Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] 22:59 The Czech Republic is ready to upgrade several dozen more T-72 tanks for Ukraine as part of a partnership project with the United States and the Netherlands, Deputy Defense Minister Daniel Blazhkovets said.
21:45 Latvia will transfer all its Stinger MANPADS to Ukraine, Minister of Defense Inara Murniece said during the Ramstein meeting: "Latvia responded to Ukraine's request for the supply of air defense systems and decided to transfer all the Stingers that we still have. We will do our best to deliver them in Ukraine as soon as possible."
21:23 The Cabinet of Ministers has simplified the mechanism for sending the military for treatment abroad: from now on, a consultation of doctors is not needed, medical institutions will be able to independently determine such a need.
20:34 The Cabinet of Ministers has banned the collection of debts for housing and communal services in the territories of hostilities or temporarily occupied territories. We are talking about debt formed after February 24, 2022, and about people who were forced to leave their homes and evacuate to safer regions.
According to the decision, consumers must provide the utility service provider or the manager of the apartment building with documents confirming their absence: a certificate of an internally displaced person, a document on temporary shelter in a foreign country or documents from work, treatment, training, military service.
20:01 Zelensky signed a law, according to which, in order to obtain Ukrainian citizenship, it is necessary to pass an exam in the Ukrainian language, knowledge of the Constitution and history of Ukraine.
19:22 The reason for NATO expansion is Putin's decision to attack Ukraine, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said: "Putin's military choice is not the result of NATO expansion, Putin's war is the reason for NATO expansion." The head of the Pentagon added that Putin made "a number of gross miscalculations when he invaded Ukraine more than a year ago."
19:13 The United States is now focusing on supplying Ukraine with powerful air defense systems, while the issue of transferring F-16 fighter jets is political, said Mark Milley, head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“In order to prevent Russian attacks, we are now relying on powerful air defense systems. Usually the occupied territories or recently liberated territories suffer the most ... This is the most important task now. Powerful air defense systems so that the Ukrainians control the airspace. When we say about fighters, this requires powerful training for pilots, and now, if we compare how much time we have, we use it optimally and focus on air defense," he explained.
In turn, Reznikov also noted that at the moment the main need of Ukraine is air defense systems, and combat aircraft will be the next stage of negotiations: “Of course, today we confirmed our need for Western aircraft as part of air defense. And I am sure that we will have modern "Generation 4++ combat aircraft. But right now we are talking about the main need - ground air defense. Of course, we are discussing combat aircraft as the next stage, but it will take time to train pilots, engineers, etc. But it will be done."
18:59 Germany hosted the 11th meeting of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine within the Ramstein format. On the eve of the meeting, the Pentagon announced that the focus would be on the purchase of ammunition and air defense of Ukraine. Not everything about Ramstein is publicly reported, the participants leave a significant part of the agreements behind closed doors. Korrespondent.net collected official statements that were made at today's meeting. For more details, see the material on the Ramstein Arrangement .
18:32 The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the arms race in the missile sphere is becoming "uncontrollable", for Russia "there is an obvious need to build up tactical missile potential, including for the defense of Kaliningrad."
18:24 The allies have already transferred more than 230 tanks and 1,555 armored vehicles to Ukraine, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said.
18:17 Reznikov said that he had a meeting with Stoltenberg, during which a decision was made on Ukraine's cooperation with the NATO procurement agency: "On the eve of the Vilnius summit, a number of specific projects were discussed. I am pleased to receive the green light for our close cooperation with NSPA, the NATO agency for purchases".
"Ukraine has reached an unprecedented level of interoperability with NATO. We are already de facto part of the Alliance's security space. I expressed the hope that this will accelerate political decisions regarding our country's integration into NATO," the minister stressed.
18:08 Germany and the Netherlands will transfer mine rollers, vehicles and tankers to Ukraine, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said following the Ramstein meeting. He also confirmed that Abrams tanks would arrive in Germany to train Ukrainians over the next few weeks.
In turn, the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, said that about 25,000 Ukrainian military personnel are currently being trained in Germany, and about 8,000 have already completed their studies and returned to Ukraine.
17:49 Brazilian President Lula da Silva will stop criticizing the West for military assistance to Ukraine, Reuters writes citing a high-ranking Brazilian official. According to him, the change of rhetoric will take place during the visits of the Brazilian President to Portugal and Spain. "Brazil does not want to give the impression that we support what Russia has done," the source said.
