By The Associated Press
Hundreds of people have been evacuated to Kharkiv from the nearby village of Ruska Lozava that had been under Russian occupation for more than a month.
Almost half the village has escaped on buses, in shrapnel-ridden cars or on foot after fierce battles saw Russian troops pushed back and Ukrainian forces take full control of the village, according to the Kharkiv regional governor.
A video posted by the Azov battalion shows troops raising the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag over the government building in the center of the village although fighting continues on the outskirts.
Upon arrival to Kharkiv less than 12 miles (20 kilometers) away, those who fled have described to Associated Press reporters the dire conditions they faced while living in basements with little water and food and no electricity.
“We were hiding in the basement, it was horror. The basement was shaking from the explosions, we were screaming, we were crying and we were praying to god,” said Ludmila Bocharnikova.
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
— Ukraine slams Kyiv attack amid new Mariupol rescue effort
— New gas pipeline to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian fuel
— Ukraine says Russian offensive in east picks up momentum
— NATO chief says Finland, Sweden could join quite quickly
— Biden seeks new powers to use oligarchs’ assets for Ukraine
Follow all AP stories on Russia’s war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Marine was killed while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, according to his relatives, making his the first known death of an American citizen while fighting in the war against Russia.
Willy Joseph Cancel, 22, was killed Monday while working for a military contracting company that sent him to Ukraine, his mother, Rebecca Cabrera, told CNN. Cancel joined the Marines after graduating from Newburgh Free Academy in New York and served from 2017-21. He more recently worked as a corrections officer in Tennessee.
Cabrera said her son signed up to work with the private military contractor shortly before fighting began in Ukraine on Feb. 24 and that he agreed to go to Ukraine. She said he flew to Poland on March 12, entered Ukraine shortly thereafter and had been fighting alongside men from a number of countries.
“He wanted to go over because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting for, and he wanted to be a part of it to contain it there so it didn’t come here, and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn’t have to be involved in it,” she said.
Cabrera said her son’s body hasn’t been recovered.
Cancel had also served as a volunteer firefighter in New York and leaves behind a wife and 7-month-old son, according to an online fundraising page set up by a man identifying himself as Cancel’s father. Cancel’s wife received the call informing her of his death on Tuesday, the page said.
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KYIV, Ukraine — A leading Ukrainian political analyst says Russia’s missile strike on Kyiv signaled its intention to keep fighting despite international efforts to mediate an end to the hostilities.
Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Center think tank, said Thursday’s strike on Kyiv while U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was visiting the city indicated Moscow’s intention to press its attack.
“Russia is sending a clear signal about its intention to continue the war despite the international pressure,” Fesenko told The Associated Press.
“With this missile strike, the Kremlin is sending a warning to all international structures and organizations trying to influence or contain Russia’s aggressive military plans,” Fesenko noted. “While Russia has so far failed to score any significant gains in Ukraine, it intends to continue its offensive and keep striking cities with missiles.”
The attack reportedly killed at least one person and wounded at least 10 others, and was the first on Kyiv since Russia refocused its efforts on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Guterres and his team were not injured.
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LVIV, Ukraine — The mayor of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol says those hiding at a massive steel mill are running out of food, water and medicine.
Vadym Boichenko described the situation at the Avozstal steel plant as dire. The steel mill is the last position held by Ukrainian fighters, who also are with civilians.
The Soviet-era facility has a vast underground network of bunkers able to withstand airstrikes. But the situation has grown more extreme after the Russians dropped a series of so-called “bunker buster” bombs and unguided munitions.
“Locals who manage to leave Mariupol say it is hell, but when they leave this fortress, they say it is worse,” Boichenko said, according to a translator. “They are begging to get saved.”
He added: “There, it’s not a matter of days, it’s a matter of hours.”
Boichenko said he hoped a cease-fire would allow those inside the steel mill to safely leave. Russia earlier offered a truce that was rejected by Ukrainians, who said Moscow previously broke other agreements.
“We hope there’s a slight touch of humanity in the enemy,” the mayor said.
Boichenko spoke Friday in a government-organized video conference.
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MOSCOW — The head of the Russian Central Bank says the outlook is “extremely uncertain” as the country’s economy is expected to contract by up to 10% this year.
International sanctions and falling consumer demand are squeezing the economy as inflation rises.
The Central Bank cut its key interest rate from 17% to 14% on Friday and predicted the economy would shrink by between 8% and 10% this year.
“The current situation is extremely uncertain. Simultaneously, supply trends and the factors driving aggregate demand are also changing dramatically,” Central Bank head Elvira Nabiullina said.
The Central Bank said annual inflation was 17.6% as of April 22 and forecast it would rise to between 18% and 23% by the end of the year.
“After a temporary surge, consumer demand is decreasing in real terms, accompanied by a rise in households’ propensity to save. The decline in imports due to the introduction of external trade and financial restrictions is outstripping the decline in exports,” the Central Bank said in a statement.
