April 25, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Zaporizhzhia Regional Council said Monday that the region was "preparing for defense" amid warnings that Russian forces were readying an offensive in the south-central part of Ukraine. 

The city of Zaporizhzhia has been a key way station for evacuees departing the encircled city of Mariupol and Russian-held areas of southern Ukraine. 

The council said an evacuation column had departed from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol, but lost communication less than 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the town of Manhush, west of Mariupol.

Evacuation columns have been hampered by active fighting and have been held frequently at Russian checkpoints. 

Russian forces continue to target civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, shelling five railway stations on Monday morning as well as causing widespread water and power outages in the eastern Luhansk region.

Here's the latest on Russia's invasion into Ukraine if you're just joining us:

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has called for the immediate release of four members of its Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine who have been “detained in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk" in the country's east.

The OSCE announced several of its staff members were being held on Saturday but hasn't confirmed publicly who is responsible for their detention -- however, the non-government areas of Donetsk and Luhansk are controlled by Russian-backed separatists. 

On Monday, a spokesperson for OSCE told CNN they were "still working to secure the release of their mission staff."

The SMM is an unarmed civilian division of the OSCE tasked with observing and reporting on conflict zones; it has maintained a presence in Ukraine since 2014 at the request of the government, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. 

On March 31, the OSCE SMM’s mandate in Ukraine expired after Russia -- which is one of the organization’s 57 participating States -- blocked its extension, but the SMM has continued to operate in an administrative capacity in Ukraine. 

OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid said SMM staff had been subjected to “intimidation, harassment and hostile public rhetoric” in the Russian-backed separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk following the collapse of the mandate. 

The Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine has seen extensive cuts to water and power supply due to heavy Russian shelling, said Serhiy Hayday, head of the regional military administration.

There had been "7,500 more power outages, almost the entire Luhansk region is without water supply," Hayday said in a statement on Telegram on Monday. "In the last 10 days, 10 settlements have seen power cut off due to Russian shelling, nine of which have been completely cut off. That makes 30,000 families without electricity. In the past day alone, 7,500 apartments and private houses were cut off."

Hayday said Russian forces had shifted to destroying infrastructure because of a lack of progress on the battlefield. 

"In total, 39 settlements have had power cuts, 26 completely and 13 partially," he said, adding that "121,746 consumers are without electricity."

Due to power cuts, pumping stations that supply water to Severodonetsk and Popasna district have been shut down, and water supply infrastructure in Rubizhne, Popasna, and nearby villages is also damaged, Hayday said.

Oleksandr Kamyshin, chairman of Ukrzaliznytsia -- Ukraine's state railway company -- said Monday that Russian forces had struck five railway stations in central and western Ukraine.

Kamyshin said at least 16 passenger trains would be held. He added that there were casualties, without providing specifics. 

In a separate statement, Ukrzaliznytsia said there was no power on the Shepetivka - Koziatyn, Zhmerynka - Koziatyn, and Koziatyn - Fastiv lines, forcing delays. 

Maksym Kozytskyy, the head of the Lviv regional military administration, gave details earlier Monday of a Russian strike that damaged a railway station in western Ukraine.

 Kozytskyy said there was no information on casualties at this stage. 

According to Kozytskyy, one of the incoming weapons was downed by anti-aircraft missile troops of the Air Command West of Ukraine's air force. He said the missiles were launched into Ukraine from the southeast, saying Russian forces likely launched them from strategic bombers.

Some context: The Ukrainian rail system -- one of the world's largest -- has become a vital cog in the country's war effort, ferrying essential supplies in, and desperate civilians out of harm's way.

Earlier this month, at least 50 people, including five children, were killed after Russian forces carried out a missile strike on a railway station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, which was being used by civilians trying to flee the fighting.

By mid-March, barely three weeks into the war, the network said it had moved more than 2.1 million passengers domestically, plus roughly quarter of a million more who'd gone to Poland. Many more have followed since. Some train cars have been refitted to carry medical supplies to the front lines and the wounded to hospitals.

Not only is the railway having to coordinate military and passenger trains, as well as aid shipments, but freight routes are also being ramped up. The Russians have cut off Ukrainian access to many Black Sea ports, which is how nearly 95% of agricultural output is normally shipped to markets abroad.

Now, Ukrainian Railways is attempting to compensate by sending more trains to Europe loaded with grain and produce. That's no small feat, considering Ukrainian tracks have a different gauge size than most European countries, so cargo has to be reloaded at the border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Emmanuel Macron on his re-election as President of France in a statement Monday. 

“I sincerely wish you success in your state activities, as well as good health and well-being,” reads the message, published by the Kremlin.

Macron won the French presidential election with 58.55% of the votes, according to results posted by the French Ministry of Interior Sunday night.

His right-wing rival Marine Le Pen took 41.45% of the vote.

The US believes Ukraine can win the war against Russia with “the right equipment and the right support,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters Monday, from an undisclosed location in Poland near the Ukrainian border. 

Some context: Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced trip to Kyiv on Sunday where they met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials, making them the highest-level US officials to have traveled to the country since Russia's invasion began. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday he appreciated "the unprecedented assistance of the United States to Ukraine."

Zelensky's office issued a statement following a meeting in Kyiv between the Ukrainian leader, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. 

Zelensky also discussed strengthening US sanctions on Russia, the statement said. 

Maksym Kozytskyy, the head of the Lviv regional military administration in western Ukraine, said anti-aircraft defences had been engaged as he urged residents to shelter.

In a separate statement, Kozytskyy said fires had broken out in two settlements in Zolochiv district.