April 22, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Aditi Sangal, Ivana Kottasová, Travis Caldwell, Andrew Raine, Lianne Kolirin, George Ramsay, Adrienne Vogt, Meg Wagner and Melissa Macaya, CNN

Updated 12:13 a.m. ET, April 23, 2022
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12:23 p.m. ET, April 22, 2022

Russia says its goal is to control southern Ukraine as well as Donbas

From CNN's Anna Chernova and Nathan Hodge

A Russian soldier walks amidst the rubble in Mariupol's eastern side on April 15.
A Russian soldier walks amidst the rubble in Mariupol's eastern side on April 15. (Story Picture Agency/Shutterstock)

Russia has revealed that the goal of its invasion of Ukraine is to take "full control" over southern Ukraine as well as the eastern Donbas region.

The announcement by a top military official marks the first time Russia admitted it was fighting to establish a land corridor through Ukrainian territory connecting Russia to Crimea, the peninsula it annexed in 2014.

"Since the beginning of the second phase of the special operation, which began literally two days ago, one of the tasks of the Russian army is to establish full control over Donbas and southern Ukraine. This will provide a land corridor to Crimea," Maj. Gen. Rustam Minnekaev, the acting commander of Russia's Central Military District, said according to TASS, a Russian state news agency.

Minnekaev, speaking at the annual general meeting of the Union of Defense Industry Enterprises of the Sverdlovsk region, was quoted by TASS as saying the aim was to create a land corridor between Ukraine's eastern Donbas region and Crimea.

He added that control over Ukraine's south would give Russian forces access to Transnistria, a separatist statelet in Moldova, where a contingent of Russian forces has been stationed since the early 1990s.

Russian forces at present have only partial control of southern Ukraine, with the Ukrainian government still in control of the key cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa and some Ukrainian forces holding out in a steel plant in the encircled port of Mariupol.

Russia in recent weeks withdrew its forces in northern Ukraine after a failure to take Kyiv, with Russian military officials claiming that their strategic goals had shifted to taking all of the eastern Donbas region.

Asked by reporters Friday to elaborate on what territories were meant by southern Ukraine, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment and referred questions to the Ministry of Defense.

Ukrainian authorities have warned in recent days that Russian forces occupying the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson were planning to stage a sham referendum declaring a so-called "Kherson People's Republic" in the coming days, mirroring the Russian-backed creation of separatist republics in Donbas in 2014 that set the stage for Russia's invasion on February 24.

5:46 a.m. ET, April 22, 2022

Two of India's biggest businesses are ditching Russia

From CNN Business' Diksha Madhok

Two of India's biggest businesses are moving away from Russia, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi refrains from taking a tough stance against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

Tata Steel, one of the largest steelmakers in India, said on Wednesday that it has "taken a conscious decision to stop doing business with Russia."

The company, which is also one of the biggest steel producers in Europe, said it has a plan in place to ensure minimal disruption to its business.

Tata Steel is part of Tata Group, one of India's biggest multinational conglomerate.

Its announcement comes just days after Infosys, one of India's largest tech companies, said that it has started moving its operations out of Russia.

5:37 a.m. ET, April 22, 2022

At least one person is dead after a plane crash in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region

From CNN's Radina Gigova and Nathan Hodge 

At least one person died and two were injured when an Antonov plane crashed Friday morning in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, local authorities said.

"Today at 09:00 [7am Eastern Time] near Mykhailivka in Zaporizhzhia district, an AN-26 plane -- which, according to preliminary information, belonged to Ukraine -- crashed. The airplane was performing a technical flight," the Zaporizhzhia Region Military Administration said Friday on its official Telegram channel.

The number of crew members on board the plane and the reasons for the crash are still being clarified, the regional administration said, adding that according to preliminary -- and so far unconfirmed information -- the plane hit an electric pole which caused the engine to set on fire.

"The State Emergency Service units and relevant services are working at the scene," the regional administration said.

5:19 a.m. ET, April 22, 2022

London’s Met Police receives around 50 referrals of alleged war crimes in Ukraine, force says

From CNN's Dan Wright and Amy Cassidy 

Funeral services workers dig graves for the coffins of dead civilians at the cemetery in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 18.
Funeral services workers dig graves for the coffins of dead civilians at the cemetery in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 18. (Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images)

London’s Metropolitan Police has received around 50 referrals of alleged war crimes in Ukraine, the force said Friday.