“Despite the gradual change in the country and commodity structure of exports and imports as new suppliers and sales markets emerge, businesses are experiencing considerable difficulties in production and logistics.”
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JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo says that both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to attend the G20 summit to be held in Bali in November.
Widodo, the current chair of the G20 group, made the remarks in a televised statement on Friday in which he said that he had telephone conversations this week with Zelenskyy and Putin. He said he urged both leaders of Ukraine and Russia to end the war through negotiations.
“I reiterated the importance of ending the war immediately,” he said. “I also emphasized that peaceful efforts should continue and Indonesia is ready to contribute to these peaceful efforts.”
He said that he invited Putin and Zelenskyy to the G20 summit as the war in Ukraine has a major impact on the global economy.
“We understand that the G20 plays the catalyst role in the recovery of the global economy,” Widodo said.
Widodo said that he has rejected the Ukrainian leader’s request for arms but instead will send humanitarian aid.
“The mandate of Indonesia’s constitution and the principles of our foreign policy prohibit us from providing arms assistance to other countries,” Widodo said. “However, we are ready to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine.”
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KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian men’s national soccer team will return to the field for the first time since the Russian invasion when it plays a friendly against German club Borussia Mönchengladbach on May 11 ahead of a crucial World Cup qualifier.
The Ukrainian soccer association said Friday it will assemble the team for a training camp in Slovenia starting Monday.
Bundesliga club Gladbach said the proceeds from the game would go to charity efforts focused on Ukraine and Ukrainians abroad and that citizens of the country would get free entry.
Ukraine’s national team hasn’t played since November and had to postpone its World Cup qualifying playoff game against Scotland from March to June 1 because of the war. The winner will face Wales on June 5 for a place at this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
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MADRID — The Spanish government said Friday that its largest shipment of military equipment to Ukraine so far is on track for delivery after a ship carrying 200 tons of material has docked at a port in Poland.
Spain’s defense ministry confirmed the ship’s arrival in Poland. Spanish newspaper El País, citing Polish port authorities, said the vessel had docked at the port of Gdynia, where the material would be unloaded and transported some 700 kilometers (435 miles) to a logistics base in Ukraine.
The shipment includes 30 trucks, several special heavy transport vehicles and 10 smaller vehicles that will be used to transfer the military material to Ukraine, according to Spain’s prime minister.
The shipment to Ukraine on the Spanish ship Ysabel, a 149-meter (489 feet) vessel, was announced last week by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez during a visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “This is the largest shipment made up to now, more than doubling what we have sent so far,” he added.
Prior to the shipment on the Ysabel, Spain had sent 1,370 anti-tank grenade launchers, 700,000 machine-gun cartridges as well as an armored ambulance and medical material to Ukraine.
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WARSAW, Poland — Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, says that the war has not changed her husband, but only revealed his qualities, including a determination to prevail, to the world.
Zelenska, speaking in an interview with the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita published Friday, also says she has not seen her husband President Volodymr Zelenskyy since Russia invaded Ukraine.
“Since February 24, I have been seeing my husband just like you — on TV and on video tapes of his speeches,” she said.
She accused Russia of trying to carry out a genocide against the Ukrainian people, expressed her sympathy with all those who have been forced to flee their homes.
“I wish I could hug each of them. It is easy to imagine the difficult path they went through, escaping from basements or bunkers in Mariupol, from firing from Kharkiv, from the occupied Kyiv region, and even from Lviv or Odesa, which were also under fire from Russian missiles,” she said in the interview.
The newspaper, making clear that it interviewed Zelenska remotely and not revealing her location, asked her if the war had changed her husband.
“The war has not changed him,” she replied. “He has always been a man you can rely on. A man who will never fail. Who will hold out until the end. It’s just that now the whole world has seen what may not have been clear to everyone before.”
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LONDON — Tens of thousands of troops from NATO and other north Atlantic nations will take part in a series of military exercises across Europe in the coming weeks as western countries seek to deter Russian aggression.
The exercises, backed by aircraft, tanks, artillery and armored assault vehicles, will take place in Finland, Poland, North Macedonia and along the Estonian-Latvian border. They will include troops from NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force, which includes non-NATO members Finland and Sweden.
“The scale of the deployment, coupled with the professionalism, training and agility of the British Army, will deter aggression at a scale not seen in Europe this century,” Lt. Gen. Ralph Wooddisse, commander of the U.K.’s field army, said in a statement.
The deployments will begin this week in Finland, where troops from the U.S., Britain, Estonia and Latvia will participate in Exercise Arrow to improve their ability to work alongside Finnish forces.
Also this week, some 4,500 troops will take part in Exercise Swift Response, which will include parachute drops and helicopter-borne assaults in North Macedonia. The operation will include forces from U.S., Britain, Albania, France and Italy.
Next month, 18,000 NATO troops, including forces from Britain, France and Denmark, will take part in Exercise Hedgehog along the Estonia-Latvia border.
In late May, about 1,000 British soldiers will join troops from 11 other nations for Exercise Defender in Poland.
