Dispatches from Ukraine, provided by Forbes Ukraine’s editorial team.
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes Ukraine’s reporters will continue to gather information and provide updates on the situation. We will be sharing them here as they come. Live coverage from Forbes Ukraine’s site can be found here.
Saturday, April 2. Day 38. By Daryna Antoniuk
The entire territory of Kyiv oblast is now free of Russian troops. Ukrainians have retaken control over Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel, and the whole Kyiv region, according to Ukraine’s deputy defense minister Hanna Malyar.
Ukraine massacre: According to Anatoliy Fedoruk, the mayor of Bucha (a town near Kyiv ) in the first day after Bucha was liberated from Russian forces, local authorities collected over 280 bodies and buried them in mass graves. It’s not the final death toll in Bucha. On March 12 the citizens of Bucha buried 57 bodies in another mass grave, near a local church.
As of April 1, more than 760 grocery stores, 400 restaurants, 260 hairdresser shops, and about 70 nail salons are operating in Kyiv.
The Ukrainian flag has been raised over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant following the withdrawal of Russian forces.
Russia plans to occupy eastern Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts, according to Ukraine’s General Staff.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych warned that the military effort "will not be easy" in those regions.
Late on April 1, Russia hit the eastern and central cities of Dnipro, Poltava, and Kremenchuk, damaging infrastructure and residential buildings.
More than 620,000 Ukrainians have returned to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion. At first, most of the Ukrainians returning home were men, but now women and children are also coming back as well.
Turkey offered to evacuate people from the besieged city of Mariupol by boat, according to the country's defense minister Minister Hulusi Akar.
On April 1, the International Red Cross Committee said it couldn't enter Mariupol to evacuate its citizens. UN relief convoys have also failed to reach Mariupol.
Lithuania has become the first European country to ban Russian gas. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that other EU countries should follow its example.
The U.S. will provide $300 million in security assistance for Ukraine’s defense. The provision includes unmanned aerial systems, laser-guided rocket systems, and commercial satellite imagery services.
