Russian forces launched attacks on several targets that appear related to the transport of military equipment in Ukraine. They included three railway power substations damaged by missile strikes in the western city of Lviv, a local official said.
Meanwhile, the Ukraine military released videos showing the destruction of Russian military vehicles in the eastern Donetsk region and in the Kharkiv oblast as well as an attack on an apparent Russian military position on Snake Island in the Black Sea.
Here’s what you need to know:
Four evacuation corridors planned: Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, announced four planned evacuation corridors to the city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday “if the safety situation allows.” They will allow evacuations from Mariupol, Lunacharske Circle, Tokmak and Vasylivka, Vereshchuk said. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Tuesday that 156 people had arrived in Zaporizhzhia from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
Mariupol visit by a high-level Russian-backed official: Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Russian-backed separatist region of Donetsk, has become the first known high-ranking official — Russian or Russian-backed — to visit the besieged Ukrainian city, according to photos posted on his Telegram channel. The visit is the first major sign of the impending Russification of Mariupol.
At least 290 civilian bodies found in Irpin since Russian withdrawal: The bodies of 290 civilians have been recovered in the town of Irpin, outside of Kyiv, since the withdrawal of Russian forces, Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushin said Tuesday. Markushin said 185 of the dead have been identified and most were men. “Shrapnel and gunshot wounds” were the causes of death.
US hoping to attract highly skilled Russians: US President Joe Biden has asked the US Congress to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make it easier for highly educated Russians to obtain visas to work in the US. Tens of thousands of highly educated Russians have reportedly fled Russia since the war, and the US administration is hoping to take advantage of that brain drain, officials said.
Biden administration says it won’t allow Russia to “co-opt” Victory Day: White House National Security Council senior director for Europe Amanda Sloat told CNN the Biden administration does not want to allow Putin to “co-opt” Monday’s Victory Day by tying it to the invasion of Ukraine. She declined to weigh in on intelligence indicating Putin may use the holiday to rally support for his invasion of Ukraine, including possible steps to formally declare war on its neighbor or annex the Donbas and Luhansk regions.
Two-hour call between Macron and Putin: French President Emmanuel Macron had a call with Putin that lasted over two hours, the Élysée Palace said Tuesday. Macron warned Putin of the consequences of the war and called for an end to the “devastating aggression,” it said. Macron also “expressed his deep concern about Mariupol” and the situation in the Donbas region.
Israel-Russia diplomatic dispute: Russia accused Israel of supporting “the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv” Tuesday, raising the stakes in a diplomatic dispute between Moscow and the Jewish state over Ukraine, anti-Semitism and Adolf Hitler. The accusation potentially increases pressure on Israel, which voted in the UN to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but has not fully joined Western sanctions on Moscow or supplied Ukraine with weapons.
US classifies WNBA player as “wrongfully detained” in Russia: The US State Department has now classified WNBA player Brittney Griner as wrongfully detained in Russia and her case is now being handled by the office of the US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, a State Department official confirms to CNN. The SPEHA office leads and coordinates diplomatic efforts aimed at securing the release of Americans wrongfully detained abroad. It played a major role in securing the release of American Trevor Reed from Russia last week.