Russia invades Ukraine

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

A view of damage after shelling in the pro-Russian separatists-controlled Donetsk on March 30.?

The Joint Forces Operation (JFO) of Ukraine’s military said fighting in the southeastern regions of?Donetsk and Luhansk continued Saturday.

In a press statement, the JFO said six Russian attacks in the region had been successfully thwarted and Ukrainian forces destroyed four Russian tanks, six armored combat vehicles and seven motor vehicles.?CNN cannot independently verify the claims.?

“Ukrainian defenders continue defending our land,” the statement read.

Some context: Ukrainian forces are bracing for intensified fighting in the east of the country, as the Russian military – facing stiff resistance – has claimed it is “de-escalating” around Kyiv and shifting focus eastward. US intelligence also suggests?Russia has revised its invasion strategy?to focus on taking control of the Donbas and other regions in eastern Ukraine, with a target date of early May.?

A man walks with bags of food given to him by the Ukrainian Army in Bucha, Ukraine on April 2.

The bodies of at least 20 civilian men have been found lying strewn across the street in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area in shocking images released by AFP on Saturday.?

The dead, all in civilian clothing, are found in a variety of awkward poses, some face down against the pavement, others facing upwards with mouths open.??

“Three of them are tangled up in bicycles after taking their final ride, while others, with waxy skin, have fallen next to bullet-ridden and crushed cars,” according to AFP journalists who accessed the town after it had been cut off for nearly a month.

One corpse can be seen with his hands tied behind his back with a white cloth.

The Mayor of Bucha, Anatoliy Fedoruk, said the dead civilians had received inhumane treatment at the hands of Russian forces.??

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the bodies of the men found with hands tied, “were shot dead by Russian soldiers,” in a tweet on Saturday.?

Podolyak added, “these people were not in the military. They had no weapons. They posed no threat. How many more such cases are happening right now in the occupied territories?”

CNN has not been able to independently confirm the details around the men’s deaths.

Russian forces withdrew from several towns near Kyiv in recent days after Moscow’s bid to encircle the capital failed, with Ukraine declaring that Bucha had been “liberated.”

British military intelligence said on Saturday that Ukraine’s air defense capability continues to pose significant challenges to Russian aircraft, despite the invading forces’ continued effort to diminish Ukraine’s air defenses.

Russia has not been able to obtain control of the air due its inability to find and destroy Ukrainian air defense systems, the ministry said. Thus, this inability has significantly affected Russia’s, “ability to support the advance of their ground forces on a number of fronts,” according to the MOD.

The ministry also reported that there has been significant Russian air activity towards southeastern Ukraine, “likely a result of Russia focusing its military operations in this area.”?

An improvised camp of Ukrainians seeking asylum in the United States is seen on the Mexican side of the San Ysidro crossing port in Tijuana, Mexico on April 2.

Hundreds of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion of their country have arrived at the Mexican border city of Tijuana to seek US asylum and more are expected, a Tijuana city official and a volunteer told CNN?on Saturday.

Enrique Lucero, director of migrant affairs for the city of Tijuana, said there were around 1,500 Ukrainians in the city currently and he expected the number to increase to 2,000 by the day’s end.

Lucero said he expects all the migrants to enter the?United States,?but said American authorities have been slow to process them.?The city was working to convert a sports facility into a temporary shelter to house all the incoming arrivals, Lucero told CNN.

Inna Levien, an Orange County, California?resident who belongs to a group that is spearheading?a?volunteer effort?to assist Ukrainians gathered near the border, told CNN that the number of Ukrainians has quadrupled in the past three days.

A Ukrainian child seeking asylum in the United States is seen inside a bus station on the Mexican side of the San Ysidro crossing port in Tijuana, Mexico on April 2.

Once the migrants arrive at the border, Levien’s group puts them on a list and assigns them a number, that way they don’t have to wait in line the entire time for entry. She said the wait to get across can take more than 24 hours.

The city of Tijuana has been instrumental in providing relief, Levien said. A bus stop was recently converted by the city into a temporary shelter while a network of churches has sprung?to help house families as they wait for their turn to be processed, Levien added.

CNN has reached out to the State Department and US Customs and Border Protection but did not receive a response Saturday.

Some context: The Department of Homeland Security?is allowing?Ukrainians, on a?case-by-case basis,?to be exempted from Trump-era pandemic restrictions on the US-Mexico border.?Those restrictions?will end on May 23, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?announced Friday. The US will?welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees?and?others fleeing Russia’s aggression,?the Biden administration announced last month.

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.

A man walks in the rubble of a destroyed building in the eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv on April 2.

In the early morning hours on Sunday in Ukraine, these are the latest developments in the war:

Russia shifting focus to victory by early May in eastern Ukraine, US officials say: Russia has revised its Ukraine war strategy to focus on taking control of the Donbas and other regions in eastern Ukraine with a target date of early May, according to several US officials familiar with the latest US intelligence assessments.?

More than a month into the war, Russian ground forces have been unable to keep control of areas where they have been fighting.?

May 9 is a prominent holiday on the Russian calendar, a day on which the country marks the Nazi surrender in World War II with a huge parade of troops and weaponry across Red Square in front of the Kremlin. The officials say Putin wants to celebrate a victory of some kind in his war that day.?

Ukrainian negotiator claims advances in talks with Russia, possibility of ‘direct consultations’ between Zelensky, Putin in future: David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team in talks with Russia, said the Russian side has responded positively to Ukrainian positions on several issues.

Arakhamia said there is?a possibility of “direct consultations” between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, something he said had been facilitated in part by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.?

The Ukrainian side said there had been agreement to suspend negotiations on the status of Crimea for 15 years, but the Russian side has not confirmed, and the Kremlin has?publicly?reiterated its position Crimea is part of Russia.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said there was no official confirmation of those positions in writing, according to Arakhamia.

However, Arakhamia added: “Orally, as of yesterday, in a video conference, we heard that the Russian side does not object to such [Ukrainian] positions.”

David Arakhamia, left, Mykhailo Podolyak, center and Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev speak with the media after their meeting with Russian negotiators in Istanbul, Turkey on March 29.

David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team in talks with Russia, said the Russian side has responded positively to Ukrainian positions on several issues and there is a possibility of “direct consultations” between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, something he said had been facilitated in part by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.?

Ukrainian officials have outlined their vision of a roadmap to a potential truce, which would include possible neutral status for Ukraine backed by a broad alliance of security guarantors.

The status of Crimea – annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 – has been a sticking point in potential negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine and most of the international community consider the peninsula to be illegally occupied. The Kremlin consistently says the status of Crimea is settled.?

