LVIV, Ukraine — The mayor of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol says those hiding at a massive steel mill are running out of food, water and medicine.

Vadym Boichenko described the situation at the Avozstal steel plant as dire. The steel mill is the last position held by Ukrainian fighters, who also are with civilians.

The Soviet-era facility has a vast underground network of bunkers able to withstand airstrikes. But the situation has grown more extreme after the Russians dropped a series of so-called “bunker buster” bombs and unguided munitions.

“Locals who manage to leave Mariupol say it is hell, but when they leave this fortress, they say it is worse,” Boichenko said, according to a translator. “They are begging to get saved.”

He added: “There, it’s not a matter of days, it’s a matter of hours.”

Boichenko said he hoped a cease-fire would allow those inside the steel mill to safely leave. Russia earlier offered a truce that was rejected by Ukrainians, who said Moscow previously broke other agreements.

“We hope there’s a slight touch of humanity in the enemy,” the mayor said.

Boichenko spoke Friday in a government-organized video conference.

(DUBAI, United Arab Emirates) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appears to have dismissed the need for the United Nations to help secure humanitarian corridors out of Ukraine’s besieged cities, striking a tough line a day after the U.N. chief toured war-wracked Kyiv with that very aim.

As an interviewer at Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV tried to ask Lavrov about U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ proposals for humanitarian assistance and evacuation of civilians, Lavrov cut him off.

“There is no need. I know, I know,” an irritated Lavrov said. “There is no need for anybody to provide help to open humanitarian corridors. There is only one problem … humanitarian corridors are being ignored by Ukrainian ultra-nationals,” he said.

“We appreciate the interest of the secretary-general to be helpful,” he added. “(We have) explained … what is the mechanism for them to monitor how the humanitarian corridors are announced.”

During the hour-long interview, Lavrov also accused the West of sabotaging Russia’s peace talks with Ukraine. He claimed that thorny negotiations in Istanbul last month had been progressing on issues of Russian territorial claims and security guarantees until Ukrainian diplomats backtracked at the behest of the West.

“We are stuck because of their desire to play games all the time,” Lavrov said. “Because of the instructions, they get Washington, from London, from some other capitals, not to accelerate the negotiations.”

When asked about the risks of war spilling into neighboring Moldova after a series of explosions rattled a breakaway border region within the country, Lavrov struck an ominous tone.

“Moldova should worry about their own future,” he said. “Because they’re being pulled into NATO.”

(WASHINGTON) -- A senior U.S. defense official said on Friday the Russian offensive is going much slower than planned in part because of the strength of the Ukrainian resistance.

“We also assess that because of this slow and uneven progress, again, without perfect knowledge of every aspect of the Russian plan, we do believe and assess that they are behind schedule in what they were trying to accomplish in the Donbas,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the U.S. military’s assessment.

He said the U.S. believes the Russians are “at least several days behind where they wanted to be” as they try to encircle Ukrainian troops in the east.

As the troops try to move north out of Mariupol so they can advance on Ukrainian forces from the south, their progress has been “slow and uneven, and certainly not decisive in any, in any event,” the official said.

Ukraine’s ambassador-designate to Canada says Russia must be held accountable for its troops committing sex crimes, including against children.

Yulia Kovaliv told a Canadian House of Commons committee on Monday that Russia is using sexual violence as a weapon of war and said rape and sexual assault must be investigated as war crimes.

She said Russia also has kidnapped Ukrainian children and taken them to Russian-occupied territories and now Russia itself. Ukraine is working with partners to find the children and bring them back.

“Russians, a few days ago, killed a young mother and taped her living child to her body and attached a mine between them,″ the ambassador said. She said the mine detonated.

All of Russian society, and not just President Vladimir Putin “and his proxies," should bear responsibility for the war on Ukraine because more than 70% of Russians support the invasion, Kovaliv said.

The $40 billion U.S. package of assistance for Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia's aggression is hitching a ride on a commercial flight to South Korea so it can be signed by President Joe Biden.

The Senate voted Thursday to finalize new military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine as Biden was making his way to the South Korean capital. A White House official says the bill is being flown to Seoul by a U.S. government official who was already planning to travel to the region on a commercial flight.

As the Associated Press reported, bills that have needed an urgent signature have been routinely flown by White House aides for decades to the location of the sitting president, if they were abroad.

Then-President George W. Bush flew back to Washington from his Texas ranch to in 2005 to sign legislation that would require doctors to continue feeding a comatose Florida woman, Terri Schiavo. Her husband wanted to let her die.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has discussed Ankara's planned military operation in northern Syria and the war in Ukraine with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

In recent days Erdogan has said Turkey will launch a cross-border incursion against Kurdish militants in Syria to create a 30-kilometer (19-mile) deep buffer zone. He told Putin in a phone call that the frontier zone was agreed in 2019 but had not been implemented, the Turkish presidency said on Monday.

Ankara carried out an operation against the People's Protection Units, or YPG, in October 2019. Russia, the Syrian regime and the United States also have troops in the border region.

President Vladimir Putin has said at Russia's showpiece investment conference that the country's economy will overcome sanctions that he called "reckless and insane."

Putin began his address Friday to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum with a lengthy denunciation of countries that he contends want to weaken Russia, including the United States. He says the U.S. "declared victory in the Cold War and later came to think of themselves as God's own messengers on planet Earth."

Russia came under a wide array of sanctions after sending troops into Ukraine in February. Putin said trying to damage the Russian economy "didn't work."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday that it's still "absolutely necessary" for some leaders to talk directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin amid efforts to end the war in Ukraine. He told German news agency DPA on Friday that he and France's president will continue to do so.

Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have held several telephone conversations with Putin, separately and together, since Russia's invasion began in late February. Those contacts have drawn some criticism — including from Poland's president, who said recently that they achieve nothing and serve only to legitimize the Russian leader.

Scholz said some leaders need to talk to Putin "and it is necessary that they are clear."

An American citizen was killed in Ukraine, Newsweek and CBS News reported Friday.

A Russian official reportedly claimed the American had volunteered to fight alongside Ukrainian forces.

That account has not been confirmed by U.S. officials.

CBS News reported that government officials were not releasing the man's name out of respect for his family.

According to Newsweek, at least 6 Americans have been killed in Ukraine.

The conflict in Ukraine has been going on for six months and shows no signs of stopping. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered an increase of more than 100,000 troops to prepare to fight in Ukraine.

Video above: Zelenskyy visits retaken city of Izium

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy are each courting major allies on Thursday, seeking to prop up their efforts in a war whose fortunes have tilted toward Ukraine in recent days.

In Uzbekistan's ancient Samarkand, Putin was hoping to break through his international isolation and further cement his ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a geopolitical alliance increasingly seen as potent counterweight to the Western powers.

Putin and Xi were due to meet one-on-one and discuss Ukraine, according to the Russian president's foreign affairs adviser.

In Kyiv, Zelenskyy was shrugging off a traffic collision the previous night that left him with no major injuries, officials said. He met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who once more showed full commitment to Ukraine's cause.

Von der Leyen said she would address "how to continue getting our economies and people closer while Ukraine progresses towards accession" to the European Union, which is likely still years away in even the best of circumstances.

In a sign of further EU commitment, the European Parliament completed the drawn-out political process of a 5 billion-euro preferential loan to Ukraine, the key part of a 9 billion-euro package of aid to offset the cost of war.

In Germany, the EU's economic powerhouse, the foreign minister was pressuring Chancellor Olaf Scholz to decide soon to supply Ukraine with versatile tanks while the war momentum was with Kyiv.

