Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged caution Friday amid hopeful signs that his military had regained ground in some areas from Russian soldiers.
“We know what they are planning and what they are doing,” he said of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces. “We know that they are moving away from the areas where we are beating them to focus on others that are very important.”
Russian forces appeared to leave the village of Hostomel, Chernobyl, and an air base on the outskirts of Kyiv.
The air base has been at the center of some of the fiercest fighting since the invasion began six weeks ago, and it is a key strategic spot for Russia’s military to launch an assault on the capital city.
The area has changed hands multiple times since the start of the occupation on Feb. 24.
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Russia also pulled out of Chernobyl, Ukraine’s shuttered nuclear plant, five weeks after seizing it. The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to hold a news conference Friday afternoon following reports that some soldiers experienced radiation poisoning.
Chernobyl is the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
The agency also said it would send experts and security supplies to Ukraine to ensure safety at Chernobyl.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby seemed skeptical of the reports indicating that soldiers suffered radiation sickness, claiming in a news conference that Russia’s troop movement had little to do with health hazards and seemed to be “a piece of this larger effort to refit and resupply” Russia’s military.
Two Ukrainian low-flying attack helicopters crossed into Russian territory early Friday and fired on an oil depot in the border city of Belgorod, marking the first time Moscow has reported a Ukrainian airstrike on its territory since the war broke out.
The strike appeared to be an embarrassment to Russia, which boasted last week about wiping out Ukraine’s air force. Belgorod, which is about 20 miles from the Ukrainian border, has a population of about 400,000. Video footage posted to VKontakte and analyzed by U.S. media outlets confirmed that the airstrike caused a fire at the site. Two people were injured.
In the embattled port city of Mariupol, humanitarian efforts were underway Friday morning as convoys were sent to evacuate trapped residents who have endured near-constant shelling for weeks.
Russia’s defense ministry agreed Thursday to a temporary halt in hostilities to allow a humanitarian corridor to open for evacuations and aid. Communication out of Mariupol had been largely cut off, but the city council was able to release a video of a convoy and claimed that “almost 2,000 people will be taken away by buses alone!”
The International Committee of the Red Cross, though, warned that the effort to evacuate civilians “remains extremely complex.”
As hope for humanitarian aid spread in Mariupol, news broke that hundreds of Syrian fighters were on their way to help Russia’s military. The move is largely seen as payback for Russia’s help in crushing rebels during Syria’s 11-year civil war.
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President Bashar Assad had already sent 300 soldiers from a Syrian army division that had worked closely with Russian forces in the past, the New York Times reported. Syria has grown over the years as an exporter of mercenaries and has sent hired fighters to Libya, Azerbaijan, and the Central African Republic.
Elsewhere, leaders from China and the European Union are meeting Friday for the first time in two years. The EU is likely to ask for assurances from China that it will not help Russia militarily or will they help Moscow find loopholes in punishing sanctions.
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Europe is also facing a Friday deadline from Russia to begin paying for natural gas imports in rubles or face having supplies shut off, which would result in soaring gas prices and risk the economic health of the region.