The Ukrainian side said there had been agreement to suspend negotiations on the status of Crimea for 15 years, but the Russian side has not confirmed, and the Kremlin has?publicly?reiterated its position Crimea is part of Russia.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said there was no official confirmation of those positions in writing, according to Arakhamia.

However, Arakhamia added: “Orally, as of yesterday, in a video conference, we heard that the Russian side does not object to such [Ukrainian] positions.”

The possibility of a role for China as a potential security guarantor for Ukraine appears to be credible, according to Arakhamia.?

A column of tanks marked with the Z symbol stretches into the distance as they proceed northwards along the Mariupol-Donetsk highway on March 23.

Russia has revised its Ukraine war strategy to focus on taking control of the Donbas and other regions in eastern Ukraine with a target date of early May, according to several US officials familiar with the latest US intelligence assessments.?

More than a month into the war, Russian ground forces have been unable to keep control of areas where they have been fighting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is under pressure to demonstrate he can show a victory, and eastern Ukraine is where he is most likely to achieve that, officials say. US intelligence intercepts suggest Putin is focused on May 9, Russia’s “Victory Day,” according to a US official.

May 9 is a prominent holiday on the Russian calendar, a day on which the country marks the Nazi surrender in World War II with a huge parade of troops and weaponry across Red Square in front of the Kremlin. The officials say Putin wants to celebrate a victory of some kind in his war that day.?

But other officials note even if there is a Russian celebration, an actual victory may be further off.?

Still, US and European officials say any deadlines Moscow may set rhetorically don’t change the reality on the ground that Russia appears to be preparing for the prospect of an extended conflict.

A European diplomat said while the Kremlin is talking optimistically, Putin is preparing for a “Chechnya-style long, drawn-out war, because he, to a certain extent, has nowhere else to go on this.”

There are several reasons behind the May timeframe, the officials say. As the winter freeze ends and the ground softens, it will be harder for heavy Russian ground units to maneuver, meaning it’s vital for those forces to get into place as soon as possible, US intelligence assesses.?

Russian-backed fighters have also already been in that region for years. The Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine is where Russian separatist forces took control of territory in 2014.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Friday the Ukrainians believe they are facing a “very complex and difficult month” as Putin tries meet a deadline.

The US also assesses Putin is now preparing, for the first time, to name an overall commander of the war to achieve greater Russian successes, two US officials said. The US believes Putin will likely name a general who has been in the southern part of Ukraine because that is a place where Russians have succeeded in their objectives.

A humanitarian convoy of 42 buses from Mariupol arrives at a refugee center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on April 1.

As Sunday approaches in Ukraine, catch up on the latest developments here.

Russians move out of Kyiv region as officials look to the east: Ukraine’s deputy defense minister said Saturday the Kyiv region had been “liberated” from Russian forces.?Meanwhile, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy?Arestovych said heavy fighting is still expected in the east of Ukraine, near Mariupol, and in the country’s south. He warned that the military effort “will not be easy” in those regions.?

Further evacuations: More than 4,000 civilians were evacuated through corridors in Ukraine on Saturday, according to the country’s deputy prime minister, including over 2,000 people for the besieged port city of Mariupol.

The International Committee for the Red Cross team?that departed Zaporizhzhia?on Saturday morning?as part of renewed?attempt to reach Mariupol?have yet to reach the city, an ICRC spokesperson?told CNN.

US to facilitate tanks transfer: The US is expected to help facilitate the transfer of Soviet-era tanks “within days” to Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the plan.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak earlier on Saturday called on the US and its allies to deliver heavier weaponry to Ukraine as the?Russian military shifts its campaign focus.?

Gas keeps flowing: Russian gas continues to enter Germany despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ultimatum?on Thursday for “unfriendly” nations to pay for their energy in rubles starting Friday or risk being cut off from vital supplies. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russia would not turn off gas supplies to Europe immediately.

“Deliveries are incoming. Supply security is still guaranteed,” a German government spokesperson told CNN.

Civilians cheer along with a Ukrainian serviceman as a convoy of military and aid vehicles arrives in the formerly Russian-occupied Kyiv suburb of Bucha, Ukraine on Saturday, April 2.

Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, said Saturday that the Kyiv region had been “liberated” from Russian forces.

She said in a post on Facebook that Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and “the whole Kyiv region was liberated from the invader.”

CNN could not immediately verify that the entire Kyiv region had been cleared of Russian troops by Ukrainian forces, but the Ukrainian military has in recent days regained control of suburbs around the capital, which has remained under government control. The Russian military has said it is “de-escalating” around Kyiv.

The US is expected to help facilitate the transfer of Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the plan.

The tanks the US is transferring to Ukraine will be Soviet-era T-72 tanks, which Ukrainian military personnel have experience operating, a senior US official tells CNN.

Those tanks will be delivered “within days, not weeks,” the official said, and will be delivered from NATO partner countries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly asked countries for more tanks.

The New York Times first reported on the transfer.

Evacuees from Mariupol arrive at a refugee hub in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on April 1.

A total of 4,217 civilians evacuated through corridors in Ukraine on Saturday, according to the country’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk.

In a statement on Telegram, Vereshchuk said 1,263 people from the besieged city of Mariupol and the Russian-held city of Berdiansk reached the Ukrainian government-held city of Zaporizhzhia using their own vehicles.?

An evacuation convoy of 10 buses from the city of Berdiansk with more than 300 Mariupol residents also passed Vasylivka en route to Zaporizhzhia, she said.?

Evacuations also continued in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, with a total of 2,650 people leaving the cities of Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Lysychansk, Kreminna, Popasna and Nyzhne, Vereshchuk said.?

Vereshchuk said 17 buses reached the city of Berdiansk from Zaporizhzhia and were expected Sunday morning to continue the evacuation of Mariupol residents. Some of the buses will try to reach closer to Mariupol, she added.

Mariupol, which is ringed by Russian checkpoints,?has been under weeks of intense bombardment. Ukrainian officials have described the situation there for the remaining residents as a major humanitarian emergency.?

The International Committee for the Red Cross team?that departed Zaporizhzhia?on Saturday morning?as part of renewed attempt to reach Mariupol,?have yet to reach the?besieged city, an ICRC spokesperson?told CNN.

The team is “spending the night en route to Mariupol and are yet to reach the city,” the?ICRC?spokesperson?said.

On Friday evening, the?ICRC?announced in a?statement that its team of three vehicles and nine personnel was unable to reach the city “after arrangements and conditions made it impossible to proceed.”

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports from Odesa, Ukraine.

Residents of Odesa are trying to find pockets of normalcy as the threat of a Russian attack from the Black Sea looms over the southern Ukrainian city.

