President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine harangued his allies to find the will to take harsher measures against Moscow, as the European Union prepared Thursday to discuss another round of sanctions and a possible ban on Russian coal.
The new sanctions would be part of the response to atrocities, including executions and torture, that appear to have been carried out by Russian forces before they retreated from areas outside Kyiv. Russia has denied responsibility, saying the atrocities were fabricated or were committed by the Ukrainians.
“Russian troops have changed their tactics and are trying to remove the killed people from the streets and basements of the occupied territory,” Mr. Zelensky said in his nightly address on Wednesday. They would not succeed in hiding evidence, he said, “because they killed a lot. Responsibility cannot be avoided.”
Europe and the United States have moved to provide more weapons to Ukraine’s military and further ostracize Russia economically with new penalties, including restrictions on its leading banks and on the assets of President Vladimir V. Putin’s children. Russia has appeared to move closer to default on its foreign debt because of U.S. currency restrictions.
The European Union is weighing a batch of sanctions that, if approved, would its harshest since the Russian invasion. The bloc is also considering a ban on coal from Russia, the leading provider of fossil-fuel energy to Europe.
Deliberations over the ban and other sanctions were set to continue into Thursday, and European Union officials and diplomats anticipated that the measures would be approved. The process reflected the challenges of reaching agreement among all 27 member nations on the penalties, which would also include banning Russian ships from E.U. ports.
NATO foreign ministers, meeting this week, have been discussing how to further help Ukraine prosecute the war without entangling the alliance in direct combat with Russian forces.
The war, they said, is far from over, noting that however badly Russia’s forces have performed, and their retreat from areas around Kyiv notwithstanding, they are making slow and brutal progress in the separatist east.
“Moscow is not giving up its ambitions in Ukraine,” said Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general.
In other major developments:
Oleg Synegubov, the state administrator for the Kharkiv military region, said Wednesday in a post on Telegram that the Ukrainian army would evacuate two towns in the east because fighting was escalating there.
In the eastern Donetsk region, at least two people were killed and five injured when Russian forces attacked ahumanitarian aid site in the town of Vugledar, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk governor.
In the eastern Luhansk region, Russian forces now control 60 percent of the town of Rubizhne, according to the governor there, Serhiy Haidai, who said the attackers had scaled up their offensive this week.
Anushka Patil, Megan Specia, Cora Engelbrecht and Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.
CHICAGO — After another setback while ramping up the rehab of his left knee, there is increasing pessimism that Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball will return to the lineup this season, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
No final decision has been made, but a meeting in the coming days expected to include Bulls officials and Ball’s representatives at Klutch Sports is increasingly likely to culminate with the shutting down of Ball for the rest of the season, sources said.
“I would imagine in the next day or two we’ll probably have a little bit more once everybody sits down and talks,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said before Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. “It’s disappointing from the standpoint you were hoping that the time he had off would help maybe propel him going forward to do a little bit more. But that certainly hasn’t been the case.”
The Bulls play Tuesday night against the Bucks and then have three games left in the regular season.
Ball, who has not played since Jan. 14, had surgery on his knee in January to repair a slight meniscus tear.
He has remained sidelined longer than the team’s initial timeline for his return when his knee did not respond to the rehab process. Chicago pulled back the ramp-up process for 10 days at the end of March with hope the extra rest would allow him to recover, but Ball experienced a setback.
Donovan declined to speculate whether the team would be comfortable having Ball play in the postseason if he didn’t return during the regular season. He said the team was focused on getting Ball to stop experiencing pain in the knee.
“I think the biggest thing they’re trying to figure out before we can do anything is try to eliminate his discomfort and any pain that he’s feeling,” Donovan said. “This period of taking some time off, letting it calm down and trying to get him back started again, there was a hope that maybe it would help, and it probably hasn’t helped as much as we would’ve liked to.”
In his first season in Chicago, Ball was averaging 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists. He has played in just 35 games, which would be the fewest of any season in his five-year career.
“All these guys love to play and he wants to play,” Donovan said. “He is, like any player, disappointed, that he can’t be out there and it’s not progressing, but he’s dealt with it and taken it in stride and to his credit, he’s tried to do everything that he can do to get himself back feeling good.”
Chicago was also without guard Zach LaVine for Tuesday’s game with left knee soreness. The team has been managing LaVine’s knee injury for the past few weeks, especially on back-to-backs.
The Bulls host the Boston Celtics on Wednesday in Chicago.
BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — One blackened body had arms raised in supplication, the faced contorted in a horrible scream. The skull of another had a bullet hole in the left temple. The small blackened foot of a child could be seen in the tangle of charred bodies piled together in Bucha, the town outside of Kyiv where graphic evidence of killings and torture has emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces.
The six burned and blackened corpses were just the latest gruesome scene to emerge from Bucha as world leaders push for Russia to be held accountable, including for possible war crimes.
It was not clear who the people were or under what circumstances they were killed.
The pile of bodies, seen by Associated Press journalists Tuesday, was just off a residential street, near a colorful and empty playground, visible to passersby as they warily went outdoors to collect aid.
In a house nearby, the twisted and bloody body of a young man who had been shot to death lay in the basement entrance. At least four other bodies lay strewn in the street, one with the eye gouged out, apparently by a bullet.
“It’s horrible,” said Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky at the scene, which included other journalists. The minister said Russian President Vladimir Putin should “go to hell.”
Andrii Nebytov, head of police in the Kyiv region, noted one of the charred bodies was a child.
The AP has seen dozens of dead bodies around Bucha, where Russian forces withdrew in the past week. The images, which included some with their arms bound, have horrified the world. Many victims appeared to have been shot at close range, some in the head. At least two had their hands tied.
High-resolution satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed that many of the bodies had been lying in the open for weeks, during the time that Russian forces were in the town.
Ukrainian officials have said the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in towns around Kyiv that were recaptured from Russian forces in recent days. The Ukrainian prosecutor-general’s office has described one room discovered in Bucha as a “torture chamber.”
The grisly images of battered and burned corpses left out in the open or hastily buried has led to calls for tougher sanctions against the Kremlin, especially a cutoff of fuel imports from Russia. Germany and France reacted by expelling dozens of Russian diplomats, suggesting they were spies, and U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin should be tried for war crimes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week left Kyiv for his first reported trip since the war began nearly six weeks ago to see for himself what he called the “genocide” and “war crimes” in Bucha.
The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court at The Hague opened an investigation a month ago into possible war crimes in Ukraine.
World leaders have vowed to hold President Vladimir V. Putin responsible for war crimes as evidence mounts that Russian forces killed civilians in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has denied the allegations and says that recent images from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, which was liberated from Russian control in the past week, were staged. But President Biden has called him a war criminal. And President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Mr. Putin is responsible for genocide.
If past prosecutions of war crimes are any indication, the process is arduous and thorough, and takes years of investigations and litigation that are only decided decades after a conflict ends.
Here’s what you need to know:
What is a war crime?
A war crime is an act committed during armed conflict that violates international humanitarian laws designed to protect civilians. The rules of war are codified in various treaties, including the Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.
