April 30, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

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

A memorial to those who have lost their lives in the Russian war on Ukraine is visited by people in downtown Lviv on Saturday, April 30.

Evacuation has started at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, where hundreds of people, including dozens injured during an intense Russian bombardment over the past several weeks, are thought to be trapped.

Here are the latest developments:

The Azovstal steel plant: Nearly every building at the sprawling Azovstal steel plant, the last Ukrainian holdout in Mariupol, has been destroyed, new satellite images from Maxar Technologies show. Some civilians have been evacuated from the plant after a ceasefire was introduced, according to a Ukrainian commander inside.

Russian submarine: Russia has released video showing it is using a submarine in the Black Sea to launch cruise missile attacks on Ukraine, confirming earlier Ukrainian military claims.

Explosions in Odesa: Multiple explosions in the southern city of Odesa were reported soon after 6 p.m. local time by Ukrainian media and witnesses. One witness told CNN she saw at least one combat plane over the city. The runway at Odesa’s airport had been damaged, according to the Ukrainian military.

Russian tanks destroyed: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian army has already destroyed more than 1,000 Russian tanks, nearly 200 Russian aircraft, and almost 2,500 armored fighting vehicles.

Rebuilding and recovery: 69% of de-occupied settlements in Ukraine now have “full-fledged local self-government” again, Zelensky said in his Saturday night address, adding the work of humanitarian offices has already begun in 93% of liberated settlements.

A man rides a motorbike past a destroyed Russian tank on a road in the Kyiv region on April 16.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian army has already destroyed more than 1,000 Russian tanks, nearly 200 Russian aircraft, and almost 2,500 armored fighting vehicles.

Despite these losses, Russian troops still have equipment to launch additional attacks, Zelensky said.

 “Of course, the occupiers still have equipment in stock. Yes, they still have missiles to strike at our territory,” he added. “But this war has already weakened Russia so much that they have to plan even fewer military equipment for the parade in Moscow.”

Russia plans to hold its traditional Victory Day parade in Red Square May 9, commemorating the German surrender to the Soviet Union in the Second World War.

The Ukrainian President also said Russia has already lost more than 23,000 soldiers since the invasion began. CNN cannot independently verify this claim. 

Russia has sporadically released casualty figures that are low and which observers deem to be a massive underestimate. Two days prior to Russia’s update, two senior NATO military officials estimated the number of Russian soldiers killed in action in Ukraine to be between 7,000 and 15,000. Around the same time, other US officials had put Russian losses in a similar range – between 7,000 and 14,000 Russian soldiers killed – but they have expressed “low confidence” in those estimates.

Earlier in the month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov briefly admitted Russia had suffered “significant” losses of its troops in Ukraine, calling the losses “a huge tragedy” for the country in an interview with Sky News. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gives his nightly address on April, 30.

Ukraine’s president struck a theme of resilience in his nightly address to the nation Saturday, saying the country is at work to rebuild and get back to normal in areas no longer held by Russian forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 69% of de-occupied settlements in Ukraine now have “full-fledged local self-government” again.

“We are doing everything to return normal life to the de-occupied part of our Ukraine,” Zelensky said in his Saturday night address, adding the work of humanitarian offices has already begun in 93% of liberated settlements.

“We are actively demining the liberated territory. Every day several dozen settlements are added to the list of those where demining has been completed,” he said.

Zelensky also said officials are “doing everything” to restore roads and access to medical, educational and financial services.

The Odesa airport runway destroyed in Saturday’s missile strikes will also be rebuilt, according to the president.

“Today the occupiers again fired missiles at the Dnipropetrovsk region and Odesa,” Zelensky said. “Again and again, Russian troops prove that the people of Odesa are the same enemies for Russia as all other Ukrainians. The runway of the Odesa airport was destroyed. We will, of course, rebuild it. But Odesa will never forget such a Russian attitude towards it.”

Angelina Jolie poses for photo with kids in Lviv, Ukraine, on Saturday, April 30.

Actress Angelina Jolie, who is also a United Nations special envoy for refugees, visited a boarding school and medical institution in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, according to Maksym Kozytskyy, the head of Lviv’s regional military administration.

“In one of the medical institutions, she has visited children who suffered from a missile strike by the Russian military on the Kramatorsk train station. She was very moved by their stories. One girl was even able to tell Ms. Jolie about her dream privately,” according to Kozytskyy.

