Around 2,000 Mariupol evacuees are on the move as Russia targets Ukrainian city
A convoy of around 2,000 refugees being escorted by the Red Cross is heading from the Mariupol area to the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is under Ukrainian control.
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Ukraine state energy company Energoatom said Friday that Russian forces have handed back control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Energoatom claimed the pullout happened after soldiers received "significant doses" of radiation from digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant.
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In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, walks before a meeting with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 1, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
The U.S. will provide an additional $300 million in military equipment to Ukraine as their war with Russia continues, the Defense Department announced.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby shared the additional aid in a statement Friday evening, saying the new package “represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide new capabilities” to Ukraine.
The U.S. has given more than $1.6 billion to Ukraine since the start of the war.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Vice President Kamala Harris was pressed about whether she agreed with President Biden's controversial remark calling for Russian President Vladimir Putin's removal from power.
Biden generated international headlines after his speech in Warsaw, Poland, when he told the world in what apparently was an off-script remark that Putin "cannot remain in power."
The White House immediately rolled that back, releasing a statement saying, "The president’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change."
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Ben Domenech, Matthew Continetti and Juan Williams discuss the exclusive interview on ‘Special Report’ with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
Special Report’s Bret Baier interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday evening, touching on a wide variety of topics, including what a victory looks like for Ukraine and what Putin is hoping to achieve.
Baier asked the Ukrainian leader at the start of the interview how he believes the "war will end" prompting an explanation from Zelenskyy that only "victory" will be acceptable to his country.
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Ret. Gen. David Petraeus called the barraged Ukrainian city of Mariupol that country's "Alamo," saying the United States could help provide "game-changer" loitering munitions to the Zelenskyy administration.
Petraeus, a former CIA director, told "The Story" on Friday that the West has been providing key assistance to the country as Russia's invasion moves into its third calendar month.
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Vlada Galan, a Ukrainian-born U.S. citizen, couldn't stand to sit back and watch Russia's invasion of Ukraine from the United States while her father joined the country's war effort.
Galan, an international political consultant who was born in Odesa, Ukraine, has used her connections from all over the world — including Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko — to create a nonprofit called the International Ukrainian Crisis Fund. In just one month, her fund has raised more than $500,000 in cash and collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in humanitarian supplies for Ukrainians in need.
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Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Len Khodorkovsky and retired Gen. Mick McGuire spoke to ‘Fox News @ Night’ about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Special Report’s Bret Baier sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview airing Friday evening and asked him about the current status of the war with Russia and the negotiations underway to potentially end it.
In the interview, set to air on Fox News Channel at 6 p.m ET, Zelenskyy explains to Bret Baier that he believes Ukraine would make a positive addition to NATO.
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The International Ukrainian Crisis Fund nonprofit partners with local restaurants and food services to deliver supplies to those in need.
'Special Report' anchor reveals the details of his 'fascinating' interview with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Fox News foreign correspondent joins 'The Faulkner Focus' to offer a snapshot of his time on the frontlines covering Russia's invasion.
Forbes Media Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes said on Friday the Biden administration is "morally reprehensible" in how it is handling the Russia-Ukraine war.
"The fact of the matter is the administration is not doing all it can to enable Ukraine to win this war. Ukraine, properly armed, would win this war militarily and in terms of depriving Russia the means to fight against Ukraine, we still haven’t put on full sanctions. We still allow the energy of Russia to go out. … Why don’t we sanction all the oil?" Forbes told "The Faulkner Focus."
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Dmytrivka Volodymyr, 42, smokes a cigarette amid destroyed Russian tanks during a military sweep to search for possible remnants of Russian troops after their withdrawal from villages in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday. (AP/Rodrigo Abd)
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Friday that towns outside of the Ukrainian capital are being bombarded with explosions being heard “nonstop during the day and night.”
Klitschko, speaking to Sky News, said that the cities northwest of Kyiv such as Irpin, Borodyanka and Hostomel were being targeted after Ukrainian fighters moved back Russian troops, and that fighting also persisted in Brovary, east of Kyiv.
For those who may want to return to Kyiv in light of the supposed Russian withdrawal, he urged people to wait a “couple of weeks” to see how the situation develops.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Fox News correspondent Alex Hogan reports on how Russia claiming Ukrainian helicopters blew up an oil depot can complicate negotiations between the two countries.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Friday that he is going to lead an "assistance and support mission to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant as soon as possible."