“It’s home.?And we can, like, live a normal?life.?But that’s for now.?We don’t know what’s going to be?tomorrow or in a week,” law student Taimur Kravchenko told CNN’s Ed Lavandera while enjoying coffee with his friends at a market.

But the center of the city is full of anti-tank barricades to fortify itself against an invasion, and displaced Ukrainians from areas that have seen the worst fighting have escaped to the city to find food and shelter.

Olga Petkovich, her husband and their six children fled their village through a forest to escape shelling. Russian soldiers broke into their home and took everything, according to her husband.

Her young daughter wiped away her tears and asked “Mother, why are you crying?”

“Because they were shelling us a lot,” Petkovich responded.

Watch the report:

Russian gas continues to flow into Germany despite Germany’s refusal to adhere to a decree from Russian President Vladimir Putin requiring payments for gas contracts to be made in rubles.

The German government is “in close contact” with its European partners and will “monitor the situation closely,” the spokesperson added.

German transmission system operator?Gascade, which manages the German section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline, told CNN Saturday that it couldn’t confirm any cutting off?of gas supplies to Germany.

The Russian president?delivered an ultimatum?Thursday to “unfriendly” nations to pay for their energy in rubles starting Friday or risk being cut off from vital supplies. But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted that German companies will continue to make payments for Russian gas only in euros.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russia would not turn off gas supplies to Europe immediately.

The head of the regional military administration of Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region said Russian strikes had interrupted rail traffic and caused a fire.

Valentyn Reznichenko said a rocket hit the railway in Pavlohrad district, forcing suspension of train traffic.

Reznichenko said no one was killed, according to preliminary information, but a second round hit an open area, causing a fire.?One person was injured, he said.

The office of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General said a criminal investigation has been opened into the attack.

“According to the investigation, on the afternoon of April 2, 2022, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, ignoring the norms of international humanitarian law, carried out a rocket attack on a civilian transport railway hub and an open area of the city of Pavlohrad,” according to a statement on Telegram from the office. “As a result of the airstrike of the Russian invaders, guided missiles damaged railway tracks and freight cars.”

There were no military facilities on the territory of the railway hub, the statement added.

Firefighters carry a body from the rubble of a government building hit by a Russian strike in Mykolaiv, Ukraine on March 29.

A total of 36 people were killed in a Russian strike on the office of the regional military governor of Ukraine’s southwestern Mykolaiv region on Tuesday, regional military governor Vitalii Kim said Saturday on Telegram.

Kim said his secretary was among the dead.?

Watch footage of the strike here:

As the sun sets on Saturday in Ukraine, here’s what you need to know.

Evacuation efforts continue: Seven?evacuation corridors?were scheduled in Ukraine on Saturday, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, including the route from the besieged southern port city of?Mariupol?to the Ukrainian government-held city of?Zaporizhzhia. In addition, an International Committee of the Red Cross team left for?Mariupol?on Saturday.

Turkey has also offered to evacuate people trapped in Mariupol.

More than 6,200 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities on Friday, Vereshchuk said.

Attacks reported in eastern and central Ukraine: Russian forces targeted a major Ukrainian oil refinery in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk in a series of strikes Saturday morning, according to a spokesperson for the country’s military.

At least four people were injured by explosions amid protests?against Russian occupation?in the central Ukrainian town of Enerhodar, the country’s state nuclear power company Energoatom said.?

Additionally, a Luhansk regional official said Russian forces had shelled people evacuating from towns that have seen heavy fighting.?And the head of the regional military administration of Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region said Russian strikes had interrupted rail traffic and caused a fire.

Weapons delivery: Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom?Andrei Kelin told Russian state news agency TASS that if Britain delivers long-range artillery weapons and anti-ship systems to Ukraine, they would be “legitimate targets” for?Russian forces.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak on Saturday called on the US and its allies to deliver heavier weaponry to Ukraine as the?Russian military shifts its campaign to focus on the east and south of Ukraine.?

Photojournalist found dead: Ukrainian photojournalist Maksym “Maks” Levin, who worked for a number of major Western news outlets including Reuters and the BBC, was found dead with two gunshot wounds near Kyiv, the office of Ukraine’s attorney general said Saturday.?

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy?Arestovych said heavy fighting is still expected in the east of Ukraine, near Mariupol, and in the country’s south.

He warned that the military effort “will not be easy” in those regions.?

Arestovych and other senior Ukrainian officials have stepped up calls in recent days for the US and its allies to deliver more heavy weaponry.?Speaking during his daily briefing, Arestovych said the main directions of the military over the past day were the Kyiv region, where Ukrainian troops reclaimed more than 30 settlements from Russian control.?

“We seize a lot of equipment that is empty, without fuel, and transfer it to the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he said. “That is, the offensive is going well.”

Arestovych — who gives regular briefings on Ukrainian television — also urged people to return to normal life, saying, “In those areas that are liberated from the enemy, that do not pose an immediate threat, and even more so in the cities of Central and Western Ukraine or in the East and Center of Ukraine, where there is no immediate threat, economic recovery is critical to restoring normal social and political life, even psychological life.”

Ukrainian photojournalist Maksym Levin in Donetsk region, Ukraine on January 25.

A Ukrainian photojournalist who worked for a number of major Western news outlets including Reuters and the BBC has been killed by Russian forces near Kyiv, the office of Ukraine’s attorney general said Saturday.?

The body of Maksym (Maks) Levin – who had been capturing the ongoing conflict?– was found with two gunshot wounds in the Vyshgorod district which sits just north of the capital, the attorney general’s office said in a Facebook post, citing preliminary reports.?

“According to the preliminary information, the soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces killed the unarmed Maksym Levin with two gunshots,”?it claimed.?His next of kin have been informed, the office told CNN.?

A residential building destroyed by shelling is seen in Borodyanka, Ukraine, on March 3.

Photographer Markiian Lyseiko told CNN that he was last in touch with his friend, known as Maks,?on March 12, the day before he went missing in a district north of Kyiv, where he had been reporting on the fighting and fleeing civilians.

In their final conversations, Lyseiko said that?Levin?had asked him to come to the Ukrainian capital so they could cover the war together.??

Lyseiko, who worked alongside Levin since 2014 documenting the war in Donbas, where they embedded with Ukrainian soldiers for weeks at a time, described his friend in an interview with CNN on March 24 as an energetic and tenacious reporter, who often looked like he “had no fear.”

A Ukrainian soldier hides from a helicopter airstrike near Demydiv, Ukraine on March 10.

