The Russian ship destroyed in Berdyansk was the "Saratov," says Ukraine
From CNN's Andrew Carey in Lviv
In this satellite photo smoke rises after an attack that Ukraine's navy said sank a large Russian landing ship in the port city of Berdyansk, Ukraine, on March 24. (Planet Labs PBC/AP)
Ukrainian armed forces named the Russian landing ship they say they attacked and destroyed in Berdyansk as the "Saratov," in a statement on Friday.
“In the Azov operational zone, according to updated information, a large landing ship 'Saratov' was destroyed during the attack on the occupied Berdyansk port," the statement said.
The statement identified the two other large landing ships -- the "Caesar Kunikov" and "Novocherkassk" -- that were also said to have been destroyed during the attack.
"Other losses of the enemy are being clarified," the statement said.
Ukrainian armed forces said they destroyed the large Russian landing ship at the port of Berdyansk in southern Ukraine on Thursday.
The port, which had recently been occupied by Russian forces with several Russian warships in dock, was rocked by a series of heavy explosions soon after dawn.
Social media videos showed fires raging at the dockside, with a series of secondary explosions reverberating across the city.
Several Russian ships had been unloading military equipment at Berdyansk in recent days, according to reports from the port by Russian media outlets.
9:12 a.m. ET, March 25, 2022
Russia claims its forces destroyed large fuel depot in Ukraine with cruise missiles
From CNN's Radina Gigova
Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed Friday that Russian forces destroyed "the largest of the remaining fuel depots" near Kyiv, with a strike carried out with sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles.
"On the evening of March 24, a strike was carried out with sea-launched Kalibr precision cruise missiles on a fuel base in Kalynovka, outside Kyiv," Konashenkov claimed.
"The largest of the remaining fuel depot of the Ukrainian armed forces, which supplied fuel to military units in the central part of the country, was destroyed," Konashenkov added.
CNN could not immediately verify that claim.
More details have emerged this week about the military arsenal that Russia is using in Ukraine.
"And if you'll notice, (Russia has) just launched the hypersonic missile, because it's the only thing that they can get through with absolute certainty," Biden said. "It's a consequential weapon ... it's almost impossible to stop it. There's a reason they're using it."
But British intelligence and even Biden's own defense secretary have downplayed Russia's use of its air-launched Kinzhal missiles.
CNN's Brad Lendon contributed reporting to this post.
US and EU announce task force on reducing dependence on Russian oil and gas
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
The Peakshaver liquid natural gas (LNG) installation and storage site, operated by NV Nederlandse Gasunie, at the Port of Rotterdam in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on July 13. (Peter Boer/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Friday announced a joint task force in an effort to wean Europe from its dependence on Russian oil and gas.
The panel, chaired by representatives from the White House and the European Commission, will aim to find alternative supplies of liquified natural gas and reduce overall demand for natural gas.
The United States will work toward supplying Europe with at least 15 billion cubic meters of liquified natural gas in 2022, in partnership with other nations, the White House said.
Some context: Europe's dependence on Russian gas and oil has proved a major sticking point in Western efforts to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. While the US banned Russian energy imports, Europe found it far more difficult to cut off its supplies.
The group will also work toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions by paring down methane emissions and using clean energy.
8:21 a.m. ET, March 25, 2022
UK Defense Ministry: Ukraine has reoccupied towns and defensive positions east of Kyiv
From CNN's Radina Gigova
A Ukrainian military vehicle is seen on the road in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 24. (Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images)
Ukrainian forces have retaken towns and defensive positions on the eastern outskirts of Kyiv, Britain's Ministry of Defence said Friday in its latest intelligence update.
"Ukrainian counter-attacks, and Russian Forces falling back on overextended supply lines, has allowed Ukraine to re-occupy town and defensive positions up to 35 kilometers (21 miles) east of Kyiv," the ministry said. "Ukrainian Forces are likely to continue to attempt to push Russian Forces back along the north-western axis from Kyiv towards Hostomel Airfield."
Meanwhile, the advance of Russian forces toward the Black Sea port city of Odesa was stalling, the ministry said.