17:26 YouTube, at the request of the Minister of Culture of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko, removed the videos of PMC Wagner with more than 1 million views and the channels that distributed them. Earlier today, Tkachenko revealed that he had sent an official letter to YouTube, LLC CEO Neil Mohan asking him to take specific action to monitor and stop Wagner's internet activities. According to the minister, YouTube "reacted with lightning speed."
17:07 Since the beginning of counterintelligence activities in the UOC-MP, criminal proceedings have been opened against 61 clergymen, seven of them have already been sentenced by the courts, Head of the SBU Vasily Malyuk said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine. And two even managed to be exchanged for captured Ukrainian defenders. "I would like to emphasize that the enemy greatly appreciates his agents in cassocks - for example, one such person was exchanged for 28 Ukrainian servicemen," he said. Also, based on the materials of the SBU, the citizenship of Ukraine was terminated for 19 priests of the UOC (MP), Malyuk added.
16:55 Zelensky said that during a meeting in Kiev with EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso, he called on the bank to pay attention to the housing segment and stimulate housing construction in Ukraine, in particular, in the context of the implementation of the state mortgage program. He also called for speeding up the implementation of all EBRD projects in Ukraine, since "speed now, in conditions of war and rapid recovery, is a critical element."
16:24 Reznikov said that he had met with German Defense Ministers Boris Pistorius and Poland Mariusz Blaschak. He said that at a meeting of the so-called tank coalition, an agreement was signed on the establishment in Poland of a Center for the maintenance and repair of Ukraine's Leopard 2 main battle tanks.
16:02 SBU reported suspicion to the former acting. Roman Chervinsky, commander of one of the MTR units, whose actions led to the shelling of the Kanatovo airfield in the Kirovograd region, the death of one and the injury of 17 Ukrainian soldiers. According to the materials of the case, it was Chervinsky, together with other persons, who arbitrarily decided to carry out the so-called "special operation" - to take possession of the Russian aircraft. This "operation" was carried out despite the objections of the SBU and without the consent of the relevant state bodies.
15:56 More than 16,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained under the EU assistance program to Ukraine, Borrell said. Also delivered ammunition and missiles worth more than 600 million euros.
15:50 Finland will send another, 15th package of military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of about 78 million euros, the country's Ministry of Defense reported. The package will include various types of weapons to meet the needs of the European training mission to train 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers. The specific content of the package, as well as the timing and methods of its delivery, are not specified for security reasons. The total cost of assistance provided by Helsinki to Kyiv is estimated at 990 million euros.
15:38 Orban, apparently, does not agree that the future of Ukraine is in NATO. This follows from his surprised twitter post, consisting of one word - "What?!" in the commentary to the relevant Stoltenberg statement.
15:24 For the first time in modern history, the Czech Republic managed without Russian gas in the first quarter of this year, said Minister of Industry and Trade Josef Sikela. According to him, the reduction in consumption, as well as alternative gas supplies from Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway, played a decisive role.
15:20 Western allies of Ukraine over the past few months have provided equipment and training to support nine more armored brigades, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said.
15:11 A court in Moscow "arrested" the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kirill Budanov, in absentia on charges of "organizing terrorist acts." The case concerns the "terrorist attack on the Kerch bridge." Budanov has also been put on the international wanted list, Russian media write.
14:58 Russia's blocking of ship inspections within the framework of the grain corridor is fixed by both the secretariat of the Joint Coordination Center and the Ukrainian side, Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasily Bodnar said. He explained that these recordings will serve as evidence when the time comes to consider Russia's blocking of the grain initiative in the International Criminal Court as one of the crimes related to the war against Ukraine.
14:37 The Russians stopped launching balloons in Ukraine due to adverse weather conditions, Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, believes: "Recently, the enemy has not launched balloons. There must be appropriate weather conditions for them - at least the wind should be where it needs to be."
14:19 Zelensky said that he had held a regular meeting of the Headquarters: "We analyzed the current situation on all sectors of the front. We heard Budanov - we know about all the enemy's plans for the near future. We are developing an even better scheme for distributing weapons and ammunition among units, special attention here - newly created brigades. We also discussed the issues of establishing the production of missiles and ammunition by domestic enterprises. "
13:54 Canada announced the provision of a new military assistance package to Ukraine for almost $29 million. It will include, in particular, 40 sniper rifles, 16 radio stations to escort Leopard 2 tanks and a contribution to the NATO fund to help Kyiv, the country's Defense Ministry said.