Since the war broke out eight years ago, Levin wanted to show the world what was happening in Ukraine, especially to Russia, Lyseiko said.?

A criminal investigation is being carried out by the Vyshgorod District prosecutor’s office into alleged violations of “laws and customs of war,” the attorney general’s office said, adding that “measures are being taken to establish all circumstances of the crime.”

Levin began working as a photojournalist in 2006, according to his bio on LensCulture, a photography resources website. He worked for Ukrainian news outlet LB.ua and was “well-known” in his field, having collaborated with Reuters, BBC, TRT World and Associated Press,?according to the attorney general’s office.

In a statement online, LB.ua said Levin is survived by four sons, a civil partner and elderly parents. LB.ua said that in addition to journalism, Levin worked on dozens of photo and video projects for humanitarian organizations such as the World Health Organization, UNICEF and UN Women.

In his bio, Levin described himself as a “documentary photographer/videographer, father, human being.”

Ukrainian service members take position at the Vasylkiv Air Base near Kyiv on February 27.

The Reuters news agency on Saturday said it is “deeply saddened” over Levin’s death.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Maksym Levin, a long-time contributor to Reuters, in Ukraine,”?John Pullman, Reuters’ global managing editor for visuals, said in a statement to CNN.

“Maks has provided compelling photos and video from Ukraine to Reuters since 2013. His death is a huge loss to the world of journalism. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time,” Pullman said.

The head of the Luhansk region military administration said 2,700 civilians had evacuated from the region on Saturday, but Russian forces had shelled people evacuating from towns that have seen heavy fighting.?

A number of Ukrainian officials have been referring to Russian forces as?“orcs”?— the evil, monstrous army in J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.”

Haidai added that several tons of humanitarian aid were delivered for those remaining behind, and police officers had already begun transporting it to bomb shelters.

“Let me remind you that evacuation continues,” Haidai said. “Buses are waiting for you every morning.”

Turkey has offered to evacuate people trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol by boat, the country’s defense minister announced on Saturday.

The port city, which lies along the Sea of Azov on Ukraine’s southern coastline, has incurred widespread damage from Russian attacks and had its plans to operate safe evacuation routes thwarted until Saturday, according to previous CNN reporting.

The Turkish Defense Ministry conveyed its “request to support the evacuations” to the Russian military attaché in Ankara and the Turkish military attaché in Moscow who passed the message onto the Russian authorities. The Ukrainian military attaché in Ankara also passed the message onto the Ukrainian authorities, according to Akar.?

Turkey hosted the negotiation teams from Russia and Ukraine for talks in Istanbul earlier this week.?

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak speaks to the press in Istanbul, Turkey on March 29.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak on Saturday called on the US and its allies to deliver heavier weaponry to Ukraine as the Russian military shifts its campaign to focus on the east and south of Ukraine.?

“After the rapid retreat of the Russians from Kyiv and Chernihiv, it is clear that Russia has prioritized another tactic — to move east/south, to control large occupied territories (not only in Donetsk and Luhansk regions) and to gain a strong foothold there,” he said.?

The Russian military said the “first stage” of its invasion of Ukraine was complete and that it would withdraw forces from around Kyiv and Chernihiv to concentrate on the Donbas region in the country’s east. Russia’s announcement of that new phase in part may provide political cover for the Russian military, explaining heavy setbacks in the battles around Kyiv, but Ukrainian officials have also reported a?ramping up of military activity and shelling in the Donbas by Russian forces.

Podolyak alluded to the expectation from US and Western officials that Ukraine might need to prepare for partisan warfare in the event of Russian invasion and the fall of the Ukrainian capital.?

The US, the UK and other NATO allies provided anti-tank weapons and man-portable air defenses. Podolyak said Ukraine needed heavier weaponry.?

“‘Afghanization’ is when there is a strong guerrilla resistance across the country that inflicts heavy losses on the aggressor for many months or even years and thus significantly weakens the power of the occupier’s army,” he said. “Such actions took place during the Soviet Union’s attempt to control Afghanistan: Afghan guerrillas destroyed and weakened the Soviet occupiers for years. As a result, weakened Russia as a whole.”

Podolyak continued, “Some of our partners believed that something similar could happen in today’s Ukraine. The Russians think otherwise. They have established in the east and south and are dictating harsh conditions. So?we definitely can’t do without heavy weapons if we want to unblock the east and Kherson and send [back] the Russians as far as possible.”

Evacuees from Mariupol and other nearby towns arrive in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on April 1.

An International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team left for Mariupol on Saturday as part of a renewed attempt to facilitate evacuation efforts from the besieged southern city.?

A press officer for the ICRC told CNN Saturday that ICRC team?“left Zaporizhzhia earlier this morning for Mariupol.”

The ICRC are not able to give further information on the team’s current location as it stands, the press officer added.?

On Friday evening, the ICRC announced in a statement that its team of three vehicles and nine personnel failed to reach the city “after arrangements and conditions made it impossible to proceed.”

The Ukrainian flag has been raised over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant following the withdrawal of Russian forces, the state enterprise overseeing nuclear power plants said on Saturday.

“Today, April 2, at 11:00, Ukrainian flag was raised over the Chernobyl NPP and the anthem was sung,” Energoatom said in a statement on Telegram.

“The entire staff of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which has worked heroically in the harsh conditions of the occupation since February 24 and provided nuclear and radiation safety at the station and nearby facilities, was present at the ceremony,” the statement added.

Some background: Chernobyl was the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

On April 26 of that year, an explosion ripped through the No.4 reactor at Chernobyl, killing 30 people immediately. Countless others died from radiation symptoms in the years that followed.

In late February, during the first week Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the plant and its surrounding territory fell into the hands of Russian troops.

However, Russian troops since announced their intention to leave and hand over control to Ukrainian personnel, Energoatom said in a statement on Thursday.

“It was confirmed that the occupiers, who seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and other facilities in the Exclusion Zone, marched in two columns towards the Ukrainian border with the Republic of Belarus,” the statement published on Telegram said.

CNN’s Nathan Hodge contributed reporting to this post.

Pope Francis speaks to journalists on a plane to Malta on April 2.

Pope Francis said a trip to Ukraine “is on the table,” while speaking to journalists on Saturday.

When asked by a reporter if he was considering visiting Kyiv, Pope Francis replied after a long pause and said, “Yes, it is on the table.”

He greeted more than 70 journalists onboard his plane to Malta on Saturday morning, saying, “it will be a nice trip.”

Frances also received a photo and a letter from the family of Fox News cameraman, Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, who was killed in Ukraine along with Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, a 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist working as a consultant for the network.

Francis’s words as he looked at Pierre’s photo was “lui è la su,” which translates from French as “he is up there.”