"Russian forces are still attempting to circumvent Mykolaiv as they look to drive west towards Odesa with their progress being slowed by logistic issues and Ukrainian resistance," the ministry added.
Some context: According to official Ukrainian accounts, the country's forces have retaken territory to the east of Kyiv following intense fighting Thursday, reversing previous Russian gains. Social media videos geolocated by CNN showed Ukrainian troops along with some captured Russian armor in the small settlement of Lukyanovka, some 35 miles (55 kilometers) east of the capital.
In the United States, Biden's warnings that democracy is under siege from menacing autocrats can seem remote, even after former President Donald Trump's US Capitol insurrection and attempt to steal the 2020 election.
But in Poland, which neighbors Ukraine, freedom is fresh enough to still be a novelty. In a tortured 20th-century history, the country — torn between East and West — was repeatedly conquered, was ruled by foreign tyrants and saw millions of its people purged or driven as refugees from homes destroyed by warfare.
Poland again finds itself on the front line of conflict. It's on the dividing line between states in the NATO club, to which it now belongs, and President Vladimir Putin's Russian orbit, which includes another Polish neighbor, Belarus. Poland has opened its borders to more than 2 million of the nearly 3.7 million Ukrainians who have fled Putin's onslaught, and the war came close to its borders with a Russian strike on a base in western Ukraine earlier this month.
Like Ukraine, Poland lived for decades under Moscow's Communist iron fist. Like Ukrainians, Poles are often gritty, are deeply suspicious of Russians and have fighting for their freedom and sovereignty ingrained in their DNA. Unlike Ukraine, one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union, Poland made it to the West after decades under the Warsaw Pact umbrella. And in addition to being in NATO, it's a member of the European Union, albeit one that has had tensions recently with Brussels over its own flirtations with populist nationalism.
As Putin's threat mounted in recent years, Poland hosted rotations of US troops and jets. In February, before Putin invaded Ukraine, Poland was one of the nations to which Biden ordered 3,000 troops to bolster the alliance's eastern flank. If the war in Ukraine spills over into a broader conflict between Russia and the West, a frightening prospect, there's a good chance it could happen in Poland.
With world's eyes on war in Ukraine, North Korea tests a new long-range missile
From CNN's Yoonjung Seo, Gawon Bae, Emiko Jozuka and Brad Lendon
North Korean state media said on Friday that leader Kim Jong Un had directly guided the launch of the weapon, known as the Hwasong-17, its most advanced to date. (Rodong Sinmun)
On Thursday, as Western leaders gathered in Brussels for security summits, North Korea launched what it said was a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) — its first long-range test in more than four years.
According to analysts, the recent spate of North Korean missile tests suggest the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, is attempting to show an increasingly turbulent world that Pyongyang remains a player in the struggle for power and influence.
"North Korea refuses to be ignored and may be trying to take advantage of global preoccupation with the war in Ukraine to force a fait accompli on its status as a nuclear weapons state," Leif-Eric Easley, associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, told CNN. "North Korea is nowhere near initiating aggression on the scale of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But Pyongyang's ambitions likewise exceed self-defense as it wants to overturn the postwar security order in Asia."
FIRST ON CNN: Major infrastructure in central Izyum is destroyed, new satellite images show
From CNN's Paul P. Murphy
A satellite image shows a crater in a field in central Izyum. On one side of the crater is the burnt wreckage of a school, on the other side a football field is visible. (Maxar Technologies)
Intense clashes around Izyum have left much of the city destroyed, city officials say, with new satellite images revealing the extent of the devastation in the eastern Ukrainian city.
The images were taken on Thursday by Maxar Technologies.
They show a massive crater about 40 feet (12 meters) wide in a field in the city's central area. The burnt wreckage of a school lies on one side of the crater, with a football field on the other. Part of a hospital across the street is also seen destroyed.
A large boiler building and several residential building around it were destroyed. (Maxar Technologies)
The city has been caught in the crossfire as Russia attempts to link advances made in the Kharkiv region of northern Ukraine with its stronghold in the far east of the country.
Council deputy Max Strelnyk told CNN on Thursday the city had been “completely destroyed” by Russian aircraft and artillery, even as fierce battles continued inside Izyum for control of the ground.
