Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. The move could signify a broader Russian advance across the Donetsk region I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Russia claims its forces have seized the village of Berezivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, marking a potential shift in the ongoing conflict. Ukrainian officials have yet to respond to the claim. This development comes amid Russia’s persistent, year-long campaign along the eastern front. Moscow’s larger army has been steadily pressuring Ukrainian forces, who are facing shortages in manpower and resources, as the war nears its fourth year. While Berezivka is a small settlement, its capture could signify a broader Russian advance across the Donetsk region. This offensive, though costly for Russia in terms of troops and equipment, has yielded territorial gains. Russian tactics involve overwhelming settlements with aerial bombardments and artillery fire, followed by infantry assaults on vulnerable Ukrainian positions. Russia’s objective remains control of the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which together form Ukraine’s industrial heartland, the Donbas. Ukraine’s recent setbacks in the east coincide with uncertainty surrounding continued US military aid, a crucial factor in Kyiv’s defense. US president Donald Trump, who says he is making American interests his priority, this week said he would likely meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin soon to negotiate a peace deal over Ukraine. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that Europe cannot rule out the possibility that “American might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it” and that the time has come for the creation of an “armed forces of Europe”. In other developments, radiation levels at Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear plant - site of the world’s worst nuclear accident - did not increase on Saturday, a day after a drone armed with a warhead hit the protective outer shell of the shuttered plant in the Kyiv region, according to Ukraine’s State Agency for Exclusion Zone Management. The UN International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday that the strike, which punched a hole in the structure and briefly started a fire, did not breach the plant’s inner containment shell. Russia’s Defence Ministry said that 40 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight into Saturday in four regions of western and south-western Russia. No casualties were reported. Moscow sent 70 drones into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukrainian officials said. According to Ukraine’s air force, 33 drones were destroyed and 37 others were lost, likely having been electronically jammed. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Ukrainian soldiers examine Russian multiple missiles abandoned by Russian troops when they retreated after recent fights in the village of Berezivka, Ukraine, Thursday, Apr. 21, 202 govt and politics/politics"},{"score":0.669935,"label":"/law Russia’s military announced on Saturday that it had seized control of the village of Berezivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region a location strategically positioned near a critical road linking the towns of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka The advance marks another incremental gain for Moscow which has been slowly pushing forward despite battlefield losses The Russian Ministry of Defence stated that its forces had taken Berezivka as part of ongoing efforts to cut off Ukrainian access to Pokrovsk a platform monitoring battlefield developments Russian troops have already reached a key junction on the T0504 road between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka intensifying logistical difficulties for Ukrainian forces The loss of the road poses a significant challenge for Ukraine’s military as Russian drone strikes have increasingly targeted supply convoys attempting to reinforce key defensive positions Moscow’s forces are also closing in on Kostiantynivka a crucial logistics hub that had a population of 67,000 before the full-scale invasion began in February 2022 The Nigerian Presidency has pushed back against recent claims made by the outgoing President of… Russia on Saturday said its forces had captured the settlement of Berezivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region the village fell under Russian control following an operation by the Tsentr (Center) group of forces The ministry also said that it launched a coordinated strike overnight targeting Ukraine's military airfields and places used to launch drone attacks Ukraine responded with a large-scale drone attack and Russian forces shot down 130 drones overnight along with two French-made Hammer guided bombs and three US-made HIMARS rockets Ukrainian authorities have yet to comment on Russia's claim and independent verification of the claim is difficult due to the ongoing war which will be three years old later this month Victim had been returning from distributing food when he was killed and his body thrown into a sewer well Victim of illegal detention describes her experience of trying to seek justice through the courts This week’s overview of key events and links to essential reading A Russian corporal is to face trial for killing a Ukrainian volunteer during the occupation of Kyiv region in March 2022 The victim’s body was then hidden in a sewer identified as 26-year-old private Linchobo Naidanov were on duty at a checkpoint in the village of Berezivka near the town of Bucha Both servicemen are from Russia’s Republic of Buryatia and belong to the 5th separate tank brigade of military unit No 46108 They are stationed in the republic’s capital Ulan-Ude.  the two reportedly shot and killed Vasyl Avdeev the 47-year-old was a volunteer and was returning from distributing food his car was reportedly shot 21 times with a sniper rifle.  