Joanna Kakissis

A Russian soldier's forgotten body is discovered in a liberated village north of Kyiv, setting off a range of emotions and an inquest — as Russia refuses to acknowledge many of its war dead.

More than a thousand soldiers were evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant, and Russia is consolidating control of Mariupol. It is making plans to annex the southwestern parts of the country.

It's unclear if the soldiers have been taken prisoner or are under the protection of the U.N., but a Ukrainian official says they would be able to return home after a prisoner exchange with Russia.

"Like the apocalypse, like a horror film," is how one evacuee describes weeks of sheltering in the vast, Soviet-era steel plant. Her daughter says, "Each day felt like it would be our last one alive."

Spooked by reports that traffickers are waiting at the Ukraine-Poland border, a Polish woman started an all-women car service to drive Ukrainian refugee women and children to homes or shelters.

Yuliya Tolopa grew up in southern Russia but is now a reservist in the Ukrainian army and a hero in her adopted country.

Foreign embassies, expats and Ukrainians fearing a Russian invasion are heading west to Lviv, a jazz-loving city near NATO and EU countries that feels safe from bombs but not from Russian cyberwar.

It's the first stop in a trip that will also take Scholz to Moscow. At the same time, the Ukrainian town of Lviv, which is on the Polish border, is preparing for a Russian invasion.

The Orthodox Church has a long history in Ukraine, one that is tied to the country's national identity. Some parishes identify solely with Ukraine, while others identify with Russia.

Women play an outsized role in Ukrainian society -– including mobilizing in case Russia attacks urban areas. Women of all ages are learning self-defense and survival skills.