve pivoted their missions and are now utilizing their resources to provide badly needed necessities such as food, first aid, even combat boots for Ukraine’s military.

Read the full story:

Kachorovska started making combat boots during the Russian invasion to donate to Ukrainian soldiers.

Related article War-time effort: A shoemaker, pizza shop and a bakery in Kyiv pivot to serve their country

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he cannot say with certainty if chemical weapons were used in the besieged city of Mariupol.

Zelensky warned other leaders to pay attention to the possibility of chemical weapons put in use.

“However, given the repeated threats of Russian propagandists to use chemical weapons against the defenders of Mariupol and its repeated use by the Russian army, such as phosphorus munitions in Ukraine, the world must respond now,” he cautioned. “React preventively. Because after the use of weapons of mass destruction, any response will not change anything. And it will only look like a humiliation for the democratic world.”

More context: Reports that chemical weapons were used in Mariupol have not yet been confirmed by the United States, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in an interview with CNN Monday.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States could not confirm the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine but noted that they “had credible information that Russian forces may use a variety of riot control agents.”

CNN cannot independently verify that there has been any kind of chemical strike in Mariupol. CNN teams on the ground have so far not seen evidence of such an attack, or any imagery from Mariupol sources to verify this.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a video broadcast on Tuesday April 12.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed swapping detained pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk for captured Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Zelensky also warned Russia that Ukrainian forces would capture more soldiers.

“We will establish the full truth about all these savages. No matter how much time and effort it takes, we will find them all. Let Medvedchuk be an example for you,” Zelensky said.

“Even the former oligarch did not escape. What to say about much ordinary criminals from the Russian middle of nowhere. We will get everyone.”

Medvedchuk was detained in a “special operation,” Zelensky announced Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked US President Joe Biden in a tweet on Tuesday for using the word “genocide” to describe the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Biden first used the word during a speech earlier Tuesday. In previous remarks, he had?stopped short of calling what is underway in Ukraine a genocide.

“Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away,” he said at an event in Iowa.

Biden then reiterated his statement later in the day, telling reporters that “it’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out even the idea of being Ukrainian.”

“And the evidence is mounting, it’s different than it was last week, the more evidence that’s coming out,” he continued. “Literally the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine, and we’re going to only learn more and more about the devastation — and we’ll let the lawyers decide internationally it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me.”

Zelensky accused Russia of committing genocide last week after a significant number of civilian bodies were uncovered in Bucha following the withdrawal of Russian troops.

“Indeed. This is genocide,” Zelensky said in an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on April 3.?“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.”

Other world leaders, such as the UK’s Boris Johnson and Poland’s Andrzej Duda, have also used the word “genocide” to describe Russian actions in Ukraine.

See Zelensky’s tweet:

CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed reporting to this post.

US President Joe Biden speaks at the POET Bioprocessing in Menlo, Iowa.on Tuesday, April 12.

The US is expected to announce it is sending hundreds of millions of dollars in new military assistance to?Ukraine?soon, according to two sources familiar with the package.

The final amount had not been finalized as of Tuesday but is expected to be close to $700 million.

US President Joe Biden is expected to use his drawdown authority to authorize the new aid package for Ukraine.

If approved, the addition of approximately $700 million in security assistance would bring the total aid to Ukraine to more than $3 billion since the start of the Biden administration, including nearly $2.5 billion since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s 2020 defense budget was only about $6 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. In less than two months, the US has provided nearly half of that in security assistance, underscoring the pace at which the White House has worked to send in weaponry and equipment.

Reuters first?reported?on the new security assistance package.

You can read more about the military assistance here.

US President Joe Biden speaks to members of the media prior to boarding Air Force One in Des Moines, Iowa on April 12.

US President Joe Biden reiterated his assessment that Russia has committed genocide in Ukraine, telling reporters gathered on the tarmac in Des Moines, “I called it genocide because it’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a Ukrainian.”

Earlier Tuesday, in remarks from Menlo, Iowa, the President first cited the possibility Russia had committed genocide, in remarks on rising gas prices.

“Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away,” he said.

Biden has previously stopped short of calling what is underway in Ukraine a genocide. His aides have said it doesn’t yet rise to the level.

“We have seen atrocities, we have seen war crimes, we have not yet seen a level of systematic deprivation of life of the Ukrainian people to rise to the level of genocide,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said earlier this month.

People walk past the Central Bank headquarters in Moscow in this 2019 file photo.

On Tuesday, France’s Finance Ministry published a detailed list of Russian assets worth 23.7 billion euros — or $25.6 billion USD — which it has frozen since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Assets belonging to the Russian Central Bank, which the ministry says are worth 22.8 billion euros, make up the bulk of the frozen assets.

The list of assets also includes 33 real estate properties with a combined acquisition value of 573.6 million euros, including a number of addresses in Antibes, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, and Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera, and 178 million euros in frozen banking assets were also listed, along with three yachts worth more than 125 million euros, six helicopters worth more than 60 million euros, and three works of art worth 7 million euros.

Correction:?A previous version of this post overstated the value of seized bank assets and yachts.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the Howard University Founders Library in Washington on Tuesday, April 12.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Tuesday in a statement it is “concerned by the recent unconfirmed report of chemical weapons use” in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol?that emerged Monday.

“The use of chemical weapons anywhere by anyone under any circumstances is reprehensible and wholly contrary to the legal norms established by the international community against such use,” said the statement.

CNN cannot independently verify that there has been any kind of chemical strike in?Mariupol. CNN teams on the ground have so far not seen evidence of such an attack, or any imagery from Mariupol sources to verify this.

On Monday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the possibility should be taken seriously, though a Mariupol official said any such attack remained unconfirmed.?

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States could not confirm the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine but noted that they “had credible information that Russian forces may use a variety of riot control agents.”

The US had previously warned the Ukrainians that Russia could use chemical agents in the southeastern Ukrainian city, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in an interview with CNN Monday.

The Ukrainian military has reported heavy fighting in the central region of Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday.?

The Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration said a five-hour battle took place in the Polohy district as Ukrainian forces tried to liberate the area.

After units of the region’s territorial defense brigade occupied part of the district, Russian reinforcements forced them to withdraw, according to?Col.?Ivan Arefyev, spokesperson for the military administration.

Polohy is northeast of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, where Arefyev said Russian troops continued to “use terrorist methods to intimidate the local population and persuade them to their side.”

Arefyev alleged the Russians were forcing businesses “to give part of their income in exchange for a work permit. Similar actions are taking place in the Berdiansk district of the region.”

Berdiansk is on the coast, some 50 miles (about 80 kilometers) west of Mariupol.

Ukrainian authorities have accused the Russians of repeatedly blocking humanitarian convoys in the same region, at Vasylivka.

Russian forces in the south have made more significant territorial gains than elsewhere in Ukraine, holding Melitopol and Kherson despite Ukrainian counter-attacks in the area. From there, they have pushed northwards.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Wednesday will publish the findings of its investigation into human rights abuses and atrocities committed in the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, according to the spokesperson for the US Mission to the OSCE.

It is unclear what the findings of the report will be at this point.

The report is the product of a weeks-long fact-finding mission led by three experts chosen by Ukraine from an OSCE list of experts. That investigation was triggered after 45 countries invoked a rare OSCE mechanism —the Moscow Mechanism — that is used to investigate human rights concerns

The report was shared with OSCE members on Tuesday and with Ukraine last week, the spokesperson said.?

Michael Carpenter, US ambassador to the OSCE, will brief the press following a special Permanent Council meeting on Wednesday.

More context: The OSCE does not have the authority to legally punish Russia if it finds evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but their facts can be given to other bodies that do have that authority.

The Moscow Mechanism, which was used to launch the fact-finding mission, is a serious step, and according to the OSCE, it has been triggered only nine other times since its establishment in 1991. It was most recently used in 2020 to investigate human rights abuses in Belarus.

Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus are all members of the OSCE.

The Pentagon is set to convene a meeting of its top weapons makers Wednesday to discuss the industry’s capacity to support Ukraine in a protracted war with Russia, according to a defense official and an industry official.

The classified discussion will include proposals to speed up the production of existing systems and develop new systems critical to the Defense Department’s assistance to Ukraine and to allies, the defense official said.

The meeting, first reported by Reuters, will bring together the top eight prime defense contractors, including General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and others.

It is “part of our ongoing, frequent dialogue with industry partners to ensure a resilient industrial base that is responsive to the department’s needs,” the official said.

The meeting between the defense contractors and the Pentagon was organized just a few days ago, according to the defense industry official with direct knowledge of the arrangements. The official said the contractors have been told the focus of the meeting is on the “capacity of the industry” to support Ukraine if the war goes on for several years.?