When visiting a boarding school in the region, “she promised to come again,” he said.

“This visit was a surprise for all of us,” Kozytskyy added.

UNHCR’s Head of Global Communications Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams told CNN Saturday that “Angelina Jolie is traveling to the region in her personal capacity and UNHCR has no involvement in this visit.” 

Earlier on Saturday, Jolie was photographed visiting a coffee shop in Lviv. CNN has reached out to Jolie’s representatives for comment. 

A satellite image shows an overview of the Azovstal steel plant, the site of Ukrainians last military holdout which is also serving as a civilian shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine on April 29.

Some civilians have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol after a ceasefire was introduced, according to a commander in the Azov Regiment, one of the Ukrainian soldiers trapped at the plant.

Capt. Svyatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, said the ceasefire, which was supposed to begin at 6 a.m. local time, ended up starting at 11 a.m. local time.

“As of now, it’s the truth, both sides follow the ceasefire regime,” he said.

The evacuation convoy was very delayed, he said. “Since 6 a.m., we’ve been waiting for the evacuation convoy to arrive, which only arrived at 6:25 p.m.”

“We have brought 20 civilians to the agreed meeting point, whom we’ve managed to rescue from under the rubble. These are women and children. We hope these people will go the agreed destination, which is Zaporizhzhia, the territory controlled by Ukraine,” Palamar said.

“As of now, the rescue operation is ongoing, conducted by the servicemen of Azov - we rescue the civilians from under the rubble,” he added.

“These are women, children and the elderly,” he said in a video message on the regiment’s Telegram channel.

“We hope that this process will be further extended and we will successfully evacuate all civilians,” he said.

TASS, Russia’s state news agency, said earlier Saturday that a group of civilians left the steel plant. A correspondent on the scene told TASS that a total of 25 people came out, including six children under the age of 14. CNN cannot independently verify the TASS reporting.

There are thought to be hundreds of people inside the steel complex, including dozens injured during an intense Russian bombardment over the past several weeks. The latest satellite images of the plant show that many of its buildings have been reduced to ruins.

The defenders of the Azovstal plant said that attacks on Wednesday night had hit the makeshift hospital inside the complex, greatly adding to the number of injured. 

Here’s what a part of the plant looked like approximately six weeks ago:

A satellite image from March 22 shows an overview of the Azovstal steel plant, in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses media representatives during a press conference at a European Union summit at EU Headquarters in Brussels on March 24.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone conversation with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the presidency’s media office said Saturday, where they discussed developments in the war in Ukraine.

Guterres briefed Erdogan about his meetings this week in Moscow and Kyiv, according to a statement from the Turkish Communications Directorate.

During the call, Erdogan said that Turkey is ready to support the UN-led work on both evacuations and humanitarian aid.

Stating that they will continue to encourage both Ukraine and Russia to act in common sense for reconciliation, Erdogan said that they will pursue peace, according to the statement.

Guterres said via Twitter on Friday that the UN would redouble its efforts to save lives and reduce human suffering in Ukraine.

His tweet came after his visit to Ukraine and meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday following a visit to Moscow where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. 

The Turkish president has previously held phone calls with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts with the hope of meeting them both in Istanbul to end the conflict.

Turkey has a unique profile and position, as a NATO member that also has maritime borders with both Ukraine and Russia. Turkey is also Russia’s largest trade partner in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The country has both competed and cooperated with Russia through conflict zones in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh in recent years.

Ukrainian media and witnesses are reporting multiple explosions in the southern city of Odesa soon after 6 p.m. local time. One witness told CNN that she saw at least one combat plane over the city.

The military’s Operational Command (South) said on Telegram that the runway at Odesa’s airport had been damaged.

The blasts were heard soon after air raid sirens sounded across the city.

A witness to the explosions told CNN she was about one kilometer (.62 miles) away from the airport when she heard two explosions. She said the attack lasted about 10 minutes and she was still experiencing hearing difficulties because of the noise from the impacts.

An elderly man walks past a heavily damaged apartment building, on April 30, in Kyiv, Ukraine.

If you’re just joining us, here are the latest developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine, including what we know about the besieged city of Mariupol.

The Azovstal steel plant: Nearly every building on the sprawling Azovstal steel plant, the last Ukrainian holdout in Mariupol, has been destroyed, new satellite images from Maxar Technologies show. There are large holes in the roofs — the telltale sign of a military strike. Some roofs are completely collapsed, and some buildings have been reduced to rubble. Many of the residential and government buildings directly east of the plant have also been completely destroyed.

