March 25, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

We've wrapped up our live coverage for the day. You can read more on Russia's war in Ukraine here, or scroll through the updates below.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi will travel to the nuclear plant in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region at the end of March, the agency said in a statement Saturday.

Grossi, the top official in the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency will "assess first-hand the serious nuclear safety and security situation at the facility," officials said.

“It will be the second time Grossi crosses the frontline in order to reach Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and the first since he established a permanent presence of IAEA experts at the site in southern Ukraine,” the statement continued. 

“I’ve decided to travel again to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to see for myself how the situation has evolved since September and to talk to those operating the facility in these unprecedented and very difficult circumstances. I remain determined to continue doing everything in my power to help reduce the risk of a nuclear accident during the tragic war in Ukraine,” Grossi said. 

Grossi noted that despite an IAEA presence at the site for seven months, the situation at the plant is “precarious.” 

“The nuclear safety and security dangers are all too obvious, as is the necessity to act now to prevent an accident with potential radiological consequences to the health and the environment for people in Ukraine and beyond. I’m therefore continuing to work on a proposal to protect the plant,” he added. 

The IAEA chief said his travel to Ukraine was also aimed at “ensuring the regular rotation of IAEA experts to and from the site is maintained and improved, following the very challenging circumstances faced by the experts during the previous rotation in February which had been delayed by almost a month.” 

Grossi will be accompanied by a new group of IAEA experts, the seventh such team to work at the site.

Some background: The plant has been under Russian control since March last year, but is still mostly operated by Ukrainian workers.

Attacks at the complex have sparked concerns about the specter of a nuclear disaster, and IAEA staff have been visiting the site to assess the damage. Recently, the UN nuclear agency said it has been unable to rotate teams at the plant because of increased volatility in the area.

The IAEA head has assured Ukraine his agency will never recognize Russia as the owner of the Zaporizhzhia plant, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. Grossi has also pledged a continuous IAEA presence at all of Ukraine's nuclear plants.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told state television that Moscow will retain control over any of the tactical nuclear weapons it plans to station in neighboring Belarus.

He likened the move to the United States’ practice of stationing nuclear weapons in Europe. Washington retains control over the weapons, keeping host countries — like Germany — from breaking their commitments as non-nuclear powers.

“We are not going to hand over control of nuclear weapons. The US doesn’t hand it over to its allies. We're basically doing the same thing (US leaders) have been doing for a decade,” Putin said.

Some background: Even though there is no guarantee the Russian leader will follow through with his plan to station the weapons in Belarus, any nuclear signaling by Putin will cause concern in the West.

Since invading Ukraine more than a year ago, the Russian leader has used escalating rhetoric on a number of occasions, warning of the "increasing" threat of nuclear war and suggesting Moscow may abandon its "no first use" policy.

The United States has sought to make it clear to Putin the consequences of any use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, even low-yield tactical devices.

Russia plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, President Vladimir Putin told state television Saturday.

Moscow will complete the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus by the beginning of July, Putin told state broadcaster Russia 1.

The Russian leader said Moscow has already transferred an Iskander short-range missile system – which can be fitted with nuclear or conventional warheads – to Belarus.

During the interview, Putin also said Russia has helped Belarus convert 10 aircraft to make them capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads. Russia will start training pilots to fly the re-configured planes early next month, he added.

Key context: The government in Belarus, which is situated west of Russia on Ukraine's long northern border, is among Moscow's closest allies.

Belarus has had no nuclear weapons on its territory since the early 1990s. Shortly after gaining independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it agreed to transfer all Soviet-era weapons of mass destruction stationed there to Russia.

Belarus helped Russia launch its initial invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, allowing the Kremlin's troops to enter the country from the north. There have been fears throughout the conflict that Belarus will again be used as a launching ground for an offensive, or that Minsk's own troops will join the conflict.

Global tensions: Even though there is no guarantee the Russian leader will follow through with his plan to station the weapons in Belarus, any nuclear signaling by Putin will cause concern in the West.

Since invading Ukraine more than a year ago, the Russian leader has used escalating rhetoric on a number of occasions, warning of the "increasing" threat of nuclear war and suggesting Moscow may abandon its "no first use" policy.

The United States has sought to make it clear to Putin the consequences of any use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, even low-yield tactical devices.

Speaking in October, US President Joe Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper, “It would be irresponsible for me to talk about what we would or wouldn’t do,” in response to nuclear use by Russia.

