Ukraine says its troops have retaken more than 30 towns and villages since Russia pulled back from the area this week.
- Ukraine says it has regained control of “the whole Kyiv region” after Russian forces retreated from key towns near the Ukrainian capital.
- The mayor of Bucha, near Kyiv, says 300 people have been buried in a mass grave in the town and the streets remain littered with bodies of people killed by Russian forces.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says retreating Russian troops are leaving behind land mines, creating a “catastrophic” situation.
- Ukraine’s top negotiator in peace talks said Russia had “verbally” agreed to key Ukrainian proposals.
Here are all the latest updates:
Russia uses war crimes as ‘method of warfare’: Human rights lawyer
Russia is committing “systematic” war crimes in Ukraine, including by deliberating targeting civilian populations and infrastructure, a Ukrainian human rights lawyer has told Al Jazeera.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Centre for Civil Liberties, said her organisation is working with hundreds of volunteers who are gathering testimonies from witnesses of war crimes that can be presented to the International Criminal Court, as well as to other international bodies and states who want to use universal jurisdiction to charge perpetrators.
“We can see that these war crimes have a systematic and large scale character, and Russian troops do not make a distinction between military and civilian populations,” she said, speaking from Kyiv. “Russia uses war crimes as a method of warfare.”
Russian group says 208 anti-war protesters arrested
A Russian group that monitors political arrests says 208 people have been arrested in demonstrations across the country on Saturday protesting against Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The OVD-Info group said demonstrations took place in 17 Russian cities, from Siberia to the more densely populated west.
More than 70 people were were detained in Moscow and a similar number in St. Petersburg, the organisation said.
Ukraine says Russia ‘verbally’ agreed to its proposals
Ukraine’s top negotiator in peace talks with Russia said that Moscow had “verbally” agreed to key Ukrainian proposals, raising hopes that talks to end fighting are moving forward.
Negotiator David Arakhamia told Ukrainian television channels that any meeting between Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin would “with a high probability” take place in Turkey.
“The Russian Federation has given an official answer to all positions, which is that they accept the (Ukrainian) position, except for the issue of Crimea [annexed by Russia in 2014],” Arakhamia said.
Russia and Ukraine have held several rounds of negotiations, both in Turkey and by video conference.
Almost 300 buried in mass grave in Bucha, near Kyiv: Mayor
Almost 300 people have been buried in a mass grave in Bucha, discovered after the Ukrainian army retook control of the key town close to Kyiv.
Anatoly Fedoruk told Al Jazeera that the town’s streets remain littered with the bodies of at least 22 people killed by Russian forces. He said it had not been possible to collect the bodies yet, amid fears that Russian forces had booby-trapped the corpses.
“According to the mayor, [the dead people] were trying to escape to Ukrainian-held territory when, according to him, they were simply gunned down,” said Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Lviv in western Ukraine.
Read more here.
Ukraine says regained control of ‘whole Kyiv region’
Ukraine has regained control of “the whole Kyiv region” after Russian forces retreated from key towns near the Ukrainian capital, Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Maliar said.
“Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel and the whole Kyiv region were liberated from the invader,” Maliar said on Facebook.
All three towns lie northwest of Kyiv and have suffered heavy destruction since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Ukraine presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said its troops have retaken more than 30 towns and villages since Russia pulled back from the area this week.
Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Read all the updates from Saturday, April 2 here.
