Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed “success” in Mariupol but ordered his forces not to storm the site where the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the besieged port city is holding out.
In a rare televised meeting at the Kremlin on Thursday, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin that the sprawling Azovstal steel plant was “securely blocked” while the rest of the strategically vital city was “liberated.” Putin said that rather than risk Russian soldiers’ lives by launching a final ground assault, they should instead blockade the stronghold “so that not even a fly comes through.”
Ukrainian forces have held out under weeks of heavy bombardment that have decimated much of Mariupol and prompted international condemnation of Moscow's tactics. Kyiv has been desperately seeking ways to evacuate the soldiers and thousands of civilians still trapped in the city without much food or aid.
The fate of Mariupol and the broader Russian offensive in the east has prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to call again for urgent supplies of weapons from his country's allies — an appeal the U.S. looks set to meet, with President Joe Biden announcing a new $800 million military aid package in remarks Thursday morning.
'No evidence yet' that Mariupol has fallen to Russia, Biden says
President Biden said Thursday that there is no evidence that Russia has taken control of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Biden made the comments at the White House when he announced a new aid package to Ukraine.
Asked about Putin claiming control over Mariupol and its significance, Biden said, “Well, first of all, it’s questionable whether he does control Mariupol.”
Biden said Putin “should allow humanitarian corridors” to form to allow people in a steel plant and buried under rubble to get out of the city.
“That’s what any, any head of state would do in such a circumstance,” Biden said. “And so there is no evidence yet that Mariupol has completely fallen.”
Biden admin to announce plan to begin bringing Ukrainian refugees to the U.S.
The Biden administration on Thursday will announce a plan to begin bringing Ukrainians fleeing war to the U.S., addressing a promise the president made nearly a month ago to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
The new plan will require Ukrainians to have a sponsor in the U.S. who can “attest to their ability to support them,” said a senior administration official who briefed reporters.
An online portal will open on April 25 to allow sponsors to upload documents as part of a process to ensure Ukrainians can be sponsored but that sponsors are not seeking to exploit the Ukrainians they take in.
Cut off in Mykolaiv
Mariupol under ‘complete’ Russian control, says Kremlin spokesman
The Ukrainian port city of Mariupol “has been liberated” and is “under complete control” of the Russian military, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a briefing Thursday.
Asked by a reporter if the Russians would consider allowing Ukrainian civilians and troops safe passage out via humanitarian corridors now that the city was “under the influence of the Russian military,” Peskov corrected the reporter.
“Not under the influence, but under complete control,” he said.
Some Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are still holding out in the Azovstal steel plant. Putin has ordered Russian forces not to storm the plant.
Peskov added that there was still a chance for trapped Ukrainians to flee the city.
“There was, and still, is an opportunity for Ukrainian servicemen to lay down their weapons and walk out through the corridors.”
Human Rights Watch finds ‘litany of apparent war crimes’ in Bucha
Human Rights Watch has documented “a litany of apparent war crimes” by Russian forces in Bucha, a town northwest of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
“Nearly every corner in Bucha is now a crime scene, and it felt like death was everywhere,” Richard Weir, crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in the detailed report released Thursday. “The evidence indicates that Russian forces occupying Bucha showed contempt and disregard for civilian life and the most fundamental principles of the laws of war.”
Researchers were in Bucha, the site of some of the most horrific violence uncovered so far in the war, from April 4 to 10 — just days after the Russians withdrew. They found evidence of summary executions, other unlawful killings, enforced disappearances and torture, “all of which would constitute war crimes and potential crimes against humanity,” according to the report.
Estonia and Latvia declare Russian actions in Ukraine as war crimes
Estonia and Latvia have recognized Russia’s actions in Ukraine as war crimes, their parliaments said Thursday.
“Parliament of Latvia has officially declared atrocities committed by the Russian forces in Ukraine as genocide,” Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs said on Twitter.
“These have consisted of murders, enforced disappearances, deportations, imprisonment, torture, rape, and desecration of corpses,” the Estonian parliament said in a statement, calling other countries to do the same.
“These crimes are ideologically incited by the political and military leadership of the Russian Federation and its national propaganda authorities,” it said.
‘The Russians physically can’t take Azovstal,' says Ukraine presidential adviser
A Ukrainian presidential adviser said Thursday that the Russians know they will not succeed in their efforts to capture the Azovstal steel plant, the last holdout for Ukrainians in the strategic city of Mariupol.
Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly told his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu not to storm the site.
“They can’t physically take Azovstal, they understand that,” Ukraine presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said Thursday in response to Putin’s comments about the site, according to the verified Telegram channel of the Office of the Ukrainian President. “They have suffered huge losses there. Our defenders continue to hold it.”
