Russian invasion of Ukraine: tanks and rocket attacks on the cities. Breaking news

Negotiations with Russia will continue on Friday, 1 April, in an online format, Davyd Arahamia said.

"At the negotiations in Turkey, we announced that there was a need for a meeting between the two leaders. The Russian delegation responded that we need to have a more coherent draft treaty to start with. During the week we will work out what depends on the negotiators. And hopefully the presidents of the countries will meet next. At the same time, we insist that such a meeting should not take place on the territory of Russia or Belarus.

The Russian occupiers are setting up strike groups near Izyum in Kharkiv region, including from the troops previously withdrawn from other regions of Ukraine.

Ossetian blogger Alik Pukhaev said that 300 soldiers who had recently been sent to fight against Ukraine had voluntarily returned to South Ossetia (the Russian-occupied region of Georgia) on Wednesday.

This was also reported on a Telegram of former South Ossetian "president" Eduard Kokoity: "No one has the right to condemn these guys or accuse them of cowardice. The reasons for what happened should be investigated".

The Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff has reported the liberation of three villages in the north of the right-bank part of Kherson region: Orlove, Zagradivka and Kochubeyivka. They are 35km south of Kryvyy Rih.

In the Derhachiv community (northern suburb of Kharkiv), at least one person was killed and three were injured in the shelling today.

The villages of Prudianka, Slatyne and Bezruky were affected, but Derhachi was the most affected one, Mayor Vyacheslav Zadorenko informed. One of the city council's administrative buildings was completely destroyed in the city, many private houses in various districts and traction substations were severely damaged, and several streets were cut off.

Yuri Ignat, a spokesman for the Air Force Command, explained why sirens are activated all over Ukraine: if a missile flies from the Black Sea, its direction is difficult to predict, and, thus, the siren is activated everywhere - from Kherson region to western Ukraine.

"For example, six aircrafts take off and launch missiles in determined directions. Missiles are inconspicuous, the occupiers often use low-flying riverbeds. Two or three days ago, aircraft departures intensified from the airfield in Brest. There had been no activities before" - the military commented to "Espresso. West".

Missiles can be shot down quickly, the key thing is to fix them.

Sloboda village, located 15 km south of Chernihiv, was liberated from Russian troops. This was reported by journalist Andriy Tsaplienko, who was recently wounded as a result of shelling from the area.

The mayor of Trostyanets, Yuriy Bova, told LB.ua in an interview that only half of the city's residents remained in the city after a month of occupation. Somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 left, the number of dead is unknown: "Every day we find bodies. There are more and more bodies. Tortured. Or just dead people, lying in the forest, in some bright or other place.

The brutality of the Russian occupants defies explanation: "Two tanks came to the hospital, stopped and started shooting at the hospital, where there were no military personnel. Then after the tanks came more Russian soldiers, who continued shooting at the walls with machine guns and machine guns. That is, the people who were in the hospital at the time! They just miraculously escaped, because they escaped to the cellars".

Russian troops have been leaving Chornobyl nuclear power plant. An unnamed source at the Pentagon informed reporters of various media, including AFP, about this.

Russian occupants captured Chornobyl nuclear power plant on February 25.

Zelenskyy has signed a decree on the withdrawal of Ukraine's ambassadors from Morocco and Georgia:

"There are those who work together with everyone else for the state defence, and there are those who waste their time and work only to stay in office. No weapons, no sanctions, no restrictions on Russian business - look for another job," he commented.

Ukrzaliznytsia's online services and telephony will be unavailable until approximately 7:00 AM due to urgent technical maintenance. Communication is available only through messengers.

The US Department of Defense has announced that the first six of the "approximately 30" batches of the new US security package have been delivered to Ukraine. This was stated by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

According to him, the United States gives priority to "the types of supplies that we know Ukrainians need most," including anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems. The Switchblade drones promised to Ukraine will be delivered "relatively soon".

New addres of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

We will not give anything away. And we will fight for every meter of our land, for every one of our people. We do not believe in any pleasant verbal constructions. There is a real situation on the battlefield. And now, this is the main thing, the president said.

Russia has agreed to accept EU payments for gas in euros, reports DW, citing a statement of the German government.

During the day, servicemen of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed 10 enemy tanks, 8 units of armored and 13 units of motor vehicles, as well as 15 artillery systems, the Joint Forces Operation staff informed. In total, 5 enemy attacks were successfully repulsed during the day.

An elderly woman, probably in Kyiv region, thanks God for the arrival of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Irradiated Russian soldiers who seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant are being brought en masse to the Belarusian Radiation Medicine Center in Gomel. This was reported by a member of the Public Council of the State Agency of Ukraine for Management of the Exclusion Zone Yaroslav Emelianenko.

