Freedom of Information

[DaffyVina]

18:39 1 Apr
Why the evacuation of Mariupol is crucial

As the latest attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol fails, here's a reminder why this humanitarian effort is so important.

Mariupol has been shelled almost continuously by Russian forces for several weeks, and 90% of its buildings have been damaged. At least 5,000 people have died.

Russian troops have so far been unable to capture the whole city, though there has been street fighting in central areas.

At least 150,000 civilians are thought to remain in the city, which before the war was inhabited by half a million people. They have no food, running water or power.

Numerous efforts have been made, including by France, Greece and Turkey, to evacuate civilians and allow in humanitarian aid, but so far only a trickle of people have been able to leave by these corridors.

Meanwhile Ukraine has accused Russia of forcibly moving some 40,000 people into Russian-held territory.



18:55 1 Apr
BREAKING
[b]Ukraine has regained town outside Kyiv, mayor says[/b]

Ukrainian forces have recaptured the town of Bucha, near the capital Kyiv, its mayor has said.

"March 31 will go down in the history of our town... as the day of its liberation from Russian (forces)," Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk said in a video on Friday, which appeared to be filmed outside Bucha's town hall.

This week Russia pledged to drastically scale back military operations around Kyiv and Chernihiv in northern Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces have been counter-attacking against Russia in a number of areas near Kyiv and beyond - as this map shows.

[DaffyVina]

19:36 1 Apr
Bucha left devastated by weeks of war
The remnants of a destroyed tank in Bucha
Copyright: Reuters


As we reported earlier, Ukrainian forces have recaptured the town of Bucha, near the capital Kyiv, according to the local mayor.

But these pictures reveal the devastation caused in the suburb, following weeks of fighting with Russian forces.

A street in Bucha with trees stripped bare
Copyright: Reuters


Police officers and residents stand next to a shell crater in front of a house damaged by recent shelling, on the outskirts
Copyright: Getty Images

[DaffyVina]

19:57 1 Apr
Russian schoolchildren report teacher for anti-war comments - local media
A Russian schoolteacher has been arrested after being reported to police by her pupils for making anti-war comments, according to local media.

The teenagers in the southern city of Penza are said to have recorded a conversation with Irina Gen, their English teacher, on 18 March.

They were apparently upset that a planned sports trip to the Czech Republic was not going ahead and asked Ms Gen for her opinion.

According to an alleged transcript of the conversation published by the Meduza website, she said it was right that the trip had been cancelled and that such things would continue until Russia "started behaving in a civilised way".

The 55-year-old compared the country to North Korea and "expressed a view of the war in Ukraine different from the official one", Meduza said.

It is thought Ms Gen could face a fine of up to $60,000 or a jail term of up to 10 years.


20:38 1 Apr
Over 50 Ukrainian historical sites, religious buildings and museums damaged – Unesco
The UN’s cultural agency says at least 53 Ukrainian historical sites, religious buildings and museums have been damaged or partially destroyed since the start of the war.

Unesco said the list is not exhaustive, and experts continue to verify reports of other damage.

The damage of 29 religious sites, 16 historic buildings, four museums and four monuments was verified using satellite images and witness reports.

More than a dozen of the sites are in Kharkiv, one of the areas in Ukraine most affected by shelling.

The list does not include any information of sites or buildings in the besieged city of Mariupol.

[DaffyVina]

20:55 1 Apr
Russian forces pushed out of Kyiv suburb of Irpin

Orla Guerin
BBC News, Irpin, near Kyiv

The battle-scarred town of Irpin now stands as an example of Ukrainian resistance, and of Russian defeat.

President Putin's forces managed to enter the town but didn't manage to push through it. If they had, Kyiv would have been their next stop - the capital is just a short drive away, 13 miles (21km) down the road. Blocking the Russian advance here was critical.

We reached the city centre under armed escort, driving through streets strewn with rubble and downed power lines - and devoid of life.

Ukrainian forces gave us a careful tour - avoiding some main roads. We were told Russian forces might be present in the forests on the outskirts, though the mayor, Oleksandr Markushyn, insists the town itself is completely under Ukrainian control.

Troops proudly showed us a Russian armoured personnel carrier which had been torn to shreds, its turret upturned. Another burnt out Russian vehicle was just down the road. But we were moved quickly from place to place because of the ongoing risk of Russian shelling.

Most of the 70,000 people who used to live in this middle class commuter city fled over the past month - darting out of basements, running the gauntlet of relentless Russian shelling.

