'Heavy fighting' expected in suburbs of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, in the 'coming days,' intel says
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence said Thursday that "Russian forces continue to hold positions to the east and west of Kyiv despite the withdrawal of a limited number of units" and that "heavy fighting will likely take place in the suburbs of the city in coming days."
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Cracks in the Kremlin
It's been said more than once in recent days that Russian President Putin has likely been misinformed by his security and military services about the war in Ukraine--from the initial prospects for victory to progress on the ground. To date, no one suggests this is part of a conspiracy but rather the result of advisors being afraid to tell Putin things he doesn't want to hear.
It may be that now finally, Putin has become clear-headed, seeing that a month in, Russia has not achieved its goals that were supposed to have come with lightning speed. It did not take Ukraine in a couple of days. Without regrouping or changing tack, the path ahead looks long and uncertain.
And now Putin's inner circle, which once appeared to be in lockstep about the war and the officially declared reasons for it, is split quite dramatically between those who want to cut Russia's losses and run and those who want to fight until the bitter end, to deliver Ukraine in its entirety to the Russian people. "Some think that Russia should be realistic about its goals and about its resources," Oleg Ignatov of the International Crisis Group, told Fox News.
Read more: Cracks in the Kremlin
Global community slams Russia for lying about Ukraine pullback
Ukraine braces for attacks as Russia regroups
Russian invasion takes Slava Vakarchuk to his most dangerous rock tour across Ukraine
When Russian rockets started hitting his homeland, Ukraine’s rock star Sviatoslav "Slava" Vakarchuk asked himself how he could help a country facing yet another Russian invasion in less than a decade. Soon after the first bombs exploded in multiple towns, he enlisted in the armed forces and has since visited more than a dozen war affected towns across the country.
"The most effective way for me was to use my popularity to inspire people and boost the morale of those who fight for our country. I wanted to be useful," says Vakarchuk who, for the last month, has been performing in the most unusual places - from underground bomb shelters to children’s hospitals and to empty streets of war-torn towns.
Europeans rush to buy iodide pills as nuclear fears rise
Putin beginning to have excuses made for him: Military expert
Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges peeled back the curtain on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military Thursday on "Your World."
RET. LT. GEN. HODGES: For the last four or five years I've listened to experts talk about, … "Putin is this genius, he's so smart. He can play ‘Go’ and chess simultaneously while standing on his head. He's a former KGB agent." Give me a break that he has no idea how corrupt his own ministry is, how corrupt his own government is, and that he doesn't know what's going on. So I think this is the beginning of people trying to make excuses for him, whether they're inside Russia, or maybe they were people who were a little bit too complimentary of him outside of Russia.
Has US military aid to Ukraine slowed?
Russia claims to shoot down Ukrainian aircraft with American Stinger missile
The Russian Ministry of Defence Thursday claimed that Russian forces used American Stinger missiles to shoot down two Ukrainian helicopters.
"In the morning of March 31, the Kiev regime attempted to evacuate the command staff of the Azov Ukrainian nationalist regiment from Mariupol using two Mi-8 helicopters," the ministry said Thursday, according to a translation provided to Fox News.
The "Azov" regiment is a unit of the Ukrainian National Guard tied to neo-Nazi sentiment and is based out of Mariupol.
The ministry said it used a "trophy American Stinger system", shoot down one Mi-8 helicopter, while a second Mi-8 was damaged by a Stinger missile and later crashed.
IAEA says it cannot confirm that Russian forces received high dosages of radiation at Chernobyl
The International Atomic Energy Agency said that it is investigating the possibility that some Russian forces at Chernobyl were exposed to high doses of radiation.
In a social media post Thursday, the IAEA said it has not been able to confirm reports that Russian forces that took over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine fell victim to high doses of radiation. The agency added that it is attempting to independently verify those reports.
The statement comes after Russian forces began pulling back from the plant that was the site of an infamous nuclear disaster in 1986, which Russian forces took control of shortly after invading Urkaine last month.
State Department warns Russian security officials 'may be singling out US citizens'
The State Department on Thursday warned that Russian government security officials in both Ukraine and Russia "may be singling out U.S. citizens" based on their nationality, and urged Americans who remain in either country to "depart immediately."
The warning from the agency came during a press briefing with State Department spokesman Ned Price.
"We take seriously our responsibility to inform U.S. citizens about developments that may impact their safety and security when they are traveling or residing outside of the United States," Price said. "In recent weeks, as you've heard, we have seen reports that Russian security officials have singled out and detained U.S. citizens in Ukraine and in Russia itself."
"We have also heard President Putin denigrate equality, free speech, and human rights for all," Price continued. "For these reasons, we are warning U.S. citizens that Russian government security officials in both Russia and in Ukraine may be singling out U.S. citizens based on their nationality."
State Department won't acknowledge security aid for Ukraine embassy staff, families
Employees of the U.S. embassy in Ukraine have claimed that the Biden administration is leaving them behind by not helping them escape to safety, and while the State Department has confirmed they are providing financial help, they have not said that they are actively assisting anyone on the ground.