"It will be the first in a series of such nuclear safety and security missions to Ukraine," he said in a tweet.
Grossi also said Friday that Russian nuclear and foreign ministry officials didn’t discuss with him why Russian forces left Chernobyl.
“The general radiation situation around the plant is quite normal," Grossi added. "There was a relatively higher level of localized radiation because of the movement of heavy vehicles at the time of the occupation of the plant, and apparently this might have been the case again on the way out.”
Ukraine’s state power company said Russian troops received “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches in the exclusion zone around the plant. But Grossi said “we don’t have any confirmation” that soldiers were contaminated.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON – Ukrainian parliament members who flew to Washington, D.C., this week to request more assistance in the war told Fox News that women and children were dying as they spoke and that they needed more than "nice speeches."
"We can't have just statements and nice speeches," Ukrainian MP Yevheniia Kravchuk told Fox News. "We need to prove that democracy matters, that the free choice matters, that human rights matters."
The MPs, all women, visited with lawmakers as well as with Pentagon and State Department officials and asked for more military equipment and financial assistance.
"Congress plays a crucial role in pushing government, President Biden White House, to be more faster, to be more firm, and to be more strict in assistance of Ukraine," Ukraine Parliament member Lesia Zaburanna, told Fox News.
While we are talking "our kids, our women, they're dying," she continued.
For more on this story: 'Our kids, our women, they're dying' as we speak, Ukrainian MP visiting Capitol Hill says
Fox News foreign correspondent Trey Yingst discusses his experience reporting from Ukraine during the war and highlights the ongoing need for humanitarian aid.
Damage is seen on apartment buildings after shelling from fighting on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, on Tuesday. (AP/Alexei Alexandrov)
Russian officials on Friday are allowing 42 buses with Mariupol residents to depart from the neighboring occupied city of Berdyansk, which Mariupol residents were able to reach on their own, according to the Associated Press.
The convoy of about 2,000 refugees, escorted by the Red Cross, is heading to the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is under Ukrainian control.
But authorities in Mariupol say it is not possible to enter the besieged Ukrainian city and that it is dangerous for people to try and leave it on their own.
“We don’t see a real desire from the Russians... to provide an opportunity for Mariupol residents to evacuate to territory controlled by Ukraine,” Petro Andryushchenko, adviser the mayor of the city, said Friday on the messaging app Telegram.
“Since yesterday, the occupiers have categorically not allowed any humanitarian cargo, even in small volumes, to enter the city,” he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
China on Friday is accusing the United States of being "the culprit and leading instigator of the Ukraine crisis."
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remark during a daily briefing, adding that "the U.S. has led NATO to engage in five rounds of eastward expansion in the last two decades after 1999."
“The number of NATO members increased from 16 to 30, and they have moved eastward more than 600 miles to somewhere near the Russian border, pushing Russia to the wall step by step,” Zhao also said.
While China says it is not taking sides in the conflict, it has declared a “no limits” partnership with Moscow, has refused to condemn the invasion, opposes sanctions on Russia and routinely amplifies Russian disinformation about the conflict, including not referring to it as an invasion or a war in keeping with Russian practice.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators have resumed Friday by video, according to the Associated Press.
The two sides last met in-person this week on Tuesday in Turkey.
Current Russian military activity in Ukraine. (Fox News)
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence said Friday that Ukraine's military has "retaken the villages of Sloboda and Lukashivka to the south of Chernihiv and located along one of the main supply routes between the city and Kyiv."
"Ukraine has also continued to make successful but limited counter attacks to the east and north east of Kyiv," it added, but noted that "both Chernihiv and Kyiv have been subjected to continued air and missile strikes despite Russian claims of reducing activity in these areas."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a speech Friday that he has demoted two of his own generals, describing them as "traitors."
"Today another decision was made. Regarding antiheroes. Now I do not have time to deal with all the traitors. But gradually they will all be punished," Zelenskyy said.
"That is why the ex-chief of the Main Department of Internal Security of the Security Service of Ukraine Naumov Andriy Olehovych and the former head of the Office of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Kherson region Kryvoruchko Serhiy Oleksandrovych are no longer generals," he continued.
