Russia invades Ukraine updates: Russian strikes hit Kyiv military plant

The New Arab's live coverage of the latest from the Russian invasion of Ukraine concludes for today.

Here were the key developments from Saturday:

Russia renews attacks on Kyiv

Russia steps up air strikes on military facilities in Kyiv, a day after warning it will renew its assault on the capital in response to what it says are Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil.

Moscow says it used sea-based, long-range missiles to hit a tank factory on Saturday.

Kremlin retaliates over warship

On Friday, Russian strikes seriously damage the Vizar plant, near Kyiv's international airport, which produces Neptune cruise missiles.

Neptunes were allegedly used to hit Russia's Moskva warship, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet. The vessel has sunk.

"The number and scale of missile strikes against targets in Kyiv will increase in response to any terrorist attacks or sabotage committed by the Kyiv nationalist regime on Russian territory," the defence ministry in Moscow says.

Zelensky warns over nuclear weapons

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia could use nuclear weapons out of frustration at battlefield setbacks, echoing comments by CIA director William Burns.

He says "all of the world" should be worried that Russia "began to speak about... nuclear weapons or some chemical weapons".

"For them, life of the people is nothing," he tells CNN. "Let's not be afraid - be ready."

Sanctions and reprisals

Amid escalating tit-for-tat sanctions, Russia bans entry to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several of his senior ministers.

"This step was taken as a response to London's unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for restricting our country and strangling the domestic economy," the foreign ministry says.

The Kremlin also steps up a crackdown on dissent at home.

The government adds nine prominent Kremlin critics and journalists to its growing list of "foreign agents", and a Russian court orders the pre-trial jailing of a Siberian news editor for alleging that 11 riot police refused to join the military campaign in Ukraine.

Five million flee Ukraine

More than five million people have now fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion on February 24, the United Nations says.

Join us tomorrow for the latest updates on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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Spanish village changes its name to Ukraine in show of solidarity

A peaceful white-walled village in southern Spain has changed its name to Ukraine in solidarity with those caught up in the conflict more than 4,000 km (2,500 miles) away.

On a sign at a roundabout at the village's entrance, Ukraine has replaced Fuentes de Andalucia and the country's blue and yellow flag has been painted alongside.

Streets have been renamed City of Kyiv, Odesa and Mariupol in the village of more than 7,100 inhabitants east of Seville.

"The main objective is to raise awareness about the conflict in Ukraine but also about where countries are at war in current times," Francisco Martinez told Reuters as he stood in City of Kiev street.

Martinez said the name change was more than a gesture and villagers had also raised 3,500 euros ($3,780) within two days towards a planned refugee centre. The village wants to offer homes to up to 25 refugees at the centre or with families.

Rafael Osuna, 68, a pensioner, said he would take a Ukrainian couple into his house.

"The people of Fuentes are very proud of what we are doing," he said.

"As I live alone and have a big house I have thought of taking in a Ukrainian couple for a while."

US Army using lessons from Ukraine war to aid own training

In the dusty California desert, US Army trainers are already using lessons learned from Russia's war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China.

The role-players in this month's exercise at the National Training Center speak Russian.

The enemy force that controls the fictional town of Ujen is using a steady stream of social media posts to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.

If the images seem familiar, they are, playing out on televisions and websites worldwide right now as Russian forces pound Ukrainian cities with airstrikes, killing scores of civilians.

The information war on social media has showcased impassioned nightly speeches by Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as Russian efforts to accuse Ukraine's forces of faking mass killings in towns such as Bucha - massacres that the West blames on Moscow's troops.

“I think right now the whole Army is really looking at what’s happening in Ukraine and trying to learn lessons,” said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth.

Those lessons, she said, range from Russia's equipment and logistics troubles to communications and use of the internet.

“The Russia-Ukraine experience is a very powerful illustration for our Army of how important the information domain is going to be," said Wormuth, who spent two days at the training centre in the Mojave Desert watching an Army brigade wage war against the fictional “Denovian” forces.

"We’ve been talking about that for about five years. But really seeing it and seeing the way Zelenskyy has been incredibly powerful. ... This is a world war that the actual world can see and watch in real time. ”

Ukrainians brave Russian-mined cemetery to mourn the dead

The handmade sign on the gate warns "The cemetery is mined. Danger" but residents of the formerly occupied town of Trostyanets in northern Ukraine still come to visit the fresh graves of family killed in the war.

The graveyard in this town in Sumy region has only been partly made safe since Russian forces planted mines there as they pulled back in early April, cemetery manager Olena Matvienko said.