“This preliminary proclamation of victories, without waiting for either Easter or May 9, shows that the Russians have realized the futility of their last active operation at this stage of the war,” he added, referring to the Easter celebration for members of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine this Sunday and Russia’s annual Victory Day, celebrated on May 9, which commemorates Russia’s World War II triumph.
War in Ukraine makes fossil fuel transition a national security issue
The world’s transition away from fossil energy has become a matter of national and global security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to energy industry experts.
But that transition is still a decadeslong project. In the near-term, a quick shift away from Russian energy will mean a need to embrace some dirtier options and a re-evaluation of more contentious alternatives, including nuclear power.
The situation highlights some of the bigger challenges around the world’s shift to green energy, which is not without its own geopolitical wrinkles. Some worry the race to electrify could intensify U.S. and European reliance on China.
U.K. sanctions key Russian army generals
The U.K. government unveiled new sanctions on Thursday targeting top Russian army leaders and Russian corporate leaders.
“Today’s new wave of sanctions hits the generals and defence companies that have blood on their hands,” said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Amongst those sanctioned are Lt. Col. Azatbek Omurbekov, a commanding officer accused of involvement in the atrocities in Bucha, Col. Gen. Andrey Serdyukov, commander of Airborne Forces, and Oleg Belozyorov, CEO and Chairman of Russian Railways. Ilya Kiva, the expelled Ukrainian parliamentary member who publicly supported Russia’s actions, was also sanctioned, the foreign office said in a statement.
The U.K. government has so far sanctioned $1 trillion worth of global assets from Russia banks and oligarchs and their families, which have a net worth of $250 billion.
Kharkiv mayor says city under intense bombardment
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, is under intense bombardment by Russian forces, Mayor Ihor Terekhov has said.
A residential building suffered a direct hit and two markets were destroyed overnight from shelling, he said on Thursday in a televised address., with rescuers currently extinguishing fires. He added that while 30 percent of the northeastern city's population has evacuated, around 1 million people remain.
“The Russian aggressor is bombing the city of Kharkov with fury and bitterness today,” he said.
Danish premier pledges more weapons as she and Spanish PM visit Kyiv
Denmark’s prime minister on Thursday pledged to send more weapons to Ukraine during a trip to Kyiv, where she and her Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez were meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a gesture of support.
Mette Frederiksen also visited the badly damaged town of Borodyanka, which has been retaken after Russian troops pulled back from the region around Kyiv.
“We intend to deliver more weapons to Ukraine because that is what is most needed,” Frederiksen told the Danish channel TV2 as she walked around the town surrounded by armed soldiers.
Many Americans say Biden not tough enough on Russia
Many Americans still question whether President Joe Biden is showing enough strength in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, even as most approve of steps the U.S. is already taking and few want U.S. troops to get involved in the conflict.
A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows 54 percent of Americans think Biden has been “not tough enough” in his response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Thirty-six percent think his approach has been about right, while 8 percent say he’s been too tough.
But as the war has dragged on, Americans’ desire to get involved has waned somewhat. Thirty-two percent of Americans say the U.S. should have a major role in the conflict. That’s ticked back down from 40 percent last month, though that remains slightly higher than the 26 percent who said so in February. An additional 49 percent say the U.S. should have a minor role.
Putin meets defense minister in Moscow
Russia shutters consulates of Baltic states, declares staff 'persona non grata'
Russia's foreign ministry has announced it is shuttering the consulates of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
In a statement, it said that the consulates of the three Baltic states in St. Petersburg, as well as the Latvian and Estonian offices in Pskov, will be closed.
The ministry said it summoned the countries' ambassadors to notify them of the decision and to protest their military assistance to Kyiv. All non-Russian personnel of the consulates have been declared “persona non grata,” and asked to leave the country, it said.
'We are doing everything we can' for Mariupol, Zelenskyy says
Thousands of civilians and military personnel remain trapped in Mariupol as Russia continued to block evacuation efforts, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
"We are doing everything we can," he told Ukrainian media. “It is more like a terrorist operation by the Russian Federation against Mariupol and the inhabitants of this city, than a war,” he added.
Ukraine's president added that about a thousand civilians were sheltering in the Azovstal steel plant with the port city's last military defenders, but that despite efforts to create humanitarian corridors they could not get out due to the threat of Russian shelling.
Putin claims Mariupol 'success,' orders forces not to storm Ukrainian stronghold
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed "success" in the strategically vital Mariupol but ordered his forces not to storm the site where the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance is holding out.
In a move that would seemingly deprive the Kremlin of the ability to declare it had fully captured the key port city, Putin told his defense minister that to spare Russian lives they should ensure that "not even a fly" can get in or out of the Azovstal steel plant.
