April 19, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The head of the Luhansk regional military administration urged civilians on Tuesday to evacuate amid an escalation in fighting and the fall of the town of Kreminna to Russian forces. 

Haidai said evacuations would take place even though Russian forces had refused a ceasefire.

Evacuation efforts would focus on the areas of Rubizhne, Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna and Hirske, Haidai said, adding people had volunteered to help despite heavy Russian shelling. 

Some context: Russian forces have been trying to advance toward the borders of both Luhansk and Donetsk in the Donbas region. Russia's focus has shifted to the east of the country since its failure to gain territory around the capital Kyiv, and other parts of central and northern Ukraine.

On Monday, Russian forces entered Kreminna, a town in the eastern Luhansk region, with "a huge amount of equipment," said Haidai, claiming that "the offensive has begun."

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said no evacuation routes for civilians had been agreed with Russian forces on Tuesday, amid warnings from Ukrainian officials that a major battle for the Donbas region had begun.

The Russians had refused to open an evacuation route for civilians in the besieged city of Mariupol to leave for the port city of Berdyansk, Vereshchuk said, while talks on other routes were ongoing.

Some context: Civilians in Mariupol remain trapped in an increasingly dire situation with little chance of escape, officials say, as Russian shelling and attacks continue.

Over the weekend, the Russian Defense Ministry laid down conditions for the surrender of the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol — an ultimatum rejected by officials in the city.

A brigade accused of committing war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha has been awarded an honorary title by Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

In a signed letter on Monday, Putin congratulated Russia’s 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade for their “great heroism and courage” and awarded the unit the title of "Guards" for “protecting Russia’s sovereignty.” 

Earlier this month, mass graves full of hundreds of murdered civilians -- which CNN teams visited -- were discovered in the towns of Bucha and Borodyanka following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kyiv region. 

In a statement issued April 4, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense named the servicemen of the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade as war criminals directly involved in the atrocities committed against the civilians of Bucha. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has blamed Russia for the killings and called on Moscow to stop committing "war crimes."

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the mass killings, while reiterating baseless claims that the images of civilian bodies on the streets of Bucha are fake.

During a visit to Bucha and Borodyanka last week, International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said there were “reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC are being committed.”

But Khan also warned that it would be “challenging” to guarantee justice would be served in Ukraine, given Russia’s decision to withdraw its signature from an ICC statute that gives the court jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.

Russia does not extradite its citizens to other countries.

Mila Turchyn walks into a McDonald's parking lot near the Poland-Ukraine border. She is anxious. She doesn't trust the man she is about to meet. He is a smuggler.

Turchyn found the man via a messaging app a few days ago, advertising transport services for Ukrainians stranded in Russia. They made a deal — $500 to drive Turchyn's mom and sister from Moscow to Przemysl, Poland. It's more than most families fleeing war can afford.

She is wondering if it worked.

Turchyn turns and suddenly finds herself in her sister's arms. There is a brief moment of joy, but no time to hug her mom. The smuggler wants to be paid now. He demands more cash. She pays. At this point, she wants nothing more than to be with her family.

The exchange is finally over and the three women are reunited in Poland. They quietly and quickly embrace.

For the Ukrainians who now find themselves displaced in Russia, however, getting to safety is dangerous.

Read the full story:

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A woman's family were forced into Russia. She smuggled them to Poland

A statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin has been erected in Russian-occupied Henichesk, Ukraine, photos posted Monday to social media show, nearly seven years after one was removed as part of "decommunization" efforts.

The town of Henichesk sits on the Sea of Azov in Kherson province, just north of the border with Russian-annexed Crimea.

Three photos, posted on Facebook, show the new Lenin statue in front of the regional council building. A Russian flag is seen on the roof of the building. 

CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the photos.

The original Lenin statue outside the government building was taken down by order of the city council on July 16, 2015, video and local news reports show. According to those reports, Henichesk was one of the last towns in the region to have a statue of Lenin. 

Yuri Sobolevsky, Ukrainian regional deputy for Kherson, confirmed the new statue in a post on Facebook. 

Having regrouped to launch an offensive in the east of Ukraine, Russian forces have started what one Ukrainian official described as the "second phase of the war" -- the battle for Donbas.

Control of Kreminna, a town in the eastern Luhansk region, has already been "lost" during heavy fighting, a Ukrainian official said.

The developments come after Russia bombarded cities across Ukraine on Monday, with a least four missile strikes reported in the western city of Lviv and at least seven people killed.

Here are the latest developments on Russia's invasion of Ukraine:

A new video posted by the Azov Battalion on Monday shows Ukrainian forces in Mariupol ambushing a Russian military convoy.

CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the video, but it's unclear when the ambush occurred. The Azov Battalion is a unit that began as an ultra-nationalist militia but has since integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces.

The video, taken by a drone, shows a convoy of six vehicles moving south along Metallurgists Avenue in Mariupol. The convoy pulls off the road and onto a sidewalk just outside the Ararat cafe.

As the drone zooms out, it shows at least nine Ukrainian troops creeping toward the convoy, which has stopped moving. The video then cuts to soldiers firing in the direction of the convoy.

It then cuts to another scene, in which at least three of the six vehicles are on fire. A "Z" -- the symbol of the Russian invasion -- can be seen on at least two of the vehicles.

The video then shows Ukrainian soldiers throwing grenades over a brick wall, in the direction of Russian soldiers who are taking cover between one of the vehicles and a wall.

CNN is not airing the entire video, as it shows grenades exploding on top of the Russian soldiers. 

In an address on Monday to world leaders, commander of the Azov Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Denys Prokopenko, said Russian forces are firing on the Azovstal steelworks factory “willingly” in Mariupol as hundreds of people are sheltering inside. 

The Azov Regiment, sometimes referred to as the Azov Battalion, is a unit that began as an ultra-nationalist volunteer militia but has since integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces.

Prokopenko, who is the commander of one of the Ukrainian units defending the port city, said in a post on Telegram account that among those sheltering are, “people of all ages, women, children, and families of Mariupol defenders. They are sheltering in the basements and bunkers from the ‘Russian world.'"

According to Prokopenko, those sheltering “found their only available shelter next to the Ukrainian soldiers, who are still defending the city from Russian invaders.”

He added, “City theatre, maternity hospital, schools, kindergartens, and houses were destroyed by those who now offer civilians evacuation and safety. These are the same people. And nobody believes.”

Watch: Drone footage shows smoke rising from Azovstal plant

New images emerged early Monday on social media showing Russia's guided-missile cruiser, the Moskva, badly damaged and on fire in the hours before the ship sank in the Black Sea on Thursday.

The sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, was the biggest wartime loss of a naval ship in 40 years -- and a huge embarrassment for Moscow.

The images show the Moskva listing to one side, with black holes from possible missile puncture marks, and significant scarring at and just above the waterline on the port (left) side of the middle of the vessel.

A large plume of black smoke can be seen billowing upwards, partly obscuring the front of the stricken ship.

Analysts told CNN the warship in the images looked like the Moskva, a Slava Class guided-missile destroyer.

Ukraine and Russia have provided conflicting accounts of what happened during Thursday's incident in the Black Sea.

Read the full story here.