13:33 The Russians this week tried to attack in two more directions - Kupyansky and Shakhtyorsky, but the Defense Forces repelled the attacks, and the enemy did not pass. Bakhmut remains the hottest place, where the enemy is advancing in places in some areas, said Anna Malyar, Deputy Defense Minister. At the same time, according to her, the defenders of Bakhmut perform both defensive and active assault actions, the enemy suffers unreasonably high losses. "The situation is tense, but under control. Decisions are made in accordance with military expediency," Malyar added.
13:06 The night attack of the Russians by drones had no consequences for the energy system and did not lead to the need to limit consumption, Ukrenergo reported.
12:49 Peskov said that NATO "continues the line of absorption and retraction of Ukraine." According to him, Russia "is dealing with an aggressive bloc," whose actions "demonstrate the correctness of the decision to launch a special operation."
12:32 The United States will begin to train the Ukrainian military on Abrams tanks in the coming weeks - the corresponding decision was made during a meeting at the Ramstein base, Associated Press reports. 31 tanks will arrive at the test site in Germany at the end of May. The training of 250 soldiers will last about ten weeks.
12:07 On the left bank of the Kherson region, Russians are putting pressure on local residents to obtain Russian passports and evacuate to the Russian Federation, said Yury Sobolevsky, First Deputy Head of the Regional Council: "They have certain routes to not entirely prosperous regions where they are trying to send our people - for example, in Ufa. In addition, they again began to throw another wave of so-called recovery into the information space in order to send children to the Crimea, to the Russian Federation. We know how it ends - it is very difficult to return children later."
11:58 The fighting in Ukraine is turning into a war of logistics, Stoltenberg said: “As important as it is to discuss specific types of weapons, it is so important to discuss that all the weapons supplied are functioning properly, this requires ammunition, spare parts, fuel, etc... This battle of attrition is turning into a war of logistics."
11:41 German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius considers it "completely normal" to conduct certain operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of Russia, which may be required to protect against aggression. He cited the blocking of supply routes as an example.
11:24 Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, NATO has provided Ukraine with $55 billion in military assistance, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said as he opened a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
11:22 At the Ramstein meeting on April 21, the allies will talk not only about immediate needs, but also about the strategy for the whole of 2023, Reznikov said. He also recalled that this day marks a year since the founding of Ramstein. "On the agenda is an analysis of what has already been done, our strategy for 2023, the current needs of the Armed Forces and the distribution of support programs among all Ukrainian defense forces," the minister said.
11:15 Russia sent a letter to the Joint Coordinating Committee of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, in which it threatens to withdraw from the grain deal, writes Politico. Moscow warns that it cannot guarantee the safety of ships carrying Ukrainian exports after May 18, and that registration of ships will only continue until that date.
10:59 Stoltenberg announced that Zelensky had accepted an invitation to take part in the NATO summit in Vilnius in July. "As I said yesterday in Kyiv, the future of Ukraine lies in the Euro-Atlantic family. All NATO allies agreed that Ukraine will become a member of NATO," the Secretary General added.
10:44 Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykola Oleshchuk said that he had checked the combat positions of the Patriot air defense system in one of the directions. "Although in small numbers, in fact we already have modern Western anti-aircraft missile systems in service: NASAMS, IRIS-T, Patriot, SAMP / T, Crotale, Gepard and others. In order for the puzzle of promising Ukrainian air defense to finally take shape, the Air Force needs F -16," he stressed.
10:20 Governor of the Kursk region Roman Starovoit said that a Ukrainian drone allegedly attacked an empty tractor in the border village of Guevo, no one was injured.
10:17 A meeting of the contact group on support for Ukraine will be held today in Ramstein. The head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, said that he had already met with Reznikov before the meeting. He also promised that partners would support Ukraine "for as long as it takes."
09:44 After almost a month of calm, Kiev has undergone another air attack. Air defense forces shot down all enemy targets, but there are "arrivals" in other areas. Read more about the night attack in the article Where did the Russians get to .
09:41 Governor of the Bryansk region Alexander Bogomaz said that in Klintsy an allegedly Ukrainian drone fell on a residential building, there were no casualties.
