The buses, carrying residents of Mariupol who had managed to reach the city of Berdyansk, arrived in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia on Friday evening.
With Russia's war in Ukraine into its second month, Putin's forces have continued to pound towns and cities from afar as Moscow's military offensive stalls in the face of strong Ukrainian resistance.
Millions have fled their homes, creating Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. Thousands of civilians and military personnel have been killed, and the Russian bombardments have left widespread devastation.
The Russian invasion has caused political and shockwaves around the world, deepening the rupture between Moscow and the West.
See a summary of Friday's events in our blog below, and watch the report in the video player above.
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Friday's key points to know:
- A 30-bus convoy taking evacuees to safety, including residents of Mariupol, arrived in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia on Friday evening, AFP reports.
- Earlier the Red Cross said its team intending to help people leave the besieged port city was unable to reach its destinationy and had to turn back. It will try again on Saturday.
- Ukraine denied reponsibility for an attack on a fuel depot inside Russian territory. Russia had accused Kyiv of sending helicopter gunships across the border to attack the site at Belgorod.
- Russia and Ukraine resumed peace talks via video link on Friday.
- Moscow says its demand that natural gas be paid for in roubles doesn’t mean supplies will be immediately interrupted. The Kremlin says payments on current supplies must be made in a month's time.
- It follows Vladimir Putin's threat on Thursday to terminate contracts unless "unfriendly" foreign buyers paid in roubles for Russian gas from Friday. Germany and France have reiterated that European countries will continue to pay in euros or dollars.
- The war in Ukraine has pushed the eurozone's inflation to a record 7.5%, new figures show.
- President Zelenskyy said Russians are withdrawing from key northern and central areas but building up for a new offensive in the southeast.
- Australia announced on Friday it would send more armoured vehicles to Ukraine to help the war effort.
- Russian troops left the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site early Friday after returning control to the Ukrainians.
Convoy of evacuee buses reaches Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine confirms
A column of buses carrying displaced people, including residents of the besieged port city of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, arrived in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia on Friday evening, AFP reports.
The buses were carrying residents of Mariupol who had managed to reach the city of Berdyansk, occupied by Russian forces, where they had been picked up by the convoy, those who arrived told AFP and officials.
The information was confirmed by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, in a video on Telegram.
"As of today, as we are recording this video, the buses are already on their way, bringing residents of Mariupol, 42 buses, to safety," she said.
AFP was able to observe about 30 buses.
“We know how much you hope to be saved. Every day we will try and try again to get through until you have a chance to leave the city, and most importantly, to live peacefully,” Vereshchouk added.
She said on Thursday that the Ukrainian government was sending 45 buses to evacuate civilians from Mariupol after Moscow announced a truce to allow them to leave.
The ICRC, which was to take part in the evacuation, announced on Friday that its team sent to Mariupol had to turn back, as the planned evacuation of thousands of civilians from the port city besieged by Russian forces was "impossible" on Friday.
(AFP)
Red Cross evacuation attempt from Mariupol fails
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said a team intending to help people leave the besieged city of Mariupol was unable to reach the port city on Friday.
The Red Cross said in a statement that the team hopes to try again Saturday.
“Arrangements and conditions made it impossible" for the convoy of three vehicles to get safely to Mariupol and they returned to Zaporizhzhia, it said.
“For the operation to succeed, it is critical that the parties respect the agreements and provide the necessary conditions and security guarantees,” the organisation said.
The team had to turn back because "conditions made it impossible to continue" the mission, and they returned toZaporizhzhia, 250 km to the northwest, according to the Red Cross.
"They will try again on Saturday to facilitate the safe passage of civilians from Mariupol", a port city devastated by Russian bombing and fighting, added the Red Cross.
(AFP and AP)
Russian Chernobyl withdrawal a 'step in right direction' — IAEA
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says that Russian forces’ departure from the decommissioned Chernobyl power plant is “a step in the right direction” and the U.N. nuclear watchdog plans to be there “very, very soon.”
IAEA director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi says he will head a support mission to Chernobyl, the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster, and that further nuclear safety missions to Ukraine will follow.
Grossi spoke Friday after visits to Ukraine and Russia. He said Russian nuclear and foreign ministry officials didn’t discuss with him why Russian forces left Chernobyl.
Of the overall situation in the area, he said: “The general radiation situation around the plant is quite normal. There was a relatively higher level of localized radiation because of the movement of heavy vehicles at the time of the occupation of the plant, and apparently this might have been the case again on the way out.”
Ukraine’s state power company said Russian troops received “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches in the exclusion zone around the plant. But Grossi said “we don’t have any confirmation” that soldiers were contaminated.
