April 15, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Russian language website of the independent Moscow Times news outlet has been blocked by the Russian state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor, the outlet said in a statement Friday.

"Russia blocked The Moscow Times' Russian language service on Friday after it published what authorities call a false report on riot police officers refusing to fight in Ukraine," the outlet said in a statement on its English website, which hasn't been affected.

The Moscow Times' Russian language website remains accessible abroad via VPN, the outlet said.

"The prosecutor’s office has not yet notified The Moscow Times of its decision," The Moscow Times said.

"A tracking tool first detected access disruptions to the domain name themoscowtimes.com/ru from within Russia earlier in the day," it said.

The Moscow Times said its Russian website was among dozens of domestic and foreign websites to have been blocked since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Some context: In March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of being "frightened" by journalists "who can tell the truth" after the Kremlin attempted to prevent Russians seeing an interview he gave about the war in Ukraine.

"Well, if there's such reaction — then we are doing everything right. [It] means they are nervous," added Zelensky.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN at the time that Russia was not afraid, saying there were "laws in ​place, and it is very important not to publish information that would amount to a violation of these laws."

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At least two people were killed in multiple attacks on the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, a regional military official told CNN. 

Dmytro Pletenchuk, the Mykolaiv military administration press officer, said an unspecified number of people were also injured in the shelling. 

A CNN team heard multiple rounds of explosions in the morning between 10:20 a.m. and 12 p.m. local time. The two people were killed in front of an Orthodox church, and the CNN team witnessed the clean-up of blood and debris. Sirens continued to sound in the city. 

Hanna Zamazeeva, the head of the Mykolaiv regional council, said in a statement on Telegram that Russian forces were hitting residential quarters of Mykolaiv. 

"There are no military facilities there!" she said. "PEACEFUL residents come under fire!"

Zamazeeva said one of the districts of the city was hit by fire from a multiple rocket launcher and warned residents to remain in shelters.

Seven people were killed when Russian forces allegedly opened fire Thursday on two evacuation buses, according to preliminary information, said the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.

Another 27 people were wounded as the buses travelled near the village of Borova, close to the contested city of Izium, the office added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the bravery of all Ukrainians who had defended the country in his latest video address, published Thursday -- the 50th day of the Russian invasion.

Zelensky then made an apparent reference to the Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva, which sank off the coast of Ukraine in the Black Sea on Thursday.

Russia's Defense Ministry said the ship sank as a result of an explosion after a fire of unknown origin that detonated the ship's stored ammunition. Ukraine says it hit the Moskva with anti-ship cruise missiles and that these missiles sparked the fire that detonated the ammunition.

Moskva was one of the ships involved in the famous exchange at Snake Island in February, which saw Ukrainian soldiers on the tiny Black Sea island react with defiant words when threatened with bombing by approaching Russians.

According to a purported audio exchange, one of the Ukrainian troops had responded to a warning from an approaching Russian vessel to lay down their weapons or face bombing by saying, "Russian warship, go f*** yourself."

In his address, Zelensky added that by destroying civilian infrastructure, Russia had shown "how absurd" the invasion is, because along with destroying Ukrainian cities it is also destroying Russia's standing in the world.

Ukrainian military intelligence issued a statement Thursday naming the Russian general leading operations in Ukraine and alleging "war crimes" in the siege of the port city of Mariupol.

Army Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, the commander of Russia's Southern Military District, was recently named as Russia's overall commander of the military campaign in Ukraine, according to a US official and a European official.

In its statement, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said Dvornikov was appointed commander of the Russian troops in Ukraine on April 8.

The Ukrainian statement added that "his subordinate units of the armed forces and troops of the National Guard of Russia are involved in war crimes against the civilian population of Mariupol," the port city that has been devastated by weeks of Russian bombardment.

Some background: Military analysts say the naming of a commander to lead Russian President Vladimir Putin's war signals an intent to remedy initial Russian battlefield setbacks and a lack of coordination among forces. Russian and Ukrainian troops continue to battle for control of Mariupol.

The alleged atrocities carried out by Russian forces following their retreat from several towns near Kyiv in recent weeks have drawn international outrage.

After images of at least 20 bodies strewn across the street in Bucha, Ukraine, emerged earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an end to Russian "war crimes."

On Monday, the prosecutor general of Ukraine said Monday that her office was investigating 5,800 cases of Russian war crimes, with "more and more" proceedings every day.

And on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden described the atrocities in Ukraine as "genocide" for the first time, adding that "it's become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a Ukrainian.”

CNN's Nathan Hodge, Tara John, Jonny Hallam and Paul LeBlanc contributed reporting to this post.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told European allies that the United States believes the Russian war in Ukraine could last through the end of 2022, two European officials told CNN, as US and European officials have increasingly assessed that there is no short-term end in sight to the conflict.