Sergei Shoigu, the defense minister, told Putin that the stronghold was "fully blocked" while the rest of the city had been "liberated."
Return of 'deported' civilians from Russia will be another 'war' for Ukraine, presidential adviser says
The return of people who were “forcibly deported” to Russia will be another “war” for Ukrainians, presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak has said.
“After the war, there will be a war to take our people back,” he said in a statement Thursday. Ukraine has accused Russia of forcibly deporting large numbers of civilians amid the fighting; NBC News has not verified the claims.
To facilitate their return, Podolyak said, it is first necessary to research who was deported by force and under what conditions. Mediators or representatives of the international community must visit these people, he said.
Ukraine’s tiny neighbor worries it could be next on Putin’s list
BENDER, Moldova — On the Dniester River's journey to the Black Sea from its source in Ukraine close to the Polish border, it runs through the tiny country of Moldova. Its banks are home to boar, pheasant and Russian soldiers, who nominally protect a breakaway slice of the country.
Passing through a checkpoint manned by the Operational Group of Russian Forces on the way to Transnistria in early April, one soldier threw himself back in a chair, the flag of the Russian Federation on the shoulder of his camouflage uniform. Another stood, black shoelaces loosely tied, with a rifle slung over his arm. Dug in beside them was an armored personnel carrier. A third uniformed man watched from the shade.
The river separates not only the Russian-speaking area from the republic of Moldova, but also two competing ideological visions for the region’s future: a Russian-backed enclave under Moscow’s control and the other in the European camp of Western democracies. Following Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the specter of armed conflict looms ever larger over Moldova.
Biden set to discuss Russia, Ukraine from White House on Thursday morning
President Joe Biden will "provide an update on Russia and Ukraine" on Thursday, the White House has said.
The president will deliver the remarks from the Roosevelt Room at 9:45 a.m. ET.
U.S. officials have said the Biden administration is preparing another military aid package for Ukraine. Biden on Wednesday called the attack and invasion of Ukraine “Putin’s brutal and unjustified war,” referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine says evacuation urgently needed at Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol
Ukrainian officials have demanded an urgent humanitarian corridor from the Azovstal steel plant, the last stronghold in Mariupol for Ukrainian fighters.
“There are now about 1,000 civilians and 500 wounded soldiers. They all need to be pulled out of Azovsteel today!” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a Telegram post Thursday.
She called on the international community to focus its efforts on the plant, calling it a “key moment” for humanitarian efforts. Earlier Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his defense minister that Russian forces should not storm the plant but blockade it instead.
Djokovic slams Wimbledon ban on Russian, Belarusian tennis players as ‘crazy’
World tennis No. 1 Novak Djokovic said Wimbledon’s decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine is “crazy.”
“I will always condemn war, I will never support war being myself a child of war,” Djokovic told reporters at the Serbia Open, an ATP 250 event in Belgrade.
“However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon, I think it is crazy,” he said. “When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good.”
Resistance in Mariupol
4 evacuation buses left Mariupol on Wednesday
Four buses carrying residents of Mariupol left the besieged city through a humanitarian corridor Wednesday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
“They spent the night in Berdyansk and are now heading to Vasylivka. We are waiting for them in Zaporizhia soon,” she said in a Telegram post early Thursday. The number of people able to make it out fell far short of the 6,000 Kyiv was hoping for, with fighting continuing around the besieged city.
Ukraine will attempt to evacuate more women, children and the elderly Thursday via buses, Vereschuk said. Authorities will also try arranging evacuation routes from Kherson, she added.
Russian forces advancing toward Kramatorsk as eastern offensive continues, U.K. says
Russian forces are advancing toward the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, which has been under heavy rocket attacks, the United Kingdom’s defense ministry has said.
The forces have been moving from staging areas in the Donbas, and the move has been coupled with high levels of Russian air activity aimed at providing support to Moscow’s new eastern offensive, the ministry said in an intelligence update early Thursday.
“Russia likely desires to demonstrate significant successes ahead of their annual 9th May Victory Day celebrations,” the ministry said. “This could affect how quickly and forcefully they attempt to conduct operations in the run-up to this date.”
China’s Xi reiterates opposition to use of economic sanctions
Chinese President Xi Jinping has reiterated his country’s opposition to unilateral sanctions and “long-arm jurisdiction,” without directly mentioning the West’s punitive actions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Delivering a video speech to the annual Boao Forum for Asia gathering on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, Xi warned Thursday that economic “decoupling” and pressure tactics such as severing supply chains would not work.
“China would like to put forward a global security initiative” that upholds “the principle of indivisibility of security,” Xi said. “We should uphold the principle of indivisibility of security, build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, and oppose the building of national security on the basis of insecurity in other countries.”