(AP)
Macron vows to persevere with Mariupol evacuation plan after Zelenskyy call
French President Emmanuel Macron promised to keep working to establish a sustainable humanitarian corridor in and out of Mariupol in talks Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy appealed to Macron to continue diplomatic efforts to get Russia to agree to conditions for evacuation and aid, according to Macron’s office. That includes a durable cease-fire announced far enough in advance to be able to organize help.
The French leader has been trying for a week to arrange help for Mariupol, so far without evident success.
Macron’s office said France is working to ensure that people fleeing Mariupol can go “in the direction of their choosing,” and that France is available to help civilians displaced by the war to settle elsewhere in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy tweeted after the call: “Told about countering Russian aggression. Discussed the negotiation process - the course and prospects, the importance of security guarantees. The initiative of (France) on humanitarian corridors from Mariupol must be implemented!”
(AP)
Ukraine denies it was behind Russian fuel depot attack
The secretary of Ukraine’s national security council has denied the country was responsible for a reported attack on a Russian fuel depot.
Moscow had earlier placed the blame on Ukraine. There was no independent confirmation of details about the incident.
“For some reason they say that we did it, but in fact this does not correspond with reality,” Oleksiy Danilov said on Ukrainian television on Friday.
Regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said earlier that two Ukrainian helicopter gunships had flown at low altitude and struck the facility in the city of Belgorod north of the border.
Two workers at the depot were injured, he said. But Russian media cited a statement from state oil company Rosneft that denied anyone was hurt.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy’s office said 86 Ukrainian service members were freed in the Zaporizhzhia region as part of a prisoner swap with Russia. The number of Russians released was not disclosed.
(AP)
International Energy Agency member states agree to release oil from emergency reserves
The 31 member states of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed on Friday to a new release of oil from emergency reserves in response to the market turmoil driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the agency said in a statement following an extraordinary meeting of the governing board.
The member countries had pledged just last month to release a total of 62.7 million barrels; the details of the new oil release will be made public next week.
"The Ministers noted that Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to put significant strains on global oil markets, resulting in heightened price volatility," the statement said.
Russia is the world's third-largest oil producer and its largest exporter. Its exports of about 5 million barrels a day of crude oil represent roughly 12% of global trade, the IEA said. Around 60% of those exports go to Europe.
IEA members hold 1.5 billion barrels in emergency stockpiles, the agency added.
At least 53 cultural sites in Ukraine damaged by Russian invasion, UNESCO says
At least 53 cultural sites have been damaged in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) reported on Friday.
Among the sites are 29 religious sites, 16 historic buildings, four museums and four monuments, the damage of which UNESCO was able to verify by satellite imagery and people on the spot, a spokesperson for the organisation said, adding that the list "is not exhaustive".
"Our experts continue to verify each report and it is feared that other sites will be added to this list,” the spokesperson said.
(with AFP)
EU urges China to stay neutral but without securing any guarantees
EU leaders warned China not to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine but failed to secure a pledge of non-interference in the war.
Ensuring that China maintains a hands-off, equidistant approach to the conflict was the main goal of a virtual EU-China summit that took place on Friday.
The EU front was represented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel and High Representative Josep Borrell. They first held talks with China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang and later exchanged views with President Xi Jinping.
Read our full story here.
Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners, Ukrainian officials say
Two Ukrainian officials said on Friday that there the second prisoner swap with Russia took place.
"The second prisoner swap just took place, bringing home 86 of our soldiers! 15 of them are women," Iryna Vereshchuk, deputy prime minister, wrote on her social media accounts.
The information was also confirmed by presidential advisor Kirill Tymoshenko on Telegram.
Fuel depot inside Russia ablaze, Moscow blames 'Ukrainian attack'
A fuel depot inside Russian territory was on fire on Friday, after what Russia called a cross-border air raid by Ukrainian helicopters.
The site is at Belgorod, one of Russia's main logistics hubs for its Ukraine war effort, about 40 kilometres from the border. Ukraine said it would neither confirm nor deny responsibility.
"I can neither confirm nor reject the claim that Ukraine was involved in this," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, adding that he did not have all the "military information".
An attack by Ukraine on Russian territory would be the first of its kind in the five-week war.
Security camera footage of the depot, from a location verified by Reuters, showed a flash of light from what appears to be a missile fired from low altitude in the sky, followed by an explosion on the ground.
The regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said two Ukrainian helicopters had been involved in the raid.
"At the moment, the Ukrainian state is carrying out a defence operation to repel Russian military aggression on Ukrainian territory," said Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksandre Motouzianyk.
