NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880/AP) -- Russia claimed that it destroyed several air defense systems in Ukraine as Moscow’s forces get ready for a major offensive in the eastern Donbas region under a new general with a record of brutality against civilians in Syria. The mayor of Mariupol said Monday that over 10,000 civilians had been killed in the southeastern city, while outside Kyiv, work to exhume bodies from a mass grave in the once-occupied city of Bucha continued.
MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2022
5:15 p.m. - Over 4K evacuated from Ukrainian cities on Monday
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told CNN on Monday that 4,354 people have been evacuated from areas where fighting continues.
Vereshchuk said over 556 people were evacuated from Mariupol and a further 3,298 people from other cities in southern Ukraine.
He said Russian forces have also "violated agreements" to ensure refugee safe passages.
"For the third day in a row, the occupiers are violating agreements to ensure the passage of a convoy of buses from Zaporizhzhia to evacuate people from Berdiansk (some 80 kilometres from Mariupol), Tokmak and Enerhodar. They keep them at the checkpoint in Vasylivka," he added.
3:45 p.m. - Official: US considers training Ukrainians in US
The United States government is looking into training more Ukrainians within the U.S., with the Pentagon reportedly considering several options.
"As for additional training on systems like the Switchblade [drones], we are reviewing and thinking about and considering a number of different options for how we could manage to get more Ukrainians trained on that system," the official told reporters.
Ahead of Russia's invasion, a group of Ukrainian troops were in the U.S. for military training and took advantage of their presence to train them on the drones the U.S. is sending to aid Ukraine.
1 p.m. - Over 10,000 civilians killed in Mariupol: mayor
The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol told The Associated Press that more than 10,000 civilians have died in the southeastern city since the Russian invasion in February.
Mayor Vadym Boychenko told The Associated Press by telephone Monday that corpses were “carpeted through the streets of our city” and that the death toll could be more than 20,000.
Boychenko also said Russian forces have brought mobile crematoria to the city to dispose of the bodies and accused Russian forces of refusing to allow humanitarian convoys into the city in an attempt to disguise the carnage.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon believes Russia is gearing up for, but has not yet begun, an intensified offensive in the Donbas.
A senior U.S. defense official told the AP that the Russians are moving more troops and materiel toward that area and are focusing many of their missile strikes there. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal U.S. military assessments.
The official said a lengthy convoy of vehicles that is headed south toward the eastern city of Izyum contains artillery as well as aviation and infantry support, plus battlefield command-and-control elements and other materials. The official said the convoy appeared to originate from the Belgorod and Valuyki areas in Russia, which are shaping up as key staging and marshalling grounds for the Russian buildup in the Donbas.
11:45 a.m. - Russia targets air defense systems in Ukraine ahead of eastern offensive
Russia claimed that it destroyed several air defense systems in Ukraine over the weekend, in what appeared to be a renewed push to gain air superiority and take out weapons Kyiv has described as crucial ahead of a broad new offensive in the country’s east.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the military used sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles to destroy four S-300 air defense missile launchers on the southern outskirts of the city of Dnipro. He said about 25 Ukrainian troops were also hit by the strike on Sunday.
Slovakia gave Ukraine just such a system last week but denied it had been destroyed.
“Our S-300 system has not been destroyed,” Lubica Janikova, spokeswoman for Slovakia’s Prime Minister Eduard Heger said in a statement sent to The Associated Press.
Earlier on Monday, the Russian military said it destroyed a shipment of air defense missile system provided by the West on the southern outskirts of the city of Dnipro.
Russia is regrouping for a renewed push in the eastern Donbas region. Moscow recently appointed a seasoned general— Gen. Alexander Dvornikov—to lead the effort, according to U.S. officials, though they do not see one man making a difference.
11 a.m. - Ukraine economy to shrink 45%, World Bank says
The World Bank said Ukraine’s economy will shrink by 45% this year because of Russia’s invasion, which has shut down half of the country’s businesses, choked off imports and exports, and damaged a vast amount of critical infrastructure.
Unprecedented sanctions imposed by Western allies in response to the war, meanwhile, are plunging Russia into a deep recession, lopping off more than a tenth of its economic growth, the Washington-based lender said in a report Sunday.
The report said economic activity is impossible in “large swathes of areas” in Ukraine because productive infrastructure like roads, bridges, ports and train tracks have been destroyed.
Ukraine plays a major role as a global supplier of agricultural exports like wheat but that’s in question now because planting and harvesting have been disrupted by the war, the report said. The war has cut off access to the Black Sea, a key route for exports, including 90% of Ukraine’s grain shipments.
10:30 a.m. - Zelenskyy addresses S. Korean lawmakers, asks for arms
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday called for South Korea to provide military arms to help his country fight back against invading Russian forces.
Zelenskyy’s video address to South Korean lawmakers came hours after Seoul’s Defense Ministry confirmed it rejected a Ukrainian request for anti-aircraft weapons. The ministry cited the government’s principle on limiting military help to non-lethal supplies.
“The Republic of Korea has tanks, ships and various equipment that can block Russian missiles and we would be grateful if the Republic of Korea could help us fight back against Russia,” Zelenskyy said, referring to South Korea’s formal name.
Zelenskyy thanked South Korea for participating in U.S.-led economic sanctions against Moscow but said sanctions alone aren’t enough.
“Russia is aiming to eliminate Ukraine independence and separate the country. It is trying to eliminate the culture and language of the Ukrainian nation,” Zelenskyy said.
10 a.m. - Russia shelling Donetsk, Luhansk regions in the east
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Ukraine has beaten back several assaults by Kremlin forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, resulting in the destruction of Russian tanks, vehicles and artillery.
In an intelligence update released Monday morning, the ministry said Russian shelling in the two eastern regions is continuing.
“Russia’s continued reliance on unguided bombs decreases their ability to discriminate when targeting and conducting strikes, while greatly increasing the risk of civilian casualties,” the ministry said.
The ministry also said Russia’s “prior use” of phosphorus munitions in the Donetsk region raises the possibility they may be used in Mariupol as the battle for the city on Ukraine’s south coast intensifies.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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