Germany has been hesitant on such moves for long, but Annalena Baerbock said that "in the decisive phase that Ukraine currently finds itself, I also don't believe that it's a decision which can be delayed for long."

While Russian forces in some areas are increasingly being pushed back toward the border, Russia is still striking from behind the front line. Ukrainian officials said Russian missiles kept hitting the dam of the reservoir close to Zelenskyy's birthplace, Kryvyi Rih, on Thursday, The damage flooded over 100 homes. Efforts were underway to contain more spillage and authorities urged citizens to take shelter as strikes continued.

The attack so close to his roots angered Zelenskyy, who said the strikes had no military value.

"In fact, hitting hundreds of thousands of ordinary civilians is another reason why Russia will lose," he said in his nightly address late Wednesday.

The presidential office said that Russian shelling of seven Ukrainian regions over the past 24 hours killed at least two civilians and wounded 14.

Zelenskyy himself remained in a buoyant mood, saying that almost 400 settlements had been retaken in less that a week of fighting.

"It was an unprecedented movement of our warriors — Ukrainians once again managed to do what many considered impossible," he said.

Zelenskyy is expected to ask for more Western military material, which has been essential in driving the counteroffensive, and request even harsher sanctions against Moscow as the war approaches the seven-month mark.

Despite the renewed Ukrainian vigor on the battlefield and the first rumblings of criticism at home, Putin is staying steadfast with his determination to fully subdue Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

After a phone call with Putin earlier in the week, Scholz said that "unfortunately, I cannot tell you that the realization has grown over there by now that this was a mistake to start this war."

"There has been no indication that new attitudes are emerging there now," he added.

CNN —

At least 21,000 Wagner mercenaries have been killed fighting in Ukraine, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Ukrainian leader said the private military company had suffered "enormous losses," particularly in eastern Ukraine, where its "most powerful group" was fighting.

"Our troops killed 21,000 Wagnerites in eastern Ukraine alone," Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv on Saturday, adding that another 80,000 Wagner fighters had been wounded.

"These were enormous losses for the Wagner PMC," said Zelensky, who characterized its fighters as a "motivated staff of the Russian army" and mostly convicts who "had nothing to lose."

CNN could not independently verify the claim by Zelensky, made during a news conference with Spanish media to coincide with a visit to Kyiv by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The trip by Sanchez is his third visit to Ukraine. It comes as Spain takes over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union and follows news that CIA Director William Burns also recently traveled to Ukraine to meet with Zelensky and Ukrainian intelligence officials.

Zelensky's claims about Wagner's losses comes just a week after the private military company's boss Yevgeny Prigozhin led his men in an abortive rebellion against Moscow.

Wagner troops had marched toward the Russian capital, taking control of military facilities in two Russian cities in what Prigozhin said was a response to a Russian military attack on a Wagner camp, before a deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko defused the crisis.

The future of the Wagner Group is now unclear, with the deal brokered by Lukashenko requiring Prigozhin to move to Belarus and his fighters given the option of either signing up to the Russian military or enforcement agencies, returning to their families and friends, or also going to Belarus.

In his speech Saturday, Zelensky said Prigozhin's rebellion had "greatly affected Russian power on the battlefield" and could be beneficial to Ukraine's counteroffensive.

"We need to take advantage of this situation to push the enemy out of our land," Zelensky said.

"They are losing the war. They have no more victories on the battlefield in Ukraine, and so they are starting to look for someone to blame," he said.

However, he said the counteroffensive would not be rushed because he valued human lives and needed to be strategic in where he sent troops.

"Every meter, every kilometer costs lives. You can do something really fast, but the field is mined to the ground," he said. "People are our treasure. That's why we are very careful."

Also, during Saturday's conference, Zelensky expressed fears of losing bipartisan support from the United States, following "dangerous messages coming from some Republicans."

"Mike Pence has visited us and he supports Ukraine – first of all, as an American and then as a Republican," Zelensky said.

"We have bipartisan support however, there are different messages in their circles regarding support for Ukraine. There are messages coming from some Republicans, sometimes dangerous messages, that there may be less support."

"The most important thing for Ukraine is not to lose bipartisan support," he added.

When asked by a reporter if he was in danger and feared for his life, Zelensky responded: "It is more dangerous for Putin than for me, honestly. Because it's only in Russia that they want to kill me, whereas the entire world wants to kill him."

President Joe Biden on Monday condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine's capital.

Eight people were reportedly killed in downtown Kyiv. The U.S. accused Russia of attacking civilian targets.

"We offer our condolences to the families and loved ones of those who were senselessly killed today, as well as our best wishes for the recovery of those who were wounded," Biden said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke with Biden on Monday. The White House had not provided a readout of the call as of early Monday afternoon.

However, Zelenskyy said, "air defense is currently the number 1 priority."

The U.S. has refused to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying it would put American troops in direct conflict with Russia.

Biden noted that the U.S. is helping Ukraine in other ways and will continue to provide support "for as long as it takes."

"Alongside our allies and partners, we will continue to impose costs on Russia for its aggression, hold Putin and Russia accountable for its atrocities and war crimes, and provide the support necessary for Ukrainian forces to defend their country and their freedom," Biden stated.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made his first public appearance since a mercenary uprising demanded his ouster, inspecting troops in Ukraine Monday in a video released by his ministry.

He's the first of three powerful Russian leaders whose diverging interests led to the Wagner Group occupying a Russian city and marching on the capital to be seen since the revolt ended Saturday. Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov also have made no public statements since then. Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn't made any public appearances either.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced an end to the "counter-terrorism regime" imposed on the capital Saturday, during which troops and armored vehicles set up checkpoints on the edges of the city and authorities tore up roads leading into the city.

The Defense Ministry released a video showing Shoigu flying in a helicopter and then attending a meeting with military officers at a military headquarters in Ukraine, showing the minister for the first time since Prigozhin declared a "march of justice" to oust the defense minister and Gerasimov late Friday, during which the mercenaries captured the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and then marched on Moscow.

The rebellion ended on Saturday when Prigozhin ordered his troops back. The Kremlin said it had made a deal that the mercenary chief will move to Belarus and receive an amnesty, along with his soldiers. The mutiny marked the biggest challenge to President Vladimir Putin in more than 20 years of rule.

It was unclear what would ultimately happen to Prigozhin and his forces. Few details of the deal were released either by the Kremlin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who brokered it. Prigozhin's whereabouts have been unclear since he drove out of Rostov-on-Don in an SUV Saturday.

Before starting the revolt, Prigozhin had blasted Shoigu and General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov with expletive-ridden insults for months, attacking them for failing to provide his troops with enough ammunition during the battle for Bakhmut, the war's longest and bloodiest battle.

Putin stood back from the rift, and Shoigu and Gerasimov remained mum, possibly reflecting uncertainty about Putin's support. Observers said that by failing to end the feud Putin had encouraged Prigozhin to dramatically up the stakes.

Asked by reporters Saturday whether Putin still trusts Shoigu, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded he wasn't aware of any changes in the president's attitude. Commenting on whether any changes in military leadership were discussed during negotiations with Prigozhin, Peskov responded that personnel changes were the exclusive prerogative of Putin as the commander-in-chief and so it wasn't a subject for discussion.

Russian media and commentators speculated that Putin could replace Shoigu with Alexei Dyumin, the governor of the Tula region who had previously served as a a Putin bodyguard and then a deputy defense minister. They noted that Putin, who avoids making decisions under pressure, would likely wait before announcing a shakeup.

