Russia-Ukraine live updates: Biden to meet refugees in Warsaw; Kremlin concentrates on eastern front

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President Biden, in Warsaw on the final leg of his European trip, will spend Saturday focusing on the humanitarian crisis triggered by the Russian invasion. After talks with his Polish counterpart, Biden will meet with the mayor of Warsaw — who has warned that the capital is struggling to cope with the refugee influx — as well as displaced Ukrainians at a soccer stadium temporarily converted into a refugee center. The president visited a Polish city some 60 miles from Ukraine on Friday, and said he regretted not being able to step into the war zone to bear witness to the conflict.

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Fierce fighting persists in Ukraine, but the Pentagon said Russia has halted ground operations toward Kyiv and is instead focusing attacks on the eastern Donbas region. The move has been seen as a sign Moscow might be paring back its ambitions for the invasion, but air attacks on Ukraine continue. The Kremlin has launched more than 1,250 missiles since the assault began, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday. The official also confirmed that Ukraine has destroyed a Russian landing ship docked in Berdyansk, the occupied port city Russia has been using for resupplies.

In a video released late Friday local time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lauded the attack on the Russian vessel and warned Moscow that the “sea will not be calm … even when there is no storm because there will be fire.” Zelensky also mockingly speculated about the whereabouts of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who has only briefly been seen in public in the past month.

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Zelensky calls for peace with Russia, mocks apparent absence of Kremlin defense chief

By Amy Cheng2:05 a.m.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday called on Moscow to negotiate in earnest, stressing the casualties that have been inflicted on Russian troops a month into the war. In a video address, Zelensky also praised his fighters for their fierce resistance, which has surprised Russia and the world.

The true scale of Russia’s casualties is unknown, but Zelensky claimed in the video that more than 16,000 Russian troops have been killed. (NATO has tallied up to 15,000 deaths, while the Kremlin said this week that 1,351 Russian service members have been killed and 3,825 wounded.)

“Our defenders are leading the Russian leadership to a simple and logical idea: talk is necessary,” the Ukrainian leader said.

But a peace deal remains elusive, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeting Friday that Kyiv and Moscow have not been able to reach a consensus on key issues such as Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Kuleba urged the international community to keep up sanctions on Russia and maintain the delivery of military aid until the Kremlin gave up its “ultimatums.”

Zelensky, in the Friday video, also mockingly speculated about the whereabouts of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who has rarely been seen in public over the past three weeks.

“They say that the Minister of Defense of Russia has disappeared somewhere … I wonder if he personally wanted to visit Chornobaivka?” he said, referencing an airfield where Russia has come under fierce Ukrainian attack.

China woos India as both face Western ire over Ukraine

By Gerry Shih, Niha Masih and Eva Dou1:35 a.m.

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NEW DELHI — As the war in Ukraine enters its second month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi struck a conciliatory note on Friday toward longtime rival India and urged the two Asian giants to speak "with one voice” in his first visit to New Delhi since a tense border standoff began two years ago.

But his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, downplayed the prospects for an immediate rapprochement with China and said the border talks were “works in progress.” Relations could not return to normal so long as the territorial disputes remained unresolved, Jaishankar told reporters on Friday after a three-hour meeting with Wang.

Wang’s visit, initiated by China, came at a sensitive moment for both countries: Beijing has faced Western pressure, and the possibility of sanctions, over its support for an increasingly isolated Russia. India, meanwhile, has also drawn criticism from Western capitals over its continued refusal to condemn Russia or cut off its purchases of Russian arms and oil, despite India’s growing role as a partner to Washington.

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Here’s the status of Ukrainian cities under Russian attack

By Lateshia Beachum and Amy Cheng1:05 a.m.