The sense of things, the official said, is that the US is “assuming this is going to be a years-long endeavor” in a scenario where, at a minimum, Ukraine will not able to safely manufacture weapons in its own country.

But in the meeting, the official said,?the contractors are likely to bring up the serious challenges still facing defense manufacturing in the US including ongoing and severe supply chain issues and a lack of affordable labor.?

All of this continues to constrict defense manufacturing capacity right now, and could grow worse as increased defense spending in the budget and Ukraine contracts vie for manufacturing capacity, the official said.

The issue of capacity is also impacting the manufacture of critical ammunition supplies, even though most of it is done in government-owned contractor-operated facilities.

The US has already authorized more than $2.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including more than $1.7 billion since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24th.

President Joe Biden speaks at POET Bioprocessing in Menlo, Iowa on Tuesday, April 12.

US President?Joe?Biden said Tuesday that Americans’ budgets shouldn’t depend on whether a dictator “commits genocide” in another country.

“To help deal with this Putin price hike, I’ve authorized the release of one million barrels per day from the strategic petroleum reserve,” Biden went on.

Biden has previously stopped short of calling what is underway in Ukraine a genocide. His aides have said it doesn’t yet rise to the level.

“We have seen atrocities, we have seen war crimes, we have not yet seen a level of systematic deprivation of life of the Ukrainian people to rise to the level of genocide,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said earlier this month.

On Sunday, Sullivan told CNN’s Jake Tapper that calling it “genocide” isn’t as important as calling out the atrocities.

“In my opinion, the label is less important than the fact that these acts are cruel and criminal and wrong and evil and need to be responded to decisively,” he said.

Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and oligarch sits in a chair with his hands cuffed after a "special operation." was carried out in Ukraine on April 12.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Tuesday on Telegram that Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and oligarch, had been detained in a “special operation.”

Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Medvedchuk had faced allegations of treason in Ukraine and had been under house arrest. His whereabouts had been unknown in the weeks following the invasion. Some observers speculated that Medvedchuk or one of his allies might be the Kremlin’s preference to lead a puppet government in Ukraine if the Feb. 24 invasion succeeded in toppling Zelensky.

Medvedchuk was sanctioned by the US in 2014 “for threatening the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine, and for undermining Ukraine’s democratic institutions and processes.”

But the wealthy businessman also served as a go-between for Moscow and Kyiv after the outbreak of the Donbas conflict in 2014 by leveraging his personal ties with Putin. In a 2019 interview with filmmaker Oliver Stone, Putin acknowledged that he was godfather to Medvedchuk’s daughter.

“I would not say that we are very close but we know each other well,” Putin said. “He was [former Ukrainian] President [Leonid] Kuchma’s chief of staff, and it was in this capacity at the time that he asked me to take part in the christening of his daughter. According to Russian Orthodox tradition, you can’t refuse such a request.”

Medvedchuk also had notoriety in Ukraine for his role as the Soviet state-appointed defense attorney for the Ukrainian dissident poet Vasyl Stus, who died in a Soviet labor camp in 1985.

In a statement, SBU head Ivan Bakanov said, “You may be a pro-Russian politician and work for the aggressor state for years. You may hide from justice lately. You may even wear a Ukrainian military uniform for camouflage… But will it help you to escape punishment? Not at all! Shackles are waiting for you. And for the same traitors of Ukraine as you!”

Bakanov added, “Pro-Russian traitors and agents of the Russian intelligence services, remember — your crimes have no statute of limitations. And there are no hiding places where we wouldn’t find you!”

CNN was not immediately able to reach a legal representative for Medvedchuk.

Rep. Victoria Spartz, the first Ukrainian-born member of Congress speaks with other members prior to the start of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1.?

Rep. Victoria Spartz, the first Ukrainian-born member of Congress, is urging the State Department to send its diplomats back into Ukraine.

Spartz, a Republican from Indiana, sent a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday saying that the US should consider redeploying US diplomats to Lviv in Western Ukraine to provide better coordination with Ukraine. Spartz pointed to the actions of the European Union, which returned its diplomatic corps to Kyiv.

“As the single largest provider of military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, it is past time that the United States follow our European allies in kind,” Spartz wrote.

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.

In recent days,?Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky?has urged more countries to restore their diplomatic presence in the country.

But given the ongoing fighting and the concerns about renewed Russian aggressions in Eastern Ukraine the Biden administration is not making moves to open their embassy in Ukraine in the near term despite other countries beginning to do so, according to two US officials familiar with the matter.

What other lawmakers are saying: Spartz’s letter marks a public push for the US to reconsider that position.?One Democratic lawmaker who supports re-establishing a diplomatic presence in Ukraine said there have been questions from the region about why the Americans aren’t there as other countries have gone back in.

Another Democrat, however, said the State Department has good reason to be cautious about moving Americans back onto Ukraine soil. While Russia has refocused its war efforts into the east and southern regions of the country, Russia’s air power can still strike Kyiv and Lviv.?While any civilian deaths from NATO countries in Ukraine could threaten to escalate the conflict with Russia, there are significantly different implications for the United States, the lawmaker said: “It’s a very different security situation and escalatory posture.”

Ukrainian officials and activists are watching other countries move to reopen their embassies and they are frustrated by the tentative US posture. The European Union announced last week that it would resume its diplomatic presence in the Ukrainian capital.

Daria Kaleniuk, the co-founder and executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, are also urging the US to re-open its embassy “urgently.” Kaleniuk believes that the embassy is symbolically significant but it is also important because it enables congressional visits and incoming shipments to occur more easily.

“What I learned that part of the reason why politicians are not coming because there is no embassy. So the embassy cannot provide them support in coming,” Kaleniuk said after spending last week?on Capitol?Hill meeting with lawmakers. “The lack of — an American Embassy in Ukraine also has negative impact on the possibility to purchase advanced weapons. Contractors who are building these advanced weapons, they see that there is not even an embassy in Ukraine and they are not able to work on the contracts with Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that Congress may need to approve additional funds for military and humanitarian support to Ukraine in its war with Russia, signaling early backing for more aid that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has also said will be needed.??

“At the rate we’re shipping them weapons and ammunition, we may need to do another supplemental” spending bill to continue to arm the Ukrainians and “backfill” weapons to other NATO countries that have sent their stockpiles to Ukraine,” McConnell said at an appearance at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in Louisville.??

Congress approved about $14 billion in aid to Ukraine just last month. McConnell said the Ukrainians can win the war if properly supported.

“My attitude about this from the very beginning is that our goal ought to be to win.?To win.?And I think the administration has been reluctant to say the goal is to win,” he said. “I think our definition of winning is whatever Zelensky says it is.?In other words, as long as they want to fight, we ought to give them everything we possibly can to win the fight.”

The Dutch government said Tuesday that a total of 20 yachts with Russian ownership are now unable leave the Netherlands after customs officials placed a further six vessels under “increased surveillance,” as part of the sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.?

While authorities investigate the ownership of the yachts, they are not allowed to be delivered, transferred, or exported, the Dutch finance ministry said in a statement.?

As part of their investigations, Dutch customs confirmed that “two yachts have been found to be linked to a person on the EU sanctions list.”?

The vessels are allowed to make take part in sea trials within a defined area. During one trail “the Coast Guard and Customs kept an eye on the yacht, both physically and electronically,” the statement explained.??

Of the 20 yachts, which range from 8.5 meters (30 feet) to 120 meters (390 feet) in length. Fourteen are in construction, two are in storage and four are under maintenance according to the ministry.?

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier gestures during a news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday, April 12.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Tuesday that he had offered a visit to Ukraine with Baltic leaders, but the trip was “not wanted” by Kyiv.??

Steinmeier said Polish President Andrzej Duda suggested the two leaders travel to the Ukrainian capital together with the heads of state of the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to “send a strong signal of common European solidarity with Ukraine.”?

The German president is considered to have had close relations with Russia in his previous political roles. Ukraine has previously been critical of?Steinmeier?over his links with Russia and the leading role he played as former foreign minister in improving relationships with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The German president’s comments come as other European leaders have made visits to Kyiv. Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer made separate visits to Ukrainian President?Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday.

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington DC on March 10.

The intelligence community continues to monitor whether its disclosures of previously-classified information surrounding Russia’s war in?Ukraine?have compromised any of its closely-guarded “sources and methods,” the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, said Tuesday.

The intelligence community “took a little bit of additional risk than I think we might otherwise take” in releasing information related to Russia’s planning for the invasion, Haines said, but “we all agreed to it and achieved consensus” within the intelligence community.

Her remarks provide a rare window into the closely-guarded deliberations within the Biden administration and the intelligence community around a series of remarkable intelligence disclosures made over the past four months.