The U.S. had intelligence that Prigozhin had been building up his forces near the border with Russia for some time. That conflicts with Prigozhin's claim that his rebellion was a response to an attack on his field camps in Ukraine on Friday by the Russian military, which he said killed a large number of his men. The Defense Ministry denied attacking the camps.

U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said Prigozhin's march on Moscow appeared to have been planned in advance.

"This is something that would have had to have been planned for a significant amount of time to be executed in the manner in which it was," Turner said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the weekend's events as "extraordinary," recalling that 16 months ago Putin appeared poised to seize the capital of Ukraine and now he has had to defend Moscow from forces led by his onetime protege.

"I think we've seen more cracks emerge in the Russian façade," Blinken said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"It is too soon to tell exactly where they go and when they get there, but certainly we have all sorts of new questions that Putin is going to have to address in the weeks and months ahead."

It was not yet clear what the fissures opened by the 24-hour rebellion would mean for the war in Ukraine. But it resulted in some of the best forces fighting for Russia being pulled from the battlefield: the Wagner troops, who had shown their effectiveness in scoring the Kremlin's only land victory in months, in Bakhmut, and Chechen soldiers sent to stop them on the approach to Moscow.

The Wagner forces' largely unopposed, rapid advance also exposed vulnerabilities in Russia's security and military forces. The mercenary soldiers were reported to have downed several helicopters and a military communications plane. The Defense Ministry has not commented.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaking to reporters before chairing a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, where they will discuss more support for Ukraine, said that the revolt showed that the war is "cracking Russia's political system."

"The monster that Putin created with Wagner, the monster is biting him now," Borrel said. "The monster is acting against his creator. The political system is showing fragilities, and the military power is cracking."

A short-lived revolt by a rebellious Russian mercenary commander ended with his troops beating a retreat, but the extraordinary challenge to President Vladimir Putin's two-decade hold on power could have long-term consequences for his rule and his war in Ukraine.

Video above: Putin says 'inevitable punishment' for those who chose 'treachery'

Putin's image as a tough leader had already been badly bruised by the Ukraine war, which has dragged on for 16 months and claimed huge numbers of Russian troops. Saturday's march toward Moscow by forces under the command of his onetime protege, Yevgeny Prigozhin, exposed further weaknesses, analysts said.

It also meant some of the best forces fighting for Russia in Ukraine were pulled from that battlefield: Prigozhin's own Wagner troops and Chechen ones sent to stop them.

After calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia's defense minister, Prigozhin and his fighters appeared to seize control of the Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don that oversee fighting in Ukraine.

They then advanced towards Moscow largely unhindered. Russian media reported that they downed several helicopters and a military communications plane. The Defense Ministry has not commented.

They were halted only by a deal to send Prigozhin to neighboring Belarus, which has supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Charges against him of mounting an armed rebellion will be dropped, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and Prigozhin ordered his troops back to their field camps.

The government also said it would not prosecute Wagner fighters who took part, while those who did not join in would be offered contracts by the Defense Ministry.

Video below: Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks from Russian military facility

Though Putin had vowed earlier to punish those behind the armed uprising, Peskov defended the reversal, saying Putin's "highest goal" was "to avoid bloodshed and internal confrontation with unpredictable results."

That amnesty stands in contrast to the fines and jail sentences Russian authorities have meted out to thousands of people who have criticized the war, even obliquely.

And while it ended the immediate crisis, it may have set in motion a longer-term one, analysts and observers said.

"For a dictatorship built on the idea of unchallenged power, this was an extreme humiliation, and it's hard to see the genie of doubt ever being forced back into the bottle," said Phillips O'Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. "So, if Prigozhin might have lost in the short term, Putin is likely to be the long-term loser."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that the challenge to Putin came from within.

"I think we've seen more cracks emerge in the Russian façade," he told NBC's "Meet the Press." "We have all sorts of new questions that Putin is going to have to address in the weeks and months ahead."

Prigozhin, who sent out a series of audio and video updates during his revolt, has gone silent since the Kremlin announced the deal.

It's not clear if he's in Belarus yet or whether any of his Wagner troops would follow him.

In response to questions from The Associated Press, Prigozhin's press office replied that he could not reply immediately but "will answer the questions when he gets a normal connection."

Video taken by The Associated Press in Rostov-on-Don showed people cheering Wagner troops as they departed. Some ran to shake hands with Prigozhin, who was riding in an SUV.

The regional governor later said that all of the troops had left the city. Russian news agencies also reported that Lipetsk authorities confirmed Wagner forces had left that region, which sits on the road to Moscow from Rostov.

Moscow had braced for the arrival of the Wagner forces by erecting checkpoints with armored vehicles and troops on the city's southern edge. About 3,000 Chechen soldiers were pulled from fighting in Ukraine and rushed there early Saturday, state television in Chechnya reported. Russian troops armed with machine guns put up checkpoints on Moscow's southern outskirts. Crews dug up sections of highways to slow the march.

By Sunday afternoon, the troops had withdrawn from the capital, and people swarmed the streets and flocked to cafes. Traffic returned to normal and roadblocks and checkpoints were removed, but Red Square remained close to visitors. On highways leading to Moscow, crews repaired roads ripped up just hours earlier in panic.

Anchors on state-controlled television stations cast the deal ending the crisis as a show of Putin's wisdom and aired footage of Wagner troops retreating from Rostov-on-Don to the relief of local residents who feared a bloody battle for control of the city.

People there who were interviewed by Channel 1 hailed Putin's role.

But the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War warned that "the Kremlin now faces a deeply unstable equilibrium."

The "deal is a short-term fix, not a long-term solution," wrote the institute, which has tracked the war in Ukraine from the beginning.

Prigozhin had demanded the ouster of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom Prigozhin has long criticized in withering terms for his conduct of the war in Ukraine.

The U.S. had intelligence that Prigozhin had been building up his forces near the border with Russia for some time. That conflicts with Prigozhin's claim that his rebellion was a response to an attack on his camps in Ukraine on Friday by the Russian military.

In announcing the rebellion, Prigozhin accused Russian forces of targeting the Wagner camps in Ukraine with rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery. He alleged that Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, ordered the attacks following a meeting with Shoigu in which they decided to destroy the military contractor.

The Defense Ministry denied attacking the camps.

Congressional leaders were briefed on the Wagner buildup earlier last week, a person familiar with the matter said. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. The U.S. intelligence briefing was first reported by CNN.

A possible motivation for Prigozhin's rebellion was the Russian Defense Ministry's demand, which Putin backed, that private companies sign contracts with it by July 1. Prigozhin had refused to do it.

Ukrainians hoped the Russian infighting would create opportunities for their army to take back territory seized by Russian forces.

"These events will have been of great comfort to the Ukrainian government and the military," said Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Wagner troops have played a crucial role in the Ukraine war, capturing the eastern city of Bakhmut, an area where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place.

The Kremlin's offer of amnesty to Prigozhin was negotiated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, which might have raised his stature in his relationship with Putin.

The 62-year-old Prigozhin, a former convict, has longstanding ties to Putin and won lucrative Kremlin catering contracts that earned him the nickname "Putin's chef."

Wagner has sent military contractors to Libya, Syria and several African countries, as well as Ukraine.

___

Associated Press writers Danica Kirka in London, and Nomaan Merchant in Washington, contributed.

The head of the Wagner force said Saturday he has ordered his mercenaries to halt their march on Moscow and retreat to their field camps in Ukraine to avoid shedding Russian blood.

