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New satellite images offer a window into the aftermath of prolonged Russian shelling

Thu 27 Apr 2023 23.55 EDT

For more than 80 days, Mariupol endured a brutal and unrelenting bombardment, as Russian forces determined to take the port city reduced much of it to rubble.

In March 2022, a few days after the war began, Russian forces cut off electricity, water and gas supplies, forcing residents to melt snow for water and cook outside over open flames. Mariupol was encircled and the relentless bombing of the city began.

After a maternity ward was shelled and images of bloodied, heavily pregnant women were broadcast across the world, the siege of Mariupol became emblematic of the brutality of the Russian invasion.

Updated satellite imagery from Google Maps has revealed the scale of the destruction across large sections of the Ukrainian city and the Russian efforts to erase any evidence of the atrocities that took place there.

Weeks into the siege, as homes became uninhabitable and routes out of the city were closed off, many residents moved into public shelters. More than a thousand took refuge in the central drama theatre, which had once been a focal point of city life.

As more residents gathered in the basement, someone spelled out the word DETI children in giant Russian letters in front of the building.

Around 10am on 16 March, Russia bombed the building. Its thought that about 1,200 people were inside. At the time, authorities said 300 people had been killed, but the Associated Press said their investigations put the number closer to 600.

Amnesty International condemned the bombing as a clear war crime. By December, Russia had begun to demolish the buildings remains. Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the citys exiled mayor, has said Russia destroyed what remained of the theatre to hide war crimes.

In mid-April, all remaining Ukrainian troops defending the city were ordered to regroup at Azovstal, the citys huge steel plant. The factorys employees and their families also took refuge there, where they became the target of heavy bombardment for a number of weeks.

After some time, food and water began to grow scarce and the plight of those sheltering at Azovstal became the centre of international attention. On 1 May, the UN and Red Cross facilitated an agreement that secured the release of the civilians; and then two weeks later the remaining troops were ordered to surrender.

A total of 2,439 fighters gave themselves up to the Russian forces outside the plant and with that, the city of Mariupol had finally fallen.

Mariupols suburbs were not spared, with the latest images showing the extent of the damage to residential areas.

46% of the citys building were damaged or destroyed in the siege, according to one estimate. In a city that was once home to more than 400,000, the UN estimates that up to 90% of its multi-storey residential building have been damaged or destroyed.

Andryushchenko estimates that the updated Google satellite images were captured on different dates after March 2022. Writing on Telegram, he has claimed that the pictures reveal a new mass burial site at the citys Novotroitsky cemetery.

Associated Press has reported that at least 10,000 new graves are scattered across the city and the death toll is estimated to be at least 25,000.

In March, Vladimir Putin travelled to Mariupol for the first time since the war began. Russian media reported that he visited several sites, spoke to residents and was presented with a report on the citys reconstruction.

Russian authorities have said they hope to entice some of the hundreds of thousands who fled to return. They claim that hundreds of apartments have already been rebuilt, but reports from former residents who have returned show that many of the new buildings were built hurriedly and are of poor quality.

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Mariupol before and after: updated Google maps reveal destruction in Ukraine city - The Guardian

An Hour Ago

Russia's Central Bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 7.5% at a policy meeting Friday.

It marks the fifth consecutive time the bank has held rates steady. However, policymakers hinted that they may raise rates should inflation continue to move higher.

Russia's annual inflation rate slowed to 2.55% in April, but it is expected to rise to between 5% and 7% later this year, the bank said.

"Given gradually rising inflationary pressures, the Bank of Russia's forthcoming board meetings will consider the necessity of a key rate increase to stabilize inflation close to 4% in 2024 and further on," the central bank said.

Karen Gilchrist

2 Hours Ago

Russia's sanctioned Deputy Defense Minister, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, has been fired, according to Reuters, which cited reports from a military blogger and a leading news website.

Mizintsev, dubbed the "Butcher of Mariupol," was sanctioned by the West in June 2022 for orchestrating the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol near the beginning of the war last year.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has been sanctioned by the West and dubbed the "Butcher of Mariupol."

Andre Pain | Afp | Getty Images

He was later appointed as Russia's deputy defense minister in charge of logistics and supplies in September 2022.

