April 22, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

US President Joe Biden's administration is not engaged in active preparations to re-open the US embassy in Kyiv, following the UK’s announcement that it will resume its diplomatic mission in the capital city soon, according to three sources familiar with the ongoing conversations. 

US State Department officials remain concerned about the possibility of a Russian strike that could accidentally hit the structure or US personnel, the sources said. The officials are less wary of specific targeting of the US mission, but so long as the errant missile threat remains, they are not going to move back into Kyiv. 

But the department is actively assessing the situation on the ground. 

For many State Department officials, the memories of Benghazi – when a US ambassador was killed in an attack on the US diplomatic compound – are a constant reminder of the need to be overly cautious, two of the sources said. 

The State Department ended operations at the US embassy in Kyiv over a month ago. The spokesperson said they looked forward to re-opening the embassy when able.

“We don’t have specifics on timing, but our team is actively planning and we very much look forward to resuming embassy operations in Ukraine to facilitate our support to the government and people of Ukraine as they bravely defend their country,” the spokesperson said. 

Amsterdam Trade Bank (ATB), a subsidiary of Russia’s Alfa Bank, was declared bankrupt on Friday, according to a statement by the Dutch Central Bank (DNB), citing a court order.

According to the statement, the Amsterdam Central Court ordered the bankruptcy of ATB on Friday, leading the DNB to activate a deposit guarantee scheme for account holders. 

The US Treasury announced on April 6 that it would be imposing “full blocking sanctions” on Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest private bank. As part of those sanctions, six subsidiaries, including ATB, were blocked for “being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Alfa-Bank.”

Eligible account holders at ATB are covered by the Dutch deposit guarantee scheme up to a maximum of 10,000 euros per person, and it has 23,000 private account holders, the DNB said. The full amount guaranteed by the scheme totals around 700 million euros.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “will be received by President Vladimir Putin” on Tuesday, April 26 after having a working meeting and lunch with the foreign minister of Russia, the UN said.

On Wednesday, a UN spokesperson said Guterres was requesting separate audiences with Putin in Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine to discuss the urgent need to bring about peace.

Guterres would like “to discuss urgent steps to bring about peace in Ukraine and the future of multilateralism based on the Charter of the United Nations and international law,” according to a statement from UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

Investigations into allegations of civilian deaths in Kyiv, Bucha and elsewhere continue as more evidence emerges.

Meanwhile, civilians remain trapped in Ukrainian cities like Mariupol and Luhansk, with no new evacuation corridors established Friday. Mariupol's mayor told CNN in an interview that "one clear day of cease fire" is needed to evacuate civilians sheltering in the Azovstal iron and steel plant in the besieged city.

Here are the latest developments on Russia's war in Ukraine:

The European Union's top diplomat, High Representative Josep Borrell, called for evacuation corridors in Mariupol to be created "immediately with necessary ceasefire assurances, from Azovstal and other areas of the city to other parts of Ukraine" in a written statement on Friday.

"Free and safe access for those delivering humanitarian assistance must be ensured, in line with basic human rights principles and international humanitarian law," he urged.

Borrell commended Ukraine's "efforts to finding a diplomatic solution for the evacuation of civilians" but said the EU regrets "that Russia is not reciprocating."

In the statement, Borrell also highlighted the urgency of the situation, saying:

"Thousands of its inhabitants have been deported to Russia or forcibly displaced to the non-government-controlled areas of Ukraine," he said.

Borrell added that over 100,000 civilians remain in Mariupol, including as many as 1,000 who have taken refuge at the Azovstal steel plant and are defended by Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The International Swimming Federation (FINA) – swimming’s governing body – announced on Thursday that it had suspended two-time Olympic champion Evgeny Rylov for nine months for attending a rally hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in March. 

“The FINA Bureau met today and acknowledged the decision of the FINA Disciplinary Panel to suspend Evgeny Rylov (RUS) from all competitions and activities organized or sanctioned by FINA, including any International Competition on the FINA World Aquatic Calendar, for a period of nine months, following Mr. Rylov’s attendance and conduct at an event held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on 8 March 2022. Mr. Rylov’s suspension took effect on 20 April 2022,” according to a statement. 

Rylov, a gold medalist in the 100 meter and 200 meter at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, earlier pulled out of the June 18 to July 3 world championship in support of banned Russian athletes. 

The statement also confirmed that Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials will not be invited to any FINA competitions for the remainder of 2022. 

CNN has reached out to Rylov as well as Russian and Belarusian swimming federations for comment. 

At least 20 people were injured in Mykolaiv region in the past two days in attacks by Russian troops, the head of Mykolaiv regional council, Hanna Zamazeeva, said in a Telegram post on Friday.

"Fortunately, there are no children among the victims," she added. 

Zamazeeva said the victims were taken to regional hospitals.

The Netherlands is “firmly committed” to ending the import of Russian oil and gas by the end of the year, Dutch Minister for Climate and Energy Policy Rob Jetten said Friday.

The Dutch government will subsidize energy companies to fill its Bergermeer gas storage facility to 70% capacity by the end of the year, spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Pieter ten Bruggencate told CNN Friday.

Subsidies were necessary as an incentive to import gas at current price levels, ten Bruggencate said, adding that the Netherlands would make an estimated 623,000,000 euros (about $672,000,000) available.

The state-owned energy firm Energie Beheer Nederland would top up the remaining capacity should the subsidy program not prove sufficient, ten Bruggencate added.

Russian troops opened fired at an evacuation bus with 25 people onboard from the city of Popasna, the head of the Luhansk regional military administration Serhiy Haidai said in a Telegram statement on Friday.

"This evacuation was special and extremely dangerous. 22 passengers were seated. There were a 25-year-old boy, who was injured in the back and leg, and a paralyzed elderly woman in a stretcher on the floor," Haidai said.

He added that a mother with a baby were also rescued from a bomb shelter. 

According to Haidai, no one was injured and the passengers are now safe.