March 31, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The US on Thursday targeted members of the Russian technology sector in a crackdown on sanctions evasion, the US Treasury said in a news release.

The agency said it is sanctioning “21 entities and 13 individuals as part of its crackdown on the Kremlin’s sanctions evasion networks and technology companies, which are instrumental to the Russian Federation’s war machine.”

It has also determined “that sanctions apply to the aerospace, marine, and electronics sectors of the Russian Federation,” meaning that the US can “impose sanctions on any individual or entity determined to operate or have operated in any of those sectors.”

Among the sanctioned were three employees of a Russian government institute that is accused of building hacking tools that were used in a cyberattack that forced an emergency shutdown at a Saudi petrochemical facility in 2017. The hacking incident caused alarm among cybersecurity experts because the malicious code used was specifically designed to target safety systems that protect human life. 

The institute — known as the State Research Center of the Russian Federation (FGUP) Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics — has billed itself as working closely with the Russian ministry of defense, according to the US Justice department. Evgeny Viktorovich Gladkikh, one of the three institute employees who was sanctioned Thursday, has been indicted for his role in the Saudi hacking incident and for unsuccessfully targeting a US energy firm, the Justice Department announced last week.

Russia's military says it has moved on to a new phase of its so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine, claiming that it is shifting its focus to the Donbas region in Ukraine's east.

Is this regrouping of forces a feint — allowing battered Russian forces to regroup after suffering serious losses at the hands of Ukrainian defenders — or a simple face-saving measure? Is Russia actually moving troops and equipment to concentrate on Ukraine's east, where Moscow has recognized two separatist republics?

On paper, that seems to be the case. Russian Ministry of Defense spokesperson Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said a "planned regrouping of troops" was underway around Kyiv and Chernihiv, one day after Russian negotiators said Moscow's forces would take steps toward de-escalation around those two cities. He said Russian forces were regrouping in order to "intensify operations in priority areas and, above all, to complete the operation for the complete liberation of Donbas."

US officials and military analysts have rightly been skeptical of Russia's claims of de-escalation, and some observers have suggested Russia's shifting military objectives are meant to conceal massive setbacks on the battlefield. But there is evidence that Russian military activity is ramping up in the east: Ukrainian officials on Thursday reported heavy shelling of a number of Ukrainian cities, particularly in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of the Donbas and around the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

Here's why:

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Russia says its military is regrouping. A ramped-up assault on eastern Ukraine could be next

Russian forces may be regrouping in Belarus, Ukrainian officials said. Heavy shelling has been reported in eastern Ukraine amid an apparent shift by Russia to redirect military efforts to the Donbas region.

Additionally, an intense bombardment of the Kharkiv region has prevented the opening of evacuation corridors there, according to its military governor. 

Meanwhile, Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Zelensky's chief of staff, told CNN he has a “small portion of optimism” following talks with Russia in Istanbul.

If you're just reading in now, here are more of the latest headlines from the Russia-Ukraine conflict:

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, plans to travel to Moldova and Romania in early April to focus on the efforts to assist Ukrainian refugees and humanitarian needs “created by the Russian Federation’s aggression and war,” according to a release from the US Mission. 

While abroad from April 2-4, Thomas-Greenfield will meet with Ukrainian refugees and hear about their firsthand experiences fleeing war, according to the release.

She will also meet with nongovernmental organization partners and UN agencies working to aid the refugee population, as well government officials engaged in humanitarian response.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that according to a newly signed decree regarding natural gas trading with “unfriendly countries,” companies will need to have accounts in Russian banks and pay for contracts in rubles.

“Today, I signed a decree which sets the rules for trading in Russian natural gas with the so-called unfriendly states. We suggest that counter-parties in these countries use a very simple and transparent scheme in order to buy Russian gas they need to open ruble accounts in Russian banks, and payments should come from these accounts,” Putin said on Thursday.

