Bulletproof vests meant for Ukraine stolen: NYPD

NEW YORK - The NYPD is asking for the public's help finding the team of thieves who stole hundreds of donated bulletproof vests that were intended to go to Ukraine.

Authorities say that at least 6 suspects broke into the headquarters of the Ukrainian Congress Committee in the East Village on 2nd Avenue in March.

The suspects loaded the vests into three different vehicles, including a white van, before driving off.

Police are hoping the public can help them track down the suspects, and have released surveillance photos of the men wanted in connection to the crime.

RELATED: Ukraine: Women, kids, older adults evacuated from Mariupol steel mill

The war in Ukraine continued for another destructive day on Saturday, as Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the city of Odesa and bombarded a steel mill housing Ukrainian civilians and fighters, hoping to complete their conquest of the port of Mariupol in time for Victory Day celebrations.

In a sign of the unexpectedly effective defense that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraine’s military flattened Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the war’s first days and has become a symbol of resistance. Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv, even as it remained a key target of Russian shelling.

The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition that has killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed large swaths of some cities.