"De-mining teams came later and de-mined it partially. Then they didn't go further inside," Matvienko said on Saturday, standing in the cemetery where a number of gravestones were shattered or riddled with bullet holes.

Some areas were still dangerous for people, she said.

Even so mourners gathered around different graves, some clutching bunches of spring flowers.

One of those disregarding the warnings was Natalia Evdokimova, 46. She and her husband were visiting the grave of their son Dmytro, a Ukrainian soldier who was killed on the northeastern frontline on March 29 and buried back home soon after Russian forces left the area.

She said her son, who was fighting near the town of Izyum in Kharkiv region, had been most worried about what might happen to his parents under Russian occupation.

"'Mom, leave, it will be too dangerous in Trostyanets,’" Evdokimova recalled him saying, tears spilling down her cheeks. "And he went to hell himself, near Izyum. And died there."

Moscow bars entry to Russia for UK's Johnson, Truss, Wallace

Russia's foreign ministry has said it had barred entry to the country for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and 10 other British government members and politicians.

The move was taken "in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the British Government, in particular the imposition of sanctions against senior Russian officials," the ministry said in a statement, adding that it would expand the list soon.

The Kremlin has described Johnson, who has been one of Ukraine's staunchest backers, as "the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian".

A week ago, Johnson visited Kyiv where he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised each other for their cooperation since the Russian invasion, which Moscow calls a "special operation".

"The UK and our international partners stand united in condemning the Russian government’s reprehensible actions in Ukraine and calling for the Kremlin to stop the war," a British government spokesperson said in response to Moscow's decision to bar Johnson and other British politicians.

"We remain resolute in our support for Ukraine," the spokesperson added. 

Another 40,000 Ukrainians flee war: UN

Many of the nearly five million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, the United Nations said Saturday as another 40,000 fled the country in 24 hours.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 4,836,445 million Ukrainians had left the country since the Russian invasion on February 24 - a number up 40,200 on Friday's total.

The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) says nearly 215,000 third-country nationals - largely students and migrant workers - have also escaped to neighbouring countries, meaning more than five million people in all have fled Ukraine since the war began.

It is one of the fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crises ever.

"People's greatest wish is to go back home. But for so many, there is no home to return to since it's been destroyed or damaged, or is located in an area that is not safe," said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR's representative in Ukraine.

"Housing is one of the areas of greatest concern. Although hundreds of thousands of people are now staying in temporary reception centres or with hosting families who have generously opened their homes... longer term solutions need to be found."

Nearly 2.75 million Ukrainian refugees - nearly six in 10 - have fled to Poland. More than 730,000 reached Romania.

UNHCR figures show nearly 645,000 Ukrainians fled in February, with nearly 3.4 million doing so in March and more than 800,000 leaving so far this month.

Russian journalists, political scientist declared 'foreign agents'

Russian authorities yesterday declared prominent Kremlin critics including documentary filmmaker Yuri Dud and political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann "foreign agents" as Moscow steps up a crackdown on dissent.

The Russian justice ministry said in a statement that it had added to its growing list of "foreign agents" nine individuals including 35-year-old Dud, Schulmann, 43, and caricaturist Sergei Yelkin, 59.

Also on the list are now prominent journalists Roman Dobrokhotov, 38, and Karen Shainyan, 40.

Dobrokhotov is the founder of investigative news website The Insider, while Shainyan is an openly gay editor, producer and gay rights activist.

Schulmann, one of Russia's most-quoted political analysts, recently left the country to conduct scientific work in Germany. She told AFP she had long expected to be designated a "foreign agent".

"And why only now?" tweeted Dobrokhotov in reference to his designation.

Moscow has stepped up efforts to stamp out dissent after President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24.

One dead after 'insidious' Russian strikes on Kyiv arms factory

A military hardware factory in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was hit by Russian strikes early on Saturday.

Smoke rose from the area and there was a heavy police and military presence after Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced on social media that there had been explosions in the capital's Darnyrsky district.

He said one person had been killed in the attack and several more were taken to hospital for treatment.

"Our forces are doing everything possible to protect us, but the enemy is insidious and ruthless," he said.

Russia's defence ministry said its forces had used "high-precision, long-range" weapons to hit facilities at the armaments plant.

The strike on the Ukrainian capital is among the first since invading Russian forces began withdrawing from regions around Kyiv last month, instead turning their focus on gaining control of the eastern Donbas region.