Many may have little left to come back to. President Putin claims he is not targeting civilian areas, but the destroyed homes of Irpin give the lie to that.

We saw extensive damage in residential areas, including one high-rise block where a shell had punched a neat hole right through a corner apartment. There was a child's red toy car on the ground, close to a forsaken playground. There were cars with bullet riddled windscreens, and charred houses where the roofs have been ripped off.

[DaffyVina]

21:07 1 Apr
Ukraine security chief hints Russia to blame for oil depot attack
BBC Monitoring

As we reported earlier, Ukraine's security chief has denied that Ukraine attacked an oil depot in Russia this morning. Now we have more details of Oleksiy Danilov's comments.

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Danilov hinted that the attack may have been carried out by Russians unhappy with the war - and he said similar incidents would likely follow.

"The society of the Russian Federation is beginning to understand something," he said.

Earlier, the local governor in Belgorod had attributed Friday's attack to two Ukrainian helicopters, which the Ukrainian Defence Ministry would neither confirm nor deny.

Danilov also commented on Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's statement that reports of a Ukrainian attack on the depot were not conducive to peace talks.

"When they kill our children, our women, is that conducive to talks? When they wreak havoc on our territory?" he asked.

[DaffyVina]

21:44 1 Apr
Why the Red Cross had to postpone their Mariupol mission
Wyre Davies - BBC News, Zaporizhzhia

The failure of a Red Cross operation to complete a plan to bring aid to the besieged city of Mariupol and evacuate hundreds of refugees shows just how difficult it is to organise such an operation when one of the belligerent parties – in this case Russia – has no real interest, yet, in ceasing hostilities and allowing desperately needed humanitarian aid in.

In the words of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) itself, it was "desperately important that the operation takes place – the lives of thousands of people in Mariupol depend on it".

The plan, however, was hastily put together and was, perhaps, in hindsight, unrealistic.

The Red Cross, for example, had intended to deliver at least two truckloads of medical supplies to Mariupol as part of the deal, but it became apparent that Russia wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

So, the small convoy that left Zaporizhzhia on Friday morning consisted of just three small vehicles.

Those vehicles and the Red Cross staff accompanying them had a crucial task – to facilitate the transfer of civilians from Mariupol and surrounding areas in at least 40 buses provided by the Ukrainian government.

But it became apparent that those organising the buses and the Red Cross had not been able to co-ordinate their operations as closely as should have been the case.

It wasn’t clear where the ICRC convoy was meant to meet the buses, that had travelled south the previous day. Furthermore, the aim of completing the operation in the space of one day was always going to be unrealistic, given the distance between the “safe” city of Zaporizhzhia and Mariupol and the high number of Russian military checkpoints the convoy would have to negotiate – not to mention Ukrainian checkpoints.

Even as the Red Cross convoy left Zaporizhzhia there was a statement from the office of the mayor of Mariupol saying the city was still too dangerous and that it was, in effect, closed to anyone trying to enter or leave.

Of course, thousands of Mariupol residents have been able to flee under their own steam, by driving often bomb-damaged cars through those Russian checkpoints and mined roads.

But tens of thousands of people remain in the beleaguered city, without food or water. The need for medical and other humanitarian help is overwhelming and there is barely a building left standing in a city that has been ravaged by Russian shelling.

21:58 1 Apr
Red Cross disillusioned as Mariupol trip thwarted

As we've reported, the International Committee of the Red Cross operation to bring aid to the besieged city of Mariupol - and lead an evacuation of civilians back out - has been frustrated for a second day in a row.

A spokeswoman for the Red Cross in Kyiv, Alyona Synenko, says "the stumbling block is the lack of very precise and very concrete agreements and the respect of these agreements on all levels".

She says it is the "responsiblity on both sides of this conflict" to allow the aid to reach its destination and admits to "disillusionment and disappointment" with the situation.

It "actually hurts me to think about people in Mariupol who were waiting for this convoy and were hoping to leave the nightmare that they are trapped in for the past weeks," she says.

[DaffyVina]

22:17 1 Apr
Oil depot attack to further stretch Russian logistics - UK
The UK has released one of its regular intelligence updates, this time focusing on the oil depot attack in Belgorod in Russia early this morning.

As we've been reporting, Russia is blaming Ukraine for the attack - while Ukraine denies responsibility. If it was Ukraine, it would be the first known time their forces have flown into Russian airspace to attack.

