Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title
[Korrespondent] 22:32 Zelensky said in an evening video message that the United States will provide Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles in a new package of military assistance.
22:28 Kuleba said that Ukraine is discussing with its allies the provision of four Patriot batteries: “Currently, four specific batteries are in development, if we are talking about Patriot. Negotiations are underway between us and the relevant countries and the United States.”
22:19 Most analysts agree that problems await Ukraine in the near future. The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, says that the coming period will be difficult, but “difficult and catastrophic are two different things.” Read about what awaits us in the article War in the summer of 2024.
21:34 Zelensky said that he met with a bipartisan delegation of the US Congress. We discussed macro-financial support, military assistance, in particular the need for artillery shells, long-range missiles, electronic warfare and UAVs, combat aircraft, and support for the development of the Ukrainian defense industry. There was also talk about the confiscation of frozen Russian assets.
21:25 The Russian army in the Donetsk region has broken through the Ukrainian front near Avdeevka, says German BILD journalist and open data analysis expert Julian Repke. According to him, the invaders advanced in a northwestern direction from the city, and the enemy allegedly entered the village of Ocheretino. But there is no official confirmation from the Defense Forces yet. For more information about what is known, see the material Breakthrough of the Front at Avdeevka.
20:47 Radio Liberty showed the consequences of the attack on a television tower in Kharkov:
20:26 The Russians struck near the village. Yurchenkovo, Chuguevsky district, Kharkov region - as a result of a direct hit on an excavator, its driver died, the prosecutor's office reported. Also, one person was injured during aerial shelling of the village. Prikolotnoe Olkhovat community. In the village In Glushkovka of the Kurilov community, the buildings of an agricultural enterprise were damaged as a result of shelling.
19:59 Zelensky said that he had a telephone conversation with Biden following the voting results in the House of Representatives. The American president assured that he would immediately sign the law after approval by the Senate, and that the first defense aid package “will be fast and powerful and will strengthen our air defense, long-range and artillery capabilities,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky also told Biden about the attack on the Kharkov TV tower. According to him, “this is Russia’s clear intention to make the city uninhabitable.”
19:32 According to preliminary data, the Russians attacked a television infrastructure facility in Kharkov with an X-59 missile, the prosecutor’s office reported.
18:51 It has become popular among Russian school principals to invite Russian military personnel who have come from the front to visit their students. However, they invite not just military personnel, but the main “heroes” of the so-called “SVO” - Wagnerites, who usually turn out to be murderers, pedophiles or serial maniacs. However, such meetings with criminals are now proudly called in Russia “education of patriotism.” Read more in the material Lesson from the “hero”.
18:26 The first deliveries of ammunition to Ukraine within the framework of the Czech initiative will begin in late May - early June, Borrell said. He also noted that a number of EU countries have expressed their readiness to supply air defense systems and ammunition to Ukraine in the near future.
18:14 Peskov said that Putin “stated the fact of Russia’s readiness for a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian issue, but “this is not a peaceful initiative.” He added that Kyiv de jure rejects the possibility of negotiations with Moscow, and there is no progress on this issue.
17:35 The Russians carried out strikes on Kharkov and three settlements in the region within an hour, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA. In the regional center, the enemy struck a television infrastructure facility - no people were injured, but there were interruptions in the digital television signal. In Volchansk, a guided aerial bomb hit the territory of an inactive meat processing plant, in the village. Slobozhanskoe, Kharkov district, hit an open area, in Dergachi also hit an open area.
16:54 The next meeting of the Ramstein Contact Group will take place on April 26 in a video conference format, said Dutch Defense Minister Kaisa Ollongren.
16:49 Sweden does not rule out transferring the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine, Defense Minister Paul Johnson said: “We are at the stage of creating our own air defense system. Many countries use Patriot, and the United States has significant resources in this area. It is quite possible that we can do contribution, but we have to look at how best to do it."
16:43 The supply of weapons from Western partners will level out the situation at the front, Zelensky said following a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Headquarters. According to him, the Russian army has been given “the task of demonstrating at least some victories before May 9, without regard to its own losses. Now they are also being urged on by the positive decisions of Ukraine’s friends.”