The primary entity that can hold individuals accountable for war crimes is the International Criminal Court. It was established in 1988 through a treaty known as the Rome Statute that lists actions that can be prosecuted as war crimes, including willful killings, torture and intentional attacks on civilians. Some cases have been brought before special tribunals created by the United Nations.
What evidence is there of potential war crimes in Ukraine?
Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said the bodies of 410 people, apparently all civilians, have been recovered from the Kyiv region. Human Rights Watch said it had documented cases of rape, executions and looting of civilian property.
The New York Times has reported accounts of indiscriminate killings, torture and other violence against civilians. The I.C.C. had already launched a criminal investigation of possible war crimes in early March.
“What they did in Bucha, or the bombing of a hospital or a school, those are prima facie war crimes,” said Kwon O-Gon, an expert on international law who served as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
How are war crimes investigated?
War crimes are investigated as any criminal activity would be, through interviewing witnesses, reviewing photos or videos and collecting forensic evidence, including ballistics analysis, autopsies or DNA testing. Prosecutors need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that individuals knowingly committed the crimes.
Tougher to prove is how much a head of state knew and or was directly responsible for what happened under their command.
What are the chances Vladimir Putin will be held accountable?
The I.C.C. does not have its own police force or military. The court is reliant on states to hand over its owns citizens to the court for prosecution. That’s unlikely to happen with Russia’s high-level officials, much less Mr. Putin.
Mr. Kwon noted there are no statutes of limitations for war crimes. Evidence or insider information could emerge years later, and Putin or others could be handed over to the court to ultimately be held accountable.
“Even if it takes 10 years or 20 years, even if it’s after Putin is removed from power, he could be brought to the dock,” Mr. Kwon said.
Which heads of state have been tried for war crimes?
Slobodan Milosevic, known as the “Butcher of the Balkans,” was the first former head of state to be tried for such crimes in 2002. He died in his cell in The Hague as his four-year trial drew to a close, before a verdict was reached.
Charles G. Taylor, the former president of Liberia, was sentenced to 50 years in 2012 for atrocities committed in Sierra Leone during its civil war in the 1990s. Laurent Gbagbo, former president of Ivory Coast, was acquitted of crimes against humanity and other charges related to violence that followed the country’s presidential election in 2010.
The I.C.C. issued an arrest warrant for Libya’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, in 2011 accusing him of crimes against humanity, but he was killed that October before he faced trial.
Former President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan is wanted by the court on charges of genocide and war crimes in the Darfur region, but he has not been turned over by Sudan’s transitional government.
A Cornell University student preparing to leave campus last December.Credit…Heather Ainsworth/Associated Press
Colleges and universities across the United States have relaxed campus requirements for coronavirus testing of vaccinated people in recent weeks, chipping away at some of the last widespread surveillance testing programs and dismaying public health experts, who say that robust sources of transmission data will be lost.
Cornell University, Stanford University, the University of Southern California and Duke University are among the major institutions that have already dropped regular testing requirements for fully vaccinated and boosted community members, or that plan to do so in the next few weeks.
Institutions like those provided a “rich environment” to understand transmission in shared living areas, said Saskia Popescu, an infectious disease epidemiologist and adjunct professor at University of Arizona’s College of Public Health.
Most universities making the change will continue to require that unvaccinated students and staff members be tested regularly, though that is a relatively small population on campuses with vaccine mandates. Limiting surveillance testing to that group could make it harder to track the spread of the virus and the highly contagious Omicron subvariant BA.2, experts said.
Cornell, for instance, has reported that 97 percent of its students are fully vaccinated and 92 percent have also received a booster dose. The university credited its extensive surveillance testing program, which included testing vaccinated students weekly, with uncovering the rapid spread of Omicron among students in December.
Two months later, university officials said they were “confident that frequent and regular testing of nonsymptomatic, vaccinated-and-boosted individuals is no longer necessary to adequately monitor our community.” In mid-March the school also eased its on-campus mask mandate.
By the end of the month, Cornell experienced a rise in coronavirus cases that appeared to be second in intensity only to its initial Omicron wave in December, which resulted in final exams moving online and the cancellation of all university-sponsored events.
Cases are increasing “beyond our predictions,” officials said on March 23.
Getting an accurate count of active cases on campus is now more difficult. A majority of positive test results are now being recorded through tests of people who already have symptoms, the university said, meaning that asymptomatic cases — the kind that may only be spotted through surveillance testing — have gone undetected. People who have enough coronavirus in their bodies to test positive but are not feeling any symptoms are still able to spread the virus to others, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Even so, some public health experts say that advances in wastewater surveillance, widespread access to rapid tests and the protection offered by vaccines and previous infections mean that shifting a university’s strategy to targeted testing could work —barring a drastic shift in the virus, like the possible emergence of more vaccine-evasive variants that scientists have warned about.
“It could easily be true that proactive testing was a useful thing for them to have done, and that they don’t need it now,” said Carl Bergstrom, a professor of biology at the University of Washington in Seattle and a paid consultant for Color, a health technology company that has run coronavirus testing for businesses and universities.
Universal surveillance testing involves a lot of work and a lot of expense, so colleges are contending with questions of sustainability. Boston University has processed more than two million tests at its own laboratory since August 2020 at significant cost, said Dr. Judy Platt, the school’s chief health officer. The university will end asymptomatic testing entirely after May 23.
Whatever the reasoning, the reduction in testing, particularly alongside the easing of mask mandates, has left many of the most vulnerable people on campuses feeling betrayed.
Rebecca Harrison, a doctoral candidate who was a member of Cornell’s initial reopening committee in 2020 and is immunocompromised, said she found her university’s rhetoric around learning to live with the virus to be a “slap in the face” — particularly its decision to accept some level of “inevitable viral spread” among the vaccinated, as the university’s president said during a January town-hall meeting.
Other U.S. institutions have ended widespread surveillance testing. Businesses that are eager to have employees return to offices have relied on at-home tests and self-reporting. The N.F.L. suspended all its Covid-19 protocols, including random screenings, in March. The White House has warned that some virus surveillance would have to wind down without increased funding from Congress, leaving the country less prepared for the next variant.
“We’re giving politicians justification for the decisions they’re making,” Ms. Harrison said of elite research universities backing away from surveillance testing. “And that hurts everyone.”
BUDAPEST — Overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, elections on Sunday in Hungary and Serbia appear to have extended the tenures of Europe’s two most Kremlin-friendly leaders, both populist strongmen fortified by their overwhelming control of the media and cheap energy from Russia.
With more than 60 percent of the votes counted in Hungary, preliminary results indicated that Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister since 2010, and already Europe’s longest serving leader, had won a fourth consecutive term despite accusations by the opposition that he has enabled Russia’s military onslaught by cozying up for years to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
“We won a victory so big that you can perhaps see it from the moon, and certainly from Brussels,” Mr. Orban told a jubilant crowd of supporters late Sunday, taking a dig at the European Union, which he has long accused of pushing L.G.B.T.Q. and migrant rights in defiance of the democratic will of Hungarian voters.