Since December, the Biden administration has?released?a series of?previously classified intelligence revealing Russian moves as Moscow?massed troops?on the Ukrainian border.

Officials?have previously told CNN those releases were carefully coordinated among the National Security Council, the intelligence community and other national security agencies in an effort to disrupt Russian planning, blunt the effectiveness of any “false flag” operations and, ultimately, deter military action.

Although the tactic earned broad bipartisan support, some former intelligence officials did express surprise about the level of detail that the administration was providing publicly and raise questions about how that could be done without compromising sources and methods.

US officials told CNN at the time that the decision to downgrade any one piece of information went through normal processes, led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and that no disclosure was made that could expose the means by which the United States gathered the information in the first place.

“The intelligence community used its standard declassification procedures, which are in place to protect sources and methods,” a US intelligence official said in February.?

Haines said on Tuesday that she and other intelligence officials were also initially concerned that the tactic might draw the intelligence community — which is designed to operate apolitically and independent of policymakers —?too far into the realm of dictating policy.

“You as an intelligence community want to maintain your distance from policy to some extent,” Haines said. “And one of the concerns that was raised… was that we not be perceived as a tool of policy and that our credibility would stand on its own, and we tried to be careful about that too.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, during a meeting with Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at the State Department in Washington, DC, on April 12.

The United States could not confirm the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, but noted that they “had credible information that Russian forces may use a variety of riot control agents.”

Blinken said these include “tear gas mixed with chemical agents that would cause stronger symptoms to weaken and incapacitate entrenched Ukrainian fighters and civilians, as part of the aggressive campaign to take Mariupol.”

“We’re in direct conversation with partners to try to determine what, what actually has happened,” Blinken said at the State Department.?

Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday that the US has provided equipment to Ukraine “to protect them from the potential use of chemical weapons.”

Price also said the US is ready to help Ukraine with investigating the potential use of chemical agents.

“We have been in direct conversations with our Ukrainian partners as they are collecting facts and evidence. We do stand ready to assist in case we can be useful in terms of that investigation, whether it is any sort of technical capability or anything else,” he said in response to a question from CNN’s Kylie Atwood.

More background: After reports emerged Monday of a?possible strike involving chemical substances?of some kind in?Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the possibility should be taken seriously, though a?Mariupol?official said any such attack remained unconfirmed.

Other nations such as the UK said they are working to verify details. CNN cannot independently verify that there has been any kind of chemical strike in?Mariupol.?

When Russian troops invaded their homeland, Ukrainian President?Volodymyr Zelensky?and first lady?Olena Zelenska?refused to flee or to give in, opting instead — like many of their countrymen and women — for defiance in the face of aggression.

While the President’s focus has been on the military fightback against Russian forces, the First Lady has concentrated on humanitarian and children’s issues, working to raise global awareness of ordinary Ukrainians’ suffering as a result of the war.

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour interviewed?Zelenska?over email. Her responses have been translated from Ukrainian.

You can read the full interview here.

Anatoliy Morykin, 45, left, mourns the death of his mother Valentyna Morykina, 82, who died in a retirement home due to poor living conditions during the Russian invasion in Bucha, located on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 12.

Speaking at a news conference earlier Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said talks with Ukraine had hit a “dead end.” He appeared next to his ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

In response, a presidential adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement that “negotiations are extremely difficult” but “they are ongoing.” The official’s statement on negotiations came as Ukrainians respond with outrage to the uncovering of widespread killing of civilians by Russian troops and an expected Russian offensive.

“It is clear that the Ukrainian delegation works exclusively within a framework that is pro-Ukrainian and transparent. It is also clear that the Russian side adheres to its traditional tactics of public pressure on the negotiation process, including through certain public statements,” Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine and a lead negotiator, said in a statement released by the Ukrainian presidential office.

If you’re just joining us, here’s what else you should know:

Ukraine issues stamps saying “Russian warship, go ****!”: Ukrposhta, Ukraine’s postal service, announced Tuesday it had issued a postage stamp with the slogan, “Russian warship, go ****!” that was put into circulation today. The stamps immortalize the words by Roman Hrybov, who told a Russian warship to “go f**k yourself!” on the opening day of the war when he was ordered to surrender. The phrase has become a popular Ukrainian slogan during the war with Russia.

Russian military-linked hackers target Ukrainian power company: A Russian military-linked hacking group has attempted to infiltrate Ukrainian power substations and deploy malicious code capable of cutting electricity, Ukrainian government officials and private investigators said Tuesday. The cyberattack appears to have been thwarted.

Meanwhile, Russian troops start pouring into east:?A?large column?of Russian military vehicles facing the Donbas region was seen in a video shared on social media that CNN has geolocated in Russia’s Rostov region. The vehicles are seen facing north-west, in the direction of the Donbas region.

Unconfirmed reports of chemical attacks:?After reports emerged Monday of a?possible strike involving chemical substances?of some kind in?Mariupol, Zelensky warned the possibility should be taken seriously, though a?Mariupol?official said any such attack remained unconfirmed. Other nations such as the UK said they are working to verify details. CNN cannot independently verify that there has been any kind of chemical strike in?Mariupol.?Separately, the military governor of the Donetsk region cited preliminary estimates Tuesday, saying that as many as 22,000 people had died in the city since the beginning of the invasion.

Where things stand in Mariupol: The Pentagon assesses that Mariupol remains contested amid Russia’s bombardment of the strategically important port city, according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby. “Our assessment today is that Mariupol is still contested and that the Ukrainians are still fighting to defend Mariupol from the Russian seizure of it,” Kirby said at a Pentagon briefing Tuesday. “You’ve seen images yourself,?you’ve seen the devastation that Russian airstrikes have wrought on Mariupol and the city, but our assessment is the Ukrainians are still fighting for it.”?

Tuesday’s evacuations: Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced that nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated Tuesday from areas in southern and eastern Ukraine affected by fighting. Vereshchuk said that only 208 people had been able to leave Mariupol, which has been devastated by weeks of fighting. A total of 2,135 people had been able to leave the Russian-occupied cities of Berdiansk and Melitopol, as well as two other towns in the Zaporizhzhia region.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the global backsliding of human rights is starkly evident “in the Russian government’s brutal war on Ukraine.”

“We see what this receding tide is leaving in its wake. The bodies, hands bound, left on streets. Theaters, train stations, apartment buildings reduced to rubble with civilians inside. We hear it in the testimonies of women and girls who have been raped, and the beseeched civilians starving and freezing to death. In response people and governments in every region are voicing their condemnation and calling for those responsible to be held accountable,” the secretary of state described.

“In its disdain for human life and dignity, the Kremlin has reinvigorated a belief in people worldwide, that there are human rights that everyone everywhere should enjoy and underscore why these rights are worth defending,” he said. “At the same time, civil society, governments, and people around the world are rightly pointing out that Ukraine is tragically far from the only place where gross abuses are being perpetrated. They want the international community to shine a spotlight on human rights abuses wherever they’re being committed, and to bring the same urgency to stopping abuses and holding perpetrators accountable,” he said.

The Biden administration is preparing to roll out a new program intended for Ukrainian refugees that would expedite the process for those trying to come to the United States, according to two administration officials.?

The program comes on the heels of US President Joe Biden’s commitment to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees through a range of legal pathways and a focus on family reunification. More than two weeks since that announcement, the administration has yet to provide additional details and hundreds of Ukrainians have decided to go to the US-Mexico border to gain entry to the country.

The new parole program, which could start as early as next week, is expected to help people interested in coming to the US and allow them to stay in the country for a temporary period. According to one administration official, individuals would need to have a sponsorship application filled out on their behalf to come to the US. Details of the plan were still being finalized.?

The State Department and the Department of Homeland Security are involved in the program, according to the administration official. The approach is similar to the one taken with Afghans following the fall of Kabul.??

CNN reached out to the White House for comment. The State Department referred CNN to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately return request for comment.?

Ukrainians seeking for asylum in the United States board a bus that will go to the border crossing, at the Benito Juarez sports complex in Tijuana, located in the Mexican state of Baja California state, on April 8.

Since Biden announced he would welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians last month, officials have been in discussions about how best to prioritize applicants, including how to accommodate refugees fleeing potential persecution, according to a person familiar with the deliberations.

One official said the White House was focused partly on protecting vulnerable refugees, including those with specific medical needs or individuals from third countries who had already fled to Ukraine to escape persecution elsewhere — including dissidents, journalists and LGBTQ people.

The policy process, including which mechanism people fleeing Ukraine could use to come to the United States, has been a topic of ongoing conversations among administration officials since the announcement.