Belarusian telegram channels also inform about it. Thus, the Belarusian Guyun recorded how 7 medical buses arrived in Gomel at the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology. There were people inside.

"There are rules for dealing with this area. They are mandatory because radiation is physics - it works disregarding status or shoulder straps. Just minimal intelligence in command or soldiers was necessary to avoid these consequences. The country of monkeys", - Emelianenko commented.

About seven out of ten Americans (72%) trust the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky largely or to some extent. This level is higher than that of any other international leader and that of US President Joe Biden. These are the results of a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center.

1531 buildings were destroyed in Kharkiv during the 35 days of the war by the Russian occupants, the mayor Ihor Terekhov informed. The buildings which are now in ruins are as follows:

• 1292 residential buildings;
• 70 schools,
• 54 kindergartens,
• 16 hospitals;
• 239 office buildings.

Support for dictator Vladimir Putin, as well as the country's prime minister and government in general, increased significantly in Russia in March, according to Russian sociological company Levada Center.

In January, 69% of Russians supported Putin. In February, it was 71%, in March, the percentage increased to 83%. Also in March, the share of those Russians who believe that things in Russia are going in the right direction has increased significantly: 69% (52% in February). The share of those who believe that the country is moving in the wrong direction was 22% (38% in February).

There are now approximately a thousand Wagner Private Military Company fighters in Donbass, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

Google will allocate $ 5 million by the end of this year for grants and support to Ukrainian startups. The fund will provide assistance to about 50 companies. Startups will also receive support from Google managers.

The Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Janša, supports the sending of S-300 missile defense systems to Ukraine.

Active fighting on the territory of Ukraine will continue for at least two more weeks, Arestovych informed.


Then there will be a long stationary phase during which we have to take them out as they are standing still and unable to attack. There will be soldiers in forests, guerrilla raids ... The war has not gone anywhere, Arestovych said.


As for the argument that during this time the Russian Federation can pull up resources, he replied that it will not pull up anything, because there are no resources.

Adviser to the Head of the President's Office Oleksiy Arestovych declared that many countries have already agreed to be guarantors of Ukraine's security: "The United States, Great Britain, Poland, all permanent members of the UN Security Council and many other countries, China is being considered, Turkey has agreed to provide guarantees."

He noted that within three days after the event of aggression, these states should start emergency consultations and provide "military, economic, humanitarian, political assistance, including closed skies, as well as the supply of weapons and many more."

According to Arestovych, Russia will not have the veto right because it will be approved by a majority.

Another missile hit one of the plants in Novomoskovsk, Dnipropetrovsk region. Nobody was killed, head of the regional state administration Valentyn Reznichenko informed.

Germany is ready to act as a guarantor of Ukraine's security, Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz informed President Volodymyr Zelensky about this during a telephone conversation, according to Reuters.

Two russians rockets hit the oil depot full of fuel in Dnipro. It was destroyed. The piece of another rocket damaged two more tankers. No one was injured or killed, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration Mykola Lukash informed.

Vice-Prime Minister - Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk has met with Commissioner of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. Two key blocks of cooperation have been discussed:

• providing temporary housing for migrants by building modular towns;
• two projects to provide direct financial aid to internally displaced persons in the amount of UAH 2,200 for the most vulnerable groups (the aid is provided in addition to the state aid).

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are repulsing the enemy in Kharkiv region, in particular in the Derhachiv and Rohan districts, Oleg Synegubov, head of the regional military administration informed. 

Today, 1,530 people on their own transport have reached Zaporizhia through humanitarian corridors, Deputy Head of President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko reported.

In particular, 812 Mariupol residents and 718 residents of Zaporizhia region. Despite the agreement, the occupying forces block evacuation buses and trucks with humanitarian aid.

Ukrainian military has cleared Mala Rohan in Kharkiv region, which was recently repulsed from the occupants. Destroyed homes, broken roads, mines, abandoned enemy vehicles, shot down civilian cars, this is what a village near Kharkiv looks like, the Ministry of Defense informed.

Cultural institutions, such as theaters, operas and concert halls, will start opening in Ukraine on April 1, the Ministry of Culture informed. The events will be held taking into account the rules of martial law.

Russia is redeploying a part of its troops from Kyiv and Chernihiv regions onto the Kharkiv and Donetsk directions, declared the Secretary of the NSDC Oleksiy Danilov. “The enemy is strengthening its units to have more pressure on our lads, who are defending their homeland in Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions”, - said Danilov.

The presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych explained the logic of the negotiations with russia regarding stopping the war.

The invaders carried out a missile strike on Dnipro, says the city mayor Borys Filatov.

The US promised Ukraine $500 million direct budget aid.

That’s what the train station of the liberated Trosyanets' looks like after being shelled by the invaders. Photo by Ukrzaliznytsya’s CEO Oleksandr Kamyshyn.