The new rules take effect tomorrow, April 1. 

“If these payments are not made, we shall deem this as non-performance on the part of the buyers and that will lead to consequences. Nobody gives us anything for free and we’re not about to be charitable,” Putin said, adding that active contracts will be suspended.

A Ukrainian official said on Thursday that a convoy of buses en route to the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol had been held up at a Russian checkpoint in Vasylivka, a city between the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia and the Russian-held city of Berdiansk.

"Our task is to open a humanitarian corridor and help people survive, especially civilians — women, children, the elderly," according to Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukrainian minister of reintegration of temporarily occupied territories.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday it was preparing to facilitate the safe passage of civilians from Mariupol on Friday.

Vereshchuk said about 100,000 people requiring immediate evacuation remain in the city, out of a pre-war population of more than 400,000.

"That is, another 100,000 women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities who need our and the world's help," she said. 

Vereshchuk claimed that 45,000 Ukrainian citizens have been forcibly deported to Russia, a figure CNN could not immediately verify. The Russian military says that thousands have been "evacuated" to Russia from separatist-held regions and "dangerous areas" of Ukraine. 

Earlier today, Mariupol Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov told CNN's John Berman that buses were moving through the evacuation corridor.

Orlov said up to 1,500-2,000 will be able to evacuate the city between today and tomorrow.

He added there are "constant street battles" in the city, but the Ukrainian army still controls the city center.

People remaining in Mariupol are "living like mouse. They are living underground in shelters, bomb shelters below. So people just do their best to be alive in this situation," he said.  

CNN's Adrienne Vogt contributed to this post.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that he expects additional offensive Russian actions that will be “bringing even more suffering.”

Speaking at a news conference in Brussels for the secretary general’s 2021 Annual Report, Stoltenberg said that according to intelligence, “Russian units are not withdrawing but repositioning. Russia is trying to regroup, resupply and reinforce its offensive in the Donbas region. At the same time, Russia maintains pressure on Kyiv and other cities.”

“We have heard the recent statements that Russia will scale down military operations around Kyiv and in northern Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said. “But Russia has repeatedly lied about its intentions, so we can only judge Russia on its actions, not on its words.”

He called on Russia to “end this senseless war, withdraw all its troops and engage in talks in good faith.”

Mariupol's city council said a convoy of 17 buses is headed to the southern Ukrainian city of Berdiansk to take part in the evacuation of residents of the besieged city of Mariupol.

"A new evacuation convoy of 17 buses, accompanied by police and the State Emergency Service, left in the morning," according to a statement, which did not have detailed information on timing. "It will join the column that stood in Vasylivka yesterday and also went to Berdiansk today. There are 45 buses in the evacuation column."

According to the statement, the convoy will reach Berdiansk on Thursday and begin evacuating Mariupol residents on Friday. 

In total, 80,442 Mariupol residents have been evacuated to Zaporizhzhia since the beginning of the war, the statement said. 

Britain has issued further sanctions against 12 Russian citizens and two media entities, it was announced on Thursday.

The United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that it is targeting "Russian propagandists and state media who spread lies and deceit about Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine."

The latest people sanctioned include famous Russian TV anchor Sergey Brilev and head of Sputnik International Broadcasting, Anton Anisimov.

The managing director of the Russian broadcast company RT, Alexey Nikolov, and CEO of Gazprom-Media Holding Aleksandr Zharov were also sanctioned with asset freezes and travel bans.

The sanctions also target the media houses Rossiya Segodnya and RT-owner TV-Novosti.

"We will keep on going with more sanctions to ramp up the pressure on Russia and ensure Putin loses in Ukraine. Nothing and no one is off the table," she added.

Aside from media figures, the UK government also sanctioned Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of Russia’s National Defense Management Center. Referring to Mizintsev as the "butcher of Mariupol," the UK accuses him of being responsible for planning and executing the siege and bombardment of Mariupol.