Zelenskyy didn't explicitly say why the generals were demoted, but said "according to Article 48 of the Disciplinary Statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, those servicemen among senior officers who have not decided where their homeland is, who violate the military oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people as regards the protection of our state, its freedom and independence, will inevitably be deprived of senior military ranks. Random generals don't belong here!"
For more on this story: Zelenskyy demotes 2 Ukrainian generals, calls them 'traitors'
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 2017. Russian forces have left the site Friday after taking it over more than a month ago, Ukraine said. (REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)
Ukraine state energy company Energoatom said Friday that Russian forces have handed back control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Energoatom claimed the pullout happened after soldiers received “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant.
Yevhen Kramarenko, the leader of the agency in charge of the area, confirmed the departure of Russian troops from the Chernobyl plant, but added that "Russians were seen in the exclusion zone this morning," according to Reuters.
Energoatom said Thursday that the Russian soldiers were headed toward Ukraine’s border with Belarus and that its forces were also preparing to leave Slavutych, a nearby city where power plant workers live.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A still image taken from video footage shows members of the Russian Emergencies Ministry extinguishing a fire at a fuel depot in the city of Belgorod, Russia April 1, 2022. Russian Emergencies Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
A Russian official is accusing Ukraine of launching airstrikes on an oil depot in the border city of Belgorod Friday despite reports that the attack may have been a false-flag operation to further justify Moscow’s brutal assault on Ukraine.
Russia's regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram that two Ukrainian helicopters started the fire that erupted at the facility, injuring two workers, according to Reuters.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, when asked Friday who was behind the blasts, said he could "neither confirm nor reject the claim that Ukraine was involved in this simply because I do not possess all the military information."
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said it is conducting defensive operations and can’t be held responsible for "every catastrophe on Russia's territory," Reuters reported.
A German journalist also claimed that Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces has denied having knowledge of the attack and suggested it could have been a Russian false-flag operation.
For more on this story: Ukraine reacts after Russia accuses its helicopters of launching airstrikes on oil depot across the border
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced Thursday that his state is sending 9,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia.
"Arizona stands with Ukraine. Everyday citizens are risking their lives, fighting for their freedom, and deserve all the assistance we can give them," Ducey said in a statement. "These surplus bullet proof vests and armor will help as they defend their country from Vladimir Putin."
Eleven local, county, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies donated the equipment, which includes 874 bullet proof vests, 77 helmets, miscellaneous tactical clothing, footwear, pads and shields. The Ukrainian Relief Group will transport the 17 pallets of equipment to the besieged European country in the next two weeks, according to the governor's office.
Georgia, the country just south of Russia's border near the Caucasus Mountains -- a country which Russia invaded in 2008 -- has joined the Western effort to place sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, just over a month after Tblisi said it would not do so.
"We participating in all the international financial sanctions [on Russia], and that really already means something for our financial sector," Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said Thursday . "As of now, we also participate in all international resolutions that are being created to support Ukraine."
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Feb. 25 that the country did not plan to impose sanctions on Russia. Later, the country's National Bank restricted the Georgian branch of VTB bank's ability to serve individuals and borrowers due to Western sanctions on Russia.
The leader of Georgia's Moscow-backed separatist region of South Ossetia, Anatoly Bibilov, announced Thursday that the region is looking to hold a referendum on joining Russia. Tblisi called this move "unacceptable."
"I believe that the unification with Russia is our strategic goal," Bibilov told Russian state television. "It is our path. And the South Ossetia will move on that path."
It's been said more than once in recent days that Russian President Putin has likely been misinformed by his security and military services about the war in Ukraine--from the initial prospects for victory to progress on the ground. To date, no one suggests this is part of a conspiracy but rather the result of advisors being afraid to tell Putin things he doesn't want to hear.
It may be that now finally, Putin has become clear-headed, seeing that a month in, Russia has not achieved its goals that were supposed to have come with lightning speed. It did not take Ukraine in a couple of days. Without regrouping or changing tack, the path ahead looks long and uncertain.
And now Putin's inner circle, which once appeared to be in lockstep about the war and the officially declared reasons for it, is split quite dramatically between those who want to cut Russia's losses and run and those who want to fight until the bitter end, to deliver Ukraine in its entirety to the Russian people. "Some think that Russia should be realistic about its goals and about its resources," Oleg Ignatov of the International Crisis Group, told Fox News.
Read more: Cracks in the Kremlin
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