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Russia's war in Ukraine

April 7, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Travis Caldwell, Jessie Yeung, Sana Noor Haq and Ben Church, CNN

Updated 12:02 a.m. ET, April 8, 2022

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4:41 a.m. ET, April 7, 2022

Australia imposes new sanctions and travel bans targeting top Russian officials

From CNN's Lizzy Yee in Hong Kong

Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev speaks during a meeting at the Russian National Defense Management Center in Moscow, Russia, on July 20, 2018. (Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Australia unveiled new sanctions on 67 Russian officials on Thursday, bringing the total number of sanctioned "individuals and entities" since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine "close to 600," according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The latest sanctions target prominent Russian businessmen, as well as senior military and government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko, Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, and senior Russian politician Alexander Babakov.

Among those in the latest listings is Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, named responsible for attacks on "innocent civilians," including the "bombing of the theater" in Mariupol.

"This latest round of sanctions follows the emergence of evidence of war crimes committed by Russia in Bucha and other towns around Kyiv," the statement said. "Australia condemns these atrocities in the strongest possible terms."

"The horror is almost unspeakable, and we see it every day. But I do think Australians can be proud of the effort that our country is making to support Ukraine," Foreign Minister Marise Payne told local radio station 2GB.

Some background: A chorus of world leaders have called for increased sanctions and war crimes investigations on Russia, following the alleged atrocities in the town of Bucha, northwest of the capital Kyiv.

Shortly after the withdrawal of Russian troops from Bucha, civilian bodies were found strewn across a street and a mass grave was discovered, with the mayor of the town saying that there could be up to 300 victims buried on site.

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden declared "major war crimes" were being discovered in Ukraine as the White House announced new sanctions on Russia's largest financial institutions and a number of individuals tied to the Kremlin -- including Russian President Vladimir Putin's two adult daughters.

3:50 a.m. ET, April 7, 2022

EU's top diplomat hopes latest round of Russian sanctions will be agreed upon by Friday

From CNN’s Niamh Kennedy

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks to the media as he arrives for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 7. (François Walschaerts/AFP/Getty Images)

The European Union’s top diplomat has expressed his hope that the bloc’s fifth round of sanctions against Russia will be agreed by Thursday or Friday.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the bloc is still looking at “the list of people and the sectors affected” but will hopefully agree on the final measures by “this afternoon or tomorrow at the latest,” he told reporters on his way into a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the bloc announced proposed plans for a five-pillar package of sanctions, including a ban on Russian coal imports and a full transaction ban on four key Russian banks.

A potential embargo on Russian oil “will be discussed on Monday” at the EU Foreign Affairs Council, Borrell said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Wednesday the fifth package “will not be our last sanctions.”

"Yes, we've now banned coal, but now we have to look into oil," she said.

Read more about the proposed EU sanctions:

Europe is finally coming after Russia's energy

3:43 a.m. ET, April 7, 2022

Ukrainian Foreign Minister's agenda at NATO meeting is "weapons, weapons and weapons"

From CNN's James Frater and Nic Robertson at NATO Headquarters in Brussels

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, left, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speak to the media as they arrive for a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 7. (François Walschaerts/AFP/Getty Images)

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, where NATO and G7 foreign ministers are meeting this week to discuss sanctions against Russia and ways to support Ukraine.

“My agenda is very simple. It has only three items on it. It's weapons, weapons and weapons,” Kuleba told reporters.

Providing Ukraine with weapons was the best way to “contain Putin and to defeat Russian army in Ukraine, in the territory of Ukraine so that the war does not spill over further,” Kuleba said.

“The Ukrainian army and the entire Ukrainian nation has demonstrated that we know how to fight. We know how to win.
“The more weapons we get, and the sooner they arrive in Ukraine, the more human lives will be saved, the more cities and villages will not be destructed, and there will be no more Buchas.”

He called on NATO and G7 Foreign Ministers to “put aside their hesitations, their reluctance to provide Ukraine with everything it needs,” concluding that “as weird as it may sound, today weapons serve the purpose of peace.”

Speaking beside Kuleba, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO countries “are providing equipment support to you to uphold your right for self defense, which is enshrined in the UN Charter and it is an urgent need to further support Ukraine.”

Stoltenberg said he was certain that NATO will “address the need for more air defense systems, anti-tank weapons, lighter but also heavier weapons, and many different types of support to Ukraine.”

Ukraine-US meeting: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Kuleba on Thursday, according to the US State Department's public schedule.

The two last met in Warsaw in late March.

Blinken on Wednesday met with his NATO counterparts, plus foreign ministers from countries including Australia and Japan.

