Ukraine has regained control of "the whole Kyiv region" after Russian forces retreated from some key towns near the Ukrainian capital, deputy defence minister Ganna Maliar said. Meanwhile, an Ukrainian negotiator in peace talks with Russia said that Moscow had "verbally" agreed to key Ukrainian proposals.
Ukrainian helicopters recently carried out a strike on a fuel storage facility in Russia's western town of Belgorod, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the border, according to the local governor.
Peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials have resumed via video, but Moscow warned that the helicopter attack will hamper negotiations. Moscow said in peace talks earlier this week it would scale back attacks on the capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernigiv.
The air strike was "carried out by two Ukrainian army helicopters, which entered Russian territory at a low altitude".
The Red Cross says it is "impossible to proceed" with the planned evacuation of civilians from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Friday.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia is preparing "powerful strikes" in the country's east and south, including Mariupol.
Here are the Highlights on Russia-Ukraine War:
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Saturday said the operation to help people leave the besieged city of Mariupol was continuing, hours after Russia said it had failed and blamed the organization. Russia's defence ministry said aid convoys had not been able to reach Mariupol on Friday or Saturday and blamed "destructive actions" by the ICRC, Interfax news agency said. (Reuters)
Russia's talks with a "hostile" Ukraine have not been easy, but the main thing is that they are continuing, RIA news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday. "Ukraine is a very difficult country, very difficult for us. In its current state it is hostile towards us," the agency cited him as telling Belarus television. Russia and Ukraine have held several rounds of negotiations, both in Turkey and by video conference. (Reuters)
Ukraine's top negotiator in peace talks with Russia said Saturday that Moscow had "verbally" agreed to key Ukrainian proposals, raising hopes that talks to end fighting are moving forward. The negotiator told Ukrainian television channels that any meeting between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin would "with a high probability" take place in Turkey. (AFP)
The bodies of at least 20 men in civilian clothes were found lying in a single street Saturday after Ukrainian forces retook the town of Bucha near Kyiv from Russian troops, AFP journalists said.
One of the bodies of the men had his hands tied, and the corpses were strewn over several hundred metres (yards) of the residential road in the suburban town northwest of the capital.
The cause of death was not immediately clear although at least one person had what appeared to be a large head wound.
Russian forces withdrew from several towns near Kyiv in recent days after Moscow's bid to encircle the capital failed, with Ukraine declaring that Bucha had been "liberated"
Ukraine's economy shrank 16% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year and could contract 40% in 2022 as a result of Russia's invasion, the economy ministry said in a statement on Saturday, citing preliminary estimates.
"Areas in which remote work is impossible have suffered the most," it said.
he European Union is working on further sanctions on Russia but any additional measures will not affect the energy sector, the EU's Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said in Cernobbio on Saturday.
The 27-nation bloc will be faced with a growth slowdown caused by the war in Ukraine but not a recession, he added, saying the 4% growth forecast was too optimistic and the EU would not reach it.
Seven humanitarian corridors to evacuate people from Ukraine's besieged regions are planned for Saturday, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
The planned corridors include one for people evacuating by private transport from the city of Mariupol and by buses for Mariupol residents out of the city of Berdyansk, Vereshchuk said.
Russia-Ukraine War: Evacuees From Russian-Occupied Mariupol Arrive in ZaporizhzhiaAn estimated 160,000 people are believed to still be trapped in the southeastern port city of Mariupol after several evacuation attempts collapsed, though some have made the dangerous dash to freedom alone.
Ukrainian forces continue to advance against withdrawing Russian forces in the vicinity of Kyiv, British military intelligence said on Saturday.
Russian forces are also reported to have withdrawn from Hostomel airport near the capital, which has been subject to fighting since the first day of the conflict, Britain's Ministry of Defence said in a regular bulletin.
"In the east of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have secured a key route in eastern Kharkiv after heavy fighting," the ministry added.
*Residents fleeing the besieged region around southern port Mariupol take a convoy of buses and private cars to reach Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia.
*The fleet's arrival comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says over 3,000 people have been rescued from Mariupol, though it is not immediately clear if he is referring to the bus passengers.
*The Red Cross says its own Mariupol rescue effort was forced to turn back after "arrangements and conditions made it impossible to proceed", but adds its team will try again Saturday.
Russia-Ukraine War: Over 50 Landmark Ukraine Sites Damaged In Russian Invasion, UN SaysThe UN's cultural agency on Friday said it had confirmed that at least 53 Ukrainian historical sites, religious buildings and museums had sustained damage during Russia's invasion of the country.
* Zelensky said sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries on Russia are working and need to be increased.
* The United States added 120 Russian and Belarusian entities, mostly companies linked to the military, to the list of those restricted from receiving US supplies and goods.
* Sanctions by the United States and its allies are pushing Russia into recession and starting to turn it back into a closed economy, a senior US Treasury official said.
* Europe vowed to stay united against Russia's demand that they pay for its gas in roubles, as the threat of an imminent supply halt eased.
* China told the EU it would seek peace in Ukraine but on its own terms, deflecting pressure for a tougher stance towards Russia.
* Ukraine recaptured more territory around Kyiv from Russian soldiers who left shattered villages and their own abandoned tanks as they moved away from the capital.
* The U.S. military, seeking to lower nuclear tensions with Russia, cancelled an intercontinental ballistic missile test that it had initially aimed only to delay, the Air Force told Reuters.
* In the Russian border city of Belgorod, a logistics hub for its war effort, Moscow said Ukrainian helicopters struck a fuel depot, causing a huge fire. Ukraine denied responsibility.
* Zelensky said the military situation in eastern Ukraine remained extremely difficult and Russia was preparing for new strikes there.
China is not deliberately circumventing sanctions on Russia, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Saturday, a day after China and the European Union held a virtual summit during which the EU told Beijing not to allow Moscow to work around Western sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine Silent On Airstrike In Russia, Peace Talks Strained: 10 PointsPeace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials have resumed via video, but Moscow has warned that the helicopter attack in Russia would hamper negotiations. "Our positions on Crimea and Donbass have not changed," the Russian negotiator said.
Ukraine refused Friday to deny it had carried out an airstrike on Russian soil, as hopes of de-escalation faded in President Vladimir Putin's war and evacuation operations for besieged Mariupol failed.
Peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials resumed via video, but the Kremlin warned the helicopter attack on a fuel depot in the town of Belgorod would hamper negotiations.
Watch: Ukraine Choppers Enter Russian Airspace, Strike Fuel DepotUkraine attacked a fuel storage depot in western Russia earlier this week, the first reported strike by a manned aircraft by Kyiv on Russian soil.