The announcement from Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared to defuse a growing crisis. Moscow had braced for the arrival of the private army led by the rebellious commander. And President Vladimir Putin had vowed he would face harsh consequences.

Prigozhin said that while his men are just 120 miles from Moscow, he decided to turn them back to avoid “shedding Russian blood.”

He didn’t say whether the Kremlin has responded to his demand to oust Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.

Video below: Russia: Putin says 'inevitable punishment' for those who chose 'treachery'

The announcement follows a statement from the office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko saying that he had negotiated a deal with Prigozhin after previously discussing the issue with Putin.

Prigozhin has accepted Lukashenko’s offer to halt the Wagner group’s advance and further steps to de-escalate the tensions, Lukashenko’s office said, adding that the proposed settlement contains security guarantees for Wagner troops. It didn’t elaborate.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Earlier story follows below.

Moscow on Saturday erected checkpoints with armored vehicles and troops on its southern edge, Red Square was shut down and the mayor urged motorists to stay off some roads as the Russian capital braced for the arrival of a private army led by a rebellious mercenary commander.

President Vladimir Putin vowed harsh consequences for organizers of the armed uprising led by his onetime protege, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who brought his forces out of Ukraine, seized a key military facility in southern Russia and advanced toward Moscow.

Prigozhin's actions represented the most significant challenge to Putin's leadership in his more than two decades in power.

In a televised speech to the nation, Putin called the rebellion a “betrayal” and “treason.”

“All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment,” Putin said. “The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders.”

Authorities declared a “counterterrorist regime” in the capital and its surrounding region, enhancing security and restricting some movement.

On the southern outskirts, troops erected checkpoints, arranged sandbags and set up machine guns.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin warned that traffic could be restricted in parts of the capital. He declared Monday a non-working day for most residents.

Crews dug up sections of highways to slow the march of the Wagner mercenary army. Access to Red Square was closed, two major museums were evacuated and a park was shut.

Prigozhin's private army appeared to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles south of Moscow that runs Russian operations in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.

Wagner troops and equipment also were in Lipetsk province, about 225 miles south of Moscow, where authorities “are taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the population," said regional Gov. Igor Artamonov, via Telegram. He did not elaborate.

The dramatic developments came exactly 16 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s largest conflict since World War II, that has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and reduced cities to rubble.

Ukrainians hoped the Russian infighting would create opportunities for its army to take back territory seized by Russian forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow was suffering “full-scale weakness” and that Kyiv was protecting Europe from “the spread of Russian evil and chaos.”

The Federal Security Service, or FSB, called for Prigozhin’s arrest Friday night after he declared the armed rebellion.

Prigozhin said his fighters would not surrender, as “we do not want the country to live on in corruption, deceit and bureaucracy.”

“Regarding the betrayal of the motherland, the president was deeply mistaken. We are patriots of our homeland,” he said in an audio message on his Telegram channel.

Prigozhin’s private army has been fighting alongside regular Russian troops in Ukraine. His goals weren’t immediately clear, but the rebellion marks an escalation in his struggle with Russian military leaders, whom he accused of botching the war in Ukraine and hobbling his forces in the field.

“This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” Prigozhin said.

Prigozhin said he had 25,000 troops under his command and urged the army not to offer resistance.

He posted video of himself at the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don and claimed his forces had taken control of the airfield and other military facilities in the city. Other videos on social media showed military vehicles, including tanks, on the streets.

“We didn’t kill a single person on our way,” Prigozhin said in one of his several messages posted as the day went on, adding that his forces seized the military headquarters “without a single gunshot.” His claims could not be independently verified. The Russian authorities haven’t reported any casualties so far, either.

The rebellion comes as Russia is “fighting the toughest battle for its future,” Putin said, with the West piling sanctions on Moscow and arming Ukraine.

“The entire military, economic and information machine of the West is waged against us,” Putin said.

A Muscovite who gave only his first name of Khachik called the situation “scary.” Another man who didn’t want to be identified at all denounced Prigozhin’s move as a betrayal and said he supports the Defense Ministry.

State-controlled TV networks led their newscasts with Putin’s statement and reported the tense situation in Rostov-on-Don. Some showed social media videos of residents denouncing Wagner troops.

Broadcasters also carried statements from top officials and lawmakers voicing support for Putin and condemning Prigozhin.

In announcing the rebellion, Prigozhin said he wanted to punish Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu after he accused Russian government forces of attacking Wagner field camps in Ukraine with rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery. He claimed that “a huge number of our comrades got killed.”

Prigozhin said his forces shot down a Russian military helicopter that fired on a civilian convoy, but there was no independent confirmation.

He alleged that Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, ordered the attacks following a meeting with Shoigu, where they decided to destroy the military contractor.

The Defense Ministry denied attacking the Wagner camps.

The 62-year-old Prigozhin, a former convict, has long ties to the Russian leader and won lucrative Kremlin catering contracts that earned him the nickname “Putin's chef.”

He gained attention in the U.S. when he and a dozen other Russian nationals were charged with operating a covert social media campaign aimed at fomenting discord ahead of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election victory. He formed the Wagner mercenary group, which sent military contractors to Libya, Syria, several African countries and eventually Ukraine.

After Putin’s address, in which he called for unity, officials sought to reiterate their allegiance to the Kremlin and urged Prigozhin to back down.

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house of parliament, said lawmakers “stand for the consolidation of forces″ and support Putin.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova echoed that, saying in a Telegram post that “we have one commander in chief. Not two, not three. One.″

Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of the Chechnya region who used to side with Prigozhin in his criticism of the military, also expressed his full support of Putin's “every word.”

“The mutiny needs to be suppressed," Kadyrov said.

While the outcome of the confrontation was still unclear, it appeared likely to further hinder Moscow’s war effort as Kyiv’s forces probed Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counter-offensive.

Wagner forces have played a crucial role, capturing the eastern city of Bakhmut, an area where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place. But Prigozhin has increasingly criticized the military brass, accusing it of incompetence and of starving his troops of munitions.

Zelenskyy noted the rebellion in his Telegram channel and said, “anyone who chooses the path of evil destroys himself.”

“For a long time, Russia used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government. And now there is so much chaos that no lie can hide it,” he said.

Prigozhin's actions could have significant implications for the war. Orysia Lutsevych, the head of the Ukraine Forum at the Chatham House think tank in London, said the infighting will create confusion and potential division among Russian military forces.

“Russian troops in Ukraine may well now be operating in a vacuum, without clear military instructions, and doubts about whom to obey and follow,″ Lutsevych said. “This creates a unique and unprecedented military opportunity for the Ukrainian army.”

Ukrainian soldier Andrii Kvasnytsia, attending a funeral for a comrade, said Prigozhin’s intentions toward Ukraine might be worse than Putin’s, but that the infighting would still benefit the country.

Prigozhin, whose feud with the Defense Ministry dates back years, had refused to comply with a requirement that his forces sign contracts with the ministry before July 1. He said Friday he was ready for a compromise, but “they have treacherously cheated us.”

In Washington, the Institute for the Study of War said, “the violent overthrow of Putin loyalists like Shoigu and Gerasimov would cause irreparable damage to the stability of Putin’s perceived hold on power.”

Western countries monitored developments closely. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his counterparts in the other G7 countries and the European Union’s foreign affairs representative, his spokesman said, adding that Blinken “reiterated that support by the United States for Ukraine will not change.”

Latvia and Estonia, two NATO countries that border Russia, said they were increasing security at their borders.

The Kremlin said Putin spoke by phone with the leaders of Turkey, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan about the events.