Fifteen bodies have already been pulled out from under the rubble after a missile attack on the Mykolaiv regional state administration building, head of the regional military administration Vitaliy Kim said.

The office of the Prosecutor-General's Office of Ukraine has launched a pre-trial investigation into the criminal proceedings on the forced restriction of the use of the Ukrainian national currency and the introduction of the Russian ruble.

The Prosecutor-General's Office qualifies such actions as waging an aggressive war against Ukraine with the use of armed forces and economic means of struggle, as well as violent change of the constitutional order (part 2 of Article 437, part 3 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Marinka, Heorhiyivka, Novokalynove and Ocheretino have come under fire in Donetsk Region. Marinka was shelled with phosphorus shells, according to the head of Donetsk regional state administration Pavlo Kyrylenko. There were no civilian casualties, but several houses were damaged. Also as a result of the shelling, Avdiivka is again de-energized.

MFA of Ukraine denies Sergey Lavrov's claim that Ukraine has allegedly abandoned Crimea and Donbass.

"Sergey Lavrov demonstrates an erroneous understanding of the negotiating process. The issues of Crimea and Donbass will be finally resolved after Ukraine's sovereignty is restored. At the talks in Istanbul, the Ukrainian delegation just submitted proposals to Moscow on how to achieve this goal," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Mykolenko commented on Facebook.

Before this, Lavrov said that the Ukrainian delegation at the Istanbul talks "understood" that the issues of Crimea and Donbas have been finally resolved. 

The CHESNO movement estimates that at least 13 heads of communities from six regions of Ukraine have been kidnapped by the Rashists since the start of the war. This list may not be complete as the situation is constantly changing.

The mayors of Kherson and Kharkiv oblasts, as well as those of Zaporizhzhya and Kyiv region, have been hit hardest. Among those abducted is one woman - self-nominated Olha Suchenko, the mayor of Motyzhyn, Kyiv region.

The mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, was exchanged, while the mayors of Skadovsk and Slavutych were released. The mayor of Balakleya was also reported to be at large and even recorded a video. The media noted that he had made a deal with the occupiers.

Rescuers found the bodies of two people, one of them a child, under the rubble of a residential building destroyed by shelling in Donetsk region.

Parliament has registered a draft law on compensation for damaged or destroyed housing as a result of the war, the head of the Sluha Naroda party Olena Shulyak has said. According to it, Ukrainians who lost their homes as a result of the Russian attack will be provided with new housing of up to 150 sq. m. A person will be able to choose a place to receive new housing independently.

The leader of the self-proclaimed South Ossetia, Anatoliy Bibilov, has said that the so-called republic plans to become part of the Russian Federation in the near future.

"I believe that unification with Russia is our strategic goal. ...We will take appropriate legal steps in the near future," he said in a video message.

Zelenskyy spoke to Joe Biden about defence support, the new sanctions package, macro-financial and humanitarian aid.

Just finished an hour-long conversation with @POTUS. Shared assessment of the situation on the battlefield and at the negotiating table. Talked about specific defensive support, a new package of enhanced sanctions, macro-financial and humanitarian aid.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 30, 2022

General Staff's report as of 18.00 on 30.03.2022:

The enemy continues to conduct full-scale armed aggression against our state. It carries out a partial withdrawal of certain units of the Russian Armed Forces from the territory of Kyiv and Chernihiv regions.
The enemy is experiencing significant difficulties with the introduction of equipment removed from long-term storage. Thus, according to available information, the 163rd Tank Regiment of the 150th Motorized Rifle Division has discovered a significant amount of disabled equipment. The enemy is considering the possibility of transporting the disabled equipment to the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk Region using tractors for its further restoration.

The enemy continues to suffer significant losses. According to available information, on 28 March a ceremony was held at the permanent deployment point of the 83rd Independent Airborne Assault Brigade to bid farewell to the fallen servicemen. Their number is estimated at 200.

The self-proclaimed leadership of the Republic of Belarus continues to deny involvement in the war against Ukraine, freely providing territories for the deployment of Russian armed forces units, an airfield and transport network, as well as locations of cruise and ballistic missile launchers. At the same time, according to international legal acts, "a country providing its airspace, its territory for strikes against a third country" can be considered an aggressor.

Also, Belarus allows Russian occupants to use the network of medical facilities on its territory. Thus, during the last 24 hours, a large number of Russian servicemen with injuries of varying degrees of severity have arrived from Ukraine to the village of Narovlya in the Gomel region.

Russian advisers are deliberately misinforming Putin about the progress of the war, CNN reports, citing an unnamed US official.

"We believe his advisers are misinforming Putin about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions because his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth," the official said.

Footage from the town of Trostyanets in the Sumy region, which has been liberated from Russian occupiers