As the war enters its 791st day, the main developments include:
This is the situation as of Thursday, April 25, 2024.
finding
- Russia launches a missile attack on Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, injuring at least six people. Officials said the S-300 missiles damaged homes, offices, a gas pipeline running through the city center and dozens of cars. Russia claimed to have attacked military quarters.
- Ukrainian sources told Reuters that Ukrainian drones attacked two oil depots owned by Rosneft in Russia's Smolensk region, west of Moscow, and a major steel factory in the southern Lipetsk region. Russian regional officials said the attack resulted in a fire at an oil facility and a drone crash in an industrial area in the Lipetsk region. He did not say whether there was any damage.
politics and diplomacy
- The US Congress passed a long-delayed $61 billion aid package for Ukraine, which was quickly signed into law by President Joe Biden.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the recognition, saying his country would do its best to “make up for” the past six months in which it has struggled to fend off well-equipped Russian forces. President Zelenskiy said he is working closely with U.S. officials to develop a $1 billion military package that includes “exactly the weapons our soldiers need.” He specifically mentioned the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), artillery, anti-tank weapons, High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), and air defense.
- President Zelenskyy said 16 Ukrainian children who were previously “deported to Russia” have been reunited with their families after mediation talks hosted by Qatar. Kiev has accused Russia of deporting thousands of children from occupied Ukrainian territory.
- A Moscow court has ordered Timur Ivanov, one of Russia's 12 deputy defense ministers, to be detained pending trial on bribery charges. Ivanov was responsible for military construction projects and was known for his lavish lifestyle. The 48-year-old, who appeared in military uniform in court, could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
- Ukraine's SBU security services say Metropolitan Arseniy, a prelate and abbot of a major Orthodox monastery in eastern Ukraine, “informed” the Russian military about Ukrainian military positions in the Kramatorsk region and promoted “pro-Kremlin rhetoric.” announced that he was suspected of having done so. . If convicted, the priest could face up to eight years in prison.
- According to the revised law, Ukraine has stopped issuing new passports to some military-age men living abroad. The exact scope and duration of the measures was unclear. Ukraine is expanding conscription to bring more troops to the battlefield.
- Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy will next month sign an agreement with Ukraine and the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO to rebuild the city of Odesa and its cathedral, which was severely damaged in a Russian attack last July. Then he announced.
weapons
- White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that the United States has sent “significant numbers” of long-range ATACMS to Ukraine and will continue to send “more.” Sullivan was responding to US media reports that missiles were fired and used twice. The long-range ATACMS has a range of 300 km (186 miles).