Still, Biden’s aides continue to believe most of the more than 4 million people who have fled Ukraine would prefer to remain in the region rather than come to the United States.

The 100,000 figure Biden unveiled while visiting Brussels in March doesn’t necessarily reflect the number of refugees US officials believe will ultimately seek entry to the United States, an official said.

The US has provided billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance to help countries neighboring Ukraine — including Poland, where Biden visited with refugees and aid workers last month.?

On Monday, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi met with officials from the National Security Council at the White House to discuss the refugee crisis in Europe. He also met Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.

More background: The usual refugee resettlement?route to the US is a slow and cumbersome process. It often takes years from when a person applies to be a refugee to when that individual is resettled in the United States. In March, only a dozen Ukrainians came to the US through the program and they likely applied years ago, well before Russia invaded Ukraine.?

Dozens of Ukrainians are often resettled to the US monthly, but the closure of commercial airspace in war-torn Ukraine led to canceled flights and kept Ukrainians prepared to come to the US as refugees from coming, according to refugee advocates. Their flights are gradually being rebooked from other countries.

In a recent bipartisan letter, lawmakers, mostly Democrats, suggested that the administration also “utilize existing administrative options to improve efficient processing for Ukrainians outside of the United States who already qualify for immigration benefits.” That includes, the lawmakers said, providing additional resources to US embassy personnel in Europe who are involved in processing immigrants and refugees and waiving immigration application fees.

Refugee advocates, who are intimately involved in the resettlement of refugees, have expressed concern about admitting Ukrainians through parole because it keeps them from access to benefits.?

“They’re inventing this new approach through parole, which provides no security, no safety net and so that’s worrisome and leaves the applicant at the mercy of the backlog and broken asylum system if they want to stay here permanently,” said Mark Hetfield, president and CEO of HIAS, a refugee resettlement organization.?

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday spoke with US President Joe Biden to talk about Johnson’s recent visit to Kyiv and “the need to accelerate assistance” to Ukraine, Downing Street said in a statement.?

Johnson told Biden that the UK’s latest package of aid — including anti-ship missiles and military vehicles — would be arriving in Ukraine “in the coming days and weeks.”?

The British leader also said the international community needed to commit to Ukraine in the long-term to “ensure the Ukrainian people’s vision for their country’s freedom could be realized again,” according to the statement.?

Johnson lauded the “US’ colossal military contribution to Ukraine,” and both leaders agreed that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not break Ukrainians’ resolve, according to Downing Street.?

“The pair also agreed to continue joint efforts to ratchet up the economic pressure on Putin and decisively end Western reliance on Russian oil and gas,” said Downing Street.?

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington on Tuesday, April 12.

The Pentagon assesses that Mariupol remains contested amid Russia’s bombardment of the strategically important port city, according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.

“Our assessment today is that Mariupol is still contested and that the Ukrainians are still fighting to defend Mariupol from the Russian seizure of it,” Kirby said at a Pentagon briefing Tuesday. “You’ve seen images yourself,?you’ve seen the devastation that Russian airstrikes have wrought on Mariupol and the city, but our assessment is the Ukrainians are still fighting for it.”?

Pavlo?Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said in an interview with CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Tuesday that the city is under siege and blockaded. Independent estimates of casualties from the city are not available.?Ukrainian President Volodymyr?Zelensky?has said “tens of thousands” have died in?Mariupol.

Kirby said that the Russians want to seize Mariupol because of its “strategic location” as a major port city as the Kremlin has intensified its focus on eastern and southern Ukraine.

But Kirby said that the city is significant to Ukraine, too, because of “what it represents to their economic lifeblood.”?

“It’s their city and its part of their country and they haven’t given up on it,” he said.

Ivan Honcharuk, a lieutenant colonel of the Ukrainian Civil Defense, said anti-personnel mines were found in Kharkiv.

In an interview with CNN’s Nima Elbagir, Honcharuk said that the mines were scattered remotely from an Uragan multiple rocket-launch system. A cluster was found filled with 25 anti-personnel mines that were dropped in civilian areas including the main market, according to Honcharuk.

When asked by CNN why Russian forces are performing airstrikes and dropping mines, Honcharuk said, “I don’t really know why they are doing it, but what it does is, the mines explode by themselves and cause damage.”

“These elements can detonate between 3 and 40 hours later, so we have to detonate them remotely to avoid damage to [the] civilian population,” he continued.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak gestures as he speaks to the press after Russia and Ukraine face-to-face talks at Dolmabahce palace in Istanbul, Turkey on March 29, 2022.

A Ukrainian presidential adviser said Tuesday that negotiations with Russia were “ongoing,”?after?Russian President Vladimir?Putin?said that talks with Ukraine had hit “a dead end.”

Podolyak’s statement on negotiations comes as Ukrainians respond with outrage to the uncovering of widespread killing of civilians by Russian troops and an expected Russian offensive.?

“It is clear that the emotional background in negotiation process today is heavy,” Podolyak said. “It is clear that the Ukrainian delegation works exclusively within a framework that is pro-Ukrainian and transparent. It is also clear that the Russian side adheres to its traditional tactics of public pressure on the negotiation process, including through certain public statements,” he said.

A woman cries as the bus leaves the Slovyansk central station, in the Donbas region on April 12.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced that nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated Tuesday from areas in southern and eastern Ukraine affected by fighting.

Vereshchuk said that only 208 people had been able to leave Mariupol, which has been devastated by weeks of fighting. A total of 2,135 people had been able to leave the Russian-occupied cities of Berdiansk and Melitopol, as well as two other towns in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Meanehile, Vereshchuk added that buses that had left Zaporizhzhia to evacuate people from several cities continued to be blocked by Russian forces in Vasylivka.

And in areas of Luhansk, the region most impacted by Russian bombardment, Vereshchuk said 328 people were evacuated.

Serhii Haidai, the head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said morgues in several cities are now full amid power blackouts and — in some places — the complete loss of electricity.

Haidai said on his Telegram account that bodies are also in basements in the region. In the lulls in shelling, they were being collected by volunteers and buried in “new designated places” as access to cemeteries was impossible.

The area around Severodonetsk, which has seen persistent shelling for weeks, is the worst-affected.?

“In Severodonetsk, the regional military administration organized a new burial place in a relatively safe place. Pits are dug with a tractor and graves are systematized in the register. Every dead or deceased person is buried naturally in a separate grave, during the 48 days of the war — about 400 burials,” he said.

“A new burial place has also been organized in Lysychansk,” Haidi added. “The dead and killed are buried in common graves.”

“The situation is difficult in Popasna and Rubizhne. Due to the partial occupation of cities by the Russians, the removal of bodies is impossible, burials are carried out by residents themselves in the yards of residential areas,” he added.

Haidai said more than 300 people had been evacuated from the Luhansk region on Tuesday but “about 90,000 people are still staying in bomb shelters in the region’s communities. Every day we urge them to leave.”

He said the attack on the Kramatorsk railway station last week had deterred people from evacuating.

Haidai said authorities had managed to bring in several tons of humanitarian aid.

The United States is willing to consider sending more weapons systems that require additional training to Ukraine, according to a senior defense official, based on ongoing conversations between the two militaries.

“If we determine in concert with the Ukrainians that there (are) additional systems that they need that we can provide but that might require some training, then we’re certainly willing to talk to them about that,” the official said at a briefing with reporters Tuesday.

The official said the fact that the systems may require more training is “not prohibitive.”

The official used the example of Switchblade drones. Ukrainian forces were not trained on the suicide drones, but the US determined that the system might help the Ukrainian military and found a way to train a small number of Ukrainian forces on it in 24 to 48 hours.

“Other systems we’ll just have to see, but it’s not prohibitive in our mind that, just because something might need some additional training, that we shouldn’t provide it,” the official said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on April 12.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that peace talks with Ukraine had hit “a dead end.”?

“Now, security requirements are one thing, and the issues of regulating relations over Crimea, Sevastopol and Donbas are taken out of the scope of these agreements. That is, we have again returned to a dead-end situation for ourselves and for all of us,”?he added, speaking alongside his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko at a news conference.??

The Russian leader also dismissed the reports of atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha as “fake” and compared them to “fake” reports about the use of chemical weapons in Syria by the Assad regime.???

“There were provocations in Syria, when the use of chemical weapons by the Assad government was planted. Then it turned out that it was fake, the same fake is in Bucha,” he said.???

CNN saw firsthand a mass grave while on the ground in the Kyiv suburb, and at least 20 bodies were seen on just one street.

The situation in the besieged city of Mariupol was “difficult,” the military governor of the Donetsk region said Tuesday, citing preliminary estimates that as many as 22,000 people had died in the city.?