The preliminary results dashed the hopes of Mr. Orban’s political foes that an unusually united opposition camp could break his ruling Fidesz party’s increasingly authoritarian grip on the Central European nation next to Ukraine.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking early Sunday in his capital, Kyiv, described Mr. Orban as “virtually the only one in Europe to openly support Mr. Putin.”
Asked about Mr. Zelensky’s assessment after casting his vote in Budapest on Sunday morning, Mr. Orban said curtly: “Mr. Zelensky is not voting today. Thank you. Are there any other questions?”
Voting Sunday in Hungary’s elections at a school in Budapest, the capital.Credit…Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times
President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia, also Moscow-friendly, has governed Serbia since 2012, and was expected to win re-election after rallying his nationalist and pro-Russian base by refusing to join the European Union in imposing sanctions on Russia. Serbia hopes to become a member of the European bloc, but its application has stalled.
An unusually high turnout in Serbia of nearly 60 percent forced officials to keep polling stations open late into the evening in some areas. Amid complaints of foul play by the opposition, the central election commission in Belgrade, the capital, said it would not issue results until Monday morning.
But exit polls indicated that Mr. Vucic would win a new term as president and that his Serbian Progressive Party would retain its hold on Parliament, albeit with a reduced majority. The opposition said it had won control of the municipal government in Belgrade.
Hungary and Serbia have very different histories. Mr. Orban governs a country that, until he came to power, viewed Russia with great distrust as a result of its past suffering at Russia’s hands, most notably when Moscow sent troops to brutally crush an anti-communist uprising in 1956. Mr. Vucic’s nation, however — Slavic and Orthodox Christian, like Russia — has long looked to Moscow as its ally and protector.
But under the two strongmen leaders, both countries have over the past decade drastically reduced the space for critical media voices, turning television stations with national reach into propaganda bullhorns and moving toward authoritarian rule. Each has cultivated close ties with Mr. Putin, who endorsed the Hungarian leader’s election campaign when he visited Moscow in February shortly before the invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Orban’s supporters at the rally on Friday. Credit…Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times
Serbia declined to impose sanctions on Russia while Hungary, a member of the European Union since 2004, agreed to an initial round of European sanctions but has strongly resisted extending them to include restrictions on energy imports from Russia.
In contrast to leaders in neighboring Poland, previously a close ally of Mr. Orban thanks to their shared hostility to liberal values, the Hungarian leader has also refused to let weapons destined for Ukraine pass though his country.
Before Hungary’s election, Mr. Orban hit back to counter opposition charges that his policy on Ukraine had betrayed not only foreign allies but also Hungary’s own painful memories of aggression by Russia. Mr. Orban mobilized the news media, most of which is controlled by the state and by friendly tycoons, to cast his opponents as warmongers bent on sending Hungarian troops to fight against Russia. The election offered a “choice between war and peace,” pro-government media warned.
The campaign seems to have worked, even among some older voters who remember the suffering caused by Moscow’s troops in 1956. “Why should Hungarian boys fight for Ukraine?” asked Janos Dioszegi, who was 13 at the time of the Hungarian uprising and whose father was imprisoned for 14 years by Soviet-backed authorities for his part in the anti-Moscow uprising. He said “of course” he chose Mr. Orban’s Fidesz party when he voted in Nagykovacsi, a small town near Budapest.
Echoing a line frequently aired in Fidesz-controlled media outlets, Mr. Dioszegi said there was no need to help Ukraine defend itself because it had provoked the war by becoming “a military base for America.”
Until Mr. Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, the centerpiece of Mr. Orban’s election campaign was an inflammatory referendum, timed for the day of the parliamentary election, on whether young children should be taught in school about gender transition surgery treatment, and exposed without restriction to sexually explicit material.
The war next door in Ukraine, however, derailed Mr. Orban’s effort to get voters to focus on transgender individuals and gays, forcing a reboot focused on painting his opponents as eager to take Hungary to war.
Demonstrations in Budapest on Saturday, where people gathered in solidarity with Ukraine.Credit…Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times
When hundreds of pro-Ukrainian Hungarians and refugees from Ukraine gathered on Saturday in central Budapest to denounce the government’s fence-sitting on the war, the main state-controlled television station, M1, described the event as a “pro-war rally.” Anna Olishevska, a 24-year-old Ukrainian from Kyiv who took part, praised the ordinary Hungarians who she said had helped her after she fled across the border. More than 500,000 Ukrainians have crossed into Hungary over the past month, far fewer than the more than two million who have entered Poland but still a large number for a country where venomous hostility to foreign migrants had long been the cornerstone of Mr. Orban’s often xenophobic political platform.
While delighted by her reception in Hungary, Ms. Olishevska said the government had been so tentative in condemning Russia’s invasion and resistant to helping Ukraine defend itself, that she worries about staying in Hungary if Mr. Orban won another term.
“I can’t stay in a country where the government supports Russia,” she said, waving a hand-painted sign telling Mr. Putin where to stick his rockets.
Some prominent supporters of Mr. Orban’s party have even blamed Ukraine for the bloodshed in 1956, with Maria Schmidt, a historian and museum director, claiming falsely on Saturday that Nikita S. Khrushchev, the Soviet leader who ordered troops into Hungary that year, was Ukrainian. He was Russian. Ms. Schmidt misrepresented the Soviet leader’s origins in response to a tweet by the British comedian John Cleese, who urged Hungarian voters to consider whether it was Russia or Ukraine that invaded Hungary in 1956.
Election Day in Budapest, the capital. Government control of the news media has fortified Mr. Orban’s position. Credit…Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times
The blizzard of distortions and falsehoods in Hungarian news media outlets controlled by Fidesz has left opposition supporters in despair.
“They just repeat lies over and over, day after day,” Judit Barna, 81, a doctor, said outside a central Budapest polling station, where she had just voted for a united opposition ticket headed by Peter Marki Zay, a conservative small town mayor.
Referring to Mr. Orban’s early political career as an anti-Moscow firebrand who in 1989 demanded that Soviet troops leave, she asked: “How is it possible after 40 years of Soviet occupation and 30 years of democracy that the same guy who once shouted, ‘Russians, go home’ can now say that Russia is fighting a just war in Ukraine?”
Thanks to Fidesz’s stranglehold on the media, she added: “Half of Hungary’s population eats up all these lies. This is Hungary’s shame.”
Russia requests UN Security Council meeting over ‘Ukrainian radicals’ provocation in Bucha’
“In light of the Ukrainian radicals’ provocation in Bucha, Russia has requested a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in the second half of the day on Monday, April 4,” Dmitry Polyanskiy (above) said via Telegram, according to state news agency TASS.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Russia’s United Nations Security Council deputy representative has requested an emergency meeting on Monday, citing “the Ukrainian radicals’ provocation in Bucha.”
That comes in the wake of the reported devastation in Bucha, a town on the outskirts of Kyiv that has been liberated by Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine has accused Russia of a deliberate civilian “massacre” in Bucha, with international leaders condemning the graphic footage and images of dead bodies and calling for an independent investigation.