His sacking was reported by a Russian military blogger, Alexander Sladkov, and by the RBC news site. Neither outlets offered a reason or explanation for his removal, according to Reuters.

Russia's defense ministry did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Karen Gilchrist

2 Hours Ago

Ukraine is finalizing plans for a counteroffensive against Russian forces, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Friday, noting that it could be launched imminently.

"As soon as there is God's will, the weather and a decision by commanders, we will do it," Reznikov told an online news briefing, according to Reuters, without providing a specific timeline.

Karen Gilchrist

3 Hours Ago

Rescuers work in the rubble of a damaged residential building in Uman, in southern Kyiv, on April 28, 2023, after Russian missile strikes targeted several Ukrainian cities overnight.

Sergei Supinsky | Afp | Getty Images

Russian missile attacks on residential buildings in cities across Ukraine killed at least 12 people on Friday, according to regional officials, with many others injured.

The airstrikes killed 10 people and injured 17 civilians in the central city of Uman, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported. The airstrikes affected 10 residential buildings.

In the city of Dnipro, a residential building was hit by Russian missiles, killing a woman and child and injuring three civilians, according to the city mayor.

Kyiv's regional military administration reported 11 missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down in its airspace, with the debris hitting a residential building in the town of Ukrainka.

Sam Meredith

4 Hours Ago

Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko told CNBC that the country should use China as leverage to help bring an end to the conflict with Russia.

His comments come shortly after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first phone call since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February last year.

"I am not fully convinced that we can emphasize something particular after this conversation but what I truly can tell you is that it is important to continue dialogue between our countries," Marchenko told CNBC's Silvia Amaro.

"We really understand the importance of China and we really understand the importance for us to create our own relationship with China and to prevent China to [fully] support Russia."

Asked whether China could be seen as Ukraine's best friend in the bid to find a compromise for peace, Marchenko replied, "Of course not. Our best friend is the United States, the G-7 nations and all our partners which is supporting Ukraine."

He added that Kyiv "should use China as leverage to win this war," saying the country must use every opportunity "to convince Russia to stop this bloody war in Ukraine."

Sam Meredith

4 Hours Ago

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reflected on what he described as another night of Russian terror, saying 10 residential buildings were damaged by missile attacks in the central Ukrainian city of Uman.

He said at the time of sharing his message via Twitter that seven people were killed, while others were injured in the attacks.

"Evil can be stopped by weapons our defenders are doing it. And it can be stopped by sanctions global sanctions must be enhanced," Zelenskyy said.

Sam Meredith

5 Hours Ago

The rubble of a house after shelling at a settlement in the Russian controlled territory of Donetsk, Ukraine, on April 27, 2023.

Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

A wave of Russian missile attacks early on Friday hit several cities across Ukraine, killing at least five people and injuring others, according to Ukrainian officials.

The barrage comes at a time when analysts see the potential for an imminent Ukrainian counteroffensive, with the Eastern European country bolstered by billions of dollars worth of Western military and economic support.

In Uman, in central Ukraine's Cherkasy Oblast, a rescue mission is underway after two cruise missiles hit residential and warehouse buildings, killing three people and injuring eight others, Ihor Taburets, the head of the Cherkasy Regional Military Administration, said via Telegram.

In the central city of Dnipro, the city's mayor said a Russian missile attack killed a young woman and child.

Air raid sirens were heard in Kyiv after a Russian airstrike hit the capital for the first time in 51 days, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration. No casualties were reported among the civilian population; a local power line was said to have been cut off because of falling debris.

Sam Meredith

5 Hours Ago

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday said the real aim of the West in Ukraine is to strategically defeat Russia, to pose a threat to China, and to maintain its own monopoly position, state-owned news agency RIA reported.

RIA cited him as adding that "almost all" NATO countries had deployed their military capabilities against Russia.

Reuters

20 Hours Ago

Curators at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv display a variety of items left by Russian soldiers when they occupied areas around Kyiv during the first part of Russia's 2022 invasion.

Russia ultimately retreated from the capital area, concentrating its land war in the east.