The Met Police is collating evidence to assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) with its ongoing investigation into the war in Ukraine. 

Its War Crimes Team has appealed to anyone in the UK with knowledge of war crimes committed in Ukraine to come forward. It is looking at incidents that happened at any time from 21 November 2013 onwards, the Met’s statement said.

"Since the start of the recent military activity in February, our officers have been proactively engaging with Ukrainian communities in the UK," Detective Chief Superintendent Dominic Murphy, head of operations for the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said in the statement.

We’ve had around 50 referrals into us and we expect that number to grow over the coming weeks as more and more people who fled from Ukraine arrive here in the UK."

"We want to make sure those people know we’re here and that we’re ready to receive any evidence of war crimes from them, as well as provide them with the support and help that they might need in relation to that."

"I’d also ask any households across the country who have volunteered to host Ukrainian people that should you come into contact with anyone who might have been witness to, or victim of possible war crimes, then you encourage them to contact us," he said, adding:

Please let them know we are here and that we can help them.”

Some background: During a visit to the towns of Bucha and Borodianka earlier this month, International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said there were "reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC are being committed."

Khan also warned that it would be "challenging" to guarantee justice would be served in Ukraine, given Russia's decision to withdraw its signature from the ICC statute, which gives the court jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

12:23 p.m. ET, April 22, 2022

Luhansk region evacuation bid disrupted by Russian shelling, military official says

From CNN's Olga Voitovych in Lviv

Smoke rises above the city skyline in Rubizhne, Ukraine, on April 18.
Smoke rises above the city skyline in Rubizhne, Ukraine, on April 18. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)

Serhiy Haidai, the head of the Luhansk region military administration, said Friday that Russian shelling disrupted an attempt to evacuate civilians from the heavily contested eastern Ukrainian town of Rubizhne, stopping a bus from reaching the town.

"We will try to get to the southern part of Rubizhne by car, because people are waiting to be evacuated," Haidai said.

"We will also bring food there. Unfortunately, the evacuation bus did not get there due to the heavy artillery fire. The Russians do not allow us to save the civilians, they are blocking people in cities that are constantly under fire. "

Rubizhne has seen heavy fighting amid a Russian offensive in Ukraine's Donbas region.

On Wednesday, Haidai told CNN that 80% of Luhansk's territory is under Russian control. In the last few weeks, Russian forces have made a greater effort to direct their invasion toward taking parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.

12:22 p.m. ET, April 22, 2022

"I can’t leave it": The residents of an embattled Donbas village are determined to stay

From CNN's Clarissa Ward, Brent Swails and Scott McWhinnie

Galina Nikolaevna is weeping in the wreckage of her home in the village of Kamyshevakha in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Two days ago, a couple of Russian shells landed on the house and the garage, making it uninhabitable.

But Nikolaevna and her husband are refusing to leave.

Like so many people here, they have nowhere to go and no means to support themselves, Nikolaevna said. She has been told that it costs $300 just to get to Bakhmut, the nearest town under full Ukrainian control.

We don’t even have [a] liter of gasoline. And our property,” Nikolaevna told CNN, breaking down and sobbing before pushing on: “We worked all our lives for this.”

This village, on the outskirts of Popasna in Luhansk, has been hit hard by artillery over the past days. People here are now completely cut off from basic services. Large buckets and troughs are laid out in front of the damaged building to collect the rainwater. 

Read the full story here:

4:53 a.m. ET, April 22, 2022

It's 11:45 a.m. in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know

A man walks past a damaged residential building in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 21.
A man walks past a damaged residential building in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 21. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

New satellite images have revealed newly dug mass graves outside Mariupol. The desperate situation in the the besieged southern city shows continues, with Ukraine saying that no evacuation corridors have been agreed with the Russians for Friday.