Reuters quoted an anonymous eyewitness from Belgorod as saying there were continuous explosions from the direction of the border.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that the incident would not "create appropriate conditions for further negotiations".
However, shortly afterwards the Russian side announced the resumption of Russian-Ukrainian talks by videoconference.
(with AFP, Reuters)
Russians accused of blocking Mariupol evacuations
The Red Cross is sending staff to Mariupol hoping to begin to evacuate thousands of civilians stuck in the southeastern city. A team of three cars carrying nine staff hope to lead out a convoy of 54 Ukrainian buses and a number of private cars.
But they have not been able to take in humanitarian aid including medical supplies, which they have to leave behind in Zaporizhzhia.
Earlier, authorities in Mariupol say it is not possible to enter the besieged Ukrainian city and that it is dangerous for people to try and leave it on their own.
“We don’t see a real desire from the Russians ... to provide an opportunity for Mariupol residents to evacuate to territory controlled by Ukraine,” Petro Andryushchenko, adviser the mayor of the city, said Friday on the messaging app Telegram.
“Since yesterday, the occupiers have categorically not allowed any humanitarian cargo, even in small volumes, to enter the city,” he added.
Russian officials on Friday allowed 42 buses with Mariupol residents to depart from the neighbouring occupied city of Berdyansk, which Mariupol residents were able to reach on their own.
A convoy of about 2,000 refugees, escorted by the Red Cross, on Friday afternoon was heading to Zaporizhzhia, which is under Ukrainian control.
The Mariupol city council on Friday said Russia’s actions in Ukraine and in their bombed-out city amounted to genocide.
(AP)
Chinese support for Russia would lead to 'a major reputational damage' in Europe, von der Leyen says
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that China should not interfere with European sanctions against Russia.
"We made it very clear that China should, if not support, at least not interfere with our sanctions. No European citizen would understand any support to Russia’s ability to wage war. Moreover, it would lead to a major reputational damage for China here in Europe," von der Leyen said at a press conference following a videoconference with China.
"This is a defining moment not only for Europe but also for the rules-based order."
Ukrainian forces retake areas in Kyiv and Chernihiv
Ukraine’s general staff says the country’s armed forces have retaken control over 29 settlements in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, where Russia has pulled back some of its troops.
The Russian military in the northeast continues to block and shell Chernihiv and Kharkiv, the general staff said Friday.
In the southeast of the country, the Russians are trying to seize the cities of Popasna, Rubizhne and Mariupol in order to expand the territory of the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, according to the Ukrainian military.
(AP)
Russian natural gas still flowing to Europe
Russian officials say their demand that natural gas be paid for in roubles doesn’t mean supplies will be immediately interrupted.
Gas used for heating and electricity was still flowing from Russia to Europe on Friday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “payments on shipments in progress right now must be made not this very day, but somewhere in late April, or even early May.”
President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia would start accepting rouble payments Friday and gas supplies would be cut off if buyers don’t agree to the new conditions.
A decree he signed gave Russian authorities and Gazprombank 10 days to make arrangements. It also says countries could pay foreign currency to the bank, which would convert it to roubles in a second account.
The European Commission’s energy chief tweeted that the European Union was coordinating “to establish a common approach.” Western leaders have said they will keep paying in euros and dollars.
(AP)
German army reserve officer charged with spying for Russia
A German army reserve officer has been charged with spying for Russia between 2014 and 2020, the federal prosecutor's office announced on Friday.
The suspect forwarded documents and information on numerous occasions, the prosecutor's office said, with some of the information being public but some from non-public sources in connection with the suspect's activities as a reserve officer and in economic committees.
It included information on the reservists in the Bundeswehr and on Germany's economic sector, including the consequences of sanctions imposed on Russia in 2014.
In return, he received invitations to events organised by Russian government agencies.
IAEA seeks to send support mission to Chernobyl
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will work to send a support mission to Chernobyl in the next few days after the nuclear power plant was transferred back to Ukrainian authorities, the agency said on Friday.
"The IAEA is in close consultations with Ukrainian authorities on sending the Agency’s first assistance and support mission to the Chernobyl NPP in the next few days," the UN nuclear watchdog said in a statement.
The plant has been under Russian control since the beginning of the conflict and was the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. The IAEA had previously expressed concerns about staff rotations at the plant after Russian forces took control of it.
The agency said they were looking into reports that Russian forces received high doses of radiation while there.
Russia and Ukraine resume talks
Moscow and Kyiv resumed discussions on Friday aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, according to Kremlin negotiator Vladimir Medinsky.