Exhibited items of the Russian army on April 26, 2023 at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Roman Pilipey | Getty Images

Visitors look at exhibited items of the Russian army on April 26, 2023 at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Roman Pilipey | Getty Images

A man walks down the steps next to exhibited items of the Russian army on April 26, 2023 at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Roman Pilipey | Getty Images

Boxes of Russian army meals, with Ukrainian text written on one, reading "The trophy. The owner was eliminated by Ukraine's Armed Forces", are exhibited on April 26, 2023 at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Roman Pilipey | Getty Images

Exhibited parts of military vehicles and items of the Russian army on April 26, 2023 at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Roman Pilipey | Getty Images

A museum worker sits next to the portraits of members of the 'Azov' unit that were killed last year in Mariupol during the Russian attack, at the part of the exhibition dedicated to defending of Mariupol's Azovstal on April 26, 2023 at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Roman Pilipey | Getty Images

18 Hours Ago

US journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, stands inside a defendants' cage before a hearing to consider an appeal on his arrest at the Moscow City Court in Moscow on April 18, 2023.

Natalia Kolesnikova | Afp | Getty Images

The Biden administration announced a first round of sanctions targeting Russia and Iran for engaging in hostage-taking and the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens abroad.

The U.S. sanctions take aim at Russia's Federal Security Service, often known as the FSB, and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization, or IRGC IO.

"Our action is a warning to those around the world who would wrongfully detain U.S. nationals, the potential consequences of their actions," a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on a call with reporters.

The administration has identified at least two American citizens wrongfully detained in Russia and three in Iran along with one legal permanent U.S. resident.

During opening remarks before Monday's U.N. Security Council meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke directly to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and called for the immediate release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine PaulWhelan, both detained in Russia.

Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who is being held on suspicion of spying, in the courtroom cage after a ruling regarding extension of his detention, in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 22, 2019.

Shamil Zhumatov | Reuters

Thomas-Greenfield invited Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of Paul Whelan, to attend a U.N. Security Council meeting.

"I wantministerLavrovtolookintohereyesandseehersuffering.I want you toseewhat it's like tomissyourbrotherforfour years.To know he islocked up, in aRussianpenalcolony, simply because you want touse himfor yourown ends," Thomas-Greenfield said.

Whelan was arrested on espionage charges in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years of hard labor in a Russian penal colony in 2020.

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Amanda Macias

5 Hours Ago

Continued here:
Ukraine war live updates: Russian airstrikes in Ukrainian cities kill at least 12; Kyiv to use China as leverage to win war - CNBC

Ukraines forces are concluding their preparations for a long-expected spring counteroffensive against invading Russian troops, the countrys defence minister has said, and are, broadly speaking, ready. Oleksii Reznikov told an online briefing on Friday: As soon as there is Gods will, the weather and a decision by commanders, we will do it. He gave no date for when the counteroffensive would start but said: Globally speaking, we are to a high percentage ready. Kyiv has been preparing a counterattack for several months aimed at repelling Russian forces from the east and south.

Russia on Friday launched a wave of missile attacks across many of Ukraines biggest cities, killing a mother and young child in the port city of Dnipro, and 14 people at a high-rise apartment building in the central city of Uman. Air raid alarms were active across the country in the early hours of Friday morning, while explosions were heard in Kyiv, and southern Mykolaiv was targeted again.

The New York Times has reported that Amnesty International has been sitting on an independent review criticising its controversial allegation that Ukrainian forces were illegally endangering civilians. Amnestys accusation that Ukrainian troops were illegally putting civilians in harms way by basing themselves nearby and launching attacks from populated areas caused widespread anger when it was published last August. Russia claimed it as vindication but critics including the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it was poorly researched, ignored wartime realities and drew a moral equivalence between Russia, the aggressor, and Ukraine, the victim.

Reports are emerging that the Russian colonel general Mikhail Mizintsev, known as the butcher of Mariupol, has been removed as deputy defence minister in charge of logistics and supplies. Reuters cites a military blogger, Alexander Sladkov, and the news website RBC as saying Mizintsev, who orchestrated the siege of the devastated city of Mariupol last year, was no longer in the role he was appointed to last September.

The Kremlin has said Russian military units that have fought in Ukraine will be represented in a parade in Moscow on 9 May to mark the anniversary of the Soviet victory in the second world war, Reuters reports. The holiday is one of the most important in the Russian calendar, usually featuring a huge show of military hardware on Red Square and a speech from President Vladimir Putin.