Here are the latest developments on Russia's war in Ukraine:

  • Mass graves: Ukrainian officials say they have identified mass graves outside the city of Mariupol, which they say adds to mounting proof of Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians. The claim is supported by photos collected and analyzed by US satellite imagery company Maxar Technologies that appear to show more than 200 new graves at a site on the northwestern edge of Manhush, a town around 12 miles (19 kilometers) to the west of Mariupol.
  • No way out: No evacuation corridors in Ukraine have been agreed with the Russians due to "danger on the routes," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Friday. Ukrainian officials have appealed for the Russians to guarantee safe passage for civilians, particularly those trapped in Mariupol. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that "thousands" of civilians remain blockaded inside Mariupol as he likened the Russian siege to a "terrorist operation." 
  • Donbas: Ukrainian officials described heavy fighting throughout the Donetsk and Luhansk regions amid a Russian offensive in the Donbas. Olena Symonenko, an adviser to the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, said in televised remarks late Thursday that over the last 24-hour period, 42 more settlements had come under Russian control in the Donetsk region.
  • Ukraine alleges Russian orders were given to kill POWs: Ukraine’s military intelligence on Wednesday released a purported communications intercept of Russian armed forces referring to an alleged order to kill Ukrainian prisoners of war in the city of Popasna in the eastern region of Luhansk, which is bearing the brunt of Russia’s renewed attack. It appears to feature Russian soldiers saying: “Keep the most senior among them, and let the rest go forever. Let them go forever, damn it, so that no one will ever see them again, including relatives.”
  • Neighboring nations say Russia committed genocide: The Estonian and Latvian parliaments adopted statements on Thursday saying Russia has committed genocide in Ukraine, citing mass graves and atrocities discovered in areas since vacated by Russian forces.
  • Annexations will cripple Russia, Zelensky says: Zelensky warned Russia on Thursday that any attempts at annexation -- similar to Crimea or the so-called breakaway republics in the nation's east -- will lead to sanctions that will leave Russia as poor as it was after its civil war in 1917.
  • US sends more aid to Ukraine: Saying there was a "critical window" as Russian forces build up in the east of Ukraine, Biden announced an additional $800 million in military assistance to Ukraine. The new package would include heavy artillery and drones, he said Thursday, along with ammunition.
3:40 a.m. ET, April 22, 2022

4 ways Russia is trying to prove it can live with sanctions

From CNN's Clare Sebastian

Russian President Vladimir Putin has devoted considerable airtime over the past few weeks to reassuring the Russian public that sanctions hurt the West more than they hurt Russia.

Putin is preparing his country for the long haul.

"The collective West does not plan on backing off its policy of economic pressure on Russia," he told aviation executives recently. Every sector of Russia's economy needs to "make a long-term plan based on internal opportunities."

Putin's policy of self-reliance was predictable. Ever since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, the country has been preparing for increased Western sanctions with a strategy dubbed "Fortress Russia."

And yet the scale of the economic counter-offensive waged by the West since the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, along with the rising tide of companies cutting off business with Russia to guard against reputational risk or future sanctions, was a shock.

Here are some of the ways companies, industries, and officials are scrambling to live with Russia's new normal.

Read the full story:

12:21 p.m. ET, April 22, 2022

Heavy fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, officials say

From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Yulia Kesaieva in Lviv

A man walks past a missile that lodged in the ground in Rubizhne in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, on April 21.
A man walks past a missile that lodged in the ground in Rubizhne in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, on April 21. (Hamuda Hassan/Reuters)

Ukrainian officials described heavy fighting throughout the Donetsk and Luhansk regions amid a Russian offensive in the Donbas. 

Olena Symonenko, an adviser to the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, said in televised remarks late Thursday that over the last 24-hour period, 42 more settlements had come under Russian control in the Donetsk region.

"This happened today, so it may well happen that our armed forces will return them under our control tomorrow. But as of today, we understand that fierce hostilities are ongoing in these settlements. And people who stayed there are staying in the shelters or basements."

Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said that Russian forces had been advancing in three directions toward the towns of Rubizhne, Popasna and Novotoshkivske. 

"The enemy is trying to advance in the area of ​​Rubizhne," he said. "The defensive battles with the enemy continue in the direction of the settlements of Novotoshkivske and Popasna."

Some context: Haidai told CNN on Wednesday that 80% of Luhansk's territory is under Russian control. Russian forces have made a greater effort in the last few weeks to direct their invasion toward taking parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.