Evacuation routes are reportedly tentative: Russia has been rejecting all evacuation proposals for Mariupol, but now, there are signs of a possible breakthrough in securing at least one evacuation route, Mariupol city council said. Although the council is still waiting for confirmation, its post says the evacuation would be today (Saturday) from Port City, which is a shopping mall.

Russian assault: In other missile and aircraft strikes, Russian forces hit 10 locations housing Ukrainian troops and equipment, the Russian defense ministry said, killing up to 120 soldiers and destroying four tanks and six other armoured vehicles.

People gather to receive humanitarian aid at the parking lot of a store in Mariupol, Ukraine on April 29.

There are signs of a possible breakthrough in securing at least one evacuation route in the besieged city of Mariupol.

“There is hope for the evacuation of Mariupol residents to territory controlled by Ukraine,” Mariupol city council said on its Telegram account.

Although the council is still waiting for confirmation, its post says the evacuation would be today (Saturday) from Port City, which is a shopping mall.

“The occupiers allowed movement between the Left Bank district and other districts of the city on the right bank. The movement is open across the bridge to Mukhino,” said Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the Mariupol mayor, on Telegram.

At this stage, it’s unclear whether any evacuation would include people trapped at the Azovstal steel plant complex.

Altogether, some 100,000 people are still in Mariupol, a quarter of its pre-war population.

The United Nations mission and Red Cross are negotiating on securing the evacuation of hundreds of local people who are trapped in the Azovstal steel plant, Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boichenko says.

Speaking on Ukrainian television on Saturday, he urged “all international partners to unite for one goal — to save the lives of the locals, to save the fortress and those locals who are now hiding in the Azovstal bomb shelters.”

The Ukrainian President’s office said Friday it had a plan for evacuating Azovstal, but Ukrainian officials later said that the Russians had blocked access to the plant. 

A popular Ukrainian supermarket in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia announced a grand reopening Saturday under new – Russian – management. It is the latest sign of attempts by Moscow’s occupying forces to rub out Ukrainian identity in territories under its control. 

Formerly, the shop in Melitopol was part of the ATB chain, a Dnipro-based business. But a leaflet posted on a local TV station’s Telegram channel boasts the supermarket is now part of the MERA chain, which is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia. 

The leaflet promises that shoppers spending at least 500 hryvnia (about $16) will be entered into a “super prize draw” – though details of what the winner could take home are not revealed. 

Elsewhere in the region, a large Ukrainian coat of arms has been removed from the front of the mayor’s office in the town of Tokmak. Photos circulating on social media show the distinctive Ukrainian symbol – a yellow trident on a blue background – propped up against the entrance of the building. An earlier photo on the same Telegram channel shows a man up a ladder apparently working to loosen the trident from its place. 

And as if to underline the sense of a clock being turned back, video has emerged from the neighboring region of Kherson — also under Russian occupation — of a statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin being re-erected in the town of Nova Kakhovka. 

One video captures the statue of the Russian revolutionary and first leader of the Soviet Union being carried flat on a truck through the city. 

A later photo shows the statue being winched onto a plinth in front of the city council building. 

“While Ukraine is the first in the world to introduce e-passports, ‘orcs’ are restoring Lenin’s monument in temporarily occupied Nova Kakhovka,” Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister, said in a Telegram post under the photo, using the popular Ukrainian slang term for Russian forces. 

Statues of Vladimir Lenin were a hallmark of towns and cities across the Soviet Union, but many have been removed from Ukrainian locations in recent years as relations with Russia have deteriorated. 

Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine is seen in this satellite image taken April 29.

Nearly every building on the sprawling Azovstal steel plant, the last Ukrainian holdout in Mariupol, has been destroyed, new satellite images from Maxar Technologies show.

There are large holes in the roofs — the telltale sign of a military strike. Some roofs are completely collapsed, and some buildings have been reduced to rubble.

Many of the residential and government buildings directly east of the plant have also been completely destroyed.

CNN has previously reported that Ukrainian forces and hundreds of remaining residents have taken refuge in the deep basements at the steel plant. It’s unclear from the satellite images taken on Friday whether any of the military strikes have destroyed any of the basement facilities.

