Several Russians were detained on Saturday for protesting the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian troops are retreating in the north but Ukrainian officials warned they will redeploy in the country's east.
Russia's war in Ukraine is now in its second month and even as Vladimir Putin's forces retreat in the north, Ukraine and its allies have warned that the Kremlin could redeploy its forces to escalate in the east of the country.
The war has forced millions to flee 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 invasion has also caused political and shockwaves around the world, deepening the rupture between Moscow and the West.
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Here are the key updates from Saturday:
Russian monitoring group says 208 detained in protests.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that retreating Russian forces were creating a "complete disaster" outside the capital as they leave mines across “the whole territory".
A former ICC prosecutor said an international arrest warrant should be issued for Putin.
A Ukrainian photojournalist was found killed outside of Kyiv.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said they would try once again to facilitate a safe passage out of Mariupol after the conditions forced them to turn around.
- The US announced they would provide an additional $300 million in military equipment to Ukraine.
- The secretary of Ukraine’s national security council has denied the country was responsible for a reported attack on a Russian fuel depot.
Ukrainian flag pictured above Chernobyl again
Ukraine's state energy company posted a photo of the Ukrainian flag above the Chernobyl nuclear power plant once again.
Russian troops took over the plant at the beginning of the invasion on 24 February.
Russian group says 208 detained in protests
A Russian group that monitors political arrests says 208 people were detained in demonstrations held Saturday across the country protesting Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
The OVD-Info group said demonstrations took place in 17 Russian cities, from Siberia to the more densely populated west. More than 70 people were were detained in Moscow and a similar number in St. Petersburg, the organisation said.
Video released by another group that monitors protests, Avtozak, showed some detainees being led to police prisoner transports as they smiled and carried flowers. Others were shown to be more harshly forced into the transports, bent over with their arms pinioned behind them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's government has cracked down heavily on dissent, even before Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
(AP)
Blasts reported near Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
A series of blasts has torn through the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar nearby the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Ukraine’s state nuclear agency reported about Saturday's attacks on its official Telegram channel.
A video clip accompanying the Telegram post by Ukraine’s Energoatom appeared to feature loud blasts and flying debris.
A second post on the state enterprise’s channel claimed that explosions and mortar bursts could be heard in the vicinity of the Sovremennik cultural centre, where residents held a rally in support of Ukraine.
“As protesters began to disperse, the invaders arrived in police vehicles, and began to force local residents into them,” the post read. “A few minutes later, the city was rocked by massive explosions and shelling.”
The agency said that four people were injured and received medical assistance.
Energoatom also claimed that Russian forces began to jam phone and internet communications throughout Enerhodar. The agency’s claims could not be immediately verified.
(AP)
More than 170 arrests in Russia over war in Ukraine
More than 170 people have been arrested in 15 cities in Russia for protesting the war in Ukraine, according to the OVD-info monitoring group.
A sit-in was organised in Moscow at a park, but police soon began arresting people sitting there in the middle of a snowstorm.
Former ICC prosecutor says international arrest warrant should be issued for Putin
The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has called for an international arrest warrant to be issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Putin is a war criminal,” Carla Del Ponte told the Swiss newspaper Le Temps in an interview published Saturday.
In interviews given to Swiss media to mark the release of her latest book, the Swiss lawyer who oversaw ICC war crimes investigations in Rwanda, Syria and the former Yugoslavia said there were clear war crimes being committed in Ukraine.
“I hoped never to see mass graves again,” she told the newspaper Blick. “These dead people have loved ones who don’t even know what’s become of them. That is unacceptable.”
(AP)
Ukrainian photojournalist killed outside of Kyiv
A Ukrainian photojournalist was found dead outside of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said.
The photojournalist had disappeared on March 13 in the region surrounding the capital Kyiv.
On April 1, his body was found near the village of Huta Mezhyhirska, said Andriy Ermak, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian NGO the Institute of Mass Information said the photojournalist was survived by his wife, four sons, and parents.
International Space Station hangs in the balance, Russia's top space official says
Russia’s top space official says the future of the International Space Station hangs in the balance after the United States, the European Union, and Canadian space agencies missed a deadline to meet Russian demands for the lifting of sanctions on Russian enterprises and hardware.
The head of Russia’s Roscosmos state agency told reporters on Saturday morning that the agency was preparing a report on the prospects of international cooperation at the station, to be presented to federal authorities “after Roscosmos has completed its analysis.”
Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin implied on Russian state TV that the Western sanctions, some of which predate Russia’s military action in Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS.
He stressed that the Western partners need the ISS and “cannot manage without Russia, because no one but us can deliver fuel to the station.”
Rogozin added that “only the engines of our cargo craft are able to correct the ISS’s orbit, keeping it safe from space debris.”
(AP)
Turkey offers to evacuate civilians from Mariupol by ship
Turkey has offered to help evacuate civilians from the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol by ship.
The Turkish defence minister said on Saturday that “we can provide ship support for the evacuation of civilians and injured Turkish and other countries’ citizens in Mariupol from the sea.”
State-run Anadolu Agency reported that Hulusi Akar said Turkey was coordinating possible evacuations with the authorities of the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov, has seen some of the worst suffering of the war.
(AP)
Pope Francis blasts Russian President Vladimir Putin for war in Ukraine
Pope Francis offered his most pointed condemnation of the war in Ukraine, calling out "infantile and destructive aggression" on Saturday during a trip to Malta.
In words that appeared to directly call out President Vladimir Putin, the pope said that "some potentate" caught up in "anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts".
