Russian-backed separatist leaders declare full military mobilization
CBSN
Kyiv — Tensions continued to mount in the east of Ukraine on Saturday after reports of increased shelling in the region overnight. Russia said it was opening an investigation into Russian media reports that a Ukrainian shell exploded near its border, amid U.S. warnings that the Kremlin could stage a violent incident as a pretext for invasion.
Russian-backed separatist leaders declared a full military mobilization in the separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk and ordered the evacuation of civilians to Russia. They accused Ukraine of planning an invasion of rebel-held territory, which the Ukrainian government denied.
Ukraine's military said one of its soldiers was killed Saturday in the government-held part of the Donetsk region, and that separatists were trying to provoke a response.
Russia launched a barrage of missiles at Ukraine Thursday in its first major retaliation for Ukraine's attack earlier in the week on a military facility in the Russian region of Bryansk. That strike saw the Ukrainians use American-made and supplied long-range missiles known as ATACMS, which President Biden had given the Ukrainian forces permission to fire deeper into Russian territory only two days earlier.
Amersham, England — Family and friends of One Direction star Liam Payne, who died last month after falling from a Buenos Aires hotel room, gathered for his funeral in Britain on Wednesday. Payne's former bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson were among mourners at the private service at St Mary's Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, just outside London.