Sviatoslav Palamar, an Azov Regiment commander at the plant, told CNN on Friday that the plant has been intensely shelled by artillery, ships and airstrikes.

“There are cellars and bunkers that we cannot reach because they are under rubble,” Palamar said. “We do not know whether the people there are alive or not. There are children aged four months to 16 years. But there are people trapped in places that you can’t get to.”

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by telephone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, according to a statement by the Elysee Palace. 

“The President of the Republic reaffirmed to President Zelensky his willingness to work actively during his second term of office to restore the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, always maintaining close coordination with his European partners and allies,” the statement said, adding that Macron expressed concern about the continued bombing of Ukrainian cities and the “unbearable” situation in Mariupol.

Macron told Zelensky that military support to Ukraine “will continue to grow, as well as the humanitarian assistance provided by France,” which so far amounts to more than 615 tons of equipment, including medical supplies, generators for hospitals, food aid, shelter assistance, and emergency vehicles, according to the Elysee. 

Macron also said, “at the request of the Ukrainian authorities, the mission of French experts contributing to the collection of evidence to fight against impunity and allow the work of international justice on crimes committed in the context of Russian aggression, will continue.”

The videos show women and children living underground in a dark, damp basement. One mother said they’ve not seen the sun in weeks and will soon run out of food. An old woman, her head bandaged and bloodied, shivers on a cot. A baby wears a plastic bag fastened with duct tape around its small waist – there are no diapers left.

The harrowing footage was posted on YouTube by the Azov regiment, a unit of the Ukrainian armed forces, which said it was filmed in the vast network of tunnels underneath the Azovstal steel plant – Mariupol’s last remaining holdout.

Smoke rises above Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on April 18.

After relentless bombardment by air, sea and sky, Russian troops have taken control of what is left of the rest of the city. Once a thriving port and beloved vacation spot on the Black Sea, much of Mariupol now lies in ruins. The steel plant is the last remaining shelter for hundreds of soldiers and civilians still stuck in the city.

In a clip published last week, a young boy, his cheeks pale, made a heart-wrenching plea for a path out.

Increasingly, it seems there is little chance of their rescue.

Myhailo Podoliak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Saturday that Russia was refusing to help save the people of Mariupol and had shown “absolute unwillingness to talk.”

The videos shared by the Azov regiment, which are accompanied by pleas for help, give a sense of the desperate situation unfolding for Mariupol residents left behind. In the absence of journalists on the ground – an Associated Press team, the only Western news media reporting from the city, left in March – and almost no internet or cell service, the clips posted by Azov to social channels are among few windows into the plight of people trapped in the plant.

On Thursday, Ukrainian officials said Russia had carried out airstrikes on a field hospital within the plant. Mariupol’s mayor, Vadym Boichenko, said that more than 600 were injured in the bombing. The attack renewed calls from the United Nations for humanitarian corridors to open up to the city.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking alongside Zelensky in a press conference in Kyiv, said that the besieged city was a “crisis within a crisis” and that the people stranded there were in desperate need of help. According to Guterres, Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed in principle for the involvement of the UN and International Committee of the Red Cross in the evacuation of civilians from Azovstal. But so far those corridors have not become a reality. Last week, Putin told his defense minister in Moscow that the plant should bee sealed off but not stormed.

Footage and photos shared by the Azov regiment on Friday shows graphic scenes in what is described as the aftermath of the attack on the makeshift hospital in the plant. CNN could not independently verify the location of the videos.

An Azov commander inside the Azovstal steel complex told CNN on Friday that children from 4-months to 16-years-old were trapped inside – some in cellars and bunkers that are now unreachable because they had been covered by rubble.

Some background: The Azov regiment was originally formed in 2014 as the Azov Battalion, to defend Mariupol from attack by Russian-backed separatists. When it was created, it was known for having members with nationalist and neo-Nazi leanings, which Russia has cited to justify its war. But since the regiment was integrated into the Ukrainian military, analysts and Ukrainian officials say it has reformed. The unit has played a major role in defending the city in recent weeks and its soldiers have repeatedly pled for civilians to be evacuated from the plant.

Natalya Kalugina, 64, stands in a courtyard near a block of destroyed apartment buildings in Mariupol, Ukraine on April 29.

The residents of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol are facing the threat of diseases, in addition to the shelling by Russian forces and lack of food and water, Ukrainian officials warned Saturday, describing the living conditions in the city as “medieval.”