Earlier this month, embassy workers sent a letter to the State Department, reported by Foreign Policy magazine, in which they claimed there had been a "change in tone and open denial of prior promises" regarding financial and safety assistance.
We are exploring all legal options to support our team at this difficult time," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News, noting that the administration has "already taken some important steps."
Russian forces leaving Kyiv a massive 'tactical victory': Rebecca Grant
Pentagon says the US hopes Ukraine wins the war
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby took aim at those who have questioned American goals amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, arguing that the U.S. wants the Ukrainians to win the war.
Kirby said the U.S. would not have sent billions in military aid and provided Ukraine with training if leaders were not hoping Ukraine would win the war, an apparent response to speculation that the Biden administration fears a Russian failure in the conflict because of how Russian President Vladimir Putin would respond.
He added the U.S. goal is for Ukraine to have “every inch of their territory respected" by Russia and any other neighbor.
Pentagon doesn't rule out that more Russian conscripts could be sent to fight in Ukraine
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby didn't rule out the idea that Russia could send more conscripts to fight in Ukraine.
"They’ve claimed that they’re not going to be sent into Ukraine to fight… we’ll see," Kirby said when asked about the 134,000 conscripts Russia is reportedly looking to bring into its armed forces.
Kirby pointed out that the Russians have previously denied that conscripts were fighting in Ukraine, only for later reports to reveal that wasn't true.
"A significant amount of their forces were conscripts," Kirby said, noting that some were lied to and told they were going on a training exercise when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Kirby concluded by warning not to take anything from Russia at “face value.”
Kyiv still being 'pounded' by Russian strikes despite 'nice rhetoric': senior US defense official
Kyiv continues to be pummeled by Russian airstrikes despite claims from Moscow that it would divert troops from the capital city amid peace talks with Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday.
Russian defense officials said this week they would move troops away from the capital city of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv to "increase mutual trust" in its peace talks with Ukraine.
But the U.S. and Ukraine have voiced extreme skepticism about Russia’s true intentions.
Biden: Putin 'seems to be self-isolated', signs of discontent at Kremlin
President Biden, when asked by a reporter Thursday about whether Vladimir Putin is being misled by his inner circle, said "he seems to be self isolated and there's some indication that he has fired or put under house arrest some of his advisors.
"But I don't want to put too much stock in at this time because we don't have that much hard evidence," Biden added.
Biden: US will release 1 million barrels of oil a day to combat soaring gas prices
U.S. President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the U.S. is releasing one million barrels of oil per day from its reserves over the next six months to combat rising and heightened gas prices during the war in Ukraine.
“I know how much it hurts,” Biden said. “Your family budget to fill a tank – none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war.”
In a message to oil companies, Biden said “this is not the time to sit on record profits, it’s time to step up for the good of your country, for the good of the world to invest in immediate production that we need to respond to Vladimir Putin to provide some relief to your customers not investors and executives.”
President Biden to speak at 1:30 p.m. ET about energy prices as war in Ukraine continues
Click here to watch on Fox News.
Trey Yingst reflects on Ukraine war zone reporting: You watch lives 'completely fall apart'
Fox News foreign correspondent Trey Yingst shared his firsthand account of the humanitarian horrors unfolding in Ukraine Thursday after returning to the U.S. from the front lines of the Russian invasion.
Yingst joined "America's Newsroom" to describe what he witnessed on the ground as millions of Ukrainians flee Vladimir Putin's incursion.
"We don't understand the decisions people have to make each and every day when they decide to flee their homes," Yingst told co-hosts Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer. "That decision is so difficult for people."
Yingst recounted an interview with one Ukrainian woman near Kyiv on the impact the war had on her life.
"She looked at me, and she said, 'It's like your life is broken forever,' and there's no hope, and I think that really underscores what's happening to the Ukrainian population," he said.
For more on this story: Trey Yingst reflects on Ukraine war zone reporting: You watch lives 'completely fall apart'
UK officials rip Putin: He’s ‘already lost’ the war, his army’s reputation is ‘trashed’
United Kingdom Military Chief Tony Radakin and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace tore into Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, describing him as a self-imploding authoritarian at the helm of an army that has proved itself to be an embarrassment on the world stage.
“In many ways Putin has already lost. Far from being the far-sighted manipulator of events that he would have us believe, Putin has damaged himself through a series of catastrophic misjudgments,” Radakin said.
“Like all authoritarians he allowed himself to be misled as to his own strength including the effectiveness of the Russian armed forces,” Radakin continued, adding that “his actions to date have done more to galvanize and divide and showed Ukraine to have the one thing that Russia conspicuously lacks -- which is real friends.”
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, speaking to Sky News, said “President Putin is not the force he used to be” and is instead “now a man in a cage that he built himself.
“He is isolated, he has international sanctions from all over the world against him. Russia is a lesser country rather than a greater country as a result of him knowingly and deliberately breaking international law by invading,” Wallace said. “His army is exhausted, he has suffered significant losses and the reputation of this great army of Russia has been trashed.
“And he has now got to live with the consequences not only of what he is doing to Ukraine, but what he has done to his own army,” Wallace added.