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Russia invades Ukraine

What we've covered

  • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveled to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
  • Zelensky said a Russian missile strike on a train station that killed at least 50 people in the eastern city of Kramatorsk was "another war crime."
  • Officials in towns near Kyiv, including Bucha and Makariv, have found hundreds of civilian bodies as they assess the destruction following the withdrawal of Russian forces.
  • The European Union will resume its diplomatic operations in Kyiv. Italy also intends to reopen its embassy in Kyiv after Easter.
  • Ukraine's defense intelligence chief said Russian troops are regrouping across the border and plan to advance toward Kharkiv in what could be a major offensive against eastern Ukraine.
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8:31 p.m. ET, April 9, 2022

It's 3 a.m. in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, April 9. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

In the early morning hours on Sunday in Ukraine, these are the latest developments in the war:

Putin appoints new commander for Ukraine: Russian President Vladimir Putin has named Army Gen. Alexander Dvornikov -- commander of Russia’s Southern Military District -- as theater commander of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.

Dvornikov's appointment comes as Putin's military shifts plans after a failure to take Kyiv, according to a US official and a European official. 

“It speaks to a Russian acknowledgement that it is going extremely badly and they need to do something differently,” the European official said.

A new theater commander with extensive combat experience could bring a level of coordination to an assault now expected to focus on the Donbas region, instead of multiple fronts.  

Zelensky thanks UK for sending more lethal aid including anti-ship missiles, armored vehicles: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the United Kingdom and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday for providing military support to Ukraine. 
In his nightly address posted to social media, Zelensky said, "Boris was among those who didn’t doubt for a minute whether to support Ukraine. The leadership of Great Britain, in providing our country help in defense and also leadership in the sanctions policy, will always be in history."
“Ukraine will always be grateful for this to Boris and Britain,” Zelensky said. 
Russia’s departure from northern Ukraine shows evidence of non-combatants being targeted, UK Military Intelligence says: Russia’s departure from northern Ukraine shows evidence of non-combatants being disproportionately targeted, according to a Saturday UK military intelligence update.

The evidence includes mass graves, the fatal use of hostages as human shields and mining of civilian infrastructure, the update said.

8:10 p.m. ET, April 9, 2022

Putin appoints new commander for Ukraine 

In this pool photo taken on Thursday, March 17, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, poses with Col. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov during an awarding ceremony in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia. (Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool/AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a new general to direct the war in Ukraine as his military shifts plans after a failure to take Kyiv, according to a US official and a European official. 

The officials told CNN Army Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, commander of Russia’s Southern Military District, has been named theater commander of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine   

“It speaks to a Russian acknowledgement that it is going extremely badly and they need to do something differently,” the European official said.

A new theater commander with extensive combat experience could bring a level of coordination to an assault now expected to focus on the Donbas region, instead of multiple fronts.  

Dvornikov, 60, was the first commander of Russia’s military operations in Syria, after Putin sent troops there in September 2015 to back the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. During Dvornikov’s command in Syria from September 2015 to June 2016, Russian aircraft backed the Assad regime and its allies as they laid siege to rebel-held eastern Aleppo, bombarding densely populated neighborhoods and causing major civilian casualties. The city fell to Syrian government forces in December 2016.  

Russian forces have used a similarly heavy-handed approach in parts of Ukraine, striking residential buildings in major cities and demolishing much of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.  

“We will see how effective that proves to be,” the European official said. “The Russian doctrine, the Russian tactics remain pretty much as they’ve been since Afghanistan.” 
“They do things in the same old way,” the official added. 

Military analysts and US officials familiar with intelligence assessments have speculated Russia’s generals have a goal of presenting Putin with some tangible battlefield progress ahead of Victory Day on May 9, when Russia observes the defeat of Nazi Germany and traditionally marks the occasion with a parade in Moscow’s Red Square.   

The European official described it as a “self-imposed deadline,” that could lead the Russians to make additional mistakes. 

