3:21 p.m. ET, April 27, 2023
It's past 8 p.m. in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know
If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know about the latest developments in Russia's war in Ukraine:
New US sanctions: The United States
imposed new sanctions on groups in Russia and Iran accused of taking Americans hostage as it works to prevent more captive-taking and potentially secure the release of citizens being detained. Currently,
Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, and
Paul Whelan, a former Marine, are being held in Russia on espionage charges that they each vehemently deny. American citizens
Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and
Morad Tahbaz are all being held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, where there have been reports of torture. Earlier Thursday, Russia
rejected a US request to visit detained Gershkovich in response to Washington’s failure to provide visas to Russian journalists from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s pool when
he visited the United Nations in New York, the ministry said.
UN Nuclear watchdog team completes scheduled rotation at ZNPP: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has
successfully carried out a rotation of its staff at the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, which is controlled by the occupying Russian force, according to Russia's officials. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed the rotation, telling CNN, "the eighth team from the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) arrived at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant today."
Russian shelling in northeastern Ukraine: Russian forces shelled Tokarivka, a village in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, on Thursday.
At least one person is dead and several others are wounded, according to Ukrainian officials. The village is about five kilometers (roughly three miles) from the Russian border. Border villages across the regions of northern Ukraine are frequently struck by Russian artillery and mortar fire.
Russian forces have grown: While Russia has suffered thousands of losses in its
war against Ukraine, a senior US military commander in Europe told lawmakers Wednesday that it has plenty of firepower left in its arsenal, and the forces are "
bigger today" than they were at the start of the conflict.
Donetsk region faces dangerously low water supply: The Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's Donetsk region has dangerously low water supply, according to Denis Pushilin, the head of the the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic. Many households get just two hours of water supply every three days, the Moscow-backed leader said in an online Q&A session. The city of Donetsk lost its main source of water, a canal that runs through the eastern Ukrainian cities of Chasiv Yar and
Bakhmut. Crews are still working to complete an alternative canal from the Siverskyi Donets River, which should bring relief from the water crisis, according to Pushilin.