March 30, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Russia’s indiscriminate attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law and “may amount to war crimes,” UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Wednesday.

Bachelet said her investigators are looking into 24 cases where cluster munitions were used by Russia. Hospitals, water supplies and administrative buildings have been struck by missiles or shelling, she reported.

The Ukrainian people are enduring a “living nightmare,” Bachelet added.

“The hostilities must stop, without delay,” Bachelet said. “Today, I call on the Russian Federation to heed the clear and strong calls of the General Assembly and of this Council, and immediately act to withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory.”

There has been no breakthrough in talks between Russia and Ukraine, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told CNN on Wednesday. 

In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Le Drian said there was “nothing new” and “no breakthrough” in what has been discussed at negotiations in Istanbul.   

He added that “the issues are still the same” and that Russian President Vladimir Putin “still wishes to impose his diktat on Ukraine.”   

“We want a ceasefire as soon as possible but, in the meantime, we shall continue to provide Ukraine with defensive, legal weapons because this is necessary, because we want the war to stop, and we want the war to stop without going to war ourselves,” Le Drian told Amanpour.

Speaking about the conditions in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Le Drian said that President Putin "already has experience of doing so because it is very much the method that was used by the Russian forces in Aleppo [Syria].” 

“If Russia wishes to make some gestures, they have to put an end to that — in particular, in Mariupol. They have to lift the siege of Mariupol. They have to allow access to Mariupol for humanitarian purposes so that the humanitarian assistance can reach the population and so that, as well, the Mariupol people are free to move. So that would allow us to give the minimum of credibility to the Russian statements,” Le Drian continued. 

The mayor of Irpin, Oleksandr Markushin, told CNN that despite being a small city, it was able to stand up to the world’s second-largest military. 

“We had spirit, strong army and territorial defense and we had nowhere to retreat,” the Mayor added. “We are fighting for our land.”

Markushin said Russia never had full control of the city on the suburbs of Kyiv. 

“The Russians attacked Irpin and wanted to own it, but they failed. They captured 30% of the city. A few days ago we knocked them out,” he said. “Now Irpin is Ukrainian by a 100%.”

Despite being under full Ukrainian control, the area remains dangerous as Russian forces continue to occupy nearby areas.

“It's still dangerous here, because Bucha, Vorzel and Hostomel are nearby. They are under Russian troops who still shooting,” the Irpin mayor explained. “They use Grad system, shells and mines.”

Markushin said Ukrainian forces had destroyed more than 100 vehicles in and around Irpin and that a humanitarian rescue effort was still ongoing, as many of Irpin’s residents had been unable to leave. 

“We take out the wounded and dead bodies. Today and yesterday we have evacuated approximately 500 people. Today I myself evacuated about 50 children and 100 adults,” he said.  

“There are many destroyed buildings, schools and kindergartens. There are completely destroyed residential multi-story buildings,” he said.

Ukrainian officials say there has been no reduction in hostilities overnight despite claims by Russia that it planned to reduce the number of troops and military operations around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the northern city of Chernihiv.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said the Russian army continues to conduct a full-scale armed aggression against the country on Wednesday, while Ukrainian forces continue to conduct a defense operation in the eastern, southeastern and northeastern directions.

The mayor of Chernihiv said the city has come under "colossal attack," while Russia says that there has been "no breakthrough" in negotiations being held in Istanbul. The mayor of the northern Ukrainian city dismissed Moscow’s claim of a scale-back in operations. The city was “under fire” from Russian airstrikes while shelling continued through the night, according to Viacheslav Chaus, head of the Chernihiv regional administration. 

US officials have also been skeptical of Russia's claims of de-escalation in certain parts of Ukraine, and some observers have suggested Russia's shifting military objectives are meant to conceal setbacks on the battlefield.

Here's more of the latest headlines from the Russia-Ukraine conflict:

Heavy fighting continued in the outskirts of Kyiv on Wednesday, despite an announced drawdown of Russian forces around the Ukrainian capital.

A CNN team newsgathering near the suburb of Irpin heard constant incoming and outgoing shelling.

Multiple rocket launch systems were also heard intermittently near the last checkpoint between Kyiv and Irpin, as was sporadic outgoing small arms fire.

The British government said Wednesday that it has issued 25,500 visas to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.  

Of the 25,500 visas issued as of Tuesday, 22,800 were granted to applicants under the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Home Office said. The visa program allows Ukrainian refugees to apply to join or accompany a UK-based family member and if granted a visa, to live, work and study in the UK and access public funds. 

Some 2,700 visas have been issued through the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, also known as the “Homes for Ukraine” program, despite 28,300 applications having been made. More than 200,000 people in the UK have offered to host Ukrainian refugees in their homes under the scheme which launched on March 18, a spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities told CNN on Wednesday. 

Across both the visa schemes, the Home Office has received a total of 59,500 applications, of which fewer than half have been approved. Earlier this month, the UK government was criticized for its response to Ukrainian refugees, with its Family Scheme being described as complex and lengthy by people navigating the system. 

On Wednesday, the Russian army continued to conduct a full-scale, armed aggression against Ukraine, while Ukrainian forces continue to conduct a defense operation in the eastern, southeastern, and northeastern directions, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also claims Russian troops have “suffered significant losses” and likely “temporarily gave up the task of blocking Kyiv.”

Russia has “intensified fire and assault operations” in the Donetsk region and “continues to strike air and missile strikes on settlements.”

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claims that Russia’s main efforts are focused on taking control of the cities of Popasana, Rubizhne and Mariupol. It also claims that the Russian military is “demoralized” and has “low motivation to take part in hostilities in Ukraine.”

Russian forces are continuing to build up in the area of the Chernobyl power plant, the Shelter Facility, and the exclusion zone in general, according to the latest assessment.

Some background: Yesterday, Moscow claim it would "drastically reduce military activity," but US officials are skeptical of Russia's claims, with the Pentagon cautioning that troop movement near Kyiv is "a repositioning," not a withdrawal.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša said Wednesday that he supports sending the S-300 missile defense systems to Ukraine.  

“Yes, I support this because this is the equipment that Ukraine needs the most," he told CNN's Becky Anderson, but added, “I don’t support speaking a lot about what we are giving them."

Janša also said he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who told him that his government is prepared to propose a referendum to Ukrainians to change the constitution to abandon Ukraine's wish to join NATO. 

“I think they made some kind of pragmatic decision, because after they will win this war, I think that it will be NATO wanting them to join,” Janša said. “When they win this war, the Ukrainian army will be one of the strongest, if not the strongest army on the European continent."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that it’s “not the objective of the UK government” to remove Russian President Vladimir Putin from power.   

Speaking to the Liaison Committee of the House of Commons, Johnson was asked by lawmakers if he agreed that the final outcome should not only be “Russians out of Ukraine but Putin out of the Kremlin?” 

Johnson also said sanctions against Russia should be intensified until every Russian boot was out of Ukraine. 

“I certainly don’t think you could expect the G7 to lift sanctions simply because there’s been a ceasefire in Ukraine. That again goes straight into Putin’s playbook. In my view, we should continue to intensify sanctions with a rolling program until every single one of his troops is out of Ukraine,” he said. 

Asked if this included Crimea, Johnson said, “As I said, every single one of his troops is out of Ukraine.”