Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President, warned that retreating Russian forces were creating “a complete disaster” outside Kyiv as they deposit mines across “the whole territory,” including around homes and corpses.
“They are mining the whole territory. They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation.
“There are a lot of trip wires, a lot of other dangers,” he added.
Russia has continued withdrawing some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv after saying earlier this week it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv.
Follow the latest updates below.
08:48 AM
Zelensky: Russian retreat of troops ‘slow but noticeable’ in north of country
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08:27 AM
EU says it eyes further Russia sanctions that will not affect energy sector
The 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 per cent growth forecast was too optimistic and the EU would not reach it.
08:16 AM
Russian soldier dies from radiation poisoning in Chernobyl
The serviceman was part of a unit camped in the toxic nearby Red Forest, clueless about what they were being exposed to, reports James Kilner.
Radiation from the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine has reportedly killed one Russian soldier after his unit camped in a toxic area known as the Red Forest. The soldier was part of a team that captured the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, 65 miles north of Kyiv, in the first days of the war.
They then occupied the 20-mile exclusion zone around the plant, where people are banned from living, dug trenches into radioactive mud and drove their trucks along dirt roads, kicking up radioactive dust. Now ill and exhausted, they have retreated to Belarus.
08:03 AM
Ukraine’s economy could contract 40 per cent in 2022
Ukraine’s economy shrank 16 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year and could contract 40 per cent in 2022 as a result of Russia’s invasion, the Ukrainian economic ministry said in a statement today, citing preliminary estimates.
“Areas in which remote work is impossible have suffered the most,” it said.
07:41 AM
MoD: Russian forces reported to have withdrawn from Hostomel airport
07:29 AM
Seven humanitarian corridors planned for evacuations today
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, Ms Vereshchuk said.
07:13 AM
Putin ‘running out’ of missiles – because parts are made in Ukraine
A substantial portion of fighter jet engines and tank components are made in Ukrainian factories, which no longer supply Russian forces, reports Tony Diver.
Vladimir Putin risks running out of viable tanks, missiles and fighter jets because the components they use are made in Ukraine, The Telegraph understands.
The engines for all Russian helicopters, ships and cruise missiles and a substantial portion of fighter jet engines and ground-to-air missile and tank components are made in Ukrainian factories, which no longer supply Mr Putin’s forces.
Russian troops are understood to be running low on arms after five weeks of conflict and the heavy shelling of many Ukrainian cities.
This week, Russia’s deputy defence minister said the country was moving into “phase two” of the conflict and would pull its forces back from Kyiv.
06:43 AM
New radio station helps Ukrainian refugees adapt in Prague
A new Prague-based internet radio station has started to broadcast news, information and music tailored to the day-to-day concerns of some 300,000 refugees who have arrived in the Czech Republic since Russia launched its military assault against Ukraine.
In a studio at the heart of the Czech capital, radio veterans work together with absolute beginners to provide the refugees with what they need to know to settle as smoothly as possible in a new country.
The staff of 10 combines people who have fled Ukraine in recent weeks with those who have been living abroad for years. No matter who they are, their common goal is to help fellow Ukrainians and their homeland facing the brutal Russian invasion.
Natalia Churikova, an experienced journalist with Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said she couldn’t say no to an offer to become the broadcaster’s editor-in-chief.
“It was for my people, for people who really needed help, who really needed support, something that would help them start a new live or restart their lives here after they have lived through very bad things trying to escape from Ukraine,” Churikova said.
06:22 AM
Russian missiles strike several Ukrainian cities, say local officials
Russian missiles hit two cities in central Ukraine early on Saturday, damaging infrastructure and residential buildings, the head of the Poltava region said.
“Poltava. A missile struck one of the infrastructure facilities overnight,” Dmitry Lunin wrote in an online post. “Kremenchuk. Many attacks on the city in the morning.”
Lunin later said at least four missiles hit two infrastructure objects in Poltava while, according to preliminary information, three enemy planes attacked the industrial facilities of Kremenchuk.
Poltava city is the capital of the Poltava region, east of Kyiv, and Kremenchuk one of the area’s major cities.
There was no immediate information about possible casualties, Lunin said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
05:37 AM
Ukraine continue to advance against Russian forces near Kyiv, UK says
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.
05:15 AM
Dozens of buses leave Berdiansk and Melitopol with Mariupol residents on board
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 42 buses carrying Mariupol residents had departed from the city of Berdiansk, 70 kilometres southwest, while another 12 had left Melitopol with local residents on board.
“That’s more than 2,500 people. More than 300 private cars follow the buses. All of them are now heading to the city of Zaporizhzhia,” she said on Telegram, adding more evacuations of Mariupol were planned for Saturday.
Dozens of buses carrying Mariupol residents who had escaped the devastated city arrived Friday in Zaporizhzhia, about 200 kilometres to the northwest, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.
The buses carried people who had been able to flee Mariupol to Russian-occupied Berdiansk.
“We were crying when we reached this area. We were crying when we saw soldiers at the checkpoint with Ukrainian crests on their arms,” said Olena, who carried her young daughter in her arms.