Many of the officials who spoke with CNN stressed that it is hard to predict exactly how long the war could go on, but several officials said that there are no indications that Russian President Vladimir Putin's ultimate goals have changed, and it is unlikely he will pursue diplomatic negotiations unless faced with military defeat.

The thinking that this could be a long-term conflict represents a marked shift from the early days of the war, when Russia was expected to quickly take the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, and underscores Moscow's failures on the battlefield.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday that the fighting will go on "for months or even longer," while two other European officials said they believe fighting in eastern Ukraine could last for four to six months and then result in a stalemate.

Blinken, a senior State Department official said, "has discussed with his counterparts our concern that the conflict could be protracted, but all of his engagements have revolved around how best to bring it to a halt as quickly as possible."

Doubling down on weapons support: UK Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said this week that the launch of the new Russian fighting in the Donbas could be weeks away, telling reporters that "there is a window of opportunity and I think this is why the nature of our support is so important, that we are providing weapons, the equipment that Ukrainians need to do the job they need to do."

US officials cast the additional military support to Ukraine this week as a continuation, but do say that part of what has prompted the doubling down -- and additional support -- is the Ukrainians' battlefield efforts.

Cost of inaction: Officials also acknowledge that the public may grow weary of continued support for Ukraine, and will have to be reminded that inaction would be even more costly.

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The Russian military claimed Friday to have made advances in the besieged port city of Mariupol, just two days after Ukrainian units blockaded in the city said they had consolidated their defenses.

"The grouping of Russian troops and units of the Donetsk people's militia have completely liberated Ilyich Steelworks from Ukrainian nationalists as a result of the offensive in Mariupol city," Russian military spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement on Friday.

CNN cannot independently verify Konashenkov's claim, but the commanders of two Ukrainian units defending Mariupol issued a video statement on Wednesday saying they had been able to consolidate forces inside the city. Denis Prokopenko, the commander of the Azov Regiment, said his unit had linked up with troops from the 36th Marine Brigade, but acknowledged that some Ukrainian defenders had surrendered.

In a statement earlier this week, Ukrainian Marines had vowed to fight on, despite dwindling supplies and ammunition.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an independent think tank that monitors the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, said on Thursday that Russian troops "continued assaults against Ukrainian defenses in southwestern and eastern Mariupol on April 13, though ISW cannot confirm any territorial changes."

"Ukrainian officials admitted on April 14 that Russian forces captured 'some' personnel from Ukraine's 36th Marine Brigade during their breakout from the Ilyich plant to link up with Ukrainian forces in the Azovstal plant in eastern Mariupol on April 13," it added.

Some context: Ukrainian officials have warned of a major humanitarian emergency in Mariupol, saying around 100,000 civilians still require evacuation.

On Thursday, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths called on all parties to provide the safe passage of civilians out of Mariupol, following the announcement that two aid workers and their family members were killed there in March.

The military governor of Ukraine's Donetsk region, of which Mariupol is a part, said on Tuesday the situation in the besieged city was "difficult," citing preliminary estimates that as many as 22,000 people had died in the city.

Independent casualty figures from the fighting in the devastated city are not available.

Heavy shelling has taken place along much of the front line in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials said Friday.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said that "almost all settlements of the Donetsk region along the front line are under attack."

Kyrylenko highlighted the plight of the town of Maryinka, where he said 11 civilians had been killed since the beginning of the Russian invasion. The town had been extensively damaged, with nearly 100 homes destroyed, 13 high-rise buildings and three schools hit, he said.

Earlier Friday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said the focus of Russian forces in the east had been on capturing the settlements of Popasna and Rubizhne, but they had not succeeded. Russian forces earlier this week were said to have taken parts of Popasna.

Some context: Russian preparations continue to build in eastern Ukraine for an offensive operation, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Thursday.

The Donbas region of eastern Ukraine has been the front line of the country's conflict with Russia since 2014.

Civilians continue to be evacuated from the region, which has seen weeks of shelling as the Russians' invasion of Ukraine has shifted focus to seizing control of the Donbas' two major cities, Donetsk and Luhansk. 

Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said Thursday that despite the opening of evacuation corridors, the Russians continued to shell the cities of Luhansk region throughout the day.

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In a wooded area on the Polish side of the Poland-Ukraine border, men dressed in crisp, clean, camouflage are given tourniquets. They kneel on the muddy ground and start to learn basic survival training.

They call themselves the Pohonia Battalion, a group of fewer than 30 Belarusian exiles living mostly in Poland and other countries across Europe, who hope to join hundreds of their compatriots already involved in the battle for Ukraine.

The aspiring volunteer fighters say that in order to free their country of Russian President Vladimir Putin's grip, he must first be defeated in Ukraine.

The group, whose ages range from 19 to 60, carry Kalashnikov replicas. Almost none have fighting experience.

They are led by dissident and restaurateur Vadim Prokopiev. "We see a window of opportunity," Prokopiev told CNN on Monday.

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