Russia invades Ukraine

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.

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.

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.

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."

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:

RELATED

CNN reporter: A poignant moment in the midst of a surreal world - CNN Video

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.