The President also instructed that by the next meeting of the Headquarters, to collect everything that intelligence knows about the Russians’ intentions to destroy civilian infrastructure, and to prepare a comprehensive plan for further actions: strengthening physical protection, redistributing air defense systems and decentralization.
15:57 Zelensky said that he does not believe in the possibility of the Olympic truce initiated by Macron: “I don’t believe in this with Russia. I don’t believe in this format of the truce as a whole, I don’t believe in any format of the truce with the Russian Federation. Emmanuel is he knows, he himself is a witness of this, we were together in the Normandy format. We went through this entire Minsk process together, France, Germany, Ukraine - we are all living witnesses that there is no frozen conflict with Russia. This is a question for Russia to regroup and leave to them. more additional forces to destroy us later.”
15:18 The German manufacturer of building materials Knauf announced that it is completely curtailing its activities in Russia after more than 30 years of work in the Russian market. This decision was preceded by a scandal with construction in occupied Mariupol. The media found out that German companies, in particular Knauf and WKB Systems, are helping Russians carry out construction in Mariupol.
14:33 Bild writes that Germany has disrupted the supply of MRAP armored vehicles to Ukraine. This year, Berlin promised to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with up to 400 heavy MRAP wheeled armored vehicles with enhanced mine protection. A contract was signed for 315 million euros, which was to be financed by Germany. However, deliveries never began. The plan was reduced first to 200 and then to 100 vehicles, and the start of deliveries was postponed to May-June.
The reason is that the supplier company receives spare parts for MRAP from the USA and only assembles them in Germany. According to the newspaper, the company had “limitations on its license to export from the United States to Germany,” as well as problems with mine protection certification.
14:01 Norway will join the initiative to provide Ukraine with additional air defense systems financially, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said: “We have very little time, so Norway will be involved in financing. There are several other countries that contribute to this, because they have air defense systems defenses that can get into Ukraine quite quickly, and they have been working intensively on this in the last few days and weeks."
13:55 Latvia is ready to transfer a short-range air defense system to Ukraine, Defense Minister Andris Spruds said.
13:26 As a result of an attack on the rescue ship Communa in Sevastopol, at least two employees of the auxiliary fleet of the Russian Navy were injured, reports the opposition Russian publication Astra. According to sources, on the morning of April 21, an anti-ship missile Neptune was shot down over one of the berths of Holland Bay in Sevastopol, and fragments fell on the Kommuna ship, which caught fire.
12:59 The Russian army again shelled the Dnieper district of Kherson - two people were wounded, the OVA reported.
12:35 A Russian plane dropped another aerial bomb on the Belgorod region, the opposition Russian publication Astra reported. FAB-500 was found in the area of the Stadnikov village of the Shebekinsky city district on April 21. Earlier, journalists counted at least 21 aerial bombs that fell from Russian planes onto the territory of the Russian Federation or the occupied territories of Ukraine in March and April.
12:27 A bipartisan delegation of the US Congress arrived in Kiev. It included members of the House of Representatives Thomas Kane, Bill Keating, Madeleine Dean and Nathaniel Moran, the US Embassy in Ukraine reported.
11:54 Dmitry Pletenchuk has been appointed head of the Center for Strategic Communications of the Southern Defense Forces - he told Ukrinform about this. He was appointed to replace Natalya Gumenyuk, who was recently fired after numerous complaints from journalists. Previously, Pletenchuk was the speaker of the Ukrainian Navy.
11:39 Russian troops fired at a bus stop in the Dnieper district of Kherson, one person was wounded, the OVA reported.
11:03 EU and NATO member countries are putting pressure on Greece and Spain to transfer additional air defense systems to Ukraine, writes the Financial Times. Following Kyiv's call for at least seven additional systems, only Germany announced deliveries of Patriot, while other EU leaders used last week's Brussels summit to personally urge the prime ministers of Spain and Greece to donate some of their systems to Ukraine. In particular, the partners argued such a request by the fact that their armed forces have more than ten Patriot and other systems, and their needs are not as great as the needs of Ukraine.
“We all know who has them, we all know where they are, and we all know who really needs them,” one of the interlocutors told the publication. However, Poland and Romania, which also have Patriot, are under less pressure given their more vulnerable location on the border with Ukraine.