Some background: While Pope Francis has not yet visited Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, he has shown his support for Ukrainian refugees, and called for an end to the war.

On March 19, Francis visited 19 Ukrainian refugee children at the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome, Italy. They were receiving treatment for oncological and neurological diseases among others, as well as severe injuries from blasts, Vatican Press Director Matteo Bruni said at the time.

“More than a month has passed since the invasion of Ukraine, since the start of this cruel and senseless war, which, like every war, is a defeat for all, for all of us,” Francis said at the end of March, during his weekly Angelus address.

“Enough. Stop. Let the weapons fall silent. Negotiate seriously for peace,” he added. “War cannot be something that is inevitable. We cannot get used to war,” Francis added.

Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Qamar Javed Bajwa, attends a military parade in Islamabad, Pakistan on March 23.

Pakistan wants Russia and Ukraine to cease fighting immediately, and is “doing everything it can” to resolve the conflict between the two countries, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Qamar Javed Bajwa, said.

“Russian aggression on Ukraine is very unfortunate; this is a huge tragedy,” Bajwa said during a speech on Saturday.?

“Pakistan doesn’t believe in camp politics and wants excellent relations with all countries, especially the United States, the European Union, China, Russia and others,” Bajwa added.

The army chief’s remarks are seen as a contradiction of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan’s position, who remained publicly ambivalent about Russia’s invasion towards Ukraine.

In early March, Pakistan, along with China, India and others, abstained from a vote at the United Nations General Assembly condemning Russia’s action towards Ukraine, stating that it remains “deeply concerned at the recent turn of events” that “reflects a failure of diplomacy.”

Later that month, Pakistan sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine at the request of Kyiv’s embassy in Islamabad.?

The head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, attends a ceremony on December 8, 2021.

The Director of Russia’s space agency?Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, published a series of inflammatory tweets on Saturday suggesting Russia might end cooperation at the International Space Station (ISS) due to international sanctions on the country’s capital, Moscow.

“I believe that restoration of normal relations between partners at the International Space Station and in other joint projects is possible only after full and unconditional removal of the illegal sanctions,”?Rogozin said in posts to his verified Twitter account.?

Rogozin warned that Roscosmos would prepare “concrete proposals to our country’s leadership” on the possibility of ending cooperation at the ISS with the space agencies of the US, Canada, the European Union and Japan.

Some background: The head of Russia’s space agency has a reputation for playing fast and loose on social media, making comments on geopolitical issues and directing criticism at the US.

NASA maintains that it has a close working relationship with Roscosmos that is unaffected by the political situation on earth and the war in Ukraine.?

Rogozin previously posted a heavily edited CGI video that appeared make the threat that Russian cosmonauts would abandon?NASA astronaut Mark?Vande?Hei?in space.?Vande?Hei, who launched to the ISS in April 2021, returned to earth on March 30, along with?Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov.

Veteran?former astronaut Scott Kelly recently told CNN he would back off his high-profile Twitter war with Rogozin, following a warning from a NASA?official that such attacks are “damaging” to the ISS mission.?

Since November 2000, the ISS has functioned as an orbiting laboratory 227 nautical miles (420 kilometers) above our planet, as well as a?home to continuously rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts. It has been the site of multiple firsts as astronauts have successfully sequenced DNA and?feasted on crops grown in space.

Gunfire and explosions disperse a crowd in Enerhodar, Ukraine on April 2.

At least four people were injured by explosions amid protests?against Russian occupation?in the central Ukrainian town of Enerhodar, the country’s state nuclear power company Energoatom said in a series of statements Saturday.?

The city, which is close to the Zaporizhia nuclear power station seized by Russian forces in early March, has seen sporadic protests since its occupation.?

Energoatom posted video from the scene that appeared to show crowds being dispersed by automatic weapons fire and flash-bang rounds.?

The post also called the Russian military “bastards.”

Energoatom said residents initially gathered for a peaceful rally in support of Ukraine. According to that account, Russian prison buses pulled up and the Russians began detaining locals

According to Energoatom, several citizens were hospitalized with injuries and severe burns due to blasts that hit a line of civilians in the vicinity of a local cultural center.

“Local doctors are doing their best in the difficult conditions of almost complete lack of drugs and materials and trying to save their lives and health,” the statement said. “Some of the victims will be released today after the necessary procedures.”

Evacuees from Berdyansk and Melitopol arrive on buses to Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on April 1.

Evacuations efforts continue in Ukraine, with a total 6,266 people evacuated from cities on Friday, according to the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. Of that number, 771 people originally came from the besieged southern port city of Mariupol.

Meanwhile, Russian forces said they struck a major oil refinery in Ukraine on Saturday morning using high-precision weaponry.

Here’s what you need to know:

Evacuations ongoing: Seven?evacuation corridors?along key routes are expected to open in Ukraine on Saturday, Vereshchuk announced in a Facebook post on Saturday.?She said the list includes the route from the besieged southern city of?Mariupol?to the government-held city of?Zaporizhzhia?in southeastern Ukraine, as well as routes from Berdiansk, Rubizhne, Nizhny, Severodonetsk, Popasna and Lysychansk.

Russia attacks Ukrainian oil refinery: Russian forces targeted a major Ukrainian oil refinery in a series of strikes Saturday morning, according to a spokesman for the country’s military. The refinery, in the central city of Kremenchuk, was hit by “high-precision long-range air and sea-based weapons,” Russian defense ministry spokesman Igor?Konashenkov said in a briefing. He said Russia’s military had destroyed storage facilities holding gasoline and diesel fuels that were supplying Ukrainian troops in the country’s eastern and central regions. Russia also struck military airfields in?Poltava?and Dnipro, cities to the?east?of Kremenchuk,?using high-precision air-based missiles, Konashenkov said.

Moscow’s warning for London: Russia would consider British long-range artillery and anti-ship systems “legitimate targets” if they United Kingdom were to deliver those weapons to the Ukrainian military, Russia’s ambassador to the UK said.

“Any weapon deliveries are destabilizing,” Ambassador Andrei Kelin told Russian state news agency TASS. “They exacerbate the situation and make it bloodier.”

Russian officials have long complained about deliveries of advanced military weaponry to Ukraine by the US and the UK. Some of those armaments, particularly anti-tank weapons, have enabled Ukrainian troops to blunt Russian advances.?

Cold-calling Russia: In an attempt to pierce Russian President Vladimir Putin’s digital iron curtain, some people are cold calling or messaging strangers in Russia to counter the Kremlin’s propaganda about the war in Ukraine. They hope the truth will better inform Russian citizens and perhaps even help put an end to the conflict.