Russia has denied allegations that its troops killed civilians in Bucha.
“In light of the Ukrainian radicals’ provocation in Bucha, Russia has requested a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in the second half of the day on Monday, April 4,” Dmitry Polyanskiy said via Telegram, according to state news agency TASS. “We will unmask Ukrainian provocateurs and their Western patrons.”
— Sam Meredith
Ukraine deputy PM says humanitarian corridors set up in Mangush, Mariupol and Luhansk
Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says humanitarian corridors have been set up in Mangush, Mariupol and Luhansk.
Vereshchuk said a corridor was in place on Monday to take people from the besieged city of Mariupol to Zaporizhia.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross plans to continue its movement from Mangush to Mariupol, with seven buses on the way, Vereshchuk said, while evacuations continue in the Luhansk region.
— Sam Meredith
‘Beyond reprehensible’ and ‘a punch to the gut’: World reacts to images of Bucha devastation
Ukrainian soldiers inspect the wreckage of a destroyed Russian armored column on the road in Bucha, a suburb north of Kyiv.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Ukraine accused Russian forces of carrying out a “massacre” in the town of Bucha, while Western leaders reacted to the images of dead bodies on the outskirts of Kyiv and called for an independent investigation.
Russia has denied the allegations, describing the graphic video footage and photographs of bodies as “yet another provocation” by the Ukrainian government.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the killings at Bucha “horrific and terrible,” while the country’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described the images as “unbearable.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply shocked” by the images of dead civilians in Bucha and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said they were akin to “a punch to the gut.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the reported atrocities “beyond reprehensible” and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters he strongly condemned the attacks.
— Sam Meredith
Russian forces refocusing their offensive on Donbas, UK says
A woman reacts before the train leaves the eastern city of Kramatorsk, in the Donbas region, on April 3, 2022.
Fadel Senna | Afp | Getty Images
Russian forces are continuing to refocus their offensive into the Donbas region of east Ukraine, according to the U.K. Defence Ministry.
“Russian troops, including mercenaries from the Russian state-linked Wagner private military company, are being moved into the area,” the ministry said via Twitter.
Square Enix’s racer Chocobo GP hasn’t had the smoothest launch, and it seems the game is still experiencing some bugs during online play. To resolve these issues the development team has now released a new update.
In the same patch, it’s also mentioned how the team will continue to update the game to improve the overall experience. Below are the full patch notes for Version 1.0.4, courtesy of the Square Enix support page:
Chocobo GP Update (Ver.1.0.4) Released (3/28/2022)
Thank you for playing “Chocobo GP”. An update for “Chocobo GP” (Ver.1.0.4) has been released on 3/28/2022. The details of the update are as follows:
1. Fixed an issue where the game stops progressing at the rankings screen at the end of a race and while matchmaking for the next race. 2. Fixed an issue where the race start timing is not in sync. 3. Fixed improper character behavior caused by lag. - Examples: ・ Number of laps becomes corrupted. ・ Character clears the goal unexpectedly. ・ Magicites cannot be used. ・ Magicites that have not been obtained are automatically used. ・ Two of the same player exists in the same race. 4. Fixed an issue where finishing in fourth place or higher is treated as being eliminated due to lag 5. Fixed an issue where the long course of “Gold Saucer” sometimes enters the fourth lap.
An Internet connection is required to apply these features. To prioritize the stability of races, you may experience longer waiting times or disconnections depending on your connection status. If you frequently experience connectivity errors after applying this update, please check your connection status and contact our Support Center(https://support.na.square-enix.com/index.php).
We will continue updating “Chocobo GP” to improve the player experience. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. We hope you continue to enjoy “Chocobo GP”.
Have you downloaded the latest update for Chocobo GP yet? Notice anything else? Tell us down in the comments.
Wreckage of the Antonov An-225, once world’s biggest aircraft, seen in Hostomel, Ukraine
A view of the wreckage of the Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane at an airshed in Hostomel, Ukraine, on April 3, 2022. The Mriya was once the world’s biggest aircraft but it was destroyed on or about Feb. 27, 2022, by Russian shelling as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continued.
The wreckage of the world’s largest cargo plane Antonov An-225, which was severely damaged and rendered unusable due to Russian bombardments, was viewed by Anadolu Agency.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A view of the wreckage of Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane, the world’s biggest aircraft, destroyed by Russian shelling as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, at an airshed in Hostomel, Ukraine on April 03, 2022.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A view of the wreckage of Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane, the world’s biggest aircraft, destroyed by Russian shelling as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, at an airshed in Hostomel, Ukraine on April 03, 2022.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A view of the wreckage of Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane, the world’s biggest aircraft, destroyed by Russian shelling as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, at an airshed in Hostomel, Ukraine on April 03, 2022.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The wreckage of the world’s largest cargo plane Antonov An-225, which was severely damaged and rendered unusable due to Russian bombardments, was viewed by Anadolu Agency.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Russia denies killing civilians in Bucha, calls photos, film of alleged war crimes ‘staged’
EDITOR’S NOTE: Image in this post contains graphic content
Russia denied widely reported allegations it had killed civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, describing footage and photographs of dead bodies as a “provocation” and a “staged performance” by Kyiv.
Ukraine has accused the Russian military of massacring residents in the town, located northwest of the capital, an area Ukrainian troops said they recaptured on Saturday.
“All the photos and videos published by the Kyiv regime, allegedly testifying to the ‘crimes’ of Russian servicemen in the city of Bucha, Kyiv region, are another provocation,” Russia’s defense ministry said, in a statement.
A mass grave is seen behind a church in the town of Bucha, northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on April 3, 2022.
Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images
“During the time that Russian armed forces were in control of this settlement, not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions,” it said.
Moscow has previously denied allegations that it has targeted civilians, and has rejected accusations of war crimes.
— Reuters
Polish PM calls for EU meeting to impose harsh sanctions
A photo shows damages from conflict areas in the Hostomel region, as Russian attacks on Ukraine continue, on April 03, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called for a meeting with European heads of state “as soon as possible” to impose hard-hitting sanctions on Russia following reports that the nation’s forces executed scores of Ukrainian civilians.
“The massacre in Bucha is more than an alarm bell for Europe and the world. It is a terrible cry for justice, freedom and the right to life; for basic and universal values,” Morawiecki said in a Facebook post. He added that Russian troops committed “acts of genocide.”
“The EU must confiscate all Russian assets in its western banks as well as those of Russian oligarchs. It must sever all trade relations with Russia without delay. European money must stop flowing to the Kremlin. Putin’s criminal and increasingly totalitarian regime needs to have one thing imposed on it: SANCTIONS WHICH ACTUALLY WORK,” he said.
— Jessica Bursztynsky
Ukraine foreign minister: Russia’s war crimes make it ‘worse than ISIS’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, pictured here at the Ukrainian Embassy in Warsaw, Poland, called Russia “worse than ISIS” after apparent evidence emerged of civilian atrocities near Kyiv.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Ukraine minister of foreign affairs Dmytro Kuleba said in a video on Sunday that “Russia is worse than ISIS,” referring to the Islamic extremist group.