Independent estimates of casualties from the relentless Russian bombardment of the city are not available.?Ukrainian President Volodymyr?Zelensky?has said “tens of thousands” have died in?Mariupol.

Kyrylenko also addressed reports of a possible chemical attack in Mariupol, details of which have yet to be fully confirmed.??

“We know that last night around midnight, a drone dropped some so-far-unknown explosive device, people who were in the area in and around the Mariupol metallurgical plant, three people began to feel unwell,” he said. “What we have heard was that there were three people who were affected, taken to hospital, given medical assistance, at the moment their lives were not in danger.”

The regional military governor said the reports from the scene were preliminary, so he could not “100% confirm or comment on them,” but said he could confirm that the incident happened.?

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko deliver's a speech in the capital, Minsk, on April 7.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday strongly defended Russian actions in Ukraine, claiming that if Russia was “just a little late with its military operation, the Russian territory would have suffered a crushing attack at its borders.”?

“If somebody wishes to scream that we went somewhere we shouldn’t have, started something we shouldn’t have, just imagine what you would have had happened had you been at least two weeks or one month late,” Lukashenko told reporters during a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin following a meeting between the two leaders in Russia’s far east Amur Region.?

Some context: There is no evidence that Ukraine was going to attack Russia. Since last year, Russia was tightening its military grip around Ukraine, amassing tens of thousands of soldiers, as well as equipment and artillery, on the country’s doorstep. Russian forces held joint drills with their Belarusian allies before the invasion.

The Belarusian leader went on to blame “Washington, Brussels and London” for causing the crisis in Ukraine, and he said the economic sanctions against Russia were “psychological operations” organized by the United Kingdom. He also accused the US of instigating Poland and Baltic countries against Moscow.?

“Our recent history has not seen such a dangerous moment in our relationship with the West as today. … Some of you said the Cold War is over and we shall live in a new civilized era based on mutual understanding and supremacy of international law. We thought so, but the West didn’t; they didn’t destroy us then, so they decided to start now,” he said.?

Lukashenko also referenced Putin’s unfounded claims of “denazification” as part of his justification to invade Ukraine.

“There used to be a public figure in the West in the 30s, 40s of the last century who also tried to install a new order and we know well how that ended. So, I think Washington must return to the recent past. Our fathers and forefathers endured then and were victorious and so shall we be victorious as we have been in our common 1,000-year history,” he said. ???

Putin said Belarus was being “punched no less than Russia right now.”

“We never had any doubts that if somebody is to offer their shoulder to us it would be Belarus,” he said.?

Regarding the effect of sanctions in destabilizing Russian-Belarusian ties, Putin said they are “completely futile.”

“This trick is definitely not going to work on us. We will only become stronger,” he said, adding that “the (damage) that our enemies were counting on has not happened.”?

The measures agreed by the two leaders include projects for a common electrical power market, favorable prices for oil and gas for Belarusian domestic consumption — with payments in rubles, the joint construction of a nuclear power plant that should be commissioned by the end of 2021 and an increase in security on western borders, including joint military exercises.

Russia has “just above 80%” of the combat power that it amassed before its invasion of Ukraine still available, according to a senior US defense official.

The official also said that Russia has now launched more than 1,540 missiles against Ukraine.?

“We would assess that Russian assessed available combat power — and again I want to remind you guys that that’s of the combat power that they’ve preassembled before their invasion — we estimate that they’re just above 80% in terms of what’s left of them,” the official said Tuesday during an off-camera briefing with reporters.?

Six people have been found shot dead in the basement of a building outside Kyiv, according to a statement Tuesday from the Ukrainian prosecutor general.

“The bodies of six civilians with gunshot wounds were found in a basement during an inspection of a private residence,” said the prosecutor general, adding that the killings took place in Brovary, outside the capital Kyiv.

The statement does not identify the suspects in this case – but does mention the killing of civilians by?Russian service members?during the occupation.?

Ukrposhta, Ukraine’s postal service, announced Tuesday it had issued a postage stamp with the slogan, “Russian warship, go ****!” that was put into circulation today.

Roman Hrybov — the Ukrainian soldier who uttered the phrase, “Russian warship, go f**k yourself!” on the opening day of the war when ordered by a Russian warship to surrender — was invited to the ceremony unveiling the stamp, the service said in a statement on the Ukrposhta Facebook page.

Hrybov was captured by Russian forces and released in a prisoner exchange.

The phrase has become a popular Ukrainian slogan during the war with Russia.

“There would be neither postage stamp nor such strong resistance as exemplified by soldiers from Zmiinyi Island?(Snake Island) without him,” the statement read.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne has called reports of a possible strike involving chemical substances in Ukraine “deeply concerning” and said Australia will work with its counterparts to verify such reports.?

In a press conference Tuesday, Payne also called the reports, if confirmed, a “further indication of President Putin and Russia’s absolute violation of every single value and every single rules-based aspect of the rules based global order,” according to a transcript released by the government.?

More context: Investigations are ongoing into a possible chemical attack in the besieged southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Monday, CNN has learned.?CNN cannot independently verify that there was any kind of chemical strike, or how many casualties were caused by any such incident.

The US has not confirmed the use of chemical weapons in Mariupol, but had?previously warned?the Ukrainians that Russia could use chemical agents in the city, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told CNN Monday.

Workers repair power lines in Hostomel, Kyiv Region, north-central Ukraine on April 8.

A Russian military-linked hacking group has attempted to infiltrate Ukrainian power substations and deploy malicious code capable of cutting the power, Ukrainian government officials and private investigators said Tuesday.?

The cyberattack appears to have been thwarted — the Ukrainian government Computer Emergency Response Team said it had prevented the attackers from “carrying out [their] malicious intent.”

The hack attempt did not affect the provision of electricity at the power company, Victor Zhora, a senior Ukrainian cybersecurity official, told CNN

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency was working closely with Ukrainian officials to understand the incident and share any relevant information to protect US infrastructure, CISA Director Jen Easterly tweeted Tuesday.

The hackers blamed for the incident —?a group known as Sandworm that the US Justice Department has attributed to Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency —?are of top concern to cybersecurity researchers around the world because they cut power in parts of Ukraine in 2015 and 2016.

In this recent incident, the hackers tried to deploy malicious code “against high-voltage electrical substations in Ukraine” on April 8, and appeared to make preparations or the attack two weeks prior, according to cybersecurity firm ESET, which investigated the hack.?

It’s the type of advanced cyberattack that many US officials and cybersecurity analysts predicted would accompany Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.??

While this hack may have been thwarted, prior Sandworm hacks in Ukraine have been disruptive.?

A 2015 cyberattack that US officials pinned on Sandworm cut power for about a quarter million people in Ukraine. A follow-up hack in 2016 at an electrical substation outside of Kyiv caused a smaller blackout, the malicious code used was more sophisticated, according to analysts.??

The hacking tool used in the recent attempted cyberattack on the Ukrainian power company was a variation of the malicious software known as Industroyer that was used in the 2016 hack, ESET researchers said.?

“It is something that we don’t see often. And the fact that Industroyer was used years ago … this is very significant,” Boutin said.

Some background: US officials have been closely monitoring suspected Russian cyberattacks against Ukrainian critical infrastructure before and after Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. The White House on Feb. 18 blamed a separate hacking incident, which temporarily knocked Ukrainian government and bank websites offline, on the GRU.?

Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting in a newly reckless manner with the invasion of Ukraine, former US President Barack Obama said in an interview that aired Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show.

The former president declined to directly answer a question about what, in hindsight, he would have done differently while in office, including when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Instead, he said it’s important to “not take our own democracy for granted” and to “stand for and align ourselves with those who believe in freedom and independence.”

Maps showing the region and what part of it has been under Russian control since before the invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his country’s military goals in Ukraine are “noble” and will be achieved, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

Speaking at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia Tuesday, where he was meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said the “special operation” in Ukraine was the right step as Russia “had no other choice.”

Putin said the goals of the “special military operation” was to help the people of Donbas, and “takes measures to ensure the security of Russia itself.”

“Obviously, we had no other choice, that’s right. And there is no doubt that the goals [of the special operation] will be achieved,” Putin said on Tuesday.

“The main goal is to help people in Donbas, the people of Donbas, which we recognized, were forced to do this because the Kyiv authorities, pushed by the West, refused to comply with the Minsk agreements aimed at a peaceful solution to the problems of Donbas,” Putin added.

Some background: Putin has framed the Russian invasion?of Ukraine as a “special mission” to protect Russian speakers from genocide at the hands of ?”neo-Nazis.”

Three days before invading Ukraine, the Russian leader officially recognized the two self-proclaimed “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas region as independent.