But Biden hinted at the possibility of a rapid escalation in events. 

“The mistakes get made, the miscalculation could occur, no one could be sure what would happen and it could end in Armageddon,” he said.

CNN's Peter Wilkinson, Frederik Pletigen, Zahra Ullah, Claudia Otto and Rob Picheta contributed.

Ukrainian authorities said two civilians were killed in a Russian missile attack on Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region Saturday.

A man was killed in the city of Chasiv Yar, and a woman was killed in Toretsk city, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said in a Telegram post Saturday. 

This comes after three people were killed in an overnight Russian missile attack on the city of Kostantynivka in Donetsk region Friday. 

The city has been struck with increasing frequency by Russian missiles, especially the inaccurate S-300. Kostantynivka lies about 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the embattled city of Bakhmut.

Russian forces have been pushed out of one of the key roads in the contested eastern city of Bakhmut, a Ukrainian military official said Saturday.  

Ukrainian soldiers “managed to push the enemy away” from "the road of life" in Bakhmut for a “considerable distance,” making it impossible for Russia to keep the road under fire control, said Yuriy Fedorenko, a Ukrainian military officer.

Ukrainian forces have “improved their position” in the city, Fedorenko added, though he acknowledged "the fighting is tough."

He said Ukraine is "holding the line in the most difficult areas" and have had some tactical successes.

According to Fedorenko, Russia’s forces are “constantly conducting assaults in the Bakhmut direction and are constantly trying to advance.”

Some context: CNN has not been able to independently verify Fedorenko's claims.

It has been difficult to determine exactly where each military's troops stand during the grueling fight for Bakhmut, and Kyiv and Moscow have often offered differing reports on the status of fighting on the ground.

Ukraine's top generals have claimed in recent weeks that Russian forces are depleted in Bakhmut. A Ukrainian counteroffensive could soon be launched, the generals say, raising the prospect of an unlikely turnaround in the besieged city.

The Ukrainian military has repelled more than 50 Russian attacks over the past 24 hours, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed in an update Saturday.

The majority of the repelled attacks were concentrated in communities of the eastern Donetsk region, the General Staff said, including the embattled city of Bakhmut and the towns of Avdiivka, Lyman and Marinka.

This map shows the latest state of control in Ukraine:

Around 10,000 Ukrainian civilians are being “pushed to the very limit of their existence,” in the beleaguered eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and the nearby area, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Friday. 

The bloody battle for Bakhmut has been at the center of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in recent months, as soldiers from the private Russian mercenary company Wagner have bombarded the city and edged closer towards seizing control. 

“Based on our understanding, there are several thousands of residents still living in Bakhmut, and if we talk about the communities around, the numbers would be coming closer to several thousands, possibly around 10,000,” the ICRC’s Umar Khan, who has been in the city in recent days providing aid, told a news briefing. 
Civilians stuck in Bakhmut are “living in very dire conditions, spending almost the entire days in intense shelling in the shelters,” Khan said, adding, “all you see are people pushed to the very limit of their existence and survival and resilience in them.”

The ICRC has delivered hygiene kits, solar lamps, water containers, essential repair supplies and handheld tools to the community. 

“These are the practical items that give them practical solutions to the problems they are facing every day,” Khan said. 
“No matter how many times I’ve been there, or near the frontline communities and areas over the past 13 months, I still feel the same shock, as when we visited those places the first time. Houses are crushed by military firepower, roofs are ripped off, apartment buildings are littered with holes, chunks missing, the constant threat of unexploded shells, bombs underfoot, and some people still living in the shelters, trying to survive these intense hostilities,” he continued. 

It may be thousands of miles from the frontline, but the Ukrainian soccer team is never far from the horrors of war.

While the squad has assembled in the leafy suburbs of London ahead of its Euro 2024 qualifying match against England, Russian forces continue to bombard Ukraine – with deadly missile strikes seen across the country this week.

It’s why, despite the comfort of their luxury hotel, the minds of the team are very much with their friends and family back home as they prepare for Sunday’s game.

Oleksandr Glyvynskyy, the Ukrainian team’s media representative, says many members of the squad have an application on their phone that alerts them when there is an air-raid siren back home.

Others start every day by scrolling through social media to check whether there were any Russian attacks from the night before.

They do this to ensure their loved ones are safe, but it also serves as a constant reminder of just how perilous the situation is.

Read the full story here.