“In its atrocities, in its crimes — both the scale of these crimes and the ruthlessness of the behavior of the Russian army in Ukraine,” Kuleba said in a video on Twitter.
“I don’t know where these soldiers were educated — what kind of values they have, if any,” Kuleba added. “It’s unspeakable.
“Rapes, tortures, murders — of civilians.”
He noted that Ukraine has begun work to prosecute “everyone involved in these crimes.”
Kuleba also said that he is “trying to prepare myself for images and videos which will come from Mariupol when we liberate it.”
“Probably they will be even more devastating,” Kuleba said.
— Michael Sheetz
Scholz says West to agree more sanctions on Russia in coming days
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gives a press statement about the war crimes discovered the day before in Bucha, Ukraine, at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany April 3, 2022.
Hannibal Hanschke | Reuters
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday Western allies would agree further sanctions on Russia in the coming days over its invasion of Ukraine and the “atrocities” committed by Russian troops in a town near Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir “Putin and his supporters will feel the consequences” of their actions, he said, in a statement to reporters in the chancellery. “And we will continue to make weapons available to Ukraine so the country can defend itself against the Russian invasion.”
—Reuters
Civilians take shelter from Russian artillery in Kharkiv
Civilians are seen taking shelter from Russian artillery in the Kharkiv area of Ukraine.
Civilians are seen taking shelter from Russian artillery in the Kharkiv area of Ukraine on April 3, 2022.
Wolfgang Schwan | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Civilians are seen taking shelter from Russian artillery in the Kharkiv area of Ukraine on April 3, 2022.
Wolfgang Schwan | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Civilians are seen taking shelter from Russian artillery in the Kharkiv area of Ukraine on April 3, 2022.
Wolfgang Schwan | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Civilians are seen taking shelter from Russian artillery in the Kharkiv area of Ukraine on April 3, 2022.
Wolfgang Schwan | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Civilians are seen taking shelter from Russian artillery in the Kharkiv area of Ukraine on April 3, 2022.
Wolfgang Schwan | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
U.S. to send more aid as Moldova embraces Ukraine war refugees
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield makes a statement at a stakeout at the Security Council at UN Headquarters. Meeting was convened at the request of the Russian Federation who accused Ukraine of developing biological weapons under the tutelage of the United States without providing any evidence.
Lev Radin | Lightrocket | Getty Images
The United States will give Moldova $50 million to help it cope with the impacts of Russia’s war against Ukraine, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during a visit to the former Soviet republic on Sunday.
She said the funding would support programs, training and equipment for border management, efforts to counter human trafficking, help to improve accountability and transparency in the justice sector, and combat corruption and cybercrime.
Nearly 400,000 refugees have already fled Ukraine through Moldova, with about a quarter remaining in the country, since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Moscow says it is carrying out a “special military operation” that aims to destroy Ukraine’s military infrastructure.
The money pledged to Moldova by the United States on Sunday comes on top of $30 million announced last month to assist refugee relief efforts in Moldova over the next six months.
Moldova, sandwiched between Ukraine and European Union member Romania, is one of Europe’s poorest countries and has 2.6 million people. Like Ukraine it aspires to join the EU.
— Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State responds to claims of ‘genocide’ in Ukraine
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addresses the Media after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (unseen), at the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, on March 27, 2022.
Jacquelyn Martin | AFP | Getty Images
America’s top diplomat on Sunday stopped short of agreeing with those who claim Russia is committing genocide against Ukrainian civilians during its invasion.
“We will look hard and document everything that we see, put it all together, and make sure the relevant institutions and organizations that are looking at this, including the State Department, have everything they need to asses exactly what took place in Ukraine, who is responsible and what it amounts to,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
In a CBS interview that aired Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed the Russian military is committing “genocide” against Ukrainian people.
The U.S. government has formally accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine. That’s one of four main crimes over which the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction. Genocide, crime against humanity and crime of aggression are the other three.
However, the U.S. is not a member of the ICC, which defines genocide as “the specific intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group by killing its members or by other means.”
— Kevin Stankiewicz
EU must discuss import ban on Russian gas, German defense minister says
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht speaks with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, January 26, 2022.
Michele Tantussi | Reuters
Germany’s defense minister said on Sunday that the European Union must discuss banning the import of Russian gas after Ukrainian and European officials accused Russian forces of committing atrocities near Kyiv.
“There has to be a response. Such crimes must not remain unanswered,” the defense ministry quoted Christine Lambrecht as saying in an interview with the public broadcaster ARD.
Berlin has so far resisted growing calls to impose an embargo on energy imports from Russia, saying its economy and that of other European countries are too dependent on them. Russia supplies 40% of Europe’s gas needs.
But Lambrecht said EU ministers would now have to discuss a ban, according to a tweet from her ministry.
—Reuters
Boris Johnson says Putin and his troops ‘are committing war crimes’
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a press conference at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on March 24, 2022.
Thomas Coex | AFP | Getty Images
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said graphic reports coming out of Bucha and Irpin are “more evidence” that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his forces “are committing war crimes in Ukraine.”
“I will do everything in my power to starve Putin’s war machine,” Johnson said in a statement. “We are stepping up our sanctions and military support, as well as bolstering our humanitarian support package to help those in need on the ground.”
Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of executing civilians prior to their retreat of areas surrounding the capital of Kyiv. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry posted a video early Sunday that showed bodies in civilian clothing on the side of the road, accusing Russian forces of executing the residents.
Earlier in the day, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called for the attacks to be investigated as war crimes, adding the U.K. would support any investigations by the International Criminal Court.
Russia has denied committing the atrocities, according to The New York Times.
“No denial or disinformation from the Kremlin can hide what we all know to be the truth – Putin is desperate, his invasion is failing, and Ukraine’s resolve has never been stronger,” Johnson said in a statement.
—Jessica Bursztynsky
Zelenskyy says U.S. has not yet offered Ukraine security guarantees
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends an interview with some of the Russian media via videolink, as Russia?s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 27, 2022.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | via Reuters
The U.S. has not provided Ukraine an official security guarantee, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
In an interview that aired Sunday, Zelenskyy said he was grateful for the support Washington has offered Ukraine to date to assist the country in defending against Russia’s invasion. The U.S. has provided Ukraine more than $1 billion in security assistance, which includes more than 1,000 Stinger anti-aircraft systems and other military equipment like ammunition and body armor.
“But nevertheless, the United States have not provided the security guarantees to us,” Zelenskyy said, according to a full CBS transcript.
Ukrainian officials have recently focused on the concept of security guarantees in their diplomatic peace talks with Russia. According to Reuters, Ukraine has said it would be willing to adopt neutral status if it’s able to enter agreements with a group of countries that pledge to militarily defend Ukraine if Ukraine is attacked in the future.
Zelenskyy described the security guarantees as “an enforceable document,” not just a “piece of paper.” He suggested that receiving such commitments from allies are critical for peace discussions with Russia to advance because so far, sanctions have yet to deter Russian aggression.