Seven evacuation corridors along key routes are expected to open in Ukraine on Saturday, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.?

Announcing the corridors in a Facebook post Saturday, Vereshchuk said the list includes the route from the besieged southern city of Mariupol to the government-held city of?Zaporizhzhia?in southeastern Ukraine.

Private transport will travel along the evacuation route, stopping in Mangush,?Berdiansk, Tokmak, Vasylivka and Kamyanske, before reaching the final destination of Zaporizhzhia.

Humanitarian caravan of 42 buses from Berdiansk and 5 from Melitopol in an evacuation process organized by the International Red Cross in coordination with the Ukrainian Red Cross arrive in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on April 1.

Vereshchuk announced in a video message on Friday evening that a convoy of 42 buses traveling from the southern city of Berdiansk – carrying residents from the besieged city of Mariupol – had managed to pass a key Russian checkpoint, and was en route to Zaporizhzhia. That?convoy arrived in Zaporizhzhia later that night.?

Vereshchuk hailed the arrival as a success, after the Ukrainian government’s efforts to try and “open the corridors from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia” since March 5.?

A total of 6,266 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities on Friday, including 1,431 people who moved from the southern cities of Berdiansk and Melitopol in their own vehicles to Zaporizhzhia through evacuation corridors, according to Vereshcuk.?She added that of that number, 771 people originally came Mariupol.

Residents evacuated from Berdysank and Melitopol arrive in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on April 1.

A route for buses and private vehicles from Berdiansk to Zaporizhzia is also expected to operate on Saturday, with stops planned in Tokmak, Vasylivka and Kamyanske.?

Evacuation routes will also open from the city of Rubizhne in the separatist controlled region of Luhansk to Bakhmut in the eastern region of Donetsk, also controlled by Russian-backed separatists.?

The remaining routes will operate from Nizhny?to Bakhmut, Severodonetsk to Bakhmut, Popasna to Bakhmut and Lysychansk to Bakhmut.

CNN’s Nathan Hodge and Julia Presniakova contributed reporting to this post

Russian forces targeted a major Ukrainian oil refinery in a series of strikes Saturday morning, according to a spokesman for the country’s military.

The refinery, in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, was hit by “high-precision long-range air and sea-based weapons,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor?Konashenkov said in a briefing on Saturday.?

Konashenkov said Russia’s military had destroyed storage facilities holding gasoline and diesel fuels that were supplying Ukrainian troops in the country’s eastern and central regions.

Russia also struck military airfields in?Poltava?and Dnipro, cities to the?east?of Kremenchuk,?using high-precision air-based missiles, Konashenkov said.

What Ukraine is saying: Dmytro Lunin, the governor of the Ukranian region of Poltava where the refinery is located, said three Russian planes carried out the strike at about 6 a.m. local time. Lunin said it is unknown whether anyone was hurt in the attack, but that emergency services were putting out a fire on Saturday morning.

Lunin also said that four Russian missiles hit other targets in Poltava at around 2 a.m.?

Ukraine’s largest oil company Ukrnafta operates an oil refinery in Kremenchuk, according to the company.

Some context: The attack on the oil refinery comes a day after the Kremlin accused Kyiv of mounting a helicopter attack on a civilian fuel depot inside Russian territory. Footage of the facility engulfed in flames has surfaced on social media.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has neither confirmed nor denied the attack, and President Volodymyr Zelensky declined to discuss the assault when asked about it during an interview with Fox News.

CNN is so far unable to verify this claim and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry told CNN it has no information about the incident.?

Russia has targeted fuel storage facilities around Ukraine in recent days.

Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom Andrei Kelin.

If Britain delivers long-range artillery weapons and anti-ship systems to Ukraine, they would be “legitimate targets” for Russian forces, Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom?Andrei Kelin told Russian state news agency TASS in an interview published on Saturday.?

“Any weapon deliveries are destabilizing, especially the ones mentioned by (Ben) Wallace (the British Defense Secretary),” said Kelin,?according to?TASS. “They exacerbate the situation and make it bloodier.”

“I have a feeling that London’s idea of what is happening in Ukraine militarily is formed on the basis of the bravado reports of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Ukrainian leadership,” Kelin said.?

Some background: Russian officials have long complained about deliveries of advanced military weaponry to Ukraine by the US and the UK. Some of those weapons, particularly anti-tank weapons, have enabled Ukrainian troops to blunt Russian advances.?

The UK ratcheted up military support to Ukraine ahead of Russia’s invasion on February 24.?Following an international donor conference for?Ukraine,?British Defense Secretary Ben?Wallace?announced on Thursday that?Britain and its allies will send “more lethal aid” to Kyiv.??

“There’ll be more lethal aid going into?Ukraine?as a result of today. A number of countries have come forward either with new ideas or pledges for more money,”?Wallace?said, noting that?the United States is “being at the forefront” of the aid effort.??

Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, delivers his final campaign speech ahead of the general election in Szekesfehervar, Hungary on Friday, April 1.

Six weeks ago, Hungary’s election campaign looked and sounded very different.

The stakes were already high.?Viktor Orban, the longest-serving national leader in the European Union, was seeking to extend his?authoritarian premiership?deep into its second decade. His rival, leading a united front of opposition parties, bluntly denounced Orban’s crusade against independent institutions and the rule of law.

But the political focus was resolutely domestic. When foreign policy took center stage, it was usually raised by Orban to tout his international credentials – such as on February 1, when he boasted of his political longevity while in Moscow, a few feet from?his staunch ally President Vladimir Putin.

Now, everything has changed. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine later that same month has upended the race, recasting its protagonists and rewriting their pitches. It has left Orban, widely regarded as the EU’s most pro-Kremlin leader, walking a political tightrope. And it has shone a spotlight?on a years-long entanglement between him and the Russian President, two strongmen whose political journeys bear some notable similarities.

Read more:

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - FEBRUARY 17: Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban converse during a signing ceremony of several agreements between the two countries at Parliament on February 17, 2015 in Budapest, Hungary. Putin is in Budapest on a one-day visit, his first visit to an EU-member country since he attended ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasions in France in June, 2014. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Related article Viktor Orban, the EU leader who can't quit Putin, faces a united front in Hungary's election

Russian President Vladimir Putin often evokes the Soviet Union’s epic defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II to justify his country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Yet Putin is committing some of the same blunders that doomed Germany’s 1941 invasion of the USSR – while using?“Hitler-like tricks and tactics” to justify his brutality, military historians and scholars say.