Ukrainian and Western officials have said in recent days they have observed movement of Russian troops to Donbas following?major setbacks for Moscow?in a push to take Kyiv.??

According to a senior US defense official, Russia is attempting to resupply and reinforce its forces in eastern Ukraine, as evidenced by a convoy of vehicles approaching the city of Izyum from the north.

CNN also geolocated a video shared to social media on Monday showing a?large column?of Russian military vehicles facing north-west, in the direction of the?Donbas region.

Ukraine is investigating some 5,800 cases of alleged?Russian war crimes, according to its?prosecutor general.

The commander of a Ukrainian unit defending the port city of Mariupol posted a video statement Tuesday, saying a handful of people had been affected by a “poisonous substance of unknown origin” amid reports of an alleged Russian chemical attack.

Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov battalion, said in the statement that it was not possible to investigate the scene fully due to Russian shelling.

“The victims of the spread of a poisonous substance of unknown origin in the city of Mariupol are in a relatively satisfactory condition,” Prokopenko said.

“Contact of the civilians with the substance was minimal, for the [incident] epicenter was at a certain distance from the location of the civilians. The military were a little bit closer.

CNN cannot independently verify that there was any kind of chemical strike, or how many casualties were caused by any such incident.

Prokopenko’s post on Telegram shows brief interviews with a soldier and two civilians, including an elderly woman, who were purportedly affected by the substance, and interviews with two medical personnel.

An unnamed military anesthesiologist said main symptoms of the victims are the following: facial hyperemia, high blood pressure, dryness and inflammation in the oropharynx and mucous membranes of the eyes.

Maksym Zhorin, a co-commander of Azov, called the incident a “brazen crime,” adding, “Many of us did not believe that they would do it. But, probably out of desperation that they could not seize Mariupol for more than a month, they resorted to such cynical crimes and began to use chemical weapons.”

Zhorin said three people had experienced serious symptoms. “All the others were in a shelter at the time and were not affected that much,” he said.

In remarks on national television, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said authorities were still investigating the incident.

“As of now we are checking this information,” she said. “We are trying to understand what was used. Based on preliminary data, there’s an assumption that these could have been phosphorus munition. But the official information will follow later.”

The Azov battalion, which had its origins as a far-right militia and was folded into Ukraine’s armed forces, is one of the units holding out in the besieged port city.

Some background: In response to the reports, Britain’s?junior Armed Forces minister said?“all options are on the table” for how the West will respond if Russia uses chemical weapons in Ukraine.

“I think it’s useful to maintain some ambiguity […] over exactly what the response would be, but let’s be clear, if they are used at all, then [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin should know that all possible options are on the table in terms of how the West might respond,” James Heappey told Sky News.

According to Human Rights Watch, “white phosphorus can burn people to the bone, smolder inside the body, and reignite when bandages are removed.”

The munitions are either banned or circumscribed under international law in populated areas.

WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala speaks at a press conference on WTO trade forecast in Geneva on Tuesday.

The World Trade Organization has sharply cut its outlook for global trade this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, warning the world “must brace for the fallout.”

“The organization now expects merchandise trade volume growth of 3.0% in 2022 – down from its previous forecast of 4.7% – and 3.4% 2023, but these estimates are less certain than usual due to the fluid nature of the conflict,” WTO said in a press release.

WTO added that, given current GDP assumptions, “merchandise trade volume growth in 2022 could be as low as 0.5% or as high as 5.5%.”

WTO said that the biggest impact of the crisis has been a sharp rise in commodity prices as Russia and Ukraine are both key suppliers of essential goods, including food, energy, and fertilizers – “supplies of which are now threatened by the war.”

“Smaller supplies and higher prices for food mean that the world’s poor could be forced to do without. This must not be allowed to happen,” she added.

Speaking during a press conference, Okonjo-Iweala warned that there is a potential food crisis looming, and 35 African countries that import food from either Ukraine or Russia or both are seriously impacted – citing Egypt and Tunisia in particular.

“This is why we need to act and act decisively on this issue of food in order to avoid food riots,” the WTO director-general said.

Okonjo-Iweala also expressed her concerns about harvest and planting season in Ukraine for this and next year. “We hope there will be some sort of humanitarian cover so farmers can plant,” she said.

UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday.

There are increasing reports of rape and sexual violence being used against women and children in Ukraine, the executive director of UN Women said Monday, adding the allegations must be investigated.

“The risk of human trafficking is increasing as the situation becomes more desperate,” Bahous added. “Young women and unaccompanied teenagers are at a particular risk.”

Her remarks followed a visit to Moldova, which she said had welcomed an estimated 95,000 Ukrainian refugees, while “thousands more” have transited through the country. She noted that those arriving were largely women, children and the elderly.

Bahous called for increased resources for police forces at the border between Moldova and Ukraine “so that they can ensure support to victims of gender-based violence and trafficking.”

“Gender-sensitive and survivor-centered response must be at the heart of all humanitarian action,” Bahous said.

Investigations are ongoing into a possible chemical attack in the besieged southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Monday, CNN has learned.?

CNN cannot independently verify that there was any kind of chemical strike, or how many casualties were caused by any such incident.

Here’s what we know:

Who reported the alleged attack? The reports emerged in a Telegram statement on Monday night from the Azov battalion, a Ukrainian unit defending Mariupol. They said Russian forces dropped “a poisonous substance of unknown origin” from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) onto Ukrainian military and civilians in the city.

Victims showed signs of “respiratory failure,” and the consequences “were?being clarified,” the statement added.

Andriy Biletsky, Azov’s first commander, said on Telegram that three individuals suffered from the effect of the unknown substance.

What did Mariupol officials say? A chemical attack has not been confirmed, Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, posted on Telegram. He said city officials were awaiting additional information from military forces, and speculated that in one possible scenario, the “discharge of an unknown chemical” could be “a test for the reaction in general.”?

How about the Ukrainian government? President Volodymyr Zelensky did not confirm a chemical attack but warned the possibility of one should be taken seriously. In his nightly address Monday, Zelensky said Russia could be preparing a new stage of terror.

What was he talking about? Zelensky may have been referring to an earlier statement by a spokesperson for the militia of the pro-Russian separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) in eastern Ukraine.

In a Russian state television talk show, DNR spokesperson Eduard Basurin alluded to using chemical weapons to attack a Mariupol steel plant that is a stronghold for Ukrainian forces.

What have other countries said? The US has not confirmed the use of chemical weapons in Mariupol, but had previously warned the Ukrainians that Russia could use chemical agents in the city, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told CNN Monday.

In a statement Monday, press secretary John Kirby said The Pentagon cannot confirm the reports but US officials remain concerned about the potential Russian use of riot control agents.

Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted about working “urgently with partners” to verify the unconfirmed reports.

Rescuers search for bodies under the rubble of a building destroyed by Russian shelling, in Borodianka, Kyiv region, on Monday.

At Monday’s United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting, the director of UN Women said the organization is increasingly hearing of rape and sexual violence being committed in Ukraine. Sima Bahous told the meeting the allegations “must be independently investigated to ensure justice and accountability.”

Bahous added that the risk of human trafficking is increasing as the situation becomes more desperate, with young women and unaccompanied teenagers particularly at risk.

Here’s the latest from the war in Ukraine:

Nokia has officially announced its exit from the Russian market.

“It has been clear for Nokia since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine that continuing our presence in Russia would not be possible,” the Finnish telecoms company said in a press release Tuesday.

Nokia said its top priority continues to be the safety and wellbeing of its employees.

“For humanitarian reasons, Western governments have expressed concerns about the risk of critical telecommunication network infrastructure in Russia failing,” the press release read.

“Therefore, as we exit we will aim to provide the necessary support to maintain the networks and are applying for the relevant licenses to enable this support in compliance with current sanctions,” Nokia added.

Nokia said that it does not expect this decision to impact its financial outlook and that Russia accounted for less than 2% of its net sales in 2021.

This comes after Swedish telecoms company Ericsson said Monday it was suspending its business in Russia indefinitely.

Residents walk near a destroyed building in Mariupol, on April 10. ?

Ukrainian Marines in the besieged port city of Mariupol said they are “holding out to the end” despite being surrounded by Russian forces and running low on supplies.??

“We are the defenders of Mariupol, the 36th Marine Brigade, which is holding the defense of this city to the last,” one of the marines said in a video on Facebook.

Independent analysis of the situation in Mariupol on Sunday published by the Institute for the Study of War assessed that the defense of Mariupol had reached a critical stage.?

“Russian forces bisected Mariupol from the city center to the coast on April 10, isolating the remaining Ukrainian defenders in two main locations: The main port of Mariupol in the southwest and the Azovstal steel plant in the east,” the analysis stated.

