[Korrespondent] 22:09 Borrell said following the meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg that the transfer of ammunition to Ukraine should accelerate in the coming days: "Today we talked about the needs of Ukraine. I can say that military support has already been provided for more than 31 billion euros. We continue to fulfill its pledge of 1 billion for munitions. About a thousand missiles have already been provided. The amount of munitions is growing and should increase more in the coming days."
21:53 In Avdiivka, Donetsk region, they are still looking for one child who is being hidden by his parents, Vitaliy Barabash, mayor of the city, told Radio Liberty. He explained that according to the law it is impossible to separate children from their families - they must be accompanied by at least one of the parents. Therefore, those who did not want to leave Avdiivka change their place of residence and hide their children from evacuation groups. In total, after the message about the forced evacuation, about 40 families with children left Avdiivka on their own, ten more families had to be found.
21:19 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov decided to personally visit the UN headquarters in New York. The Russian diplomat and his delegation received visas to America at the last moment. At the same time, Russian propagandists were denied entry to the United States, and Lavrov himself had already quarreled with General Secretary António Guterres. More details - in the material Lavrov chairs the UN meeting: the first conflicts .
20:53 Putin will make a speech on May 9 at the Victory Parade on Red Square, but there will be no specially invited foreign leaders at the event, because "the date is not round," Peskov said. According to him, on the eve of May 9, the leader of Kyrgyzstan will visit the Russian Federation, and he will stay for the parade.
20:42 With the improvement of weather conditions in Ukraine, the Russians can launch an offensive in several directions, John Kirby, coordinator of strategic communications at the US National Security Council, said in an interview with the Voice of America. According to him, Washington does not know exactly where and how it can be, but they want to provide Ukraine with the opportunity to defend itself. Kirby noted that now among the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are armored vehicles, artillery, air defense, and logistics.
19:54 Nine enemy drones have been destroyed in Ukraine today: six attack Shahed-136/131 in the east and three in the south (two attack Lancets and one UAV of the operational-tactical level), the command of the Air Force reported.
19:37 UN Secretary General António Guterres said at a UN meeting chaired by Lavrov that Russia's invasion of Ukraine "causes great suffering and destruction to the country and its people" and exacerbates "global economic difficulties provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic." "Tension between major states has reached a historic high. So are the risks of conflict due to chance or miscalculation," he added.
19:19 The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia said in their joint article for Foreign Affairs that Ukraine needs to be given security guarantees before joining NATO, but after the end of the war. They call on NATO at the July summit in Vilnius to clearly define Ukraine's path to the Alliance - when and if Kyiv wants, and when certain conditions are met for this.
According to the prime ministers, if Ukraine does not receive security guarantees before joining NATO, then "there will be no investments and sustainable recovery in the country if it is not able to protect itself from the forthcoming aggression." Security guarantees will not allow Ukraine "to become a gray zone once and for all," the authors of the article note.
18:45 Vice Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament Dora Duro said in an interview with Russian media that Ukraine's entry into NATO without major security risks is possible only if such a step is approved by Russia. Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko responded that Ukraine has the sovereign right to freely choose security means, and this right has been repeatedly confirmed at the level of all NATO member states, including Hungary.
"We do not need Russia's permission to become a member of the Alliance. At the same time, it is dangerous when individual Hungarian politicians try to make the security of the Euro-Atlantic space dependent on the whims of Moscow. There are no objective reasons that would prevent Ukraine from joining NATO. Ukrainian membership is only will strengthen the Alliance, exclude the possibility of a repetition of Russian aggression in Europe in the future," Nikolenko stressed.
18:17 Peskov called the information about Putin's doubles "a lie": "The President was and remains active, he has never been in any bunkers."