This is the savage irony behind Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine that’s become clear as the war enters its second month: the Russian leader, who portrays himself as a student of history, is floundering because he hasn’t paid enough attention to the lessons of the?“Great Patriotic War”?he reveres.

“I have been trying to make sense of this for a month, because as terrible as Putin is, you could never say he was illogical,” says?Peter T. DeSimone,?an associate professor of Russian and Eastern European history at?Utica?University in New York.

“All of this is illogical, and that’s the scary thing,” he says. “This is not normal for what he’s done in the past. This is something that makes no sense on many levels, and not just in regard to World War II.”

Read more:

Soviet Guardsmen fighting in the streets of the city outskirts, Stalingrad, October 1942.

Related article Putin is making the same mistakes that doomed Hitler when he invaded the Soviet Union

Marija Stonyte cold calls people in Russia to tell them about the war in Ukraine.

Marija Stonyte picks up her phone and anxiously dials in a number. After a couple of rings, a woman picks up.

“I’m calling to tell you a very important message. I don’t know if you know a lot about what is actually happening right now in Ukraine,” Stonyte says in the call last month, her voice trembling as her 1-year-old daughter babbles in the background.

There’s silence on the other end of the line.

This is one of dozens of cold calls that Stonyte and her husband make every day to people in Russia from their home in Lithuania as part of a volunteer initiative aimed at penetrating Russia’s so-called?digital iron curtain.

Russia’s ongoing onslaught in Ukraine has seen cities bombarded, civilians killed, and?more than 4 million?flee the country. But at home, many Russians know little about what is unfolding.

Digital iron curtain: Russia has?banned state media?from calling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” an “invasion” or a “war,” and those who criticize the offensive can face severe punishment.

A Moscow court banned Facebook and Instagram for carrying out “extremist activity,” and a new censorship law made publishing “fake” information about the invasion punishable by up to?15 years in prison. The pressure has forced independent news outlets to pull out or shut down, leaving a void for state media to fill with propaganda and disinformation.

Desperate to break through, people around the world are trying creative ways to connect with Russians. Online activists?Anonymous claim?to have hacked Russian TV channels to broadcast footage from Ukraine.

Others, like Stonyte, are trying a more individual approach. They’re cold calling or messaging strangers in Russia, hoping their personal pleas will disrupt the Kremlin’s propaganda —? and potentially even help put an end to the deadly war.

Read the full story and listen to the calls:

Related article The people cold calling to chip away at Russia's digital iron curtain

Further evacuations from besieged Ukrainian cities are scheduled for Saturday, after thousands of people escaped to safety on Friday, according to officials. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President says Russian troops are “slowly but noticeably” moving out of the north of the country.

Here’s what you need to know:

Here’s the state of the conflict:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke in a taped interview with Fox News on Friday April 1.

Sanctions against Russia are working but need to be strengthened, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a taped interview with Fox News on Friday.

Alleged helicopter attack: During the interview, Zelensky responded to Russian accusations that Ukraine mounted a helicopter attack on a fuel depot inside Russian territory Friday.

Some context: A huge fire broke out Friday at a?fuel depot in Belgorod, a Russian city near the Ukrainian border —?which Russia said was caused by an air strike from Ukrainian helicopters. CNN is so far unable to verify this claim and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry told CNN it has no information about the incident.?

No land-for-peace deal: Zelensky also said he would not be willing to trade Ukrainian territory in exchange for a peace deal with Russia.

“We do not trade our territory. So the question of territorial integrity and sovereignty is out of discussion,” Zelensky said.

A US Marine launches a Switchblade 300 10C system during a training exercise at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center?Twentynine Palms, California on Sept. 24, 2021.

The United States will provide another $300 million in security assistance to Ukraine, the Pentagon announced Friday.

The new package means the US has now committed more than $2.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of the Biden administration, according to the statement from Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.

The new package includes:

Not all requests fulfilled: Unlike presidential drawdowns, which pull from Defense Department stocks to provide to Ukraine, this package falls under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which means the weaponry and equipment will be procured from industry.

The new package comes as Ukraine has pushed for more advanced weaponry from the US and European nations. Much of the equipment provided to Ukraine fulfills those requests, but the US has not acquiesced to some of the biggest requests, such as aircraft.

The statement on security assistance is an unusual departure from past practice, in which the Pentagon and the administration have been discrete about the equipment provided. This time, the Pentagon laid out in some detail the systems and equipment that Ukraine will receive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a video address on Friday April 1.

Russian troops are “slowly but noticeably” moving out of the north of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on Friday.

Zelensky also urged Ukrainians to remain cautious in the north as troops withdraw.

“We are moving forward. Moving carefully. And everyone who returns to this area must also be very careful. It is still impossible to return to normal life as it was. Even in the areas we return after the fighting. You will have to wait. Wait for our land to be cleared. Wait until you can be assured that new shelling is impossible,” he said.

In eastern Ukraine, Zelensky said preparations are underway for more Russian strikes in the Donbas region and the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.

“Humanitarian catastrophe”: Zelensky added that 6,266 people were rescued through evacuation corridors in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia on Friday.

Zelensky also commented on a conversation he had with French President Emmanuel Macron, in which they discussed the humanitarian situation in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol.

Volunteers inspect a body left on a street in Bucha, Ukraine on April 1.

Bodies are seen laying in the street where they fell in Bucha, a city on the northwestern outskirts of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, in new video posted to social media.

CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the video, which was taken on Friday.

In the video, a number of bodies are seen in the street. It’s unclear from the video whether?the bodies are?civilians or the military.

However,?it’s clear?from the video?one of them was killed while riding a bicycle.

There’s been roughly five weeks of near constant, intense firefights taking place in Bucha, which is just south of Hostomel, the site of the Antonov Airport. Russian forces stormed the airfield on the first day of the war and?have?recently abandoned it in their retreat from the greater Kyiv area.

A satellite image shows empty revetments at Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Ukraine on March 31.

New satellite images show Russian forces have withdrawn from the Antonov Airport in Hostomel, 18 miles (about 29 kilometers) northwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

The images, taken Thursday by Maxar Technologies, confirm earlier information from an official with the US Department of Defense, who told CNN they believed the Russian military had likely left the airport.

A satellite overview show's the abandoned Antonov airfield.

Previous satellite images showed the Russians had constructed protective earthen berms around military vehicles and artillery positions after weeks of digging in at the airport. Now, just the berms remain.?

First Russian victory: The capture of the Antonov airfield was the first major victory notched by the Russians on the first day of the war — Feb. 24.?A number of transport and attack helicopters ambushed the base, and the Ukrainian soldiers stationed there;?CNN witnessed some of the intense firefight at the base.