At least seven civilians were killed and 33 injured between Wednesday and Thursday, Ukraines presidential office said, including one person killed and 23 wounded when four Kalibr cruise missiles hit the southern city of Mykolaiv.

The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe has voted that the forced detention and deportation of children from Russian occupied territories of Ukraine is genocide.

Russia said its patience should not be tested over nuclear weapons in another repeat of hardline rhetoric. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Russia will do everything to prevent the development of events according to the worst scenario but not at the cost of infringing on our vital interests.

The Biden administration is sanctioning Russias Federal Security Service for wrongfully detaining Americans. The sanctions are largely symbolic, since the organisation is already under sweeping existing sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine.

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Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 429 of the invasion - The Guardian

This tank story is not satisfactory, he added. The decisions been made, OK. Then lets get ready to execute it and cut through whatever the red tape is.

The independent, who caucuses with Senate Democrats, said there is a bipartisan concern over the time frame, warning that not sending the tanks soon could prove to be a tragic mistake.

Our country has thousands of main battle tanks, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said earlier in the hearing. It would seem like its not that hard to find 31 and get them there.

Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill had long pressed President Joe Biden to send Kyiv U.S.-made main battle tanks, a move the administration finally agreed to in January. On Thursday, during a hearing with U.S. European Commands Gen. Christopher Cavoli, and U.S. Transportation Commands Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, senators were animated about why the administration cant get them there much sooner.

The initial January announcement said the U.S. would provide M1A2 tanks, which would need to be overhauled in a process that could take as long as two years. But the Pentagon said in March the military would pull out some of its older M1A1 Abrams that need less refurbishment and would arrive by the fall.

A separate tranche of tanks is set to arrive in Germany next month for Ukrainian troops to begin training.

The Army and defense contractor General Dynamics are working on the tanks slated to be sent this year, which have been pulled from Army depots to send to Ukraine this spring and summer.

The armor on the tanks turret and the optical sights are not eligible for export, so they need to be swapped out before they are sent overseas, something that can happen within weeks.

The work is being done at the Armys facility at Lima, Ohio. The line has been exceptionally busy in recent months, with tanks for Poland and Taiwan along with other allies going through the upgrade process side-by-side.

The Polish order in particular is a rush job, with Warsaw slated to begin receiving its 116 M1A1 tanks that it ordered in January by this spring.

While the timeline for the Ukraine-bound tanks has been sped up, the autumn delivery schedule still didnt sit well with senators.

Cotton accused the Biden administration of dragging its feet on following through on the January decision to provide the Abrams, which it had initially resisted but announced in tandem with a decision by Germany to send its own Leopard 2 tanks.

I think the main reason for that is [also] the main reason why we didnt even agree to supply the tanks for a year, which is that President Biden didnt want to supply them, Cotton said. And again, I think we could supply them faster than eight or nine months if there was the political will.

Cavoli, quizzed by Cotton about when tanks will arrive beyond those that will be used for training Ukrainians, said military planners were moving to speed up the process.

The dates are moving right now, Cavoli said. Were trying to accelerate it as much as we can.

Another GOP senator, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, pressed Cavoli and Van Ovost on whether the nearly three dozen Abrams tanks had been identified, if they were located in the U.S. or in Europe and how quickly they could be delivered once ready. Van Ovost, who oversees the movement of military equipment and personnel around the globe, said her command has multiple avenues to deliver Abrams tanks by air or by sea and could do so quickly once given orders to transport tanks.

Rounds argued the holdup amounts to a policy decision that [the administration is] not prepared to deliver 31 Abrams tanks at this time.

The bottom line is, if we needed those tanks, it shouldnt take eight months for the United States Army to be able to access 31 Abrams tanks, Rounds said. If we needed them tomorrow, wed get them very very quickly.

Paul McLeary contributed to this report.

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Biden gets bipartisan blowback on getting U.S. tanks to Ukraine faster - POLITICO

Russia said its patience should not be tested over nuclear weapons, in another repeat of hardline rhetoric over their use. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Russia would do everything to prevent the development of events according to the worst scenario but not at the cost of infringing on our vital interests.