Although there was speculation that Putin had left Moscow, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied it.

___

Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed.

SANDSTONE, Minn. (AP) — Four lion cubs that were orphaned during the war in Ukraine have arrived safely at a Minnesota animal sanctuary that has pledged to provide them a permanent home.

A male cub named Taras and three females named Stefania, Lesya and Prada, who are all between four and five months old, spent the last three weeks at the Poznan Zoo in Poland. Their arrival Tuesday marked the final step in an arduous journey after they lived through sporadic bombings and drone attacks in Ukraine, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, one of several groups working to rescue animals from the war.

"These cubs have endured more in their short lives than any animal should," Meredith Whitney, wildlife rescue program manager at the fund, said in a statement. "They were born at breeding facilities in Ukraine during the war and then orphaned at a few weeks old."

Their new home is The Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Minneapolis. They were put on a plane that was returning to the U.S. from Poland. It landed Tuesday in Minneapolis, from where sanctuary staffers brought them to the facility where they were assessed by a veterinarian and given a warm place to rest. The flight was funded in part by the New York-based Andrew Sabin Family Foundation.

Dr. Andrew Kushnir, an American veterinarian with the fund who accompanied the cubs on their flight, cared for the cubs in Ukraine and Poland. Despite drone attacks and airstrikes, he prepared their specialized formula every three hours, the fund said. On nights when the power went out, he used his arms and legs to warm their milk bottles.

The cubs came from two litters, Whitney said. Three were rescued from Odesa, she said, while Prada, the oldest, was born at a breeder in Kyiv. The rescuers don't know what became of the mothers, she added.

The nonprofit Wildcat Sanctuary shelters nearly 130 lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards and other wildcats, many of which were rescued from the trade in exotic pets, including the four cubs. To assure peace and tranquility for the cats, it does not put them on public display, but lets them roam fenced enclosures amid the woods of Minnesota. The sanctuary does offer virtual tours via its website and Facebook page.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Tuesday with troops in the eastern city of Bakhmut, the scene of some of the most intense combat since Russia invaded the country, praising their "courage, resilience and strength" as artillery boomed in the background.

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the "courage and self-denial" of his forces in Ukraine — but he did so at a ceremony in an opulent and glittering hall at the Kremlin in Moscow, not on the battlefield.

Both leaders sought to build morale as the stalemated conflict grinds through its 10th month and winter sets in.

Zelenskky met with military personnel in a dimly lit building — possibly a disused factory — in Bakhmut, which he has called "the hottest spot on the entire front line," his office said. The city, about 600 kilometers (380 miles) east of Kyiv, has remained in Ukrainian hands, thwarting Moscow's goal of capturing the rest of Donetsk province and the entire Donbas industrial region.

The Ukrainian leader told the troops he passed through Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka to reach Bakhmut in an unannounced trip that appeared designed to show Moscow's failure to capture the city and dishearten the Russians trying to surround it.

"Bakhmut Fortress. Our people. Unconquered by the enemy. Who with their bravery prove that we will endure and will not give up what's ours," he wrote on his Telegram channel, thanking the troops for "the courage, resilience and strength shown in repelling the enemy attacks.

"Since May, the occupiers have been trying to break our Bakhmut, but time goes by and Bakhmut is already breaking not only the Russian army, but also the Russian mercenaries who came to replace the wasted army of the occupiers," he said.

Russia's invasion, which began Feb. 24, has lost momentum. The illegally annexed provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia remain fiercely contested. Capturing Bakhmut would sever Ukraine's supply lines and open a route for Russian forces to press on toward cities that are key Ukrainian strongholds in the Donetsk province.

Mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian military contractor, are reported to be leading the charge in Bakhmut. Before Russia's full-scale invasion, Russia-backed separatists had controlled parts of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk since 2014. The two provinces together make up the Donbas.

Unverified videos on a popular Russian social media platform showed the Wagner Group's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, standing near an artillery piece and saying he was ready to meet Zelenskyy in Bakhmut. In a statement accompanying the videos, Prigozhin's spokespeople relayed a message to Zelenskyy reading: "If you haven't left Bakhmut yet, I'm ready to meet you. Prigozhin." It wasn't clear from the videos where they were shot or when.

At the Kremlin ceremony, Putin presented awards to the Moscow-appointed heads of the four illegally annexed regions of Ukraine.

"Our country has often faced challenges and defended its sovereignty," Putin said. "Now Russia is again facing such a challenge. Soldiers, officers and volunteers are showing outstanding examples of courage and self-denial on the front line."

In a video address honoring Russia's military and security agencies, he praised the security personnel deployed to the four regions, saying that "people living there, Russian citizens, count on being protected by you."

Putin acknowledged the challenges faced by security personnel deployed there.

"Yes, it's difficult for you," he said, adding that the situation in the regions is "extremely difficult."

The former KGB operative added: "Your duty is to do all that is needed to ensure their safety and protection of rights and freedoms." Putin also promised to reinforce units there with more equipment and personnel. The regions are under pressure from a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Putin also called on counterintelligence officers to step up efforts to "derail activities by foreign spy agencies and quickly track down traitors, spies and saboteurs."

A Russian newspaper, Rossiskaya Gazeta, reported that Putin last week had visited his Ukraine command headquarters. Its location wasn't disclosed, and it wasn't even clear if it was in Ukraine.

British authorities, meanwhile, gave a bleak assessment of how the war is going for Russia.

Some 100,000 Russian troops were "dead, injured or have deserted" in the invasion, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said. Wallace didn't give a figure for Ukrainian casualties, but a senior U.S. military recently put the estimated number of Ukrainian troops killed and wounded at about 100,000.

Losses in Russia's military command have also taken a toll, as has the destruction of equipment. "Not one single operational commander then in place on Feb. 24 is in charge now," Wallace told lawmakers in the House of Commons. "Russia has lost significant numbers of generals and commanding officers."

"Russian capability has been severely hampered by the destruction of more than 4,500 armored and protected vehicles, as well as more than 140 helicopters and fixed wing aircraft," Wallace said.

Ukraine's counteroffensive has succeeded in recapturing large swaths of land. After 300 days of war, the U.K. Ministry of Defense tweeted, Ukraine has liberated about 54% of the maximum amount of extra territory Russia seized in the invasion. It didn't say what portion of the Ukrainian territory Russia controlled at the peak of its gains.

Russia now controls about 18% of internationally recognized areas of Ukraine, including those parts of the Donbas and Crimea seized earlier, it said.

With battles still raging, Zelenskyy's office said at least five civilians have been killed and eight wounded since Monday, with Russian forces attacking nine southeastern areas.

Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russia shelled 19 cities and villages in the region in the past day.

With the fighting in the east at a stalemate, Moscow has used missiles and drones to attack Ukraine's power equipment, hoping to leave people without electricity as freezing weather sets in.

Life in the Ukrainian capital took a minor but welcomed step toward normality with the reopening of two of Kyiv's main subway stations for the first time since the war began. The key hubs of Maidan Nezalezhnosti and Khreschatyk, like the capital's other underground stations, have served as air raid shelters.

"It's the feeling that despite everything, we are returning to a routine that we were used to," said 24-year-old passenger Denys Kapustin. "This is very important."

MOSCOW, Russia —

The United States rejected "ludicrous" accusations from Russia that it was behind an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin as Moscow's deputy foreign minister warned the two powers are on the precipice of an "open-armed conflict."

Relations between the U.S. and Russia are at their lowest point since the Cold War, but in the aftermath of Wednesday's purported drone attack on the Kremlin — the official residence of the Russian president — Moscow has dramatically dialed up its rhetoric.

