President Volodymyr Zelensky says the figure includes primary schools, universities and kindergartens

More than 1,000 education institutions in Ukraine have been destroyed by Russian forces since the war began, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with that figure including primary schools, kindergartens and universities.

Here are the latest updates in the war in Ukraine:

Russia bans Biden: Russia has banned more than 900 Americans from entering the country, including President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Russia published its updated “stop list” on Saturday, banning a total of 963 American officials and figures from entering the country.

The updated list included the majority of US senators and members of the House of Representatives, former and current government officials, journalists, military personnel, advocates, citizens, CEOs — and even a few deceased individuals.

Longtime Arizona. Sen. John McCain and Defense Intelligence Agency Deputy Director Melissa Drisko, who both died in 2018, were included on the list, as well as Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State under President Donald Trump.

Bridge destroyed: Russian forces have destroyed the Pavlograd bridge between Severodonetsk and Lysychansk in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, according to Serhiy Hayday, the head of the regional military administration. In a post on his Telegram page on Saturday, Hayday said this will “greatly complicate the evacuation and delivery of humanitarian aid,” but right now, “there is a connection between the cities.” Hayday also reported 57 people were evacuated on Saturday from the Luhansk region. 

Carnage in Lozova: A Russian missile strike on Lozova in the Kharkiv region on Friday damaged more than a thousand apartments and 11 educational institutions, according to Mayor Serhiy Zelensky. 

“The figures are shocking: 11 educational institutions, including five schools. There are questions about the amount of damage suffered by a hospital and a clinic. Our Palace of Culture was completely destroyed too,” the mayor said Saturday in a video statement on Telegram.

Educational institutions hit: More than 1,000 Ukrainian educational institutions have been destroyed by the Russian army since the start of the war, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The figure includes primary schools, universities, kindergartens, and other institutes hit by Russian shelling since the war began last February.

Donbas offensive: the Russian army has been escalating attacks on Slovyansk and Severodonetsk over the past few days and the situation in Donbas is now “extremely difficult,’ the Ukrainian President said in his nightly address Saturday.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is a man on a mission.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, he has imposed sanctions on Moscow, agreed to pursue a nuclear-free world with the Pope and taken a diplomatic tour of Southeast Asia and Europe to rally world leaders to protect democracy.

But it’s not just democracy in Ukraine that he’s trying to protect — Kishida sees parallels between Russia’s actions in Europe and China’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific, a region stretching from America’s Pacific coastline to the Indian Ocean.

“We strongly oppose any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force, regardless of the location,” said Kishida, in a joint statement with European Union leaders in May. The same statement included a clause expressing “serious concern about reports of militarization, coercion and intimidation in the South China Sea,” though it didn’t name China as the aggressor.

Japan’s location places it in an increasingly volatile security environment — flanked by China to its south, nuclear-armed North Korea to the west and Russia to its north. As a result, the war in Ukraine has catalyzed debates on Japan’s national security like never before.

Read the full story: Japan turns away from post-war pacifism as China threat grows

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address Saturday “the situation in Donbas is extremely difficult,” as the Russian army has been escalating the attacks on Slovyansk and Severodonetsk over the past few days.

“No Russian strikes; neither by missiles in the Rivne region, nor by artillery in the Kharkiv or Sumy region, nor by all possible weapons in Donbas, will give Russia any result,” Zelensky added.

A Russian missile strike on Lozova in the Kharkiv region on Friday damaged more than a thousand apartments and eleven educational institutions, according to Mayor Serhiy Zelensky in a video statement posted on Telegram Saturday. 

CNN reported Friday a Russian missile destroyed the House of Culture in Lozova, injuring seven, including an 11-year-old child, according to Ukraine’s Office of the President.

Lozova is located roughly 73 kilometers, or 45 miles, southwest of Izium, a Russian-occupied city in the Kharkiv oblast. 

Russians destroyed the bridge between Severodonetsk and Lysychansk in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, according to Serhiy Hayday, the head of the regional military administration, in a post on his Telegram page on Saturday.

This is the second time it happened, Hayday added. 

According to Hayday, in July 2014, during the liberation of Lysychansk, militants blew up the span of the bridge during the enemy retreat. Since then, communication between the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk — both of which have a population of roughly a hundred thousand people — has been difficult. The bridge was rebuilt in 2016. 

Hayday also reported 57 people were evacuated on Saturday from the Luhansk region. 

Earlier on Saturday, CNN reported at least six people had been killed in Russian attacks in the city of Severodonetsk in Ukraine’s Luhansk region. 

Russia published its updated “stop list” on Saturday, banning a total of 963 American officials and figures from entering the country.

The updated list included the majority of US senators and members of the House of Representatives, former and current government officials, journalists, military personnel, advocates, citizens, CEOs — and even a few deceased individuals.

Longtime Arizona. Sen. John McCain and Defense Intelligence Agency Deputy Director Melissa Drisko, who both died in 2018, were included on the list.

Russia also targeted Hollywood, with actor Morgan Freeman and actor/filmmaker Rob Reiner making the list. In 2017, Reiner was involved in promoting the group The Committee to Investigate Russia, and Freeman was featured in a video on the site.

Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State under President Donald Trump, was also listed. He previously spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin about its election interference in US elections.

The growing list also includes several CNN contributors, though listed for their former duties, not a CNN association. They are David Axelrod, John Kasich, Wesley Clark, James Clapper, and Susan Glasser.

CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh, International Security Editor, was also listed on the “stop list.” Walsh is a British citizen.

Russian Transportation Minister Vitaly Savelyev said on Saturday that Western sanctions against Russia have “practically broken all” logistics corridors used by the country for trade, state news agency TASS reported.

Speaking during a visit to Russia’s Astrakhan region, Savelyev said: “The sanctions that have been imposed on the Russian Federation today have practically broken all logistics [corridors] in our country. And we are forced to look for new logistics corridors together.”

He said Moscow is looking into capitalizing from alternative trade routes such as the International North–South Transport (INSTC) corridor – a transit route linking India with Central Asian countries, Russia and Europe through Iran, according to TASS.