Vladimir Putin has previously made comments saying he wants to avoid nuclear war, but his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, told a UN hearing on Monday that the world was possibly more dangerous than during the cold war.

The Kremlin said that relations with European countries are at their lowest possible level amid more expulsions of diplomats.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it welcomed anything that could hasten the end of the Ukraine conflict when asked about Wednesdays phone call between the Chinese and Ukrainian leaders.

Natos secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, also welcomed the discussion between President Xi and President Zelenskiy and repeated the possibility of the war ending at the negotiating table.

Stoltenberg said 98% of promised combat vehicles have now been delivered to Ukraine. This comprises 1,550 armoured vehicles and 230 tanks. This equates to nine new Ukrainian brigades.

The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe has voted that the forced detention and deportation of children from Russian occupied territories of Ukraine is genocide, at a session on Thursday.

A resolution on deportations and forcible transfers of Ukrainian children and other civilians to Russian Federation or to Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied: create conditions for their safe return, stop these crimes and punish the perpetrators passed with 87 votes in favour, meaning an overwhelming majority. One representative voted against and another abstained.

Russias defence ministry has claimed that its forces had taken four blocks in north-western, western and south-western Bakhmut, Russia state-owned news agency RIA reported.

Russias foreign ministry has rejected a bid by the US embassy to visit the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in prison on 11 May. It said the measure was taken in response to Washingtons failure to process visas for representatives from the journalistic pool of the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, during his visit to the United Nations on Monday.

The Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, has invited Pope Francis to visit Ukraine during a visit to the Vatican. He asked the pontiff for help to return children from the east of Ukraine who have been forcibly taken to Russia by Kremlin forces.

Andrij Melnyk, Ukraines former ambassador to Berlin, said Germany was still failing to provide the support it should. The Germans are helping much more than they were, and for that we Ukrainians are very grateful, but the government is only delivering as much as it feels it should, he told Die Zeit in an interview in Kyiv.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russias Wagner, claimed he was joking when he said the mercenary group would suspend fire in Bakhmut to allow Ukrainian forces on the other side of the frontline to show the city to visiting US journalists.

Russia has reinforced its defences before a widely expected counterattack by Ukrainian forces, analysts have suggested. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that the 500 miles (800km) of Russian lines protecting occupied Ukraine have been triple fortified and included a gush of manpower. The timing comes as the usual winter freeze has begun to thaw and dry, making mobilisation more likely.

Britains opposition Labour party has asked the government why there has been no new weapons announcement since February and no fresh update from ministers to parliament since January.

Relations with European countries are at their lowest possible level, the Kremlin has said, adding that each wave of expulsions of Russian diplomats is reducing the space for diplomacy. Germany is one of the latest country to send diplomats home, expelling 20 on Saturday. Russia responded by expelling 40.

EU diplomats are still seeking to convince central and eastern European countries to extend Ukraines tariff-free access to the EU market for another year.

The EU dropped tariff barriers on Ukrainian grain after the Russian invasion last year and is now seeking to extend the policy, which expires on 5 June. But logistical bottlenecks have meant much of the grain has stayed in the EU, depressing prices and farm incomes in neighbouring countries.

At least seven civilians were killed and 33 injured between Wednesday and Thursday, Ukraines presidential office has said, including one person killed and 23 wounded including a child when four Kalibr cruise missiles hit the southern city of Mykolaiv.

The remains of an unidentified aerial military object have been found in northern Poland near the city of Bydgoszcz, Polands defence ministry and its justice minister have said. The broadcaster RFM FM said the object was an air-to-surface missile measuring several metres, with its head missing.

Russian forces pounded the city of Bakhmut, for months the focal point of their attempts to capture the eastern Ukrainian industrial region of Donbas, and the head of Russias Wagner mercenary force said Ukrainian troops were pouring in ahead of an inevitable counteroffensive.

Chinas president, Xi Jinping, spoke to Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Wednesday for the first time since Russias invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv had publicly sought such talks for months. Zelenskiy described the hours phone call as long and meaningful. Xi told Zelenskiy that China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace, Chinese state media reported.

The White House welcomed the phone call, but said it was too soon to tell whether it would lead to a peace deal.

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Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 428 of the invasion - The Guardian