"We had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street fighting and atomic threats were grim memories of a distant past," the pope added in his speech.
Read the full story here.
At least 33 people dead after missile hit government building in Mykolaiv
At least 33 people have died and another 34 were injured after a Mykolaiv government building was hit by a Russian strike last week, Ukraine's emergency services said.
Video posted to social media showed rescuers pulling through rubble to find survivors.
Bulgaria expels Russian diplomat
Bulgaria has expelled a Russian diplomat over accusations of spying who could not be charged because of his diplomatic immunity.
Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Friday that it declared a Russian diplomat “persona non grata” and gave him 72 hours to leave the country after it was informed by the prosecutor’s office that the diplomat had been involved in “unregulated intelligence activities.”
The expulsion comes as relations between Russia and NATO member Bulgaria, once Moscow’s closest ally in the now defunct Warsaw pact, have cooled down following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Last month alone, Bulgaria expelled 12 Russian diplomats, accused Russia’s ambassador to Sofia of “undiplomatic, sharp and rude” comments made in public, and called back its ambassador from Moscow for consultations.
(AP)
Russia prioritising moving east and south to control occupied territories there, Ukrainian presidential adviser says
Russia's "rapid retreat" from capital city Kyiv and Chernihiv is due to a change in tactic, said Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak on Telegram.
Russia is prioritising moving east and south to control the occupied territories there, he said.
Podolyak said he thinks Russia will leave all Ukrainian territories except the south and east, and will try to create a strong foothold in the east with air defence.
Russian forces are reported to have withdrawn from Hostomel airport, UK defence intelligence update says
In its latest defence intelligence report, the UK ministry of defence said that Russian forces are reported to have withdrawn from Hostomel airport.
The defence ministry said that Russian forces were withdrawing in the vicinity of the capital city Kyiv.
They added that Ukrainian forces "secured a key route in eastern Kharkhiv after heavy fighting".
Chinese diplomat suggests call between Biden and Putin
A Chinese diplomat suggested that US President Joe Biden should call Russian President Vladimir Putin and promise there will be no further NATO expansion, no deployment of strategic weapons in Ukraine and that the country will remain neutral in order to end the war in Ukraine.
“Then maybe the issue will get sorted,” director general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of European Affairs Wang Lutong told reporters in Beijing on Saturday.
“What is the purpose of the Americans? Are they going to see a cease fire in Ukraine or they would like to weaken Russia? Or some people are talking about a change in the government,” Wang said, in an apparent reference to Biden’s remark that Putin cannot be allowed to remain in office.“If they are intent about a cease fire, I think this issue could be sorted very easily,” Wang said.
The remarks came after a virtual meeting of Chinese and EU leaders.
Beijing has refused to criticise the Russian invasion, has rebroadcast Russian misinformation about the conflict, and opposes sanctions.
(with AP)
Ukrainian authorities announce 7 humanitarian corridors on Saturday
Ukrainian officials said there were seven humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from besieged cities in the country.
One of the corridors will evacuate people from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, according to Lyudmila Denisova, Ukraine's human rights commissioner.
Humanitarian corridors are also available in other towns in the eastern Donbas region.
'We will help you rebuild your cities and your towns,' Metsola tells Ukraine
The president of the European parliament, Roberta Metsola, promised Ukrainian officials that the European Union would help to rebuild Ukrainian cities and towns when the war is over.
Metsola travelled to Kyiv on Friday, meeting with Ukrainian officials and addressing the country's parliament.
"This invasion of your country puts Russia in direct confrontation with Europe, the international community and the rules-based world order. And it is not something that we will let Putin do unchallenged," Metsola said.
She added that Ukraine could count on her and the European Parliament to support Ukraine in its aspirations to become an EU member.
"You can count on the European Parliament in supporting your country spot in achieving this goal," she said.
Red Cross to attempt again to reach Mariupol
The International Committee of the Red Cross will once again attempt to reach the besieged port city of Mariupol to evacuate people.
The organisation was forced to go back to Zaporizhzhia after "conditions made it impossible" to reach the port city that has been subjected to constant shelling by Russian forces.
At least 3,000 people did make it out of the city where the humanitarian situation is catastrophic, according to local authorities. More evacuations are planned for Saturday, Ukrainian authorities said.
US to provide additional $300 million in military equipment to Ukraine
The US Defence Department says it is providing an additional $300 million (€271.5 million) in military equipment to Ukrainian forces defending the country from Russian troops.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement that the gear in the new package includes laser-guided rocket systems, unmanned aircraft, armoured vehicles, night vision devices and ammunition. Also included are medical supplies, field equipment and spare parts.
Kirby said the new package “represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide new capabilities” to Ukraine, rather than delivering equipment drawn from US military stockpiles.
The US has provided more than $1.6 billion in security assistance since Russia’s invasion, Kirby said.
(AP)
Ukraine denies Russian claims that its helicopters struck a fuel depot in Belgorod
Ukraine denied Russian claims that it attacked a fuel depot in the city of Belgorod.
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, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security council, said on Ukrainian television on Friday.
Read the full story.
Retreating Russian forces leave behind 'complete disaster', Ukrainian president says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces were leaving behind “a complete disaster” as they retreat from the north, including towns just outside Kyiv, and he warned residents to beware of more Russian shelling and of land mines.
“They are mining the whole territory, they are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed,” he said in his nighttime video address to the nation late Friday.
He urged residents to wait to resume their normal lives until they are assured that the mines have been cleared and the danger of shelling has passed.
Zelenskyy warned of difficult battles ahead as the Russians redeploy troops in eastern Ukraine.
(AP)