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this post.

3:08 a.m. ET, April 7, 2022

Austria expels four Russian diplomats

From CNN’s Wayne Chang

Austria declared four Russian diplomats "personae non gratae" and expelled them for conducting activities not "in accordance with their diplomatic status,” Austria’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday in a statement.

They are required to leave the country by April 12 at the latest, according to the statement.

Three of the diplomats were staffers at Russia’s Embassy in Vienna and the other was a staff member at Russia’s consulate in Salzburg, the ministry said.

Some context: Multiple European nations have expelled Russian diplomats in the past week, including Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Sweden.

The expulsion of Russian diplomats is a “short-sighted step” that will “inevitably lead to retaliatory steps,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters Tuesday.

3:06 a.m. ET, April 7, 2022

Japan condemns Russian threat of sanctions countermeasures

From CNN's Junko Ogura and Emiko Jozuka in Tokyo

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno speaks at a news conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on April 7. (Kyodo News/Getty Images)

Any Russian countermeasures against Japan in response to sanctions imposed on Moscow by Tokyo would be "unacceptable," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.

"This whole situation stems from Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Any response that attempts to shift responsibility to Japan is extremely unjustified and unacceptable," Matsuno told a news conference Thursday..

Matsuno's remarks came after Russian Foreign Ministry official Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Moscow was considering countermeasures against Tokyo, which has imposed a series of sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Japan's government "is stoking anti-Russian hysteria in Japanese society," Zakharova told reporters at a news conference. She also criticized Japan for "obediently following instructions received from across the ocean" and said Tokyo was undermining Russia-Japan relations.

“The current Japanese authorities are consistently destroying the positive mutually beneficial cooperation that was carefully created over many years by their predecessors,” Zakharova said.

Some context: Last month, Russia's Foreign Ministry said it would suspend peace treaty talks to formally end World War II hostilities between Moscow and Tokyo due to the sanctions over Ukraine.

"Under the current conditions Russia does not intend to continue negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty," the Russian Foreign Ministry said at the time, citing Japan's "openly unfriendly positions and attempts to damage the interests of our country."

The Kuril Islands, referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan, were captured by Soviet forces following Japan's surrender to Allied Forces in 1945. The resulting disagreement over who has rightful ownership of the islands has soured relations between the two countries, contributing to their continued failure to sign a World War II peace treaty.

1:54 a.m. ET, April 7, 2022

Ukrainian lawmaker on discovery of civilian bodies: "We are seeing the horror in real life"

From CNN's Travis Caldwell

Ukrainian lawmaker Sviatoslav Yurash (right) speaks with CNN's Jake Tapper. (CNN)

As Ukrainians find bodies of slain civilians in areas previously occupied by Russian forces, those on the ground say the shocking images emerging from places such as Bucha may only be the start of what is discovered.

“I think Bucha is just the beginning as we liberate more of our country,” Sviatoslav Yurash, Ukraine's youngest member of parliament, told CNN’s Jake Tapper early Thursday morning.

“You will see much more horror on your TV screens. We are seeing the horror in real life. We cannot but state our utter shock at the fact this is possible in our time,” he said.

Yurash, 26, who spoke from Kyiv, said he was in nearby Borodianka on Wednesday, which was “badly mauled by the Russians.”

Borodianka was a jumping-off point for Russian units as they advanced on Kyiv through suburbs like Bucha and Irpin. They faced staunch resistance from Ukrainian forces and were forced to retreat.

A CNN team in Borodianka was present as volunteers discovered and removed the bodies of civilians killed during Russian attacks.

“This is a town which has no military base, had no brigade, had no airport, and Russians hit it with everything they've got,” Yurash said.
“They basically destroyed the buildings with air power. There are still people in the rubble. There are residential buildings they destroyed. There are shells lying around the city, and they basically have shown that this war is about destroying common people of Ukraine in the Borodianka area like nowhere else.”

Supply lines: As Russian forces withdraw from northern Ukraine and focus efforts toward the country's east, Kyiv is becoming a hub to distribute supplies to other places under attack, Yurash said.

"The point is to get the soldiers the supplies to help there, to defeat the Russians and to keep them out of the major cities, keep them from making more Buchas around Ukraine," he said.

CNN's Corey James contributed to this post.

12:29 a.m. ET, April 7, 2022

Analysis: A long war of attrition in Ukraine will have huge global consequences

Analysis from CNN's Stephen Collinson

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is transforming into a grinding war of attrition that portends months of more human carnage and will transmit shockwaves from Vladimir Putin's onslaught to millions of people across the globe.