“The security of Europe has never been more important,” U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said. “These exercises will see our troops join forces with allies and partners across NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force in a show of solidarity and strength in one of the largest shared deployments since the Cold War.”
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BERLIN — The German government has strongly criticized the Russian missile strike on Kyiv during the U.N. secretary-general’s visit to the Ukrainian capital Thursday.
Germany “condemns the Russian missile attack on Kyiv, while Secretary-General (Antonio) Guterres was there simultaneously for talks, in the sharpest possible manner,” government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner told reporters in Berlin on Friday.
The attack “reveals before the eyes of the world community once more that Putin and his regime have no respect whatsoever for international law,” he added.
The US-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty says one of its journalists was killed by the Russian missile strike. Ten people were wounded in the attack, including at least one who lost a leg, according to Ukraine’s emergency services.
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The US-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty says one of its journalists was killed by a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, Thursday night.
Vira Hyrych died when the building she lived in was hit and her body was found in the building’s rubble Friday, Radio Free Europe said. Hyrych had worked for the broadcaster’s Ukrainian-language service since 2018, Radio Free Europe said in a statement.
Ten people were wounded in the attack, including at least one who lost a leg, according to Ukraine’s emergency services.
Describing the attack, Russia says it “destroyed production buildings” at a defense factory in Kyiv. Russia used “high-precision, long-range weaponry” to hit the Artem factory in the Ukrainian capital, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday.
The spokesman appeared to be referring to strikes on Kyiv that took place on Thursday evening, shortly after a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said cruise missiles were used in the attack and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person was killed and four hospitalized when a residential building was hit.
Konashenkov also said Russia had destroyed a missile launch site that Ukraine had used to strike the Russia-held Ukrainian city of Kherson. ___
LONDON — Britain is sending a team of experts to Ukraine to help local authorities investigate reports of war crimes, including sexual violence, committed by Russian troops.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says the team, including experts in conflict-related sexual violence, will arrive in Poland in early May and meet with representatives of international agencies, non-governmental organizations, refugees and the Ukrainian government to determine what assistance it can provide.
“Russia has brought barbarity to Ukraine and committed vile atrocities, including against women,’ Truss said in a statement. “British expertise will help uncover the truth and hold Putin’s regime to account for its actions. Justice will be done.”
Truss plans to meet with the president of the International Criminal Court, Judge Piotr Hofmanski, on Friday in the Hague, where she will reaffirm Britain’s support for the investigation and prosecution of war crimes in Ukraine.
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LVIV, Ukraine — A British aid group says it believes two Britons have been abducted by Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine.
The British Foreign Office said it is “urgently seeking more information” about the two men’s case.
Dominik Byrne, the co-founder and chief operating officer of the Presidium Network, told the AP on Friday that the men were last heard from on Monday.
Byrne said the men were taken while trying to carry out an independent evacuation in Dniprorudne, near the city of Zaporizhzhia, some 470 kilometers (290 miles) southeast of Kyiv.
Byrne said the family that the two men had been trying to evacuate later were interrogated by Russian forces, who asked them about the “British spies.” Bryne said the family later escaped to Poland.
Byrne identified the men as Paul Urey and Dylan Healy. He said they had been operating on their own in the war zone and hadn’t been associated with any aid group.
The British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia hasn’t acknowledged taking the men.
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STOCKHOLM – The Swedish capital will rename part of a park near the Russian Embassy to Fria Ukrainas plats (Swedish for Free Ukraine Square) to show “Stockholm’s solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” the mayor said Friday.
Stockholm’s planning department has decided to rename part of Mariebergspark, with the Stockholm mayor Anna König Jerlmyr calling it on Facebook “an important mark l against the actions of the Russian regime.”
Several European cities have renamed streets. One of the first was Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where a quiet alley where the Russian Embassy in the Lithuanian capital is located, changed its name to “Heroes of Ukraine street” in March.
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A 25-year-old Dane was allegedly killed in Mykolajiv on April 26 while fighting with the International Legion Ukraine, a unit for foreigners who want to join the fight against Russia, according to Danish broadcaster TV2. The man’s name was not given.
In a statement to Danish media, the Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen said it could not confirm the report and was in contact with Ukrainian authorities.
“It may therefore take time before the details are clarified” because the war creates “extremely difficult conditions,” the statement read.
The Jyllands-Posten daily, one of Denmark’s largest newspapers, said up to 100 Danes have traveled to Ukraine to fight Russia, citing Ukraine’s Embassy in Denmark.
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LVIV, Ukraine — The British Defense Ministry says Russia’s focus in its war on Ukraine remains the Donbas region.
In an update Friday, the British military said heavy fighting had been seen around Lysychansk and Severodonetsk. The British said they believe Russia is trying to attempt an advance south from Izium toward Slovyansk.
The British military said in a tweet: “Due to strong Ukrainian resistance, Russian territorial gains have been limited and achieved at significant cost to Russian forces.”
The British military has been offering daily public reports on the fighting since the start of the war in February.
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