The Russian soldiers pulled him out of the car put a tourniquet on his leg and tried to interrogate the man who The investigation stated that Naidanov then hit the victim with the butt of a machine gun and Ilyarov shot him in the head the soldiers took the body half a kilometre away from the murder scene and hid it in a sewer well near a gas station along the Kyiv-Zhytomyr road.  The Russian soldiers then searched the white Peugeot taking various items including Avdeev’s mobile phone Police officers stated that they also checked his documents After the murder and the disposal of the body Ilyarov and Naidanov went around Berezivka They came across a family with the same surname and told them about Avdeev’s death.  “We did not believe what they said. I went to look for him,” the victim’s wife Tetyana Avdeeva said in a video released by the Ukrainian police.  It turned out later that they were having fun shooting my husband's car,” she told the police.  his wife found her husband's empty and damaged car The family subsequently searched for the body for nearly five months.  She added that she had still not deleted her husband's phone number.  The police found Avdeev’s body in August 2022 His wife stated that heavy rains pushed the corpse to the top of the well.   which helped them to identify the Russian soldier.  called him and asked him about the crimes which he is now accused of committing in the Kyiv region.  the Russian occupier denied his involvement in the murder and behaved defiantly In June 2023 Ilyarov's case was referred to the Makariv district court in Kyiv region. The court however employs two judges and three are required to form a panel to consider this case. In October 2023, the Kyiv court of appeal transferred Ilyarov's case to the Irpinsky court where the preparatory stage began with summoning the accused to court.  His alleged accomplice, Naidanov, was issued a suspicion in absentia in November 2023 and, according to the Judicial Authority’s portal, his case was received by the Kyiv-Svyatoshinsky district court in In March 2024 The two cases are currently being considered separately and the next hearings are scheduled for July 3 The two are being tried for violating the laws and customs of war under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 438 of the criminal code If found guilty they face from ten to 15 years in prison or life imprisonment.  Journalists need training and support to properly cover war crimes trials Activists warn that vulnerable domestic workers risk abuse often returning with serious health conditions sacrifice and luck secured a vital early win in the south-eastern campaign Some women face Adana's male-dominated traffic chaos for a living Recent murder highlights widespread discrimination and violence against LGBTI people Open source intelligence (OSINT) can provide facts – but impatient Tel +44 (0)20 7831 1030 Tel +1 202 393 5641 IWPR is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom (charity reg no: 2744185); in the United States as a not-for-profit organisation with tax-exempt status under IRS section 501(c)(3); and as a charitable foundation in The Netherlands The opinions expressed on iwpr.net are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting Site design by IWPR. Developed by AG Prime In the Zhytomyr region, on the Kyiv-Chop highway in the village of Berezivka, Zhytomyr district, a People's Deputy of Ukraine ran over an 18-year-old girl to death, the Main Department of the National Police in Zhytomyr region reported moving in the direction of Chop in the extreme left lane the 18-year-old girl died at the scene," the police said in a statement The police noted that the car was driven by a 44-year-old resident of the Kyiv region Detectives of the State Bureau of Investigation have already been informed about the incident Investigative teams from the Zhytomyr Regional Police and the Zhytomyr District Police Department are currently working at the scene Criminal proceedings have been opened on violation of the rules of road safety or operation of transport by persons driving vehicles The police also announced the appointment of a number of examinations For its part, Ukrayinska Pravda says that it is a member of the "Batkivshchyna" party It is known that the MP was in the car with his wife People's deputy from "Batkivshchyna" Andriy Nikolayenko confirmed that it was he who hit the girl to death on a highway near Zhytomyr."Unfortunately the worst thing that can happen to a driver happened to me - a person died under the wheels of the car I was driving I assure you that I will fully cooperate with the investigation and voluntarily undergo all necessary