CNN cannot independently verify the situation on the ground in the areas of?heaviest fighting in Mariupol. The city, which has been battered by weeks of relentless bombardment, has become a symbol of Ukrainian resolve in the war against Russia.?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said “tens of thousands” have died?in Mariupol, a figure that cannot be independently verified.

Ukrainian officials have reported further shelling by Russian forces and civilian casualties in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which have become the focus of Russian attacks.

Serhii Haidai, head of Luhansk regional military administration, said the cities of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Kreminna, Novodruzhesk and Rubizhne had been targeted again, with 12 residential buildings struck in the last day.

“Unfortunately, there were casualties in Lysychansk – one man died, three more people were injured,” Haida said. “The number of missile and air attacks on the Luhansk region has increased significantly.

“It is most difficult to evacuate people from the cities of Popasna and Rubizhne,” he said, as they were partially occupied by Russian forces. “Our troops repel constant attacks. We can’t go to certain areas of cities and pick up people due to constant shelling.”

“In the cities of Kreminna, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk evacuation takes place daily,” Haidai said, adding it can sometimes be as many as 2,000 people.

He said that hospitals are still operating in Lysychansk and Severodonetsk.

Haidai said that heavy rains could impede Russian efforts to advance.

“Within last two days they began to collect hundreds of units of heavy equipment, pulling it closer to the front line. This suggests that the offensive should begin today and tomorrow, but it is raining today. According to the forecast, it will rain for several days.”

He said the rains would force vehicles to use roads, “and this makes an easy target for our defenders. I hope the rains slows down the offensive.”

Ukrainian officials say Russian attacks by air are moving further west to the borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Mykola Lukashuk, head of Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council, said that the night in the Dnipropetrovsk region was “restless.”

“We had two air attacks on Synelnykiv district at the border of Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions,” Lukashuk said, adding there were no casualties.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Tuesday that Russian forces continued to regroup along Ukraine’s eastern borders and said it expected further ground attacks towards Popasna in Luhansk region and Kurakhove in Donetsk, “with the aim of reaching the administrative boundaries of Donetsk region.”

It accused Russian forces of “placing their military equipment and troops directly in residential facilities,” as well as in “agricultural enterprises, energy and social infrastructure facilities.”

The Armed Forces claimed that six Russian attacks in the east had been foiled Monday and tanks, armored vehicles and artillery systems had been destroyed.

As the fighting in the east continues, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced nine evacuation corridors Tuesday, including from Mariupol and Berdiansk on the southeast coast, and Severodonetsk, Rubizhne and Lysychansk.

A woman and a child, along with other refugees from Ukraine, wait in the ticket hall of the railway station in Przemysl, eastern Poland, on April 7.

Nearly two-thirds of Ukrainian children are now displaced due to the ongoing conflict, UNICEF has said.

UNICEF’s emergency programs director Manuel Fontaine told the UN Security Council on Monday that he had “rarely seen so much damage caused in so little time” after returning from a visit to Ukraine.

“They have been forced to leave everything behind: Their homes, their schools, and often, their family members,” he said.

Fontaine said the UN had verified the deaths of 142 children with 229 injured as of Sunday, but that “the true figures are most certainly much higher given the scale of attacks.”

Meanwhile Liudmyla Denisova, commissioner for human rights of the Ukrainian Parliament, said Tuesday that 186 children had died and 344 had been injured.

“It is not possible to establish the actual number of dead and wounded children due to the fact that the occupying forces are actively fighting in Ukrainian cities,” she added, stating that the figures were according to the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations and “other sources that need confirmation.”

In his Security Council comments, UNICEF’s Fontaine also drew attention to the 3.2 million children estimated to still be in their homes.

“Nearly half may be at risk of not having enough food,” he said. “Attacks on water system infrastructure and power outages have left an estimated 1.4 million people without access to water in Ukraine.?Another 4.6 million people have only limited access.

“The situation is even worse in cities like Mariupol and Kherson, where children and their families have now gone weeks without running water and sanitation services, a regular supply of food, and medical care. They are sheltering in their homes and underground, waiting for the bombs and violence to stop.”

He also said unaccompanied children in Ukraine face a “much higher risk of violence, abuse, exploitation, and trafficking,” and pointed to the impacts of school closures on 1.5 million students in higher education and 5.7 million school-age children.

In this file photo, James Heappey, Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, leaves the Cabinet Office on Whitehall on February 17.

“All options are on the table” for how the West will respond if Russia uses chemical weapons in Ukraine, Britain’s?junior Armed Forces minister said Tuesday.

It comes as unconfirmed reports of a possible strike involving a chemical substance in the Ukrainian port city if Mariupol emerged Monday, which the UK has been unable to verify,?James?Heappey told Sky News.

“I think it’s useful to maintain some ambiguity […] over exactly what the response would be, but let’s be clear, if they are used at all, then [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin should know that all possible options are on the table in terms of how the West might respond,” Heappey said.

It would be an “effective” and “well considered” response, he?added.

CNN cannot independently verify that there has been any kind of chemical strike in?Mariupol.

CNN teams on the ground have so far not seen evidence of such an attack, or any imagery?from?Mariupol sources to verify this.

“That they are part of the discussion is sobering. There are some things that are beyond the pale, and the use of chemical weapons will get a response, and all options are on the table for what that response could be.”

He cautioned: “But it’s important to recognize that there are all sorts of ways in which these things could be used, from the use of tear gas which is effectively a riot control measure all the way through to utterly devastating lethal chemical weapons systems.

“So I don’t think it’s helpful to be too binary about the situation because these are highly nuanced.”

Heappey said some Ukrainian troops will be arriving in the UK in the coming days to learn how to operate 120 British armored vehicles that will be sent to Ukraine, along with?defense and anti-tank missiles as part of a new package of high-grade military equipment.?

“We are getting as much to the Ukrainian MoD as we can,” he said in a separate interview with LBC radio in London.

A large column of Russian military vehicles is seen near Matveev Kurgan, a settlement in Russia’s Rostov region.

CNN geolocated a video shared to social media on Monday showing a large column of Russian military vehicles near Matveev Kurgan, a settlement in Russia’s Rostov region.

The vehicles are seen facing north-west, in the direction of the Donbas region.

A senior Ukrainian official on Monday also said a Russian offensive in Ukraine’s Donbas region “has already started,” warning that Russia continued to amass forces in the region.

In remarks on national television, Vadym Denysenko, adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs, said:

Ukrainian and Western officials have said in recent days they have observed a redeployment of Russian troops to Donbas following major setbacks for Moscow in a push to take Kyiv.

“Yes, there are still no major battles that are being discussed so much in the past few days. But in general we could say the offensive has already started,” Denysenko said.

Trevor Reed is escorted to a hearing in Moscow in March 2020.

Trevor Reed, an American citizen detained in Russia for nearly three years, has an appeal hearing scheduled for Tuesday morning, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

Reed had started a second hunger strike in protest of his treatment by Russian authorities, according to his parents, who met with President Joe Biden last month after holding a protest outside the White House to bring awareness to their son’s case.

Regarding the upcoming court appeal, parents Joey and Paula Reed said in a statement they “have little hope for a successful judicial outcome,” but believe their son’s appeal rights should be pursued “vigorously.”

Some context: Reed, a former US Marine, was detained in Moscow in 2019 for purportedly endangering Russian police officers during an altercation. In 2020, he was sentenced to nine years in prison.

His father told CNN last month that an attorney was able to pass along a handwritten note from Reed in which he said “he’s OK,” but is coughing up blood and was only receiving aspirin for treatment.

Joey Reed had previously said he’s concerned the Russian invasion of Ukraine will worsen his son’s fate.

“Russians who get their truth from the state media are living in an alternate reality,” Madeline Roache says.

Every day Roache watches the morning “news” on Channel One, a top Russian state TV channel. She tracks the narratives that Russian viewers are hearing. And she writes a report for NewsGuard — a startup that rates the reliability of news sources — about the “alternative reality.”

Overall, Roache told CNN, on state-run TV, “the Russian army is portrayed as triumphant — as not sustaining any losses, any casualties, and is certainly not committing any atrocities. Meanwhile, according to the state media, it’s the Ukrainian army committing atrocities, killing civilians, sustaining heavy losses and losing territory to the Russian forces.”

Read the full analysis:

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets the audience as he attends a concert marking the eighth anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow on March 18, 2022.

Related article Why Russian TV propaganda is crucial to understanding the war in Ukraine

Japan imposed additional sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, freezing the assets of 398 Russian citizens including President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters, Katerina Tikhonova and Mariya Vorontsova, according to a news release from Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

The new measures also target the family members of Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, namely his wife Mariya Lavrova and daughter Yekaterina Vinokurova, according to the release.