Rapid reassessments of the duration, character and costs of the war are being prompted by Russia's strategic shift away from a bogged down attempt to take Kyiv and topple the government to a refocusing of military force in southern and eastern areas.

In the early days of the war six weeks ago, it seemed possible a Russian blitzkrieg could quickly storm the country and seize the capital. But fierce Ukrainian resistance, backed by Western arms, and heavy Russian casualties has led to a change of plan by Moscow.

Yet the redeployment, which allowed a horrific trail of atrocities to be unveiled to the world, doesn't mean a vicious war that Putin cannot afford to lose is anywhere near over. In fact, it ensures that economic, political and international forces unleashed by the conflict will last for months and exact a deeper toll.

And the consequences of Russia's ruthless mission will not be contained in Europe.

Read the full analysis:

A long war of attrition in Ukraine will have huge global consequences | CNN Politics

12:08 a.m. ET, April 7, 2022

It's 7 a.m. in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know

Policemen work to identify civilians who were killed during the Russian occupation in Bucha, Ukraine, before sending the bodies to a morgue on Wednesday. (Rodrigo Abd/AP)

As Russian forces ramp up their attacks on eastern Ukraine and the civilian death toll rises, NATO officials met in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss sanctions against Moscow and support for Kyiv.

Here's the latest:

NATO warning: Despite Russia shifting its military focus to the east of the country, NATO's chief warned the war could stretch on for years, as Russian President Vladimir Putin wants "to control the whole of Ukraine." Secretary general Jens Stoltenberg also thanked the US for imposing sanctions on Russia, boosting defense capacities in Europe, and supporting Ukraine.
UK's stance: At a dinner with NATO foreign ministers, the British foreign secretary said the "age of engagement with Russia is over," and "it is time to cast off an outdated approach to handling Russia."
US sanctions Putin family: The White House announced a new round of sanctions targeting major Russian financial institutions — as well as Putin's adult daughters, Mariya Putina and Katerina Tikhonova. The US hopes to freeze any assets Putin may be hiding with them, according to a senior US official.
Trenches at Chernobyl: Ukrainian authorities released drone video Wednesday showing abandoned Russian military positions, including vacant pits and trenches, in a highly radioactively contaminated area near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Zelensky's plea: In his nightly address Wednesday, the Ukrainian President sent a message to the world that the "attitude to Russia is simple: either you support a search for peace or you're supporting mass murders." He also stressed the need to revive Ukraine's economy, and said he would call for the complete blockade of Russian banks from the international banking system.
Russian speakers killed: In an interview with a Turkish outlet, Zelensky claimed people in Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine — including hundreds of children — have died in Russian airstrikes. Russia "told these people that they were coming to defend them," he said.
Civilian casualties: At least 1,563 civilians have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, according to UN estimates. More than 2,200 have been injured.
Horror in Bucha: More global leaders are condemning Putin and Russian forces after the horrifying images of civilian casualties from Bucha, a Kyiv suburb, that emerged over the weekend. Journalists at the scene this week described seeing victims with their hands bound behind their backs, shot multiple times.

11:35 p.m. ET, April 6, 2022

Video shows Russian forces dug trenches in highly radioactive off-limits area near Chernobyl

From CNN's Jonny Hallam

A still from the video shows abandoned Russian military positions in a highly radioactive area near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. (Ukraine Army/Energoatom)

Abandoned Russian military positions in a highly radioactive area of the exclusion zone near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant can be seen in drone video released Wednesday by Ukrainian authorities.

The video — filmed by the Ukrainian military and released on Telegram by Energoatom, the state-owned operator of Ukraine's nuclear power plants — shows vacant pits and trenches of abandoned military fortifications in an area known as the Red Forest.

According to Reuters, the Red Forest got its name when dozens of square kilometers of pine trees turned red after absorbing radiation from the 1986 explosion at Chernobyl — the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Tank tracks and heavily disturbed ground can also be seen in the forest — considered the most polluted area in the entire Chernobyl exclusion zone — and off limits to anyone who does not work there or have special permission.

Radiation dangers: Last Friday, Energoatom said it was unclear what Russian troops were doing in the Red Forest and it is possible they could have received significant radiation exposure when digging or entrenching there.

Thick radioactive dust kicked up by heavy Russian vehicles could have been inhaled by the troops, who were not wearing anti-radiation protective equipment, plant workers said.

Chernobyl fell into the hands of Russian troops in the first week of the war in Ukraine. On Thursday, Russian troops announced their intention to leave and handed over control to Ukrainian personnel. The plant is now back under the control of Ukrainian authorities.