"We are continuing negotiations by videoconference. Our positions on Crimea and Donbas have not changed," he said on his Telegram channel, referring to two Ukrainian regions, one that Russia annexed in 2014 and the other that is partially under the control of pro-Russian separatists.
Earlier the Kremlin said reports Ukrainian helicopter gunships attacked a fuel depot inside Russia, setting it ablaze, are not conducive to the peace talks.
Asked if the reported incident could be viewed as an escalation of the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks.”
The governor of the Russian border region of Belgorod accused Ukraine of flying helicopter gunships into Russian territory early on Friday morning and targeting the oil depot, in what if confirmed would be the first attack of its kind.
It was not immediately possible to verify the report.
Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had been informed about the reported fire. He told a daily conference call with reporters that Russian authorities were taking measures to ensure fuel supplies in the region were not disrupted.
(AP/AFP)
Police say criminals could be trying to enter EU in Ukraine refugee flow
Europol, the European Union police agency, has sent teams to countries bordering Ukraine in an effort to protect refugees from criminals.
The Hague-based agency said Friday its teams are supporting local authorities by running secondary security checks and seeking to “identify criminals and terrorists trying to enter the EU in the refugee flow and exploit the situation.”
The Europol teams are operating in Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova and are planning to deploy to Romania, too.
The agency says they also are gathering intelligence to feed into criminal threat assessments across Europe.
The United Nations says that more than 4 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on 24 February.
(AP)
Ukraine war pushes eurozone's inflation to a record 7.5%
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has thrust the eurozone into a new economic reality where high inflation is no longer a temporary headache and seriously threatens to undo the gains of the post-pandemic recovery.
Inflation in March reached 7.5% on an annual basis, an all-time high for the eurozone.
The figure represents a stunning rise compared to one year ago when inflation was 1.3%, well below the 2% target of the European Central Bank.
The March data is the first reading from Eurostat that takes into account the consequences of the Ukraine war, which has now entered its second month with no resolution in sight.
Annual inflation – the rate at which prices for goods and services change over time – has been steadily rising since late summer, when a mismatch between supply and demand sent gas prices soaring.
Red Cross: "Not clear" if Mariupol evacuation efforts can continue today
The International Committee of the Red Cross say it's uncertain whether a planned evacuation of civilians from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol can go ahead today as planned.
"There are a lot of moving parts and not all the details are worked out to make sure it happens safely" says Ewan Watson, a Red Cross spokesperson in Geneva.
"It's not clear yet if it's going to happen today" he says.
There are an estimated 100,000 civilians still trapped in the southern port city, which has come under constant Russian bombardment over the last month. Authorities estimate at least 5,000 have been killed in the barrage.
The Ukrainian government was also trying to evacuate people in a fleet of buses but says most of them got refused entry to the city by Russian troops and supplies of medicine and food were confiscated.
Japan's foreign minister heads to Poland to assess refugee needs
Japanese Foreign Minister is heading to Poland on Friday, on a fact-finding mission to assess the needs of refugees from Ukraine who might want to go to Japan.
Yoshimasa Hayashi is on a five-day visit to Europe where he'll meet with Poland's PM and international organisations and might even bring back some Ukrainians on his government plane when he returns home.
“In order to support the Ukrainian people facing the difficulty and to show our solidarity with Ukraine, Japan is pursuing our effort to accept those who fled to a third country,” Hayashi said.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky told reporters Friday that some 300 relatives of Ukrainian residents in Japan have been granted entry, and more arrivals are expected from next week.
Last month the Japanese government launched a taskforce to prepare for accepting Ukrainian war-displaced as part of humanitarian support — a rare move for a country known for its strict and reluctant refugee policy.
Several municipalities, including Tokyo, Kanagawa, Ibaraki and Osaka, have offered to be their host towns and provide support for medical needs, education, jobs and housing.
(Euronews / AP)
Zelenskyy: "We know their intentions" as Russian forces regroup
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy is warning that Russian withdrawals from the north and center of the country over the last few days were just a military tactic to build up forces for new powerful attacks in the southeast.
“We know their intentions,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. “We know that they are moving away from those areas where we hit them in order to focus on other, very important ones where it may be difficult for us.”
“There will be battles ahead,” he added.
Both Chernihiv and Kyiv have been subjected to continued air and missile strikes despite Russian claims of reducing activity in these areas. There are growing indications Moscow is using its talk of de-escalation in Ukraine as cover to regroup, resupply its forces and redeploy them for a stepped-up offensive in the eastern part of the country.
A new round of talks between the countries was scheduled Friday, five weeks into a conflict that has left thousands dead and driven fou million Ukrainians from the country.