The UK does not attribute responsibility, but says: "The probable loss of fuel and ammunition supplies from these depots will likely add additional short-term strain to Russia’s already stretched logistic chains.

"Supplies to Russian forces encircling Kharkhiv (60 km from Belgorod) may be particularly affected."


22:28 1 Apr
Three missile strikes reported in Odesa

The governor of Odesa says three Russian missiles hit a residential district in the port city and caused casualties.

Maksym Marchenko alleged the missiles were fired from Moscow-annexed Crimea in the south.

Also on Friday, Ukraine's military said its anti-air defences had prevented an attack on critical infrastructure facilities in the city.

"The enemy tried in an insidious way to hit critical infrastructure facilities, the destruction of which could be dangerous for the civilian population," its southern command wrote on Facebook.

"Thanks to the timely and effective response of the air defence forces, the missiles did not hit the targets the enemy had been aiming at."

The BBC has not independently verified either of the reports.


22:46 1 Apr
Ukrainian Air Force thanks Sean Penn for billionaire rallying cry
You may recognise the name Sean Penn from award-winning movies such as Mystic River or Milk.

But the California-born actor has also become well-known for his political and social activism, from befriending Hugo Chavez to secretly interviewing drug-kingpin-on-the-lam El Chapo.

Most recently, Penn has exhaustively advocated for the US to provide more support to Ukraine than it already is.

He has met with President Zelensky, pushed for a Nato-imposed no-fly zone, and even threatened to melt down his Oscar if Zelensky was not invited to speak at the Academy Awards.

In his latest exploit on Thursday, Penn called on billionaires to step up and buy military aircraft to help Ukraine, laying out how much it would cost. The tweet prompted a response from Ukraine's air force.

[DaffyVina]

23:05 1 Apr
Bus-loads of Mariupol residents arrive in Zaporizhzhia

As we've been reporting, an ICRC attempt to evacuate civilians from the besieged port city of Mariupol by bus was postponed until Saturday at the earliest.

However, busloads of Mariupol residents who had already reached Berdyansk (see above map) have now reached the relative safety of Zaporizhzhia.

The AFP news agency counted around 30 buses arriving in the city, which is around 200km from Mariupol.

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk confirmed the news via Telegram, saying:

42 buses from the city of Berdyansk with Mariupol residents had left for Zaporizhzhia
12 buses from Melitopol with local residents were also en route
More than 300 private cars were following the buses
Addressing those who still remain in Mariupol, she said: "We know how much you want to be saved. Every day we will try and try to break through until you get a chance to leave the city, and most important, to live a peaceful life."

The city has been under heavy Russian shelling over the past five weeks, leaving residents without food, running water and heat.


1:30
More than 3,000 people evacuated from Mariupol, Zelensky says
More on that address from President Zelensky.

He touted the successful evacuation of civilians on Friday through humanitarian corridors in three regions: Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.

Nearly half of the more than 6,000 evacuees fled the besieged port city of Mariupol, he said.

"We are separately agreeing on the removal of the wounded and dead from the city," Zelensky noted, adding Turkey was mediating between Russia and Ukraine on the issue.

[DaffyVina]

5:39
What's happening on the frontlines
The latest assessment of Russia's campaign by the Institute of War think-tank reiterates the idea that Russia's efforts have now swung to the east of Ukraine.

Key takeaways from the report:

Russia has revised its campaign plan after a month where it failed to seize Kyiv and other cities
The Kremlin’s claim that its main target was always eastern Ukraine is false, the thinktank says, and intended to mask the failure of its first campaign
Russia’s main operations are now concentrated on eastern Ukraine – where it wants to capture the entire Donestsk and Luhansk regions
Russia will likely capture Mariupol in coming days, but continue to suffer casualties
Ukraine took back large areas north-west and east of Kyiv, but Russia was able to withdraw its damaged forces in time into Belarus

[DaffyVina]

6:17
The popular Russian cartoon pulled for its Putin episode

Masyanya, the mischievous and witty heroine of an animated series online, is popular among Russians -over a million people are subscribed to the YouTube cartoon.

But the latest episode - a comment about the war in Ukraine - has provoked both praise and threats.

Soon after it came out, racking up three million views, Russian authorities banned it - saying it "discredits" Russia's Armed Forces.

The BBC spoke to the cartoon's creator, Oleg Kuvaev, who emigrated from Russia to Israel years ago but still creates art about his country. He said he was interested in how "war hysteria transforms the minds of ordinary people, making them blind to the truth".

Video journalist: Anastassia Zlatopolskai