Yohann Tritz, with AFP 6:45 a.m., April 2, 2022, modified at 6:49 a.m., April 2, 2022

On the 37th day of the invasion of Ukraine decided by Moscow which killed thousands of civilians and soldiers, the Russian forces are loosening their grip on kyiv and Cherniguiv and are regrouping to concentrate on the east of the country.

More than 3,000 people have fled the region of Mariupol, while the Red Cross prepares a new attempt to evacuate the city on Saturday.

Europe 1 takes stock of the evolution of the situation.

THE ESSENTIAL

More than 3,000 people have fled Ukraine's Mariupol region in buses and private cars, Ukrainian authorities have announced, as the Red Cross, after an initial failure, prepares a new attempt to evacuate the besieged port city on Saturday. and devastated.

On the 37th day of the invasion of Ukraine decided by Moscow, which killed thousands of civilians and soldiers, the Russian forces are loosening their grip on kyiv and Cherniguiv and are regrouping to concentrate on the east of the country, where they will face a seasoned Ukrainian army, which suggests a "protracted" conflict, which could last for months, the Pentagon has warned.

The main information to remember:

- kyiv accused of having struck in Russia

- more than 3,000 people evacuated from Mariupol

- resumption of talks

A retreat of the Russian forces

The Russians "continue their partial withdrawal" from the north of the kyiv region towards the Belarusian border, indicated the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, which denounces looting by Russian soldiers.

In this same area, the villages of Sloboda and Lukashivka, south of Chernihiv, were taken over by Ukrainian troops.

In the East, "Russian forces have failed to take any territory for 24 hours", according to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The Ukrainians claimed to have liberated eleven localities in the Kherson region (south).

Two people were killed and two others injured in Russian shelling on Thursday, according to the regional governor.

kyiv also announced that it had exchanged 86 of its soldiers for Russians, without specifying the number of the latter.

3,000 people evacuated from Mariupol

More than 3,000 people fled the Mariupol region, by bus and private cars, in the direction of Zaporozhye, announced the Ukrainian authorities.

Most left from Berdyansk.

On the other hand, the Red Cross announced that the team sent to Mariupol had to turn back, its plan to evacuate thousands of civilians from this city besieged by Russian forces being "impossible".

A new attempt will take place on Saturday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Emmanuel Macron to try "to obtain from Russia the necessary conditions for a humanitarian operation" in this city, during a new interview, indicated the French presidency.

53 cultural sites damaged

At least 53 cultural sites have been damaged in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

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Ukraine accused of having struck in Russia

The governor of Russia's Belgorod region on Friday accused Ukraine of carrying out a dawn helicopter attack on what he described as an "oil depot" in the town about 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

The Kremlin considered that this incident would not "create the appropriate conditions for the continuation of negotiations".

The Ukrainian side did not formally deny it, but suggested "sabotage".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later told US channel Fox News: "I'm sorry, I'm not discussing my orders as Commander-in-Chief."

Request for a ceasefire from Moscow

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Britain's Martin Griffiths, will be in Moscow on Sunday to try to secure a "humanitarian ceasefire" in Ukraine, the UN chief announced on Friday. Antonio Guterres.

"He will be in Moscow on Sunday and after he will go to kyiv," the UN Secretary General told some journalists, recalling that he had recently given him the mission of "seeking a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine. ".

Resumption of talks

Russian-Ukrainian talks aimed at ending the conflict resumed Friday via videoconference, according to Kremlin negotiator Vladimir Medinsky.

"Our positions on Crimea and Donbass have not changed," he said, referring to two Ukrainian regions, one which Russia annexed in 2014 and the other which is partially under the control of pro-Russian separatists.

Ukraine is still waiting for a "real response to the proposals that were made in Istanbul" earlier this week, noted for his part the head of diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba.

kyiv had notably proposed the neutrality of Ukraine and to renounce joining NATO, provided that its security was guaranteed by other countries against Russia.

The President of MEPs in Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his "gratification" to Roberta Metsola, the Maltese President of the European Parliament, for having come "heroically" and "personally" to Kyiv, welcoming him to the Ukrainian capital where he has been holed up since the end of February.

Roberta Metsola, elected President of the European Parliament on January 18, was the first leader of a European institution to visit the Ukrainian capital since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.

More than 4.1 million refugees

Some 4,102,876 Ukrainian refugees have fled their country since the invasion of Ukraine, according to the High Commission for Refugees.