“We don’t believe in papers any longer. So we are very grateful for the support of the United States,” Zelenskyy said. “It’s a very powerful support. But in terms of security guarantees, we have not received them yet from anyone, and we have to get them.”
— Kevin Stankiewicz
At least 1,417 civilians killed in Ukraine, UN says
Local resident Pavel, 42, stands next to the grave of his friend Igor, who was killed by shelling while they were riding together in a car during Ukraine-Russia conflict, in a residential area in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 30, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters
At least 1,417 civilians, including 121 children, have been killed since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said.
An additional 2,038 have been injured, including 171 children, from Feb. 24 to April 2, it added.
The agency expects the actual figures to be “considerably higher.” It’s been difficult for officials to determine the extent of injuries and deaths in areas with heavy fighting or that have been taken over by Russian forces.
The bulk of the injuries have been caused by the use of explosive weapons with a “wide impact area,” such as shelling from heavy artillery and missile and air strikes, the agency said.
—Jessica Bursztynsky
The war is exacerbating supply-chain disruptions that have sent U.S. auto prices sky-high
View of a used car dealership in Ridgewood, Queens New York on January 19, 2022. Inflation spiked to its highest level in four decades, sending consumer prices soaring 7 percent for the year ended.
Pablo Monsalve | Corbis News | Getty Images
Russia’s war against Ukraine has thrown up a new obstacle to the global auto industry’s attempts to recover from a Covid-related global shortage of semiconductor chips and other key parts – and the result is likely to keep prices of new and used vehicles sky-high for a while longer, The Associated Press reports.
Ukraine is a key supplier of automotive wiring harnesses to automakers, particularly European automakers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen – or at least it was before the invasion. Now, the Associated Press is reporting that automakers find themselves scrambling to replace the Ukrainian production – further hampering their efforts to restore full production and ease the new-car supply crunch that has driven auto prices sharply higher since the beginning of the pandemic.
The average price of a new vehicle in the U.S. is up 13% in the past year, to $45,596, according to an Edmunds.com report cited by The Associated Press. Average used prices have surged far more: They’re up 29% to $29,646 as of February.
Before the war, S&P Global had predicted that global automakers would build 84 million vehicles this year and 91 million next year. Now it’s forecasting fewer than 82 million in 2022 and 88 million next year, according to the AP.
— John Rosevear
European leaders call on Russia to pay for ‘war crimes’ in Bucha
EDITORS NOTE: Image contains graphic content
European leaders are calling for Russia to be held accountable amid allegations that its forces killed scores of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry posted a video early Sunday that showed bodies in civilian clothing on the side of the road, accusing Russian forces of executing the residents. Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, shared several photos of casualties, some with their hands tied behind their backs.
“These people were not in the military. They had no weapons. They posed no threat. How many more such cases are happening right now in the occupied territories?” Podolyak said on Twitter.
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content: Communal workers carry a civilian in a body bag after he was killed during Russian army shelling in the town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on April 3, 2022.
Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images
CNBC could not immediately independently verify the claims of execution. But reporters on the ground from The New York Times, Associated Press and Reuters said they saw bodies in civilian clothing on the streets. The AP saw some with their hands tied behind their backs, and also saw two bodies wrapped in plastic, bound with tape and thrown into a ditch.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, called for an independent investigation into the atrocities. She added that perpetrators of war crimes would be held accountable.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the country would issue more severe sanctions in response to the reports. “The images from Bucha are unbearable. Putin’s rampant violence is wiping out innocent families and knows no bounds,” Baerbock said on Twitter, according to a translation.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the images of dead civilians were “unbearable.” “The Russian authorities will have to answer for these crimes,” Macron said in a tweet.
—Jessica Bursztynsky
Zelenskyy accuses Russia of committing ‘genocide’ in Ukraine
Local residents ride bicycles past flattened civilian cars, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, on a street in the town of Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 1, 2022.
Oleksandr Ratushniak | Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Russian military of committing “genocide” against Ukrainian people.
Zelenskyy made the comments in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” in light of the reported devastation in the town of Bucha, near the capital Kyiv. Russian forces have now retreated from the city after occupying it for weeks.
“This is genocide,” Zelenskyy said. “We have more than 100 nationalities. This is about the destruction and extermination of those nationalities. We are the citizens of Ukraine, and we don’t want to be subdued to the policy of Russian Federation. This is the reason we are being destroyed and exterminated.”
Ukrainian officials say bodies of dead civilians in Bucha show signs of torture and appear to be executed. Reuters reported some victims laid in mass graves while others were still on the city’s streets.
Editors Note: Graphic Content: A body of a civilian man with hands tied behind his back lies in the street as a communal worker prepares a plastic body bag to carry him to a waiting car in town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on April 3, 2022.
Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images
The International Criminal Court is traditionally where claims of alleged war crimes are adjudicated. The ICC defines genocide as “the specific intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group by killing its members or by other means.”
— Kevin Stankiewicz
GOP Rep. Kinzinger: Tucker Carlson and politicians who supported Putin should ‘answer’ for their support
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) speaks after the Republican House caucus voted to remove Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) of her leadership, at the U.S. Capitol on on May 12, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
In a tweet from his personal account, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said that members of Congress and media figures who have expressed support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should now be held to account, given the emerging evidence of Russian atrocities in Bucha and other areas near Kyiv.
He specifically called out Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in the tweet.
Carlson’s and McCarthy’s offices didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
— John Rosevear
Russia’s move away from Kyiv not a ‘withdrawal’ but a ‘repositioning,’ NATO’s Secretary General says
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gives a press conference after the Extraordinary Summit of NATO Heads of State and Government in Brussels, Belgium on March 24, 2022.
Halil Sagirkaya | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Russia’s retreat from Kyiv does not appear to be a “withdrawal,” but rather a shift in strategy.
“What we see is not really a withdrawal, we see that Russia is repositioning its troops,” Stoltenberg told CNN’s Dana Bash. “They are taking some of them back to rearm them, to reinforce them, and to resupply them. We should not in any way be too optimistic, the attacks will continue, and we are also concerned about potential increased attacks in the south and in the east.
“So this is not really a withdrawal, more a shift in strategy, focusing more on the South and East,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed Stoltenberg’s comments, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Russian forces “may be regrouping. They may be recalibrating. We’re focused on on what they’re doing, not what they’re saying.”
— John Rosevear
Pope Francis prays for end to ‘sacrilegious’ war
General audience of Pope Francis with the presence of a small group of faithful in masks after the long pause due to the coronavirus pandemic in the Cortile San Damaso. Vatican City (Vatican), May 26th, 2021.
Grzegorz Galazka | Mondadori Portfolio | Getty Images
Pope Francis prayed Sunday for an end to the “sacrilegious” war in Ukraine and for the world to show kindness and compassion to refugees as he concluded a two-day visit to Malta that was dominated by his concern for the devastation unleashed by Russia’s invasion.
Francis asked for prayers for peace in Ukraine, a day after he blasted Russia’s invasion as “infantile” and based on “anachronistic claims of nationalistic interests.”
