Live Updates - Putin complains about barrage of cyberattacks

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country has faced a barrage of cyberattacks from the West amid the invasion of Ukraine but has successfully fended them off.

Speaking Friday to members of Russia's Security Council, Putin noted that "the challenges in this area have become even more pressing, serious and extensive".

He charged that "an outright aggression has been unleashed against Russia, a war has been waged in the information space".

Putin added that "the cyber-aggression against us, the same as the attack on Russia by sanctions in general, has failed".

He ordered officials to "perfect and enhance the mechanisms of ensuring information security at critically important industrial facilities which have a direct bearing on our country's defensive capability, and the stable development of the economic and social spheres." ___ KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: — Senate ships USD 40B Ukraine aid bill to Biden for signature — Rebutting Turkey, Biden lauds NATO bids of Sweden, Finland — In Ukraine, surviving when your home is blasted — War fuels surging prices in Europe — Red Cross registers hundreds of Ukrainian POWs emerging from Mariupol steel plant — Captive medic's bodycam shows firsthand horror of Mariupol — Explainer: What will happen to the Ukraininan soldiers from Mariupol? — UN chief 'hopeful' of Ukraine grain deal to help food crisis — Russia-Ukraine war impact draws focus of G7 finance leaders — US intel shows Russians fear Mariupol abuse will backfire — Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine ___ OTHER DEVELOPMENTS: BERLIN: Germany and Qatar have signed an agreement to deepen their cooperation on energy, as Berlin seeks to diversify its natural gas supplies and ultimately stop using Russian gas.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a news conference alongside Qatar's emir that the agreement signed on Friday "opens many opportunities for successful cooperation".

He said that Qatar also "has enormous potential for renewable energies and for the production of hydrogen".

Germany plans to build two liquefied natural gas terminals to bring in gas from suppliers such as Qatar.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said that "whatever we can provide for energy security in Europe even during this period, we will make sure that we can provide." He didn't give any figures.

___ Russia's defence minister says 1,908 Ukrainian fighters who had been holed up at the Azovstal steelworks, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the port city of Mariupol, have surrendered so far.

"Nationalists blocked off at the plant started to surrender. As of now, 1,908 people have laid down arms," Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted by the Russian media as saying on Friday. On Thursday, the Russian military put the total of surrendered fighters at 1,730.

It remains unclear how many fighters are still holed up in the giant steel plant's maze of underground tunnels and bunkers.

Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov Regiment, said Friday that the defenders of Mariupol — a group of Ukrainian fighters from various military and law enforcement units —- have received an order to "cease the defence of the city".

The intention is to "save lives and health of the servicemen of the garrison," he said.

Speaking in a video statement released on Telegram, Prokopenko also said that "the seriously wounded received the necessary assistance and they were able to be evacuated with further exchange and delivery to the territory controlled by Ukraine".

It was not clear from the video whether Prokopenko was still at the plant. His right arm was bandaged above the elbow. ___ GENEVA: The international Red Cross says it has been visiting prisoners of war on "all sides" since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine almost three months ago.

The International Committee of the Red Cross didn't specify what "all sides" meant, but it is believed to mean Russian and Ukrainian government forces, as well as pro-Russian separatists who have been waging an armed struggle in eastern Ukraine against the Kyiv government since 2014. It could also include foreign fighters who might have been captured.

A Red Cross statement on Friday said the POW visits had enabled it to pass on information to hundreds of families about their loved ones.

The ICRC did not specify how many families had been informed about their relatives, or where the visits took place. It said only that the visits had taken place "in recent months".

The statement came a day after the humanitarian agency broke its silence about prisoners of war in the nearly three-month-long conflict, announcing it has registered "hundreds" of Ukrainian prisoners of war this week from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

It remains unclear how many fighters are still holed up in the giant steel plant's maze of underground tunnels and bunkers.

"Many more families need answers; the ICRC must have full access to POWs and civilian internees, wherever they are held, in order to provide those answers," the Geneva-based organisation said.

Some humanitarian law experts have questioned why the ICRC took so long to announce its POW visits, a key part of its mandate.

The ICRC often operates confidentially in its role to help protect civilians, prisoners of war and other noncombatants in conflicts, and ensure the respect of the rules of war.

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