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Kyiv: While Ukrainian forces did not regain control of any territory on the northwestern outskirts of the capital, they managed to force Russian troops into defensive positions, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest battlefield assessment. Russia’s defense ministry claimed Friday that its forces destroyed a major fuel depot, located in the suburbs, that had been used by Ukrainian armed forces since the invasion began, Reuters reported.Mariupol: City officials said Friday in a Telegram message that at least 300 people died as a result of a Russian airstrike earlier this month on a theater where Ukrainians were sheltering. Russian forces have besieged the southern port city, making street fights commonplace and independent reporting difficult amid weeks of heavy shelling. Local authorities have accused Russian forces in the city of spreading misinformation on evacuation corridors to confuse and intimidate residents. In a Telegram message posted to the city council’s official channel, Russian soldiers broadcast false messages that Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine would no longer accept refugees and that Odessa had fallen, leaving Ukrainians with the sole option of heading to Russia for safety.Chernihiv: The northern Ukrainian city has been surrounded by Russian troops, who are attacking parts of Chernihiv where residents have no electricity, heating or water, Mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko announced Friday, Reuters reported. Russian forces bombed and destroyed a bridge connecting the city with Kyiv on Wednesday evening, according a video posted by local authorities and verified by The Washington Post.Berdyansk: A senior U.S. defense official on Friday confirmed that Ukraine has destroyed a Russian landing ship, the Orsk, docked in the occupied port city. Berdyansk, which has been used by Russia to deliver military supplies for its assault on Ukraine, is about 50 miles southwest of Mariupol. According to video clips verified by The Washington Post, fires and heavy smoke columns could be seen rising from a vessel that matched the description of the Orsk.Kharkiv: Unrelenting Russian shelling has forced residents to seek shelter underground as houses and neighborhoods burn.Dnipro: A Ukrainian military unit on the outskirts of the central Ukrainian city was struck by two missiles late Thursday, demolishing buildings and sparking two fires, regional emergency services said, according to the Associated Press.Kherson: Russia appeared Friday to have at least partially lost control of the southern Ukrainian city on the Black Sea, according to Western defense officials, the first of a handful of midsized cities it has struggled to occupy since the invasion began.

Joyce Lee contributed to this report.

Thousands more Ukrainian refugees evacuated Friday

By David L. Stern and Meryl Kornfield12:40 a.m.

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More than 7,300 residents of Ukraine managed to escape embattled regions through humanitarian corridors on Friday, according to the country’s authorities.

The evacuees included about 2,800 residents of Mariupol who reached Zaporizhzhia by their own transport and another 4,000 evacuated by buses from Berdyansk, said Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, in a video posted on Telegram.

The Washington Post could not verify the number of evacuees, but the Ukrainian authorities’ figure represents an increase over the roughly 3,300 they reported Thursday, in addition to more than 4,500 the day prior.

The corridors have also allowed aid to be delivered to cities and towns low on critical supplies: Gasoline and 80 tons of food, medicine and essentials were delivered to Berdyansk, a port city in a Russian-occupied region, Vereshchuk said.

Humanitarian corridors are expected to be agreed upon Saturday for Mariupol as well as settlements in the Kyiv and Luhansk regions, Vereshchuk said.

In total, 37,606 people were rescued from blocked cities through 18 corridors, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, pointing to the dire situation in Mariupol, from which more than 26,000 people have fled.

“The situation in the city remains absolutely tragic,” Zelensky said. “The Russian military does not allow any humanitarian aid into the city.”

American teacher detained by Russian troops released after 10 days

By Amy Cheng12:39 a.m.

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Tyler Jacob, a 28-year-old teacher, has been released from Russian custody and is safely reunited with his wife and daughter, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said in a statement Friday.

A Minnesota native, Jacob was detained by Russian troops more than a week ago as they advanced toward Kherson. He was on board a bus evacuating people from the southern Ukrainian city to Turkey when he was taken away by Russian soldiers at a checkpoint in Crimea, a region that Russia annexed in 2014, his parents told local news at the time.

For the past 10 days, Klobuchar said, her office had worked with the State Department as well as the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to locate Jacob and secure his release.

“While this is good news, my heart remains with all those separated from their loved ones or in danger. As Vladimir Putin continues his senseless war, our commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine is steadfast,” Klobuchar said in her statement.