“Cholera, dysentery, and Escherichia coli: about 100,000 Mariupol residents are in mortal danger not only due to shelling but also to intolerable living conditions and unsanitary conditions,” reads a post from the Ukrainian Parliament’s official Twitter account. 

It added, “The occupiers cannot provide the existing population with food, water, and medicine. They block all evacuation attempts. And without that, people will die. Now in the ruined Mariupol, there are medieval living conditions. Immediate and complete evacuation is needed!”

Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska is seen during a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia on September 1, 2021.

Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, has said she believes Russia intends to destroy her country.

Speaking in an interview in which she revealed the profound upheavals the conflict has wrought on her family and fellow citizens, Zelenska told Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita that the invasion of Ukraine “completely changed everything, including our lives.”

In a remote interview released on April 28, Zelenska said that since the invasion began on February 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky “moved to Bankowa Street (the president’s office in Kyiv), at his place of work,” while she has stayed with their children. 

“There are no days off from work and no time off in the war. Often, you don’t even know the day of the week. There is only what today is, what needs to be done,” she added. 

Zelenksa said her children are studying remotely while she works through her initiative with other first ladies, governments of individual countries, activists and volunteers to organize evacuations of sick and orphaned children to safe places. 

When asked if the war has changed her husband, she said: “For some reason, I hear this question a lot. But the war didn’t change him.”

In response to a question about what she thinks Vladimir Putin wants to achieve in Ukraine, Zelenska said Russia’s message keeps evolving and “this leads to the conclusion that their plans are constantly changing or not operating logically. But I don’t judge them by declarations but by deeds.

“What the Russian troops are doing in Ukraine leads directly to the conclusion that the Russians are trying to annihilate the Ukrainians, which is their true purpose.

“This conclusion comes to my mind when I see the destruction of Mariupol, from which even safe evacuation through humanitarian corridors was not allowed, when I see the bombing of residential buildings in Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, the railway station in Kramatorsk, destroyed by a Russian missile, where more than 50 people who tried to leave were killed,” she said.

“And of course, I came to this conclusion after the war crimes committed by the Russians in the Kyiv region, where we continue to discover the mass graves of murdered, executed non-combatants, women, and children,” she said.

“Yes, I am convinced that the Russians want to destroy us and commit genocide. And it doesn’t matter what they say because their words do not match their deeds.”

Zelenska added that she is grateful to Poland for helping Ukrainian refugees as they are “looking forward to the most important news – that we have won and that they can go home.”

She added: “I will be happy when I can pass it on to them one day, hopefully as soon as possible.” 

Russia says missile strikes have targeted ammunition and fuel depots in eastern Ukraine, as Moscow continues its efforts to capture more territory and possibly encircle Ukrainian forces in the region around the town of Kramatorsk. 

Four such targets were struck near the towns of Barvenkovo, Pokrovskoe, Vozdvizhenka and Berezovoe, according to the Russian defense ministry.

In other missile and aircraft strikes Russian forces hit 10 locations housing Ukrainian troops and equipment, the ministry said, killing up to 120 soldiers and destroying four tanks and six other armoured vehicles, the ministry said in a briefing released on Saturday morning.

Russian artillery units carried out 389 firing missions overnight, targeting among other sites 35 command posts, 33 artillery positions, and 15 missile-artillery weapons and ammunition depots, the ministry added.

Eighteen Ukrainian drones were shot down, among them three Bayraktar TB-2, a Turkish-designed armed drone that has been used to considerable effect by the Ukrainian army against Russian targets.  

Russia has destroyed 142 Ukrainian aircraft and 112 helicopters, 658 drones, 279 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,656 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 307 multiple launch rocket systems, and 1,189 field artillery and mortar launchers in total, according to the ministry.

CNN is unable to independently verify these numbers. 

Russia’s defense ministry finally confirmed it is using submarines in the Black Sea to carry out cruise missile attacks on Ukrainian targets.

Meanwhile Ukraine says its troops continue to resist Russian attacks on several fronts, despite new evidence that Russian units are making their way across the border.

Here are the latest developments:

Russian submarine launches missiles at Ukraine: Footage released by the Russian defense ministry on Friday purported to show the launch of Kalibr cruise missiles from a diesel submarine somewhere in the Black Sea. “The crew of a diesel-electric submarine of the Black Sea Fleet has launched a salvo of Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea against the military infrastructure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app. A week ago, the Ukrainian armed forces reported that two dozen units from the Russian fleet were still operating in the Black Sea, including “submarines with missile weapons.” On Monday, they added that Russian troops were “launching missile and bomb strikes on military and civilian infrastructure, including from strategic bombers, ships and submarines.”