But it could also potentially lead Russian forces to commit more atrocities, as allegedly happened in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha while under Russian occupation. “The stench of these war crimes is going to hang over these Russian armed forces for many years,” the official said. 

Former UK ambassador to Russia Sir Roderic Lyne told Sky News on Saturday Moscow has appointed a new general with a “pretty savage track record in Syria to try to at least gain some territory in Donetsk that Putin could present as a victory."  

Assigning a new overall commander for Russia’s war in Ukraine may be an attempt to create a more cohesive strategy. CNN previously reported that Russia had no theater-wide commander for Ukraine operations, meaning units from different Russian military districts have been operating without coordination and sometimes at cross purposes, according to two US defense officials.  

The US has previously assessed Putin would likely name a general whose forces have been operating in Ukraine’s south because that is where the Russians have taken and held more territory, as opposed to the Russian bid to encircle Kyiv and cities in northern Ukraine, an effort that recently ended with a withdrawal. 

Ukraine’s General Staff said Friday Russian forces had completed their withdrawal from Ukraine's northern Sumy region, while continuing a buildup of forces in the country's east.  

6:25 p.m. ET, April 9, 2022

Russia’s departure from northern Ukraine shows evidence of non-combatants being targeted, UK Military Intelligence says

Russia’s departure from northern Ukraine shows evidence of non-combatants being disproportionately targeted, according to a Saturday UK military intelligence update.

The evidence includes mass graves, the fatal use of hostages as human shields and mining of civilian infrastructure, the update said.

“Russian forces continue to use IEDs to inflict casualties, lower morale, and restrict Ukrainian freedom of movement,” the update read.

The update added Russian forces "continue to attack infrastructures with high risk of collateral harm to civilians, including a nitrate acid tank at Rubizhne, Ukraine.”

6:27 p.m. ET, April 9, 2022

Zelensky thanks UK for sending more lethal aid including anti-ship missiles, armored vehicles

(Ukrainian Presidential Office)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the United Kingdom and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday for providing military support to Ukraine. 

In his nightly address posted to social media, Zelensky said, “Boris was among those who didn’t doubt for a minute whether to support Ukraine. The leadership of Great Britain, in providing our country help in defense and also leadership in the sanctions policy, will always be in history. 

“Ukraine will always be grateful for this to Boris and Britain,” Zelensky said. 

Johnson met with Zelensky in a surprise Saturday visit to Kyiv to outline the UK's plan to provide further financial and military support. 

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted the UK is sending additional “lethal aid” to Ukraine, including 120 more armored vehicles; new anti-ship missile systems; and $130 million in high-grade military equipment.

"I'm grateful to the United Kingdom that continues and intensifies the sanctions and also provides a significant support of Ukraine by reinforcing our defense capacities,” Zelensky said at a joint press conference with Johnson earlier on Saturday, 

“The other democratic Western countries should follow the example of the United Kingdom," Zelensky said.

Later on Saturday in his nightly address, Zelensky said: “Boris Johnson was today very specific also in his responses to my questions, as always. And we have already established with him what help Great Britain will provide for rebuilding Ukraine after the war. The British are ready to lead the restoration of Kyiv and Kyiv region.” 
4:49 p.m. ET, April 9, 2022

It's 11 p.m. in Kyiv. Catch up on the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, center left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, walk in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 9. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/AP)

If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know about where things stand with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Foreign leaders travel to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky:
  • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a visit to the capital on Saturday as a show of "solidarity with the Ukrainian people," according to Downing Street.
  • Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer also met with Zelensky on Saturday.
Some diplomatic operations begin resuming in Kyiv:
The European Union announced Saturday that it would resume diplomacy out of the capital. Italy also announced it would move back its embassy to Kyiv from Lviv, where it had relocated as Russian aggression escalated in the country. Slovenia reopened its embassy in Kyiv on March 28, according to Slovenia's Foreign Ministry.
Radiation levels in Chernobyl:

Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine's state nuclear power operator Energoatom, visited one of the sections of the so-called Red Forest in Chernobyl's exclusion zone along with specialists and observed "abnormally high" radiation in areas where the Russian troops dug trenches and tried to build fortifications.