When asked by CNN if Moscow believed the U.S. was behind the attack, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: "Undoubtedly, such decisions, the definition of goals, the definition of means — all this is dictated to Kyiv from Washington."

"We are well aware that decisions on such actions and such terrorist attacks are not made in Kyiv, but in Washington. And Kyiv is already executing what it is told to do," Peskov said.

Peskov did not provide any evidence to his claims, nor additional details regarding the alleged attack, saying that information would be released later.

Earlier this week, Russia claimed Ukraine launched a drone strike targeting the Kremlin in an attempt to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it a "planned terrorist attack." Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement.

John Kirby, the U.S. National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, denied Russia's "ludicrous" claim the U.S. directed Ukraine to carry out the alleged attack and kill Putin, and accused the president's spokesperson of lying.

"I would just tell you Mr. Peskov's lying. I mean, it's obviously a ludicrous claim. The United States had nothing to do with this. We don't even know what happened here," said Kirby.

"But I can assure you the United States had no role in it whatsoever."

Video below: “The main battles are coming soon," Ukraine's president says

The White House still has no indication who was behind the drone attack and Kirby said the U.S. does not "endorse, we do not encourage, we do not support attacks on individual leaders."

Russia doubled down on its bellicose rhetoric later Thursday when Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told local media that relations between the U.S. and Russia are on the verge of an "open-armed conflict."

"We are working to prevent relations with the U.S. from plunging into the abyss of an open armed conflict. We are already standing on the edge, on the edge of this precipice," Ryabkov told Russia's Channel One Thursday, according to state media agency TASS.

Ryabkov also accused U.S. officials of trying to "promote the idea of Washington's non-involvement" in the purported drone attack, TASS reported.

"Washington has long been a direct party to the Ukrainian conflict and aims to destroy sovereign Russia," he said, according to TASS.

CNN has reached out to the U.S. State Department and the White House for comment on Ryabkov's remarks.

Earlier Thursday, Kirby said since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, Moscow has been "trying to paint this war as some sort of fight with the West against Russia, NATO against Russia, the United States against Russia."

"And, of course, it's not; Russia is the aggressor here," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Wednesday's purported drone attack on the Kremlin was a "hostile act" and that his government would respond with "concrete actions."

"It was clearly a hostile act," Lavrov said at a press conference in India. "We will not respond by talking about whether it was an incident or not, but we will respond with concrete actions. We have a lot of patience."

Worst attack in years

The escalating war of words comes as Russia launched its most forceful air bombardment on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in a year, the Kyiv City Military Administration said Thursday.

All Russian missiles and drones "were destroyed in Kyiv airspace" by Ukrainian air defense forces on Thursday, avoiding civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure, the capital's military chief said.

Meanwhile in the southern port city of Kherson, Russian shelling of the city and its surrounding villages killed at least 23 people, the regional military chief said Thursday. Moscow struck Kherson at least 16 times, firing over 80 shells at Pryvokzalna Square, a railway station and crossing, a gas station, two stores, a factory and a car repair shop, the regional military administration said.

And in southeastern Zaporizhzhia, concerns have once again been raised about the safety of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant that is currently under Russia's control.

On Wednesday, Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate accused Russia of placing weapons, explosives and military equipment in one of the power plant's units. The Inspectorate said it received the information during its weekly meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency representatives a day earlier.

Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Russian-appointed military-civilian administration in occupied Zaporizhzhia, called the claims "a lie," adding that, "we do not use the nuclear power plant as a military facility."

KYIV, UKRAINE —

Ukraine's capital region was struck by Iranian-made kamikaze drones early Thursday morning, sending rescue workers rushing to the scene as residents awoke to air raid sirens for the fourth morning in a row following Russia's massive, deadly assault across the country on Monday.

Related video above: Russian missiles hit residential area in Zaporizhzhia

Kyiv regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba said the strike occurred in the area around the capital city. It was not yet clear if there were any casualties.

In the southern city of Mykolaiv, overnight shelling destroyed a five-story apartment building as fighting continued along Ukraine's southern front.

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkovych said the building's top two floors were completely destroyed in a single strike and the rest of the building was left in rubble. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A fire at a munitions depot inside Russia forced the evacuation of two villages near the border with Ukraine, an official said Friday, while two civilians were reported wounded by Russian shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as both sides traded accusations about fighting near the facility in southern Ukraine.

The fire late Thursday struck the munitions storage building near the village of Timonovo in Russia's Belgorod region on Ukraine's northeastern border. About 1,100 people live in Timonovo and Soloti, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the border. No one was hurt, said Belgorod regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov.

The fire came days after another ammunition depot exploded on the Crimean Peninsula, a Russian-occupied territory on the Black Sea that was annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Last week, nine Russian warplanes were reported destroyed at an airbase on Crimea, demonstrating both the Russians' vulnerability and the Ukrainians' capacity to strike deep behind enemy lines.

Ukrainian authorities have stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility. But President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alluded to Ukrainian attacks behind enemy lines after the blasts in Crimea, which Russia has blamed on "sabotage."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in televised remarks Friday that statements from Ukrainian officials about striking facilities in Crimea mark "an escalation of the conflict openly encouraged by the United States and its NATO allies."

Ryabkov said Russian officials had warned the U.S. against such actions in phone calls with high-level members of the Biden administration, adding that "deep and open U.S. involvement" in the war in Ukraine "effectively puts the U.S. on the brink of becoming a party to the conflict."

In spite of the latest incidents, a Western official said the war is at a "near operational standstill," with neither side able to launch major offensives.

"The whole tempo of the campaign has slowed down, partly because both sides have become more conscious that this is a marathon not a sprint and that expenditure rates and conserving their munitions is important," said official said who spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to discuss intelligence matters publicly.

Later Friday, a Ukrainian official said two civilians were wounded by Russian shelling of Ukrainian communities neighboring the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the latest in a long string of such shelling accusations over the past weeks.

"A new enemy attack on the Nikopol district. Five shells fired by Russian cannon artillery flew into the residential areas of Marhanets," Valentyn Reznichenko, the regional governor, said on Telegram. Both Nikopol and Marhanets are Ukrainian-controlled towns which face the nuclear plant across the Dnieper River.

"According to preliminary reports, two people have been wounded: an 18-year-old girl and a 40-year-old man. Both are in hospital," Reznichenko added.

Kyiv and Moscow continued to accuse each other for the shelling near Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

A senior official at the Ukrainian presidential office told reporters "the threat of an environmental catastrophe on a global scale" remains due to the "periodic shelling" of the plant by the Russian army.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office, said at the same briefing that Russian shelling had destroyed "more than 3,700 infrastructure objects" in the vicinity of the plant, including heating, electricity, gas and water supply facilities.

Zelenskyy also stressed the situation around the Zaporizhzhia plant in his Friday evening address.

"If Russia's radiation blackmail continues, this summer may go down in the history of various European countries as one of the most tragic of all time. Because not a single instruction at any nuclear power plant in the world provides a procedure in case a terrorist state turns a nuclear power plant into a target," he said.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin told French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in their first phone conversation since May 28 that Ukrainian shelling around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "raised the threat of a large-scale catastrophe that could lead to radioactive contamination of large territories."

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility in Ukraine's south has been controlled by Russian forces since shortly after the invasion began on Feb. 24. Ukraine has accused Russia of storing troops and weapons at the plant and using its grounds to launch strikes against Ukrainian-controlled territory. Ukrainian officials and military analysts say Moscow's forces have cynically employed the plant as a shield, knowing that the Ukrainians would be hesitant to fire back.