Since then, Ukrainian forces held strong against the Russian advance; they never made it closer to western Kyiv.?Intense firefights took place along the Irpin River and the cities of Irpin and Bucha,?just south of the air base and Hostomel.?

A satellite image shows an area where artillery batteries were seen previously.

Russia’s Defense Ministry released a number of videos praising the ease at which they claimed to have taken the air base. Russian state media echoed those claims, even traveling with troops around the airport as evidence of how safe the area was.

Now, the abandonment is another example of Russia’s waning military success around the Ukrainian capital.

More empty revetments are seen near the airport.

Russian repositioning: At this time, it’s unclear where the military and artillery vehicles went.?Russia has previously claimed it would decrease its military activity around Kyiv. All of the military forces and vehicles that were positioned west of Kyiv came from Belarus.

The Russians aren’t saying if they returned to Belarus, and thick cloud cover is currently preventing any satellite imagery from tracking Russian troop movements in the area.

Evacuees arrive on a bus at the registration center in?Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on April 1.

Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s minister of reintegration of temporarily occupied territories, said 6,266 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities on Friday.

The update came via a statement, in which Vereshchuk noted the figure includes 1,431 people who moved from the southern cities of Berdiansk and Melitopol — in their own vehicles — to the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia, via evacuation corridors.

Of that number, she said, 771 people originally came from the besieged city of Mariupol.

Meanwhile, said Vereshchuk, a separate convoy of 42 buses from the city of Berdiansk — carrying Mariupol residents — had passed a key Russian checkpoint and was en route to Zaporizhzhia. Including additional buses from Melitopol, those convoys were carrying more than 2,500 people.

Additionally, the official said 10 buses had arrived from Zaporizhzhia to Berdiansk delivering 80 tons of humanitarian aid.

Russia accused Ukraine of mounting a helicopter attack on a fuel depot inside Russian territory Friday, as footage surfaced of the facility engulfed in flames.

In a statement, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that the helicopters “entered the airspace of the Russian Federation at extremely low altitude,” at 5 a.m. Moscow time and “launched a missile attack on a civilian oil storage facility located on the outskirts of Belgorod.”

As a result, “individual tanks were damaged and caught fire,” spokesperson Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, adding that the depot “has nothing to do with Russian armed forces.”

CNN could not verify the Russian claims.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has neither confirmed nor denied the attack. Russia has hit fuel storage facilities around Ukraine in recent days.

CNN geolocated and verified social media videos showing two helicopters flying over the Russian city of Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border, but cannot confirm the helicopters are Ukrainian.

Read more:

A still image taken from video footage shows a fuel depot on fire in the city of Belgorod, Russia April 1, 2022. Russian Emergencies Ministry/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT.

Related article Russia accuses Ukraine of helicopter strikes on fuel depot in Russian territory

Vladimir Putin’s deadline has come and gone and Russian natural gas is still flowing to Europe.

The Russian President?delivered an ultimatum?Thursday to “unfriendly” nations to pay for their energy in rubles starting April 1 or risk being cut off from vital supplies. Was that a bluff?

It’s too early to say, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russia would not turn off gas supplies to Europe immediately.

Putin’s high-stakes threat has sent?shockwaves through Europe, which?cannot keep its economy running for long?without Russian energy. Moscow sent a clear signal that it could at some point reduce natural gas flows — perhaps to deter or respond to even tougher Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Why does all this matter? Europe gets about 40% of its natural gas from Russia, carried on pipelines through Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland or under the Baltic Sea. Germany is the biggest buyer and its huge manufacturing industry guzzles the gas, and the power it generates, in vast quantities.

The German government this week activated the?first of three stages of a crisis management plan?that could ultimately result in?energy rationing, and is appealing to the public to use as little as possible.

Any significant loss of Russian supply would likely tip Europe’s biggest economy into recession — and potentially the wider region too.?Soaring gas prices?are already making energy-intensive industries unprofitable and causing pain for many households. Survey data published Friday showed German manufacturing at its lowest ebb in 18 months. The picture isn’t much brighter elsewhere in Europe.

What does Russia want? Most of Russia’s gas export contracts are currently priced in euros or US dollars. According to the decree signed by Putin on Thursday, foreign buyers must open accounts at a Russian state-controlled bank, instead of dealing directly with state gas giant Gazprom. They would deposit euros into one account. The bank would?sell the euros for rubles?and transfer those into another account in the buyer’s name to be used to pay for gas.

Moscow may be trying to bolster demand for the ruble — which has?recovered after crashing?in the immediate aftermath of the invasion and ensuing?sanctions. But the Kremlin had already forced Gazprom (and other big Russian exporters) to convert 80% of their foreign currency revenues into rubles, so any gain would be limited.

Read more:

PRODUCTION - 29 March 2022, Brandenburg, Mallnow: Facilities of the Mallnow natural gas compressor station of Gascade Gastransport GmbH. The compressor station in Mallnow near the German-Polish border mainly receives Russian natural gas. From its source to its point of use, the natural gas travels several thousand kilometers in the "Jagal" pipeline. Such compressor stations are necessary to maintain a constant pressure for transport in the pipeline. From here, Russian gas flows through the JAGAL (Yamal Gas Link Pipeline) into the German natural gas pipeline network to the west. In addition, gas can be transported - against the main direction of flow - from Germany to Poland. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Related article Europe rejected Putin's ultimatum. So why is Russian gas still flowing?

Refugees from Mariupol and nearby towns arrive in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on Friday, April 1.

After authorities encountered several issues in evacuating civilians from Mariupol, they were finally put on buses in the city of Berdyansk and headed to the Ukrainian government-held city of Zaporizhzhia on Friday, according to the Mariupol city council. And moments ago, the buses started arriving at the destination.

CNN’s Ivan Watson, who is on the ground, said officials are vetting people and their documents before letting them off the buses.

“Then there’s an entire?system of volunteers, city?government officials, aid?workers who will greet people. Almost?everybody I’ve spoken to says?their home has been destroyed in?Mariupol,” Watson said.

Some men said they were asked to remove their shirts at Russian military checkpoints, and they were checked for tattoos?that the Russian forces could believe would help identify if they were part of Ukrainian military, Watson said.

A passenger on the bus said “an 18-year-old boy?was seen with?tattoos and was immediately?hooded by the Russian troops and?thrown into an armored personnel?carrier and taken away,” Watson reported.

All of the?vehicles arriving have been branded with?the Red Cross logo?to try to ensure they cannot be?attacked on the road, Watson reported.

The organization had been at work, trying to assist with safe passage.

More than 100,000 residents remain trapped in the southern port city, according to officials.

Watch CNN’s reporting on the ground:

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