He urged the faithful to “think of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in the martyred Ukraine, which continues to be bombarded in this sacrilegious war. May we be tireless in praying and in offering assistance to those who suffer.”
—The Associated Press
Zelenskyy calls for ceasefire before meeting with Putin
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives for a meeting with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 1, 2022.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | via Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a ceasefire so that he can meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I can’t even have a meeting when the shelling is going on,” Zelenskyy said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “So, first the ceasefire and then we can have a meeting with the Russian president … we will discuss a point in time where the end of the war will come.”
After discussions, Zelenskyy said Russian troops need to exit Ukrainian borders. “This is the bare minimum,” he said.
—Jessica Bursztynsky
Ukraine says Bucha ‘massacre’ was deliberate, demands new Russia sanctions
EDITORS NOTE: Image contains graphic content
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Russia on Sunday of carrying out a deliberate “massacre” in the town of Bucha outside Kyiv and called on the G-7 to impose “devastating” new sanctions on Moscow.
“We are still gathering and looking for bodies, but the number has already gone into the hundreds. Dead bodies lie on the streets. They killed civilians while staying there and when they were leaving these villages and towns,” his ministry quoted him as saying on Twitter.
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic Content: A communal worker standing inside a van loaded with body bags, waits for another body to be wrapped and collected by a colleague following Russian shelling of the town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on April 3, 2022.
Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images
Russia has so far not commented publicly on the claims. Moscow has previously repeatedly denied Ukrainian claims that it has targeted civilians.
— Reuters
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister says more humanitarian corridors are set to open
Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister, said in a message on the Telegram messaging app that more evacuations are planned.
“We continue to evacuate people from Mariupol to Zaporizhia,” Vereshchuk wrote. “There are currently 17 buses near Berdyansk — 10 of them are for the evacuation of Mariupol residents and local residents. If they are not allowed into the city, we ask people to come to the checkpoint at the entrance to Berdyansk — there they will be waiting for you.”
Seven additional buses will attempt once again to get near the battered port city of Mariupol, Vereshchuk said. Evacuations are also planned out of the towns of Lysychansk, Nyzhne, Popasna, Rubizhne, Severodonetsk, she added.
— Terri Cullen
Russia will soon ask for ruble payments for other exports, Kremlin warns
Russian rouble coins are seen in this illustration taken February 24, 2022.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
Russia will soon ask for ruble payments for other exports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned, saying heavy economic sanctions imposed by the West have accelerated diminishing confidence in the dollar and euro.
“I have no doubt that it will in the future be extended to new groups of goods,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, Reuters reported, citing RIA news agency.
Peskov’s comments referred to Moscow’s repeated demands that so-called “unfriendly” countries pay for Russian natural gas in rubles.
The U.S. and international allies have imposed an unprecedented barrage of economic sanctions against Russia, seeking to isolate the Kremlin following its unprovoked onslaught in Ukraine.
— Sam Meredith
Several missile strikes hit Ukraine’s southern port city of Mykolaiv, mayor says
The Mayor of Mykolaiv Olexandr Senkevych has reported that several rocket attacks have hit Ukraine’s southern port city.
“Friends, we have had several missile strikes in the city. We are collecting data now,” Senkevych said via Telegram, according to a translation.
It comes shortly after a series of explosions could be heard in Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa, prompting thick black smoke to cover the sky. Like Mykolaiv, Odesa is a strategically important port hub on the Black Sea coast.
— Sam Meredith
Ukraine sees sharp drop in March grain exports, economic ministry says
A summer wheat harvest in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017.
Vincent Mundy | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Ukrainian grain exports in March were four times less than February levels as a result of Russia’s unprovoked onslaught, the economy ministry has said, according to Reuters.
Gran shipments overseas last month included 1.1 million metric tons of corn, 309,000 tons of wheat and 118,000 tons of sunoil, the ministry said.
— Sam Meredith
UK says Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians ‘must be investigated as war crimes’
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has called for Russia’s attacks against Ukrainian civilians to be investigated as war crimes, saying there appears to be mounting evidence of “appalling acts” by the Kremlin’s forces in towns such as Irpin and Bucha.
Communal workers carry body bags to a waiting van (unseen) following Russian shelling of the town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on April 3, 2022.
Sergei Supinsky | Afp | Getty Images
“Their indiscriminate attacks against innocent civilians during Russia’s illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine must be investigated as war crimes,” Truss said in a statement.
“The UK will fully support any investigations by the International Criminal Court, in its role as the primary institution with the mandate to investigate and prosecute war crimes.”
— Sam Meredith
Russia’s actions near Kyiv ‘look exactly like war crimes,’ Zelenskyy advisor says
A man walks with bags of food in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, on April 2, 2022.
Ronaldo Schemidt | Afp | Getty Images
Russian forces may be leaving behind evidence of war crimes as they withdraw from territories near Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, an advisor to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in an interview with the BBC.
Sergey Nikiforov said images coming out of Ukrainian towns such as Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin are “really hard to describe” and “heartbreaking.”
Nikiforov told the BBC that Ukrainian forces had found mass graves, people with their hands and legs tied up and the bodies of civilians executed with bullets in the back of their heads. CNBC has been unable to independently verify these claims.
Asked whether what has been found could amount to war crimes, Nikiforov told the BBC: “I have to be very careful with my wording but it looks exactly like war crimes.”
Russian presidential aide and head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky.
Maxim Guchek | Afp | Getty Images
Russia’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky says draft peace treaty talks will resume on Monday, underlining that the Kremlin’s position on Crimea and Donbas remains unchanged.
His comments appeared to challenge earlier reports suggesting sufficient progress had been made to allow for direct contact between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“The Ukrainian side has started to approach the questions related to a neutral and non-nuclear status more realistically, but the draft treaty of the agreements is not ready to be submitted to a summit meeting,” Medinsky said in a Telegram post, according to a translation.
“I will repeat it again and again: Russia’s position on Crimea and Donbass is UNCHANGED,” he added.
— Sam Meredith
Most animals in a shelter near Kyiv have died due to Russia’s invasion, NGO says
Most of the animals kept in a shelter near Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv have died as a result of Russia’s invasion, according to animal rights advocacy group UAnimals.
The NGO said in an online post that of the 485 animals housed in the shelter in Borodyanka, a settlement northwest of Kyiv, only 150 have survived.
Volunteers have been able to access the animal shelter for the first time since the early days of Russia’s invasion, they added, thanking those involved in the rescue operation.
“The animals are exhausted and in serious condition,” UAnimals said in a statement posted on Facebook, according to a translation.
“From the very beginning of the war, the animals were abandoned, without food or water. Due to the occupation, it was extremely difficult to get there.”
— Sam Meredith
Hungarians head to polls in the shadow of war in Ukraine
Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, leaves a booth after marking his ballot at a polling station in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Polls opened across Hungary early Sunday as voters in the Central European country faced a choice: take a chance on a diverse, Western-looking coalition of opposition parties, or grant nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban a renewed mandate with a fourth consecutive term in office.