Russia warns US of 'consequences' of Ukraine military aid: reports

Russia has formally complained to the United States over its military aid to Ukraine, warning of "unpredictable consequences" if shipments of advanced weaponry go forward, US media reported.

In a diplomatic note this week, Moscow warned the United States and NATO against sending the "most sensitive" weapons for Kyiv to use in the conflict with Russia, saying such shipments were "adding fuel" to the situation and could come with "unpredictable consequences," the Washington Post reported.

The warning came the same week that US President Joe Biden pledged a new $800 million military aid package for Ukraine, including helicopters, howitzers and armored personnel carriers.

"What the Russians are telling us privately is precisely what we've been telling the world publicly -- that the massive amount of assistance that we've been providing our Ukrainian partners is proving extraordinarily effective," the Post quoted a senior administration official - who spoke on condition of anonymity about the note - as saying.

The State Department declined to comment on reports of the formal note.

"We won't confirm any private diplomatic correspondence," a State Department spokesperson said.

"What we can confirm is that, along with allies and partners, we are providing Ukraine with billions of dollars' worth of security assistance, which our Ukrainian partners are using to extraordinary effect to defend their country against Russia's unprovoked aggression and horrific acts of violence."

According to the New York Times citing US officials, the note was sent through normal channels, and was not signed by any senior Russian officials.

The formal correspondence indicates Russia is concerned about the United States' ongoing material support for Ukraine, an anonymous US official told CNN.

CNN also reported that one source familiar with the document said the complaint could mean Moscow is getting ready to adopt a more aggressive stance against the United States and NATO as the invasion of Ukraine continues.

Putin, Saudi crown prince discuss OPEC+, Ukraine in phone call

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "gave a positive assessment" of joint work in the OPEC+ format during a phone call, the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday.

They also discussed the situation in Ukraine and Yemen, the Kremlin said.

Zelensky warns over nuclear weapons

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia could use nuclear weapons out of frustration at battlefield setbacks, echoing comments by CIA director William Burns.

He says "all of the world" should be worried that Russia "began to speak about... nuclear weapons or some chemical weapons".

"For them, life of the people is nothing," he tells CNN. "Let's not be afraid - be ready."

Boris Johnson banned from Russia

Moscow has announced it was banning entry to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several other top UK officials after London imposed sanctions on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.

"This step was taken as a response to London's unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for restricting our country and strangling the domestic economy," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

At least two die in Russian attacks across Ukraine

At least two civilians were killed and four wounded in Russian attacks across Ukraine, local officials said early on Saturday.

One person was killed and three wounded in shelling in the eastern region of Luhansk, Governor Serhiy Gaidai said in an online post.

A gas pipeline was damaged in Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk, which was without gas and water, Gaidai said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

"Evacuate, while it is still possible," Gaidai said in a subsequent post, adding that busses were ready for those willing to be evacuated from the region.

One person died and one was injured in an overnight attack on a small village near Poltava, the capital of the central Ukraine Poltava region, the region's Governor Dmytro Lunin said in a post on the Telegram.

Ukraine working with Turkey, understands parallel ties to Russia

Ukraine is working with NATO member Turkey as much as possible for more support over Russia's invasion and understands - even though it is not happy with - the reality of Ankara's parallel ties to Moscow, a Ukrainian diplomat said.

Ankara has criticised the invasion and sold drones to Kyiv despite Russian objections.

But it has also opposed Western sanctions against Moscow and maintained a careful rhetoric by refraining from accusing either country over the conflict, even amid reports of war crimes in parts of Ukraine.

"We would be happy if Turkey joined the sanctions" and cut flights from Russia. "But we understand this reality," the diplomat told foreign journalists on Friday on condition of anonymity.

"...Instead of criticising Turkey we are working with the Turkish side as much as possible, and not demanding something that is improbable," the person added, noting that it was still the only country that had managed to bring together Russian and Ukrainian officials for peace talks.

Russia says its forces hit military plant in Kyiv

Russia's defence ministry said today its forces had struck a military hardware factory in Kyiv, a day after warning of intensified attacks on the Ukrainian capital.

"High-precision long-range air-launched weapons destroyed production buildings of an armaments plant in Kyiv," the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

9 evacuation corridors, including Mariupol, agreed for Saturday

Nine humanitarian corridors have been agreed for Saturday to evacuate civilians, including from the besieged city of Mariupol by private cars, Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said.

Vereshchuk said in a statement that five of the nine evacuation corridors were from Ukraine's Luhansk region in the east of the country, which local officials have said is under heavy shelling.