09:38 In January, the United States thought that the Russians "were about to capture Bakhmut", warned the Ukrainian command about this and advised them to retreat. However, the Ukrainian leadership decided to continue the defense of the city, writes The Washington Post, citing secret Pentagon documents.
09:35 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) notes that checkpoints between Russia and the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine significantly slow down the supply of ammunition to the front, but Moscow, for security reasons, does not intend to abandon them. In particular, the Kremlin can use these checkpoints to prevent the mass movement of men from occupied Ukraine who avoid forced mobilization, to prevent Russian conscripts from escaping to Russia, and to support Russian filtration measures.
The existence of these checkpoints underscores once again that Russian officials do not view residents of occupied Ukraine as Russian citizens and run them as occupying authorities, despite constant claims that the illegally annexed territories are part of the Russian Federation, ISW experts note.
09:29 In the Vinnytsia region, an infrastructure facility was damaged as a result of a night attack by drones, Natalya Gumenyuk, speaker of OK Pivden, said.
09:23 In the Kherson region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, two people were killed, three were injured. In the Donetsk region, one dead (in the city of Chasov Yar) and one injured, according to the IVA.
09:08 The decision on Ukraine's membership in NATO will not be quick, said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. According to him, such decisions should not be made only out of a sense of solidarity. The minister also stressed that Ukraine could be accepted into NATO only after the end of the war.
09:01 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of April 21.
- personnel - about 185,050 (+630) people liquidated,
- tanks - 3668 (+1),
- armored combat vehicles - 7126 (+6),
- artillery systems - 2827 (+2),
- MLRS - 539 (+0),
- air defense systems - 285 (+0),
- aircraft - 308 (+0),
- helicopters - 293 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 2394 (+8),
- cruise missiles - 911 (+0),
- ships/boats - 18 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 5713 (+6),
- special equipment - 334 (+2).
08:45 At night, the Russians released up to 12 Shahed-136/131 strike drones from the Bryansk region, eight of them were shot down, the command of the Air Force reported.
08:26 The Russian army is focusing its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions. Over the past day, more than 60 enemy attacks were reflected on them. The most fierce battles are being fought for Bakhmut, the General Staff said in the morning summary .
06:23 The Russians hit the Poltava region with drones at night, there is destruction of civilian infrastructure, there are no preliminary victims, said the head of the OVA Dmitry Lunin.
06:14 "Mayor" of Gorlovka Ivan Prikhodko said that the employees of the FSB department for the "DPR" prevented an attempt on his life, which was allegedly prepared by the SBU.
05:55 Secret Pentagon documents say that the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry allegedly prepared attacks on Russian troops and Wagner PMC mercenaries in Syria with the participation of Kurdish formations. However, in December, Zelensky ordered to stop the preparation of the operation, writes The Washington Post.
The purpose of opening a new battlefield thousands of kilometers from Ukraine was allegedly to inflict costs and losses on the Russian army and the Wagner group, which is active in Syria, which would probably force the Russian Federation to redeploy its resources from Ukraine.
05:49 At night, the Russians attacked Kiev with Iranian Shahed UAVs, said the head of the KGVA Sergey Popko. According to him, on approaching the capital, about eight hostile targets were detected and shot down, there were no casualties or destruction.
04:17 Slovenia has decided to join the project for the joint purchase of a million ammunition for Ukraine, the country's Ministry of Defense reported.
03:41 A group of US senators and congressmen from the Republican Party sent a letter to Biden urging him to stop transferring weapons to Ukraine , because "with every new aid package and every new weapon that is provided to Ukraine, the risk of a direct conflict with Russia is growing." The authors of the message demand to stop "unlimited assistance to Ukraine" from the United States, using the term "proxy war".
01:27 An explosion thundered in Belgorod, a large funnel formed at the intersection of Vatutin and Gubkin streets, cars and a store were damaged, two people were injured, Russian media write. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that during the flight of the Su-34 VKS aircraft over Belgorod, an "abnormal departure of aviation ammunition" occurred.
00:48 Biden had a conversation with the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during which the parties discussed support for Ukraine, reaffirmed the commitment of the United States and the EU to provide Kiev with the necessary assistance and the intention to lay the costs on the Kremlin for Russian aggression, the White House said. Later, the American president discussed these topics with Macron.
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