A convoy of Russian self-propelled artillery is seen moving south towards Izyum. (Maxar Technologies)
North of the school in the satellite images, a large boiler building and every nearby residential building appears destroyed. There does not appear to be any identifiable military targets in this part of central Izyum.
About 3 miles (5 kilometers) northwest of Izyum, a convoy of Russian self-propelled artillery is seen moving toward the city.
Russian troops now control the city sectors on the northern bank of the Seversky Donets River, which splits Izyum in half, Strelnyk said. The Ukrainians control the city sectors on the southern bank of the river.
Three miles northeast of the city, Russian self-propelled artillery are also seen positioned in a field, their turrets pointing toward central Izyum.
Russian self-propelled artillery in a field, with their turrets pointing toward central Izyum. (Maxar Technologies)
Another image shows two vehicle bridges crossing the Seversky Donets River have been partially destroyed, in what appears to be a purposeful strike to stop a Russian advance across the river.
But the Russians have found a way around, and are now advancing on the city from the south.
A pontoon bridge over the Seversky Donets River. (Maxar Technologies)
To bypass the blown bridges, the Russians have erected two pontoon bridges over the Seversky Donets River to encircle the city. A mile from those bridges, on the southern bank of the river, a convoy of tanks are seen moving along a highway toward the Ukrainian-controlled sectors of Izyum.
A convoy of tanks moving north along towards Izyum. (Maxar Technologies)
1:04 a.m. ET, March 25, 2022
Japan adds 25 more Russians to sanctions list in response to Ukraine war
From CNN’s Emiko Jozuka and Yuki Kurihara in Tokyo
Japan will freeze the assets of 25 more Russian citizens and ban exports to 81 Russian organizations, the country's Ministry of Finance said in a news release on Friday.
It brings the total number of Russians targeted by Japan's asset freezes to 101 people.
Targets of the new sanctions include Igor Shuvalov, a former Russian deputy prime minister and chairman of major state-owned bank Vnesheconombank, and five of oligarch Sergey Chemezov's relatives, according to Japan's Finance Ministry.
The export of luxury goods will also be banned, the ministry said.
Tokyo has unveiled a raft of punitive measures against Moscow in recent weeks. The latest sanctions come as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged on Wednesday to unveil more support for Ukraine at the G7 summit in Brussels.
1:54 a.m. ET, March 25, 2022
Western oil and gas companies have paid $15B in taxes to Russia since it annexed Crimea, NGOs say
From CNN's Angela Dewan
Nine European and US fossil fuel companies have paid a collective $15.8 billion to Russia in various forms of taxes and fees since the country annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a group of NGOs said Thursday.
The groups, Global Witness, Greenpeace USA and Oil Change International, used data from Oslo-based Rystad Energy, an independent energy research firm, to calculate how much money oil and gas companies based in North America and Europe had sent to the Russian state. They looked only at companies with exploration and production operations in Russia.
They looked at royalties, export duties, bonuses, taxes and fees, as well as "government profit oil," which includes the value of any oil the companies may have given to Russia. It came up with a list of nine companies from these regions that had paid the most money to Russia. All those payments were legal, and other multinational companies outside the energy sector have also have made similar kinds of payments to the Russian state.
Shell, which is registered in the UK, sent $7.85 billion, the highest amount of the companies listed, the groups said in a statement, shared first with CNN. It was followed by US-based ExxonMobil ($2.81 billion). Two companies registered in Germany, Wintershall and Wintershall DEA, which have since merged, paid a combined total of $2.86 billion. BP, the British multinational oil and gas company, paid $817 million, the data from Rystad shows.
The data was shared amid criticisms that the West's purchases of Russian coal, oil and gas — which are largely state-owned assets — have helped fund Russia's war in Ukraine. The addition of taxes, fees and royalties for companies that have chosen to operate in Russia underscores how much capital Western energy companies have transferred to Russia.
The three groups that compiled the data said that while the $15.8 billion figure was substantial, the companies identified were also responsible for tens of billions of dollars more flowing to the Russian state because of stakes they hold in Russian oil and gas companies.