04:49 AM
Zelensky won’t discuss fuel depot attack
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declined to comment on whether he ordered an attack on a Russian fuel depot.
In an interview with FOX News, Mr Zelensky said he does not discuss any orders he issues as commander in chief.
Earlier, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security council denied allegations from Moscow that two Ukrainian helicopter gunships had struck the facility in the city of Belgorod north of the border at around dawn Friday.
The regional governor in Belgorod said two workers at the depot were injured, but Russian media cited a statement from state oil company Rosneft that denied anyone was hurt.
But if Moscow’s claim is confirmed, it would be the war’s first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace.
04:20 AM
Red Cross to try again to evacuate civilians from Mariupol
A Red Cross convoy travelling to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol will try again to evacuate civilians from the besieged port on Saturday as Russian forces looked to be regrouping for new attacks in the southeast.
The convoy was forced to turn around yesterday, said the Geneva-based organisation, saying it had become impossible to proceed.
03:51 AM
Retreating Russians leaving mines behind, Zelensky warns
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned his people early Saturday that retreating Russian forces were creating “a complete disaster” outside the capital as they leave mines across “the whole territory,” even around homes and corpses.
He issued the warning as the humanitarian crisis in the encircled city of Mariupol deepened, with Russian forces blocking evacuation operations for the second day in a row, and the Kremlin accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil.
Ukraine denied responsibility for the fiery blast, but if Moscow’s claim is confirmed, it would be the war’s first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace.
“Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, five weeks after Moscow began sending upwards of 150,000 of its own troops across Ukraine’s border.
03:35 AM
US to transfer Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine
The United States will work with allies to transfer Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine to bolster its defenses in the Donbas region, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing a US official.
The transfers, requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, would begin soon, the unnamed official said, according to the Times. The official declined to say how many tanks would be sent or from which countries they would come, the paper said.
The Pentagon declined to comment to Reuters. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The tanks would allow Ukraine to conduct long-range artillery strikes on Russian targets in the Donbas region of southeastern Ukraine bordering Russia, the official said, according to the Times.
It marks the first time in the war that the United States has helped transfer tanks, the newspaper said.
03:21 AM
Some Russian troops still in Chernobyl exclusion zone, Ukraine says
Some Russian troops were still in the “exclusion zone” around the Chernobyl nuclear power station on Friday morning, a day after ending their occupation of the plant itself, a Ukrainian official said.
Russian forces occupied the defunct power station north of Kyiv soon after invading Ukraine on Feb. 24 but Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company, Energoatom, said on Thursday they had left the plant and were heading towards the border with Belarus.
“Russians were seen in the exclusion zone this morning,” Yevhen Kramarenko, who heads the agency in charge of the exclusion zone, said in televised comments on Friday.
He did not say what the troops were doing or where they might be headed. He added that no Russian troops had been seen on the territory of the decommissioned nuclear power plant.
03:00 AM
US curbs exports to more Russian and Belarusian companies
The Biden administration announced on Friday a new round of export restrictions against Russia and Belarus, adding 120 entities, mostly companies with links to the military, to a list of those effectively blocked from receiving vital technology.
The additions to the Commerce Department’s entity list follow several similar actions taken by the United States to weaken the Russian military since President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Friday’s action aims to “degrade Russian and Belarusian defense, aerospace, maritime, and other strategic sectors in response to Russia’s brutal assault on the sovereignty of Ukraine,” the Commerce Department said.
02:48 AM
China tells EU it will pursue Ukraine peace in its own way
China offered the European Union assurances on Friday that it would seek peace in Ukraine but said this would be on its own terms, deflecting pressure for a tougher stance towards Russia.
Premier Li Keqiang told EU leaders that Beijing would push for peace in “its own way”, while President Xi Jinping said he hoped the EU would treat China “independently”, in a nod to Europe’s close ties with the United States.
The EU told Beijing during the virtual summit with Mr Li and Mr Xi not to allow Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We called on China to help end the war in Ukraine. China cannot turn a blind eye to Russia’s violation of international law,” European Council President Charles Michel told a news briefing with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after the first EU-China summit since Dec 30, 2020.
02:11 AM
Today’s top stories
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Liberated villagers weep with joy as Ukrainian soldiers pushed back humiliated Russian forces, days after Moscow announced it would reduce its operations around Kyiv in order to foster trust
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The Argentine government has triggered a row with the United Kingdom by accusing it of “double standards” for its backing of Ukraine against Russian aggression while refusing to come to the negotiating table over the Falkland Islands
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Vladimir Putin risks running out of viable tanks, missiles and fighter jets because the components they use are made in Ukraine, The Telegraph understands
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Radiation from the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine has reportedly killed one Russian soldier after his unit camped in a toxic area known as the Red Forest
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The UN has recorded 3,257 civilian casualties since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, with 1,276 deaths.
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Russia continued withdrawing some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv on Friday after saying earlier this week it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv to promote trust at the bargaining table
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The US military has cancelled a test of its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile that it had initially aimed only to delay in a bid to lower nuclear tensions with Russia during the war in Ukraine, the Air Force told Reuters on Friday