(Euronews / AP)
Russian troops 'stopped evacuation buses reaching Mariupol'
The Ukrainian government said Russian forces blocked 45 buses that had been sent to evacuate civilians from the besieged port city of Mariupol, and only 631 people were able to get out of the city in private cars.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said late Thursday that 12 Ukrainian buses with humanitarian aid left Melitopol for Mariupol, but the Russian forces stopped the buses and seized the 14 tons of food and medicines.
According to Ukrainian officials, tens of thousands of people have made it out of Mariupol in recent weeks along humanitarian corridors, reducing the prewar population of 430,000 to about 100,000 by last week.
Vereshchuk said about 45,000 Mariupol residents have been forcefully deported to Russia and areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
(AP)
Ukraine war to take centre stage at tense EU-China summit
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is set to take centre stage during a virtual high-level meeting between EU and Chinese leaders on Friday, that comes on the heels of months of strained relations.
Brussels is bent on pushing Beijing to maintain a hands-off, equidistant approach in the conflict, fearing any sort of intervention could offer the Kremlin a much-needed boost to re-energise its stalled military campaign.
Read more in our story here:
Russia accuses Ukraine of striking an oil depot inside Russian territory
A Russian official accused Ukraine on Friday of carrying out a helicopter attack on an "oil depot" in the western Russian city of Belgorod, some 40 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
"A fire in an oil depot took place due to an air strike by two Ukrainian army helicopters that entered Russian territory at low altitude," Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said on his Telegram account.
In another message, he said firefighters were working to put out the blaze and that two depot employees had been injured. The Russian emergency ministry says 170 rescue workers are working on the fire.
State-owned Rosneft, which owns the site, told Russian news agencies it had evacuated its staff from the site.
On Wednesday, explosions occurred at an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region, but the Russian authorities did not clearly explain the cause of the incident.
Belgorod is about 80 kilometres north of Kharkiv, a major Ukrainian city that has been under attack by Russian forces since the start of the Kremlin offensive.
(AFP)
Australia sending more armoured vehicles to Ukraine
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says his country will send Bushmaster armoured vehicled to Ukraine, after a specific request from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy addressed the Australian Parliament on Thursday and asked for the Australian-made, four-wheel-drive vehicles.
Morrison told reporters the vehicles will be flown over on Boeing C-17 Globemaster transport planes but didn't say how many would be sent, or when.
“We’re not just sending our prayers, we are sending our guns, we’re sending our munitions, we’re sending our humanitarian aid, we’re sending all of this, our body armor, all of these things and we’re going to be sending our armored vehicles, our Bushmasters, as well,” Morrison said.
Zelenskyy has been tailoring his message to individual countries through video appeals like the one shown to legislators in the Australian Parliament on Thursday Lawmakers gave him standing ovation at the start and end of his 16-minute address.
During the live speech to Canberra, Zelenskyy also called for tougher sanctions and for Russian vessels to be banned from international ports.
“We need more sanctions against Russia, powerful sanctions until they stop blackmailing other countries with their nuclear missiles,” he said, speaking through an interpreter.
Zelenskyy specifically asked for Bushmaster vehicles.
“You have very good armed personnel vehicles, Bushmasters, that could help Ukraine substantially, and other pieces of equipment"
(Euronews / AP)
Russian forces leave Chernobyl, hand over to Ukrainians
Russian troops left the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site early Friday after returning control to the Ukrainians, authorities said.
Ukraine’s state power company, Energoatom, said the pullout at Chernobyl came after soldiers received “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant. But there was no independent confirmation of that - and experts say there is no evidence at all of any radiation leak that would cause "significant" radiation poisoning at the site.
The exchange of control happened amid growing indications the Kremlin is using talk of de-escalation in Ukraine as cover to regroup, resupply its forces and redeploy them for a stepped-up offensive in the eastern part of the country.
(AP)
Zelenskyy: Russians building up for southeast offensive
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after Russian troops withdrew from the north and center of the country, the situation has been heating up in the southeast where Russian forces are building up for new powerful attacks.
In his nighttime video address to the nation Thursday, Zelenskyy said it was heartening for all Ukrainians to see Russian troops retreating from north of Kyiv, from around the northern town of Chernihiv and from Sumy in the northeast. By he urged Ukrainians not to let up, saying the withdrawal was just a Russian tactic.
Zelenskyy said he spoke Thursday with European Council President Charles Michel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while his adviser spoke with U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
“We need more support from our partners right now when Russian troops are concentrating additional forces in certain areas,” Zelenskyy said.
(AP)