May 25, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Rhea Mogul, Joshua Berlinger, Hafsa Khalil and Adrienne Vogt, CNN

Updated 12:01 a.m. ET, May 26, 2022

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1:51 a.m. ET, May 25, 2022

Mariupol death toll at 22,000, says mayor's adviser

From CNN's Saskya Vandoorne and Melissa Bell in Kyiv

People stand amid newly-made graves at a cemetery outside Mariupol, Ukraine on May 22. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

“Mariupol is now a city of ghosts,” an adviser to the mayor of the ruined Ukrainian port city said Tuesday.

Speaking to CNN’s Melissa Bell, Petro Andriushchenko — who has fled to Ukrainian-held territory — said Mariupol town hall officials believe at least 22,000 residents of the city were killed during three months of war — a figure that cannot be independently verified, with the free press now unable to access the city and those still inside too scared to speak openly.

The figure of 22,000 is based, Andriushchenko said, on the many contacts he and other town hall officials continue to have with officials trapped inside. But he believes the actual figure could be much higher.

Andriushchenko said the process of reburying the dead has been complicated by Russian official insistence that reclaimed bodies be brought to a morgue and that a person claiming a body must agree to record a video in which the applicant says the deceased was killed by the Ukrainian military.

Based on the information gathered from his network of sources, Mariupol has been thrown back to the Middle Ages, Andriushchenko said.

“It is absolutely dark inside the city. The only lights are from Russian troops and Russian patrols,” he said. “Everywhere it’s the smell of death and the smell of fire.”

The mayor's adviser said his contacts paint a picture of a city in the grips of a humanitarian catastrophe with very little contact to the outside world. Mobile phone connections are only just beginning to be re-established.

He said residents are unable to move freely, with special passes needed for any movement within the city and a filtration system keeping them from fleeing altogether.

Mariupol has been at the center of a ferocious, months-long battle between Ukrainian government forces and Russian soldiers and pro-Russian fighters.

It officially fell to Russian forces Friday when the last group of the Azovstal fighters at the steel plant they had been holding out in for several weeks surrendered.

10:12 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022

Regional military chief: Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from contested town of Svitlodarsk

From CNN's Kostan Nechyporenko

Russian forces have taken the contested town of Svitlodarsk in the eastern Donbas region and Ukrainian forces have withdrawn, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration.

"About 10,000 civilians remain in occupied Svitlodarsk," Kyrylenko said Tuesday. "No more than 30% of the population left the city. Today, May 24, the Russian army entered Svitlodarsk in the Donetsk region. Russian flags have already been hoisted there."

According to Kyrylenko, Svitlodarsk had been surrounded on three sides, and the city had not been under intense shelling, so much of the civilian population remained.

"This is not a retreat [of the Armed Forces of Ukraine], but a regrouping," he said. "This is the right and logical decision in this situation to save the lives of [the military] and regroup."

Pro-Russian Telegram channels showed images of the Russian flag being hoisted over the city administration building in Svitlodarsk.

Kyrylenko also described the situation as "very difficult" in Lyman, a city further north in Donetsk region. "The situation there is now one of the tensest along the entire front line," he said.

8:33 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022

200 bodies found in ruins of Mariupol high-rise, Ukrainian official says

From CNN's Maria Kostenko

A Ukrainian official from the Russian-controlled port city of Mariupol claimed 200 bodies had been discovered in the rubble of a ruined high-rise building, another gruesome find in the city that has been devastated by months of Russian bombardment.

Petro Andriushenko, adviser to Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko, said in a statement on Telegram Tuesday that around 200 bodies were found during the dismantling of the rubble of a high-rise building near a suburban gas station. The bodies were found in a basement underneath the wrecked building in an advanced state of decomposition, he added.

"Due to the refusal of locals to collect and pack up the bodies of the dead, the Russian Ministry of Emergencies left the site," Andriushchenko said. "The bodies of the dead remained in place. The stench can be smelled almost throughout the quarter due to partially dismantled debris."

CNN was not able to immediately verify Andriushchenko's claim. Andriushchenko is not in Mariupol but has served as a clearinghouse for information from residents remaining in the city.

Residential buildings heavily damaged during the Russian attack on the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on May 11. (Pavel Klimov/Reuters)

Ukrainian officials say more than 20,000 residents of the city died during three months of war — a figure that cannot be independently supported — and many of the dead have been hastily buried in courtyards.

Andriushchenko said the process of reburying the dead has been complicated by Russian officials' insistence that reclaimed bodies be brought to a morgue and that a person claiming a body must agree to record a video in which the applicant says the deceased was killed by the Ukrainian military.

"The city has turned into a continuous cemetery," Andriushchenko said.

8:27 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022

Society "may not survive" Putin's war, says billionaire George Soros

From CNN's Jeanne Sahadi

Russia's invasion of Ukraine may have marked the start of "a third world war," and Russian President Vladimir Putin must be defeated "as soon as possible" if the world wants to preserve civilization.

That was the stark message that Hungarian-born billionaire and philanthropist George Soros delivered on Tuesday to attendees at the 2022 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"Even when the fighting stops, as it eventually must, the situation will never revert" to where it was before, warned the 91-year-old Soros.
"Other issues that concern all of humanity — fighting pandemics and climate change, avoiding nuclear war, maintaining global institutions — have had to take a back seat to that struggle. That's why I say civilization may not survive."

The former hedge fund manager, who is chair of Soros Fund Management LLC and founder of the Open Society Foundations, is famous for using his wealth to help foster open societies and create inclusive democracies with governments that are held accountable.

But after the events of September 11, he noted, the tide began to turn against open societies. As a result, "repressive regimes are now in the ascendance and open societies are under siege," he said Tuesday. "Today, China and Russia present the greatest threat to open society."

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Society 'may not survive' Putin's war, says billionaire George Soros

11:05 p.m. ET, May 24, 2022

Ukrainian special forces release video of military using foreign-made kamikaze drones

From CNN's Vasco Cotovio

The Ukrainian military has for the first time released footage of special forces using foreign-made kamikaze drones targeting Russian positions. According to the Ukrainian military, the drone was equipped with a powerful explosive that caused damage to a Russian tank after it flew into it.

"The combat use of kamikaze UAVs is a constant practice for SOF of Ukraine in the war with Russian invaders," the Ukrainian military said. "This is a good example of how the help of foreign partners together with the training and professionalism of our soldiers give positive results at the front."

The US sent 100 Switchblade drones to the Ukrainian military in April. The small, portable, so-called kamikaze drones carry warheads and detonate on impact. The smallest model can hit a target up to 6 miles (about 10 kilometers) away, according to a company that produces the drones.

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