The contest is expected to be the closest since Orban took power in 2010, thanks to Hungary’s six main opposition parties putting aside ideological differences to form a united front against his right-wing Fidesz party.
Recent polls suggest a tight race but give Fidesz a slight lead, making it likely that undecided voters will determine the victor in Sunday’s vote.
— Associated Press
Black smoke seen billowing into Odesa sky following a series of loud explosions
Images show thick black smoke covering the skies of Odesa, a port city on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, shortly after missiles hit the area.
Smoke rises after an attack by Russian army in Odessa, on April 3, 2022.
Bulent Kilic | AFP | Getty Images
A woman seen walking in Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa as smoke fills the sky following a series of loud explosions.
Bulent Kilic | Afp | Getty Images
Air strikes rocked Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea port Odessa early Sunday morning, according to an interior ministry official, after Kyiv had warned that Russia was trying to consolidate its troops in the south.
Bulent Kilic | Afp | Getty Images
Journalists and residents look on as smoke fills the Odesa sky.
Bulent Kilic | AFP | Getty Images
— Sam Meredith; Getty Images
Evacuation attempts to get people out of the besieged city of Mariupol to continue
Humanitarian convoy with 42 buses arrive at a refugee hub in Zaporizhzhia from Mariupol after 42 hours evacuation process in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on April 01, 2022.
Andrea Carrubba | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said work will continue on Sunday to evacuate people from the besieged port city of Mariupol.
“Seven buses will try to get closer to Mariupol, accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross,” Vereshchuk said in an online video posting, Reuters reported.
Vereshchuk reportedly said 17 buses were prepared to evacuate people from Mariupol and Berdyansk.
A Red Cross convoy of humanitarian workers turned around on Friday after saying it had become impossible to proceed with its mission to facilitate the safe passage of civilians.
— Sam Meredith
Missiles hit Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa
Smoke rises after an attack by Russian forces in Odessa, on April 3, 2022.
Bulent Kilic | Afp | Getty Images
A series of explosions have been heard in Ukraine’s strategically important port city of Odesa, with the city council reporting a missile attack on an infrastructure facility.
“The enemy launched a missile attack on Odessa,” Petro Obukhov, a member of the Odesa city council, said via Facebook. “One of the goals was an infrastructure facility. We will not forget or forgive anything.”
It comes after multiple journalists reported smoke billowing into the sky on the Black Sea coast following a series of loud explosions in the early hours of Sunday. CNBC has not been able to independently verify this information.
Washington Post Correspondent Isabelle Khurshudyan, who is based in Odesa, said via Twitter: “Loud explosions in downtown Odessa right now. My hotel room windows just shook. Not clear what that was.”
Separately, ITV Correspondent Richard Gaisford reported that smoke was billowing into the sky above Odesa following a series of explosions.
— Sam Meredith
Russian forces targeting Ukraine’s east and south, Zelenskyy warns
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses the members of Dutch parliament via video link, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 31, 2022.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | Reuters
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russian forces are seeking to capture areas in the east and south of the country.
“What is the goal of Russian troops? They want to capture both Donbas and the south of Ukraine. What is our goal? Protect us, our freedom, our land and our people,” Zelenskyy said in his latest address.
He said that while Ukrainian forces had regained control over communities in Kyiv and Chernihiv, Russian forces had reserves to increase pressure in the east.
“We are strengthening our defenses in the eastern direction and in Donbas,” Zelenskky said.
— Sam Meredith
Russian air power is shifting to southeastern Ukraine, British ministry says
A Ukrainian soldier walks past the remains of a downed Russian helicopter near Kharkiv on March 31, 2022.
Chris Mcgrath | Getty Images
Russian air activity has increased over southeastern Ukraine in the past week as invading forces shift their efforts to that part of the country, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said in its daily intelligence update.
However, Ukrainian anti-air capabilities still pose a “significant” challenge to Russian warplanes and helicopters, which have been unable to locate and destroy Ukrainian air defense units, the ministry said Friday night.
“Russia’s inability to find and destroy air defence systems has seriously hampered their efforts to gain broad control of the air,” the ministry said, “which in turn has significantly affected their ability to support the advance of their ground forces on a number of fronts.”
The southeastern part of Ukraine would include the port city of Mariupol, which has been largely destroyed by Russian siege.
Russian ground forces attacking in the north have been pushed back from the capital Kyiv over the last week.
— Ted Kemp
Ukraine says it has regained control of Kyiv for first time since start of Russian invasion
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov visits positions of Ukrainian service members, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine March 25, 2022.
Ukrainian Defence Ministry | Reuters
Ukraine said it has regained control of Kyiv for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar wrote that the “whole Kyiv region is liberated from the invader.” Reuters reported that there was no immediate Russian comment on the claim, which could not be independently verified.
Russia has left behind heavy damage, wrecked tanks, destroyed buildings and dead bodies, even as it withdraws, according to the Reuters report. Russia has described the retreat as a symbolic effort that’s part of peace talks.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a morning video address on Saturday that dangers remain, even as Russian forces leave parts of the country. He said some withdrawing troops were laying mines or booby traps. CNBC has not been able to independently verify this report.
Police officers outside the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011.Credit…Warrick Page for The New York Times
Prime Minister Imran Khan has made anti-Americanism a staple of his political identity, and he now claims that Washington is behind the effort to remove him from power. It’s only the latest turn in the turbulent relationship that Pakistan and the United States have had for years.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Pakistan — then led by President Pervez Musharraf, an army general — agreed to work with the United States as it pursued Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. For several years, Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Service Intelligence Directorate, cooperated with the C.I.A., arresting a number of top Qaeda and Taliban leaders and handing them over.
But by 2006, the relationship was deteriorating. In Afghanistan, which neighbors Pakistan, the Taliban had regrouped after being driven from power by the United States-led invasion, and it was coming back in force, taking a toll on American as well as Afghan troops. American officials accused Pakistan’s powerful military of letting Taliban leaders maintain safe havens across the border, on Pakistani soil.
The low point in the relationship came in 2011, when American Special Forces flew into Pakistan and killed Osama bin Laden, the top Qaeda leader, at a compound in the northern town of Abbottabad, where he had been living. Pakistan insisted it had been unaware of Bin Laden’s presence there, near the military’s main training academy.
American drone strikes in Pakistan, targeting militants but often killing bystanders, also created tension between Washington and Islamabad. The strikes began in 2004 and continued for years, peaking in 2010. Publicly, Pakistan condemned them, though some officials quietly acknowledged their effectiveness against militant groups. But the deaths of innocent people stoked anger in Pakistan, which was capitalized on by anti-American politicians like Mr. Khan.
After the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Mr. Khan, as prime minister, ruled out letting the United States establish a military base in Pakistan. His government also said American intelligence and counterterrorism agencies would not be allowed to operate within Pakistan’s borders.
But Pakistan’s military, which has pulled its support for Mr. Khan, has made it clear that it is willing to work with the United States. Last month, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, the head of the army, said Pakistan shared “a long and excellent strategic relationship with the U.S.”