April 8, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Russians are feeling “self-imposed pressure” to achieve some sort of victory by May 9, according to two European officials. May 9 is the day Russia celebrates Victory Day over Germany in World War 2.

Traditionally Russia marks the holiday with a military victory parade through Red Square and a speech from President Vladimir Putin. With one month to go until the holiday, the officials say Russia is regrouping and shifting its forces to southeastern Ukraine — a far more limited goal than seizing large swaths of the country — with the aim of achieving some sort of regional victory.

“Consolidating and trying to at least have something to talk about is clearly in their interest,” one official said.

The official noted that the time pressure could lead Russian forces to make mistakes, compounded by the logistical issues and the morale problems they already face. 

The second European official said that a political timeline for the war could lead to a “military disaster as a consequence.”

But it could also lead Russian forces to commit more atrocities, said the first official.

The Russian military is regrouping in the east of Ukraine and plans to advance toward the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s Chief of Defense Intelligence told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Friday.

"They are regrouping towards the [Ukrainian] city called Izium via Belgorod. They are moving through Belgorod. They get additional troops in Belgorod in order to compensate their losses in Ukraine," Major-General Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine's Chief of Defense Intelligence, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview in Kyiv.

Budanov called on Ukraine’s allies to provide “really serious” military support to help it counter the Russian offensive. He said heavy artillery, anti-aircraft missile systems and combat planes were needed to use “against [Russian] ground forces”. 

“Ukraine needs really serious support in heavy armament, and we need it not tomorrow, we need it today,” he said. 

Budanov said the weaknesses of the Russian military were on display in Ukraine. Russia’s troops were “defeated” in the Kyiv region and its military effort hampered by logistics, he said.  

The sudden ear-piercing beep of a radiation meter fills the room as a Ukrainian soldier walks in. This is where Russian soldiers were living at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and radiation levels are now higher than normal.

There's no visible presence of the source of the radioactive material in the room, but Ukrainian officials say it's coming from small particles and dust that the soldiers brought into the building.

CNN was given exclusive access to the power plant for the first time since it came back into Ukrainian control.

Officials at the plant explain the levels inside the room used by Russian soldiers are only slightly above what the World Nuclear Association describes as naturally occurring radiation. One-time contact would not be dangerous but continuous exposure would pose a health hazard.

"They went everywhere, and they also took some radioactive dust on them [when they left]," Ugolkov adds.

It's an example of what Ukrainian officials say was the lax and careless behavior of Russian soldiers while they were in control of the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. The area around Chernobyl, namely the Red Forest, is still the most nuclear contaminated area on the planet, with most of the radioactive particles present on the soil.

You can read more about the scene in Chernobyl here.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola told CNN that the missile strike on a train station in Kramatorsk and other attacks on civilians in Ukraine are “international war crimes being committed against sovereign people who are simply fighting for democracy and for their country.”

Speaking to CNN’s Julia Chatterley on Friday, Metsola said Europe is not delivering equipment, financial assistance, or logistical assistance fast enough, “and it is up to us today, in these hours, to stand up to be counted and to not turn our backs.”

She also said that Europe is funding this war “whether directly, or indirectly” and must take responsibility for not acting earlier to stop the war.

When asked about Ukraine's candidacy to join the European Union, Metsola said “for the parliament, it’s clear. The place for Ukraine is in Europe.”

The Russian Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation announced Friday that it has revoked the registration of 15 representative offices of international organizations and foreign NGOs, including that of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

In response to the expulsion, Amnesty International said that Moscow is "effectively closing it down." Russia’s media regulator previously blocked access to Amnesty International’s Russian-language website on March 11.

“Amnesty’s closing down in Russia is only the latest in a long list of organizations that have been punished for defending human rights and speaking the truth to the Russian authorities," said Agnès Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International.

The Russian ministry's announcement, which did not specify the details of the violations, comes as several NGOs accuse Russia of committing crimes under international law.

The independent rights group Human Rights Watch said over the weekend that it has documented a number of allegations of war crimes by Russian forces in occupied regions of Ukraine, which “include a case of repeated rape; two cases of summary execution, one of six men, the other of one man; and other cases of unlawful violence and threats against civilians between February 27 and March 14, 2022."

“The authorities are deeply mistaken if they believe that by closing down our office in Moscow, they will stop our work documenting and exposing human rights violations," said Callamard. "We continue undeterred to work to ensure that people in Russia are able to enjoy their human rights without discrimination. We will redouble our efforts to expose Russia’s egregious human rights violations both at home and abroad."

The Pentagon finds “unconvincing” claims from Russia that its forces were not involved in the strike on a train station in Ukraine earlier today that resulted in multiple civilian deaths and injuries, spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing with reporters. 

At least 50 people were killed and almost 100 injured in a Russian missile strike on a train station used as an evacuation hub in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, Ukrainian officials say.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday that “in principle,” he is open to sending any form of “defensive weaponry” to Ukraine, but stopped short of committing to the delivery of combat tanks.

Speaking at a news conference alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Johnson was asked why the UK is not fulfilling Kyiv’s wish of being given Marder tanks — a primarily offensive weapon.

The US and Germany will facilitate the delivery of Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine.

The Czech Republic is also reported to have supplied tanks and combat vehicles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday told European Union chiefs that the bloc’s latest package of sanctions against Russia is still “not enough."

“I would like to thank all the world, the EU, Ursula von der Leyen personally, for the 5th sanctions package, but I think it is not enough," he said, speaking in Kyiv alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and High Representative of Foreign Policy and Security Josep Borrell.

While Ukraine can “bring the territories back," they cannot “bring those people back to life," he said.

“Please keep helping us with the sanctions," he added.

The EU’s fifth round of sanctions was adopted this week and includes a ban on Russian coal imports and blocks Russian access to EU ports.

Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, vowed an EU delegation will return to Kyiv and acknowledged Ukraine needs more arms.

He said he hoped to be able to pledge a further 500 million euros ($543 million) in military assistance “within the next couple of days," on top of the 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) already allocated. 

The European Union on Friday gave Ukraine an “important step” towards membership of the bloc, with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ceremoniously handing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a questionnaire to complete as part of the long-winded membership process.

“Ukraine belongs to the European family. We’ve heard your requests loud and clear. And today, we’re here to give you a first positive answer,” von der Leyen said speaking to reporters in Kyiv alongside Zelensky and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Josep Borrell.

“In this envelope, dear Volodymyr, there is an important step towards EU membership. The questionnaire that is in here is the basis for our discussion in the coming weeks. It is where your path towards Europe and the European Union begins.”

Von der Leyen said she hopes to be able to work closely with Zelesnky to complete the questionnaire within weeks.

Thanking her as he received the document, Zelesnky joked: “We’ll be ready with answers, Ursula, in one week”. 

The questionnaire is one of the many steps Ukraine would need to complete to reach full EU membership.