Russia has denied the accusations and, in turn, accused Ukrainian forces of repeatedly shelling the plant.

The French presidency said in a statement that Macron "underlined his concerns" regarding the situation at the Zaporizhzhia plant and expressed his support for the deployment of a International Atomic Energy Agency mission to the site "as soon as possible."

Putin agreed to the mission's deployment under the discussed terms, according to the French statement. The Kremlin said that "the Russian side reaffirmed its readiness to offer the necessary assistance to the agency's experts."

Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-backed chief of temporary administration for the Russia-controlled part of the Zaporizhzhia region, said Friday that an IAEA mission could approach the plant from Ukrainian-held territory, a shift in Moscow's position which previously had suggested that the mission should travel to the plant from Crimea.

"I believe they may also come from the side of Ukraine," Balitsky said in televised remarks. "We can safely bring them to the plant and show where the fire is coming from and who is shooting."

Mikhail Ulyanov, the Russian envoy to international organizations in Vienna where the IAEA is based, said he believes a visit by the agency could realistically take place in early September.

___

Jill Lawless in London contributed.

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Follow the AP's coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Related video above: A look at how CNN geolocates and verifies social media footage out of Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin's creeping authoritarianism got a lot more overt on Friday when he signed a censorship bill into law making it impossible for news organizations to accurately report the news in or from Russia.

The law, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, makes it a crime to disseminate "fake" information about the invasion of Ukraine, with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for anyone convicted.

The definition of "fake" is, of course, left up to the Russian government. The New York Times reported that the law, which could take effect as soon as Saturday, could make it illegal to merely refer to the Ukraine war as a war.

The law prompted urgent meetings inside news outlets on Friday and pushed them to make difficult decisions.

The BBC, bluntly saying that the law "appears to criminalize the process of independent journalism," said that it had no choice but to "temporarily suspend the work" of its journalists and staff in Russia as it assesses the "full implications of this unwelcome development."

CNN said the network "will stop broadcasting in Russia while we continue to evaluate the situation and our next steps moving forward."

ABC News and CBS News both said that their networks were temporarily refraining from broadcasting from Russia.

Reading between the lines, this means that international correspondents in Moscow are staying in the city, but are not appearing on TV for the time being.

Newswires and newspapers also expressed profound concern.

Bloomberg News said that it will suspend the work of its journalists inside Russia, with editor in chief John Micklethwait saying that the law "seems designed to turn any independent reporter into a criminal purely by association, makes it impossible to continue any semblance of normal journalism inside the country."

The Washington Post said it intends to "exercise caution while seeking clarity about how these reported restrictions would affect Washington Post correspondents and local staff."

The Wall Street Journal said that its "top priorities are the safety of our employees and covering this important story fairly and fully."

And Reuters said it is, too, assessing the situation.

While the full ramifications of the law remain unclear, it clearly marks a major escalation in Putin's efforts to cut back on press freedoms as he works to exert firmer control of the narrative around Ukraine.

It's also the culmination of years and years of work from Putin aimed at curbing reporting from Russia. Many journalists feared such a strict clampdown could occur one day, though they hoped it would not.

In addition to the harsh new law handicapping media outlets, the Russian media regulator, Roskomnadzor, blocked several western news sites on Friday.

"The number of independent media voices Russians can read and watch is dropping fast," CNN's Anna Cooban wrote. "Russian authorities have restricted access to news publications including BBC Russia, Radio Liberty, and Latvia-based Meduza, RIA Novosti reported on Friday."

Russia retaliates against Facebook, too

The Russian media regulator also said it would take action against Facebook and block the site — a move that would be a major blow to the concept of a free and open internet. In a statement, Roskomnadzor cited Facebook's moves in recent days to impose restrictions on Russia-controlled media outlets.

Nick Clegg, president of global affairs for Meta, FB's parent company, said the company "will continue to do everything" it can to continue providing services so that people can "safely and securely express themselves and organize for action."

At Friday's WH briefing, Jen Psaki addressed what she referred to as "concerning steps" Russia has taken in efforts to "cut off a range of information from their public."

Psaki noted it is "a pattern" of Russia's to "crack down on information in their country to reach the Russian people." She said the WH is "deeply concerned about this and concerned about the threat on freedom of speech in the country."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill introducing a prison sentence of up to 15 years for spreading information that goes against the Russian government’s position on the war in Ukraine.

The bill criminalizing the intentional spreading of what Russia deems to be “fake” reports about the war was quickly rubber-stamped by both houses of the Kremlin-controlled parliament earlier Friday.

Russian authorities have repeatedly decried reports of Russian military setbacks or civilian deaths in Ukraine as “fake” reports. State media outlets refer to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation” rather than a “war” or “invasion.”

The law envisages sentences of up to three years or fines for spreading what authorities deem to be false news about the military, but the maximum punishment rises to 15 years for cases deemed to have led to “severe consequences.”

Also Friday, the state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, blocked Facebook and five foreign media organizations based abroad which publish news in Russian in a sweeping action to establish tight control over information about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

RELATED: Russia blocks access to Facebook

Europe's largest nuclear power station is on fire following an attack by Russian troops.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and has also urged Russia to stop military activities in the area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant so that firefighters and emergency responders can access the site and put out the flames.

President Biden has also been in touch with the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the U.S. Department of Energy and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration to be updated on the situation at the nuclear plant.

Ukraine's foreign minister has called for a security zone, and also pressed the importance of immediately allowing firefighters to be allowed to go in and handle the blaze, Reuters reported.

The fire at the nuclear power station in the city of Enerhodar comes after Russian troops were shelling it just before, Ukraine's foreign minister said.

“We demand that they stop the heavy weapons fire,” Andriy Tuz, spokesperson for the plant in Enerhodar, said in a video posted on Telegram. “There is a real threat of nuclear danger in the biggest atomic energy station in Europe.”

Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted late on Thursday, "Fire has already broke out. If it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chornobyl! Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone!"

The plant accounts for about one quarter of Ukraine’s power generation.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said she has spoken with Ukraine's energy minister about this situation and called on Russian troops to cease their attack calling the situation "reckless." She said the U.S. Department of Energy has activated its Nuclear Incident Response Team and is monitoring the situation along with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The fighting at Enerhodar, a city on the Dnieper River, came as another round of talks between the two sides yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors inside Ukraine to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid.

The mayor of Enerhodar said Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the city’s outskirts. Video showed flames and black smoke rising above the city of more than 50,000, with people streaming past wrecked cars, just a day after the U.N. atomic watchdog agency expressed grave concern that the fighting could cause accidental damage to Ukraine’s 15 nuclear reactors.

Earlier, both the Ukrainian state atomic energy company and the mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, said Russian troops were approaching the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Officials said loud shots were heard in the city late Thursday.

“Many young men in athletic clothes and armed with Kalashnikov have come into the city. They are breaking down door and trying to get into the apartments of local residents,” the statement from Energoatom said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has joined Ukraine’s president in calling on the West to close the skies over Ukraine’s nuclear plants as fighting intensified around the major energy hub on the left bank of the Dnieper River and the Khakhovka Reservoir.

Shmyhal said he already had appealed to NATO and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' atomic watchdog.

“Close the skies over Ukraine! It is a question of the security of the whole world!” Shmyhal said in a statement Thursday evening.

The U.S. and NATO allies have ruled out creating a no-fly zone since the move would directly pit Russian and Western militaries.

Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin is being pulled from two sponsorship ads following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

TSN’s Rick Westhead and ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski first reported the news.

According to TSN, the Canadian ice hockey equipment brand CCM Hockey has stopped using Ovechkin and other Russian NHL players in all global marketing initiatives.

In an email to TSN, CCM Hockey said they decided to stop using Ovechkin, "Although Mr. Ovechkin is not responsible for the Russian government’s actions."

In years past, Ovechkin has supported Russian President Vladimir Putin, but on Friday, he stated that his country's invasion of Ukraine was a "hard situation," USA Today reported.

MassMutual has also pulled its ad that features Ovechkin.

According to ESPN, the ad, which features Ovechkin, his wife, Anastasia Shubskaya, and his Capitals teammate Nicklas Backstrom, began running in October, but it "is no longer on the air.”

WASHINGTON —

Addressing a concerned nation and anxious world, President Joe Biden vowed in his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to check Russian aggression in Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus.

Biden declared that he and all members of Congress, whatever their political differences, are joined “with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny.” He asked the lawmakers crowding the House chamber to stand and salute the Ukrainians as he began his speech. They stood and cheered.

It was a notable show of unity after a long year of bitter acrimony between Biden’s Democratic coalition and the Republican opposition.

Biden’s 62-minute speech, which was split between attention to war abroad and worries at home — reflected the same balancing act he now faces in his presidency. He must marshal allied resolve against Russia’s aggression while tending to inflation, COVID-19 fatigue and sagging approval ratings heading into the midterm elections.

Biden highlighted the bravery of Ukrainian defenders and the commitment of a newly reinvigorated Western alliance that has worked to rearm the Ukrainian military and cripple Russia’s economy through sanctions. He warned of costs to the American economy, as well, but warned ominously that without consequences, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression wouldn’t be contained to Ukraine.

“Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson – when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos,” Biden said. “They keep moving. And, the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising.”

As Biden spoke, Russian forces were escalating their attacks in Ukraine, having bombarded the central square of country’s second-biggest city and Kyiv’s main TV tower, killing at least five people. The Babi Yar Holocaust memorial was also damaged.

Biden announced that the U.S. is following Canada and the European Union in banning Russian planes from its airspace in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. He also said the Justice Department was launching a task force to go after crimes of Russian oligarchs, whom he called “corrupt leaders who have bilked billions of dollars off this violent regime.”

“We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,” he said, pledging that the U.S. and European allies were coming after their yachts, luxury apartments and private jets.

“Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he will never gain the hearts and souls of the Ukrainian people," Biden said. "He will never extinguish their love of freedom. He will never weaken the resolve of the free world.”

Even before the Russian invasion sent energy costs skyrocketing, prices for American families had been rising, and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hurt families and the country’s economy.

Biden outlined plans to address inflation by reinvesting in American manufacturing capacity, speeding supply chains and reducing the burden of childcare and eldercare on workers.

“Too many families are struggling to keep up with the bills,” Biden said. “Inflation is robbing them of the gains they might otherwise feel. I get it. That’s why my top priority is getting prices under control.”

Biden entered the House chamber without a mask, in a reflection of the declining coronavirus case counts and new federal guidance meant to nudge the public back to pre-pandemic activities. But the Capitol was newly fenced due to security concerns after last year’s insurrection.

Set against unease at home and danger abroad, the White House had conceived Tuesday night's speech as an opportunity to highlight the improving coronavirus outlook, rebrand Biden's domestic policy priorities and show a path to lower costs for families grappling with soaring inflation. But it took on new significance with last week's Russian invasion of Ukraine and nuclear saber-rattling by Putin.

As is customary, one Cabinet secretary, in this case Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, was kept in a secure location during the address, ready to take over the government in the event of a catastrophe.

In an interview with CNN and Reuters, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he urged Biden to deliver a strong and “useful” message about Russia’s invasion. In a show of unity, Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova joined First Lady Jill Biden in the gallery.

In a rare discordant moment, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado yelled out that Biden was to blame for the 13 service members who were killed during last August’s chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“You put them in. Thirteen of them,” Boebert yelled as Biden mentioned his late son Beau, a veteran who died from brain cancer and served near toxic military burn pits, used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan. Biden is pursuing legislation to help veterans suffering exposure and other injuries.

Rising energy prices as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine risk exacerbating inflation in the U.S., which is already at the highest level in 40 years, eating into people's earnings and threatening the economic recovery from the pandemic. And while the crisis in Eastern Europe may have helped to cool partisan tensions in Washington, it didn't erase the political and cultural discord that is casting doubt on Biden’s ability to deliver.

A February AP-NORC poll found that more people disapproved than approved of how Biden is handling his job, 55% to 44%. That's down from a 60% favorable rating last July.

Ahead of the speech, White House officials acknowledged the mood of the country was “sour,” citing the lingering pandemic and inflation. Biden, used his remarks to highlight the progress from a year ago — with the majority of the U.S. population now vaccinated and millions more people at work — but also acknowledged that the job is not yet done, a recognition of American discontent.

“I have come to report on the state of the union,” Biden said. “And my report is this: The state of the union is strong—because you, the American people, are strong. We are stronger today than we were a year ago. And we will be stronger a year from now than we are today.”

Before Biden spoke, House Republicans said the word “crisis” describes the state of the union under Biden and Democrats — from an energy policy that lets Russia sell oil abroad to challenges at home over jobs and immigration.

“We’re going to push the president to do the right thing,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

At least a half dozen lawmakers, including Reps. Jamie Raskin and Pete Aguilar, both members of the committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot, and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., had tested positive for COVID-19 and were not expected at the Capitol for the speech.

“Tonight, I can say we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines,” Biden said, outlining his administration's plans to continue to combat COVID-19 and saying, “It’s time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again.” He announced that people will be able to order another round of free tests from the government and that his administration was launching a “test to treat” initiative to provide free antiviral pills at pharmacies to those who test positive for the virus.

Where his speech to Congress last year saw the rollout of a massive social spending package, Biden this year largely repackaged past proposals in search of achievable measures he hopes can win bipartisan support in a bitterly divided Congress before the elections.

The president also highlighted investments in everything from internet broadband access to bridge construction from November’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law as an example of government reaching consensus and delivering change for the nation.

He also appealed to lawmakers to compromise on rival competitiveness bills that have passed the House and Senate, both meant to revitalize high-tech American manufacturing and supply chains in the face of growing geopolitical threats from China.

“Instead of relying on foreign supply chains – let’s make it in America,” Biden said.

As part of his pitch to voters, he also put a new emphasis on how proposals like extending the child tax credit and bringing down child care costs could bring relief to families as prices rise. He was said his climate change proposals would cut costs for lower- and middle-income families and create new jobs.

Biden called for lowering health care costs, pitching his plan to authorize Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, as well as an extension of more generous health insurance subsidies now temporarily available through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces where 14.5 million people get coverage.

He proposed initiatives on mental health that dovetail with growing bipartisan interest in Congress amid evidence that the pandemic has damaged the national psyche, and discussed new ways to improve access to health benefits for veterans sickened by exposure to the burning of waste during their service.

Biden also appealed for action on voting rights, which has failed to win GOP support. And as gun violence rises, he returned to calls to ban assault weapons, a blunt request he hadn’t made in months. He called to “fund the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.”

In addition, Biden led Congress in a bipartisan tribute to retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and pressed the Senate to confirm federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the first Black woman on the high court to replace him. He nominated her last week.

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Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Fatima Hussein, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Jason Dearen in New York contributed to this report.