10:32 At the end of 2023, Ukraine ranked first in the world in terms of growth in military spending relative to GDP - they increased by 11%, to 37% of GDP, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Russia is in second place - its military spending increased by 1.2%, to 5.9%. Overall, Ukraine’s military spending increased by 51% and amounted to $64.8 billion in 2023. Thus, Ukraine moved from 11th place in military spending in 2022 to 8th place in 2023.
Global military spending has increased for the ninth year in a row. In 2023, they increased by another 6.8% to $2.4 trillion, which corresponds to 2.3% of global GDP. This is the highest global level of military spending since SIPRI research. Analysts attribute this trend to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as tensions in Asia.
09:48 Budanov said in an interview with the BBC that Ukraine will face a difficult situation from May, but not a catastrophic one: “In our assessment, a rather difficult situation awaits us in the near future. But it is not catastrophic, this also needs to be understood. Armageddon will not happen, as many are now starting to say. But there will be problems from mid-May.” The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate clarified that these will be problems not only at the front, but also in the context of the internal political situation, since “the Russians will use an integrated approach.” “This will be a difficult period. Mid-May, early June,” the scout added.
Budanov also predicts that the conflict with Russia will be permanent. In his opinion, the current war will end after the Ukrainian Armed Forces reach the borders of 1991, but then “this conflict will permanently appear, subside, reappear, and so on.” “Look at our history. We, the Russian Federation, the Russian Empire, the Moscow Kingdom, have been making peace and fighting all our lives. We will not be able to change the course of history in the future,” Budanov explained.
At the same time, he believes that there is now no threat of an attack on Kyiv, and such a scenario was and remains “groundless.” According to Budanov, as of now, “there is absolutely no threat.”
09:07 In the Kherson region over the past 24 hours, the Russians fired at Novovorontsovka, Antonovka, Kherson, Kazatskoye, Berislav and Novoberislav. Three people were wounded, one of them a child, said the head of the OVA, Alexander Prokudin. Hits were recorded in a medical facility, educational institution, kindergarten, and gas pipeline.
08:36 During the night attack, kamikaze drones, which failed to be shot down, hit the territory of a farm in the Odessa region. Warehouse buildings and farm equipment were damaged, but no people were injured, the Southern Defense Force said.
08:18 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of April 22:
- personnel - about 460,260 (+730) people,
- tanks - 7236 (+7),
- armored combat vehicles - 13,904 (+8),
- artillery systems - 11,736 (+17),
- MLRS - 1046 (+0),
- air defense systems - 768 (+1),
- aircraft - 348 (+0),
- helicopters - 325 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 9384 (+5),
- cruise missiles - 2117 (+2),
- ships/boats - 26 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 15,812 (+27),
- special equipment - 1934 (+8).
07:39 Air defense at night destroyed five of the seven attack UAVs of the Shahed-131/136 type, which Russia attacked from the Crimean Cape Chauda, the Air Force command reported. All drones were destroyed in the Odessa region. Air defense forces also shot down an Orlan-10 operational-tactical UAV. In addition, Russia attacked with three S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft guided missiles from the occupied territory of the Donetsk region.
07:27 Over the past 24 hours, 85 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report. In particular, the enemy tried 23 times to break through the defenses of Ukrainian troops in the Novopavlovsk direction - in the Georgievka, Novomikhailovka, Vodyanoye and Urozhainy areas of the Donetsk region. Another 17 attacks were repelled in Limanskoye (in the areas of Serebryansky forestry in the Lugansk region and Ternov in the Donetsk region) and 16 attacks in Avdeevskoye (in the areas of the settlements of Ocheretino, Berdychi, Umanskoye, Yasnobrodovka, Netaylovo and Pervomaiskoye in the Donetsk region). In the Bakhmut direction, 14 attacks were repelled in the areas of Belogorivka, Luhansk region, as well as Verkhnekamensky, Vyemka, Bogdanovka, Donetsk region.
The enemy did not conduct offensive actions in the Kupyansk direction. In the Orekhovsky direction, the Defense Forces repelled four attacks in the Staromayorsky districts of the Donetsk region and Rabotino, Zaporozhye region; on Kherson - four attacks on the left bank of the Dnieper.