examinations but the tragedy could not be avoided," the MP wrote.He expressed his condolences to the victim's family This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Головна Сторінка » English stories » “They were shooting and laughing”: Russian occupier killed a man in Kyiv region who was delivering food to a large family During the occupation of the village of Berezivka in the Kyiv region a Buryat shot and killed a local resident and together with another Russian military man The victim’s family identified the Russian war criminal and Slidstvo.Info journalists spoke to him by phone The village of Berezivka in the Kyiv region was occupied in March 2022 Russians killed locals and shot at cars with people trying to leave the occupation at the beginning of the full-scale invasion I told her to go home (to Berezivka – ed.) because we thought it would be safer here,” recalls Tetiana Avdeeva Tetiana says that her husband’s parents sister and friends came to visit them because they all thought it would be better in the village decided to help his fellow villagers with food after the full-scale Russian invasion even though he has very poor eyesight… He was not given anything – no machine gun He used to go to neighbouring villages to the warehouses and deliver food to people,” says Tetiana When Vasyl received a phone call saying that a large family had nothing to eat he didn’t hesitate to pack up the food and go He went to a retirement home in Kyiv… He brought food to the old ladies at Easter to pamper them with something… He went to a nursing home… he tried to help there too,” says Tetiana Vasyl’s daughter Kateryna recalls that two Buryats came to the house The young woman opened the gate because she heard the voice of a neighbour who came to eat with them “I open the gate and see this picture: this Vovka (neighbour — ed.) is standing there and he is supported on both sides by two Buryats And I just somehow close the gate in a second because I realise that there are many children and women at the house besides me,” says Kateryna The girl says she was scared and ran to her mother’s house: “I said: “Mum but they came and said that they had shot our man… I realised that every minute it got darker my father was not coming back and something had happened to him,” Kateryna recalls Tetiana went looking for her husband herself “I searched all night because I thought he had taken a different road I don’t remember such a dark night in my life I also heard that they (Russians — ed.) were shooting and laughing there,” Tetiana recalls The woman says she found Vasyl’s car shot up only at five in the morning the Russian military spotted Vasyl’s car and shot at it 21 times in a row without warning A witness to those events says that the occupiers pulled the still-living man out of the car put a tourniquet on his leg and began interrogating him hitting him in the face with the butt of a rifle “They (the Russians — ed.) open the door and he starts screaming because he’s hurt two more men run up – they take something out of the car and the trunk he falls down and he (the occupier Sayan Ilyarov — ed.) makes a shot,” says the eyewitness of the murder of Vasyl Avdeev The wounded man was unable to answer the Russians’ questions so Ilyarov shot the unarmed man in the head Ilyarov threw the body of the victim into a sewer well near a petrol station We were searching with dogs then… We found other people here… We searched all the sewers he floated out in one of the septic tanks,” says Tetiana In March 2023 Slidstvo.Info journalists identified the Buryat who shot and killed unarmed Vasyl Avdeev Kateryna recognised her father’s killer from the photo you can find many photos of him in military uniform the Russian military posted a photo with his “colleagues” online It seems that this photo was taken during the occupation of the Kyiv region Sayan Ilyarov (on the right) with other Russian servicemen After the Russian army fled the Kyiv region Slidstvo.Info journalists found his number and called Sayan to ask him about the crimes committed in the Kyiv region which investigators and victims accuse him of the Russian occupier denied any involvement in the murder and behaved defiantly: “Who are you it wasn’t me (who killed Vasyl Avdeev — ed.)… Who will judge me The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office served Sayan Ilyarov with a notice of suspicion in March 2023 for premeditated murder and violation of the laws and customs of war his family says that this will not bring their father and husband back to them “They haven’t invented a name for the feeling that I have yet… You can’t bring their father to my children back you can’t bring him back… Maybe their children will one day realise that they are doing terrible things here READ ALSO: An occupier from Buryatia shot a lying Ukrainian in the head and threw his body into the sewer Slidstvo.Info agency traced the path of the 27-year-old Viktoria uncovering the conditions of her detention in .. who for the first time shared her experience of imprisonment and what is .. The Command of the Ground Forces told Slidstvo.Info that Oscar was captured in Luhansk Oblast and has been .. Footage from Berezivka shows destroyed Russian military vehicles on a motorway Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player