Russia-Ukraine war live updates: Ukrainian foreign minister asks ...

"The target was exclusively civilians — there is no military facility here."Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, but Ukrainians as well as eyewitnesses, journalists and humanitarian organizations have reported seeing civilians slaughtered across the country.Daniel ArkinKyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, said that some 4,676 people were evacuated from the country on Thursday.Daniel Arkin and Veronika MelkozerovaRussian President Vladimir Putin's troops shelled a vital part of a Ukrainian railway near the city of Barvinkove in Donetsk Oblast, blocking more than 500 people from evacuating, according to the governor of Luhansk."Russians have completely destroyed the only railway evacuation route controlled by Ukraine leading from Kramatorsk, Sloviansk and Liman," Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said. (Sky News is owned by Comcast, the parent company of NBC News.)He added that Russia had withdrawn its forces from the areas surrounding Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the northern city of Chernihiv “as an act of good will to lift tension from those regions and to show Russia is ready to create comfortable conditions for the continuation of negotiations.”   However, he insisted that the besieged southern city of Mariupol, was going to be “liberated” from what he called “nationalistic” Ukrainian battalions.To justify Russia’s assault on Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin and other Russian leaders have claimed the action was taken to “denazify” the country and its leadership. Confronted with pictures from the town of Bucha where Ukrainian officials estimate hundreds of civilians were killed, houses have been destroyed and graves dug in backyards, Peskov denied Russian troops “had something in common with these atrocities and dead bodies.”  Calling the photos “fakes” he said they “were made after Russian troops had withdrawn from the region.”Daniel ArkinDoctors Without Borders medical staff members are traveling on trains with injured Ukrainians evacuating from the war-torn country in what one employee called a first for the aid group."For the first time in our history, we've organized a medical evacuation train," Christopher Stokes, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Ukraine, said in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday.Because "a lot of medical infrastructures [in Ukraine] have been hit" by Russian forces," Stokes explained, Doctors Without Borders employees are evacuating patients "to safer areas."Rebecca ShabadThe U.N. General Assembly voted on Thursday to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council following accusations that its military committed atrocities in Ukraine. Daniel ArkinRussian President Vladimir Putin's forces will soon attempt to take control of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, a Ukrainian military official said Thursday.Oleksandr Gruzevych, the deputy chief of staff of Ukraine's land forces, said he expects Russian troops will also try to "reattack" the capital of Kyiv."The situation remains tense because the enemy has retreated and is now refocusing its directions, and will soon try to take control of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and then we expect a re-attack on the capital," Gruzevych said.He added that the Ukrainian military is taking measures to ramp up equipment and train personnel.Daniel ArkinJapan plans to release some 16 million barrels of oil reserves as part of a coordinated push by members of the International Energy Agency to help stabilize a global market that has been upended by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the country's prime minister announced Thursday."Stabilizing the energy market is very crucial, and while we will continue to call on oil-producing countries [for their cooperation], Japan will promptly do what it can," Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Thursday.President Joe Biden announced last week that the U.S. will release 1 million barrels per day of crude oil for six months from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — the largest release in U.S. history.Gabe Gutierrez and Erika AnguloHOSTOMEL, Ukraine — Rima Tarnagodska, 56, survived the terrifying Russian occupation and constant shelling of her hometown of Hostomel, a northern suburb of Kyiv that is also home to a strategic airfield that Russia had hoped to capture from the start of the invasion on Feb. 24. On Tuesday, the Biden administration pledged $100 million in Javelin anti-tank missiles after repeated pleas from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for more weapons.Peskov also condemned growing sanctions against Russia, saying they were "a continuation of the frantic line on the introduction of new restrictions." He appeared to specifically address the U.S.'s decision to impose sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin's daughters, calling such penalties "difficult to understand and explain." NBC NewsReutersGreece will ask the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged war crimes in the Russian-besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, home to a large Greek community, its foreign minister said on Thursday.“Greece has a specific, special interest in Mariupol because of the existence of 100,000 and more Greek community,” Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told reporters upon arriving at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.Dendias said he would also urge his colleagues to “try our best” to help Ukraine protect its historic Black Sea port of Odessa, “so Odessa can avoid the fate of Mariupol." The Greek Foreign Minister visited Odessa last weekend.Mithil Aggarwal and Associated PressShell's decision to exit Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine has already cost it as much as $5 billion, the company said on Thursday.In a quarterly report update, it said that the expected credit losses, "onerous" contract terms as well as the depreciation of its Russian assets would cut its earnings for its first quarter of the year by $4 billion to $5 billion. “Shell has not renewed longer-term contracts for Russian oil, and will only do so under explicit government direction,” it said, adding that the company is legally obliged to take delivery of the crude bought under existing contracts.Last month, Shell said that it was “appalled” by the invasion, announcing exit from its joint ventures with Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, the assets of which were valued at $3 billion.NBC NewsA man watches a house burn following shelling in Severodonetsk, in the Donbas region of Ukraine on Wednesday.Lauren EganBUDAPEST, Hungary — Hundreds of people who had fled the war in neighboring Ukraine gathered on Platform 10 at Budapest Nyugati railway station in Hungary’s capital on the first Sunday of April.But the more than 200 passengers waiting for the 7:23 a.m. train weren’t on their way farther from Ukraine — instead they were heading back home.Yulia Kalinina, who was traveling with her sister so that they could be reunited with their husbands, admitted it hadn’t been an easy decision.“I am afraid,” said Kalinina, 39, who is from Kyiv. I’d rather be afraid with him than be afraid alone here.” Read the full story here.ReutersA fifth round of European Union sanctions on Russia, including a ban on coal imports, could be agreed by the bloc on Thursday or on Friday, the E.U.'s top diplomat Josep Borrell said.“Maybe this afternoon, or tomorrow at the latest,” he told reporters as he arrived at a NATO meeting.Mithil AggarwalRussia is focusing its efforts on progressing offensive operations in eastern Ukraine, Britain's defense ministry said Thursday.In an intelligence update it said that Russian aerial attacks continued along the Donbas line of control in the east, adding that strikes in the interior were likely intended to “degrade the ability of Ukrainian military to resupply” and to pressure the government.However, despite reinforcing its efforts in Donbas, Russian forces are likely to continue facing supply shortages and morale issues, it said.Mithil Aggarwal and Anastasiia ParafeniukAfter a round of inspection in regions around Kyiv, more than 1,000 explosives were found and neutralized, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said on Thursday.In a Telegram post, it said the explosives were defused on Wednesday after inspecting almost 18 acres of land around Kyiv, including the city of Bucha, where Ukraine has accused Russia of committing a massacre. Yuliya TalmazanThe Australian government has announced financial sanctions and travel bans on a further 67 Russians in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.The latest round of sanctions comes after what the country's government said was the emergence of evidence of war crimes committed by Russia in the town of Bucha and other cities around capital Kyiv.