Some context: Japan has consistently expanded its sanctions against Russia since the invasion of Ukraine began, including banning Russian imports such as coal and vodka, reducing new investments in Russia and freezing assets held by major banks.

Other nations including the US and the UK have also introduced sanctions against the families of Putin and Lavrov.

A family mourns a relative killed during the fighting as dozens of black bags containing more bodies lay nearby in a cemetery in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 11.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general told CNN Monday that her office is building more than 5,800 cases of war crimes from Russia’s invasion, and every day they are starting?“more and more such proceedings.” More bodies are also being exhumed from a mass grave discovered in the town of Bucha, she said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian troops retreating from the north of the country had deliberately left thousands of mines in their wake, in what he considered a war crime.

Here’s the latest from the war in Ukraine:

Here’s a look at the situation on the ground:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In a nightly address to the nation on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian troops retreating from parts of northern Ukraine had deliberately left thousands of mines in their wake, in what he considered a “war crime.”

In those areas, “tens if not hundreds of thousands” of unexploded ordnance had been left behind, he said, adding that teams are working to clear these “dangerous items.”?

The “invaders left mines everywhere,” including in homes, on streets and in fields, he added.???

He called these actions “war crimes” intended to “kill or maim as many of our people as possible,” adding that troops would not have done so without explicit orders from Russia’s leadership.?

The United States has not confirmed the use of chemical weapons in Mariupol, but had previously warned the Ukrainians that Russia could use chemical agents in the southeastern Ukrainian city, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told CNN Monday.

“We shared that information with our Ukrainian partners. We are going to be in direct conversations with them to try and determine what exactly has transpired here, and as soon as we gain additional fidelity, we’ll be in a better position to say what this was or what this may have been,” he said.

Some context: After reports emerged Monday of a possible strike involving chemical substances of some kind in?Mariupol, the Ukrainian President warned the possibility should be taken seriously, though a?Mariupol?official said any such attack remained unconfirmed.

The UK has said it is also working with partners to investigate the reports.

CNN cannot independently verify that there has been any kind of chemical strike in?Mariupol.?CNN teams on the ground have so far not seen evidence of such an attack, or any imagery?from?Mariupol sources to verify this.

The prosecutor general of Ukraine said Monday that her office is investigating 5,800 cases of?Russian war crimes, with “more and more” proceedings every day.

Speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead,” Iryna Venediktova said Ukraine has identified more than 500 suspects in the sprawling probe, including Russian politicians, military personnel and propaganda agents “who wanted this war, who started this war and who continued this war.”

Her comments come as?shocking atrocities in Ukraine, allegedly at the hands of Russian forces, have amplified calls to pursue war crimes charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin. After images of at least 20 bodies strewn across the street in Bucha, Ukraine, emerged earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an end to Russian “war crimes.”

Russia has denied any involvement in the incident, claiming — without evidence — that the atrocities in Bucha were staged, and part of a “planned media campaign.” But witnesses who have spoken to CNN said the carnage in the town began weeks ago, when it was occupied by Russian forces, and?a video depicts?Russian forces appearing to indiscriminately fire at a civilian.

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Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova.

Related article Ukraine's prosecutor general says office is investigating 5,800 cases of Russian war crimes

Destruction of the weapons depot is seen in this screengrab taken from video.

Ukrainian officials claim to have destroyed a Russian weapons depot in Novoaidar, Luhansk region.

CNN has geolocated a video and images shared to social media that appear to show the aftermath of that attack.

On Monday, Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, said in a Facebook post that Ukrainian forces had destroyed a Russian “ammunition warehouse” near a Russian settlement in Luhansk.??

In a video shared by Russian state media RIA Novosti, Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) People’s Militia officer Roman Ivanov said the Ukrainian strikes on Novoaidar destroyed “more than 20 homes, along with a warehouse filled with chemical fertilizers.”

Haidai denied Russian claims that Ukrainians targeted residential buildings.

Burned out shells and rockets are seen scattered all over the ground in the video and images, and an agricultural equipment store is spotted in the distance.

In Ukrainian villages east of the capital of Kyiv where Russian forces have withdrawn, residents begin to slowly emerge from hiding and the new reality they’re facing is nothing short of devastating.

CNN’s Clarissa Ward toured a pair of villages that were occupied by Russians for more than a month. She reported that they found “endless accounts of horror, executions,?arbitrary detentions and more.”

One local school was taken over by Vladimir Putin’s invading army, used as a base, and left in shambles after being looted and ransacked by the troops.

Bloodstains speckle the main entrance, where the school’s principal is left to wonder how such an atrocity came to be.

One chalkboard in a classroom Ward visited that was formerly occupied by Russians said, “Forgive us, we didn’t want this war.”

Nearby, a local cemetery houses the bodies of six Ukrainian men who authorities say were executed on the first day the Russians arrived.

A pair of brothers are among the dead, Igor and Oleg. Their mother survived, but now mourns.

“They were very good boys,” she?said.?“How I want to see them again.”

One Ukrainian mother told Ward her daughter was taken on March 25. More than two weeks later she doesn’t know where she is, or whether she survived the Russians’ invasion.

“They said they found information?on her phone about their forces,”?the mother told Ward. “They told me she was in a warm?house.?That she was working with them?and she would be home soon.”

But as Ward revealed, “Victoria never came home.”

Amid the risk of certain death, the Ukrainian residents clung to one another, and their sense of pride, with one woman finding solace among blue and yellow stripes, Ward reported.

“We kept it, we kept it,” the woman tells Ward, showing the Ukrainian flag given?to her husband for his military?service.?“We hid it.”

Now the flag can come out of hiding, as Russian forces have retreated. The village is decimated, but for the moment, it’s once again free.

Watch Ward’s on the ground reporting:

On the outskirts of?Kyiv, Lt. Col. Mykola Opanasenko kneels down in a remote field as he winds up a small electrical generator to power a blast.

“Fire,” he shouts, before bracing and pressing the trigger. A fraction of a second later, an ear-ringing bang pierces through the otherwise silent countryside.

This is the sixth controlled explosion 34-year-old Opanasenko and his demining unit have carried out since?Russia withdrew its forces?from the Kyiv region earlier this month. Today, they blew up 16 unexploded artillery shells, each weighing around 45 kilograms (nearly 100 pounds), in one explosion. They have another 30 shells to go through before the day is over.

Their unit is one of many operating in the region. In total, they say they’ve destroyed 2.5 tons of ammunition in the past week and a half alone.

As Russian forces retreated, they left behind scores of unexploded shells and bombs in addition to mines they planted to slow down the Ukrainian advance, to protect their withdrawal, or perhaps, simply to scorch the earth.

Mines, ammunition and rusty machine guns from destroyed armored vehicles can be dangerous for civilians now returning to their homes, so Opanasenko’s unit goes from village to village, scouring the ground for any of these deadly ordnances that need to be cleared out.

Signs warning of mines can be seen across towns and villages around Kyiv. Units like Opanasenko’s will continue their work for months to come across the country as the war rages on, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES).

“As of now, we need to survey more than 300,000 hectares,” the head of the SES, Serhiy Kruk, told journalists last Wednesday.

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Tatyana Lytkina is comforted by her husband's comrades as his body is buried at the Irpin cemetery.

Related article Russian forces left bombs, death and destruction around Kyiv. Now, a painstaking demining operation is underway

Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he raised alleged Russian atrocities in?Ukraine?during a “tough” and unfriendly meeting Monday with Vladimir Putin — the first Western sit-down with the Russian President since he?launched his invasion in February.

Nehammer is the first European leader to meet Putin face-to-face since his invasion of Ukraine. His visit divided opinion among EU leaders, with some expressing skepticism about engaging with the Russian leader.

The pair spoke for about 75 minutes at Putin’s Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow, Nehammer’s spokesperson said, in talks the Austrian leader described as “very direct, open and tough.”

Before visiting Russia, Nehammer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and visited the town of Bucha, where bodies of unarmed civilians were?found strewn across public streets?after a month of Russian occupation.

The Austrian leader said Putin had blamed the Ukrainians for “being responsible for the crimes in Bucha.” Video footage, however, shows?Russian forces gunning down a civilian?there.

Austria is militarily neutral but its government has joined its neighbors in condemning Putin’s invasion.

Read more:

A meeting between Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow has concluded, Nehammer's spokesman, Etienne Bertchold told CNN.?The meeting lasted 75 minutes, the Austrian spokesman added.

Related article Austria's leader says his face-to-face meeting with Putin was 'not a friendly visit' | CNN