The United Nations says it has “increasing information” confirming the existence of mass graves in Mariupol

Here are the biggest updates so far on Friday as the war in Ukraine enters its fifth week:

Fighting on the ground: Ukrainian forces have recover The British Ministry of Defense said, Friday, in its latest intelligence update.

Meanwhile, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed Friday that Russian forces had destroyed the “largest remaining fuel depots” near Kyiv, with a strike carried out with Sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles.

Survivors of the Mariupol Theater: Mariupol Mayor Adviser said about 600 people He is believed to have survived a Russian airstrike on a theater in the city on 16 March.

Mariupol City Council earlier said that based on eyewitness reports, it now believes 300 people Died on strike. CNN has not independently verified the casualty figures. new shots appeared On social media it shows people running away from the stage.

Biden in Poland: US President Joe Biden He praised the bravery of Ukrainian civilians While speaking to US forces in Poland, he said they had “a lot of backbone”. He also touched on the growing refugee crisis, thanking humanitarian organizations in Poland for sending aid to Ukraine and helping refugees. One in two Ukrainian children Displaced since Russia began its invasion on February 24, according to a statement issued by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday.

He is scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and deliver a speech “headline” On Saturday, according to the White House. Read more about Biden events in Poland here.

Russia provides an update on military deaths: The Russian military said in a press briefing on Friday that More than 1300 military personnel They were killed in Ukraine and more than 3,800 wounded, in the first major casualty update since March 2. Russian losses significantly higher.

Two senior NATO military officials on Wednesday estimated the number of Russian soldiers killed in military operations in Ukraine at between 7,000 and 15,000. Other US officials put Russian losses in a similar range – between 7,000 and 14,000 Russian troops – but expressed “low confidence” in these estimates.

Ukrainian forces also said they did Russian general killed In the Kherson region.

Putin claims to “abolish culture”: Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a complaint about the so-called “abolition of culture” in a video conference Friday, saying the West was trying to “abolish” Russia.

He likened his country’s treatment to the public backlash against “Harry Potter” creator JK Rowling, who has been criticized in the past for views described as anti-transgender. Putin, who portrays himself as the standard bearer of conservative cultural values, has criticized transgender and gay rights. Rowling responded that criticism of abolition culture was “no better” by those “who massacre civilians” in Ukraine and posted a link to a news article on criticism of imprisoned Kremlin Alexei Navalny.

In his statements, Putin continued, comparing the current situation with Russian culture in the West with censorship in Nazi Germany. Putin called his invasion of Ukraine – a country that has a Jewish president – a “smear” campaign, a description that historians and political observers vehemently rejected.