Based on data, a statement said, "all the occupiers who were based in and entrenched in the Red Forest, in almost 30 days, should expect radiation sickness of varying degrees of severity."

An update on casualties:
All the people injured in the railway station strike on Friday have been evacuated from the city, with most moved to the regional center of Dnipro, and some to Kyiv, a local hospital official in Kramatorsk told CNN. A total of 80 adults and 19 children were injured, with 20 of the injured in serious condition. Ukrainian officials have said 52 people were killed in the strike.
At least 176 children have died and more than 324 have been injured as a result of Russian aggression, the Ukrainian Parliament, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, said in a tweet on Saturday. The figures are not final as destruction in hard-hit areas continues to be assessed, it added.
3:40 p.m. ET, April 9, 2022

"Abnormally high" radiation where Russians dug trenches in Chernobyl's Red Forest, nuclear power operator says

A dosimetrist measures the level of radiation around trenches dug by the Russian military in an area with high levels of radiation called the Red Forest, in Chernobyl, Ukraine on April 7. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine's state nuclear power operator Energoatom, visited one of the sections of the so-called Red Forest in Chernobyl's exclusion zone along with specialists and observed "abnormally high" radiation in areas where the Russian troops dug trenches and tried to build fortifications.

In a statement on Telegram, Energoatom said, "abnormally high rates of radiation were recorded" in the area.

Indications of external irradiation were 10-15 times higher than normal, and that possible internal radiation received from contact with the soil surface could be 160 times more than the norm, he added.

"Another factor of internal irradiation is Alpha pollution formed as a result of fragments of irradiated nuclear fuel, graphite masonry scattered on this section of the Red Forest" after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster," the statement read. "These fragments are now located at a depth of 40-80 centimeters, while the occupiers dug deeper. When inside the human body, this type of radiation has an effect tens and hundreds of times more powerful than that from gamma and beta radiation."

"So all the occupiers who were based in and entrenched in the Red Forest, in almost 30 days, should expect radiation sickness of varying degrees of severity," it added.

In a separate statement, Energoatom said Russian troops who occupied the territory of the Chernobyl plant "also looted and destroyed the offices and laboratory of the Institute for Nuclear Safety. They took away computers, office equipment, smashed or destroyed laboratory equipment and measuring devices, and looted garages with vehicles used to deliver scientists to research sites."

2:17 p.m. ET, April 9, 2022

Ukraine's Zelensky calls for more pressure on Russia after meeting UK's Boris Johnson in Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens, during a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in Kyiv, on April 9. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for “even more pressure” on Russia with assistance to Ukrainians in “defense, as well as sanctions.” 

Zelensky made the comments during a joint news conference with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson following their meeting in Kyiv after the latter traveled to Kyiv on a surprise visit.

Other countries should follow the example of the United Kingdom, Zelensky said, adding it is time “to impose a full embargo on Russia's energy sector, to increase the provision of weapons to Ukraine.”

“We need to further strengthen our anti-war coalition. We hope that London will play a key role in this process," he said.

Zelensky said the two leaders also talked about rebuilding of Ukraine.

“Together, we will be rebuilding our country and our cities," he said.

3:03 p.m. ET, April 9, 2022

All 99 injured in the Kramatorsk railway strike have been evacuated to other cities, official says

Calcinated cars are pictured outside a train station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, that was being used for civilian evacuations, after it was hit by a rocket attack killing dozens, on April 8. (Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images)

All the people injured in the railway station strike on Friday have been evacuated from the city, most moved to the regional center of Dnipro, and some to Kyiv, a local hospital official in Kramatorsk told CNN.

A total of 80 adults and 19 children were injured. 20 of the injured are in serious condition.

Ukrainian officials have said 52 people were killed in the strike.

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