Ukraine holds off Russian forces amid ramped-up attacks: The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Russian troops are increasing their presence in eastern Ukraine, by bringing in units normally based in Russia’s Far East. It said Russian soldiers’ latest effort to break through in the Izium area had been resisted, but they continued to press an offensive towards the town of Lyman – an important railway hub, which was hit by Russian artillery on Friday. The General Staff added there was also heavy fighting around Rubizhne and Popasna, two towns the Russians have been trying to take for several weeks. 

Shelling on Russian border: The bombardment of a village in the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, caused damage but no casualties, according to Governor Alexander Bogomaz. He said in a statement that the village of Zhecha came under fire as air defense systems intercepted a Ukrainian aircraft entering Russian territory. The blast wave from the incident damaged the casing of “technological buildings of the oil terminal” and the surrounding area, Bogomaz said, adding that no one was hurt.

Russia rejects evacuation efforts from Mariupol: Russia is rejecting all evacuation proposals for Mariupol, according to a senior Ukrainian official. Myhailo Podoliak said that Russia is rebuffing efforts to help evacuate people from the besieged port city “because it is symbolic for the enemy to destroy the city and its defenders – the Azov Regiment.” “The president and the head of the president’s office are continuously appealing to world leaders to help us convince the Russian side of the need for a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol,” Podoliak said in a statement posted on the governing Servant of the People party’s website. He added that the Russians showed “absolute unwillingness to talk” or make concessions.

UK ambassador returns to Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked the UK for returning its ambassador to Kyiv. While there has been no official announcement from London that Melinda Simmons is back at work in the Ukrainian capital, she tweeted on Friday, “It was a long drive but worth going the distance. So good to be in Kyiv again.” In his Friday evening video address, Zelensky said the return of Britain’s ambassador meant that diplomatic missions from 27 countries were now operating again in Kyiv. “This is an extremely important gesture of support for Ukraine, and we are grateful to all of them,” he said.

Poland sends reinforcements to Ukraine: Poland has sent over 200 T-72 tanks to Ukraine over the past few weeks, Polskie Radio, Poland’s national public-service radio said Friday, citing IAR news agency. So far, Poland has provided Ukraine with military equipment worth $1.6 billion, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said last week. In addition to the tanks, Polskie Radio said, equipment also included dozens of infantry fighting vehicles and the 2S1 Carnation self-propelled howitzers, drones, Grad multiple rocket launchers and Piorun (Thunderbolt) man-portable air defense systems. 

When Lyudmila and her husband Anton arrived at an evacuation center in the town of Przemysl on the Polish border with Ukraine, the rooster quickly settled in, wandering the corridors.

The tens of thousands of people who have fled the besieged city of Mariupol have carried what they can on their journeys, including mementoes, heirlooms, cats and dogs. One man is reported to have walked for five days with his dog to reach safety.

Not many have brought with them a prize rooster. But Lyudmila did.

When Lyudmila and her husband Anton arrived at an evacuation center in the town of Przemysl on the Polish border with Ukraine, their rooster quickly settled in by wandering the corridors.

All seemed fine until the next morning – or 3 a.m. to be precise – when more than 1,000 people sleeping at the evacuation center were awoken by insistent cackling and crowing.

Sasha Pechenka, a volunteer at the center, told CNN he went looking for the source of the noise. 

“I asked volunteers from England and America: ‘Have you seen a rooster here?’ In the end, I found this beast.”

Normally the unnamed rooster would begin his morning call at 4 a.m., but he had not yet adjusted to the change of time zone.

Sasha said that Lyudmila had told him: “We survived under the bombs with this rooster, because he lived with me. How can I leave my friend after that?”

The next day Lyudmila and Anton moved on, but photographs of the rooster that Sasha took quickly went viral, with one tweet garnering 1.5 million views. 

Sasha himself is a refugee, from Tajikistan. He said he worked with an opposition politician in Russia and was expelled from the country in 2021. He also worked with several organizations now described by the Russian government as “foreign agents” and “extremist.” 

He said he has been working at the Polish-Ukrainian border as a volunteer since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began two months ago.