18:06 Lavrov spoke at the UN Security Council, said that "the Western minority should behave decently and respect other members of the world community." Also, according to him, "the Nazi regime in Kyiv cannot be considered as representing the inhabitants of the territories who refused to accept the 2014 coup." It is impossible to consider the Ukrainian issue in isolation from the geopolitical context, he added. "We again, as in the years of the Cold War, have approached a dangerous, and perhaps even more dangerous line," Lavrov summed up.
17:57 The Chinese diplomat's statement about the sovereignty of the post-Soviet countries and the "originally Russian" Crimea shocked Europe, in particular the Baltic countries and Ukraine. Read more in the material Scandal with the Chinese Ambassador to France .
17:48 Podolyak called "conspiracy without any logic" the information of The Washington Post that Ukrainian intelligence allegedly planned mass attacks on Moscow on February 24: "Such publications with obligatory reference to" anonymous sources "perform only one catastrophic function - they form public opinion in Western capitals that Ukraine is an unreasonable, infantile and impulsive country, which is dangerous for adults to trust with serious weapons. Consciously or unconsciously, this is another question. But this does not change the essence: Ukraine generally sees everything differently."
Podolyak stressed that Kiev is approaching the war "with iron mathematical logic": "We need long-range missiles to destroy Russian logistics in the occupied territories and various types of aircraft to protect the sky and destroy Russian fortifications. These are the main components of successful counter-offensive operations and minimizing losses." .
17:19 In the sky over Mariupol and the region, extremely high activity of enemy aircraft was recorded today, said the adviser to the mayor of the city, Petr Andryushchenko. According to him, such high activity was not observed for several weeks. A partial explanation for this is the visit of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin. Andryushchenko noted that during the alleged visit of Putin there was no such aviation activity.
16:54 The Chinese Embassy in France called the statements of Ambassador Lu Shaye about the sovereignty of the former Soviet republics his personal opinion, which does not coincide with the official position of Beijing.
16:51 Over the past six months, Russian ships have transported more than 300,000 artillery shells and a million rounds of ammunition from Iran to Russia. Information about the deliveries was transferred to the United States, writes The Wall Street Journal, citing sources among officials in the Middle East. In particular, the last batch of weapons was sent from Iran in early March aboard Rasul Gamzatov: the ship had 1,000 containers with 2,000 artillery shells. According to the publication, the United States and its allies were looking for ways to disrupt the supply of weapons from Iran.
16:38 Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas is visiting Ukraine , Zelensky met with her in Zhytomyr.
16:13 The Russians fired artillery at the private sector in the village in the morning. Shakhtyorskoye, Volnovakha district, Donetsk region: two people were killed, one was injured, the Office of the Prosecutor General reported.
15:55 During the construction of the National War Memorial Cemetery in Kiev, Ukraine will take an example from the military cemetery in Arlington, USA, said Minister of Veterans Affairs Yulia Laputina. "It will be a memorial not only to our heroes of the Russian-Ukrainian war, but also to all the defenders and defenders of our country, participants in the struggle of Ukraine for its independence in different historical periods," she specified.
15:27 Russians are mining fields and dirt roads near the village of Veseloye, Melitopol district. Now farmers, who were first forced to sow the land, are forbidden to work in the fields, Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov said. Prior to this, the invaders mined the environs of Energodar and the area between Mikhailovka and Orlyansky.
14:48 Ukraine is negotiating the exchange of prisoners with Russia in the "all for all" format and is already "approaching this," Budanov said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine. He recalled that as of today, more than 2,200 people have already been exchanged. "This is an unprecedented case in world history. No one has done this. All exchanges take place after the end of hostilities and not at the time," the head of the GUR added.
14:23 Kuleba said at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the EU that providing Ukraine with modern combat aviation will be the best investment in the long-term security of the European continent and should be approved as soon as possible, and "there are no rational arguments" why Ukraine cannot receive them. The minister also urged his colleagues from the EU to expedite the supply of arms and ammunition to Ukraine, since the security of Europe depends on it.
14:06 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that tonight Ukraine tried to attack the base of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol with unmanned speedboats, allegedly "all of them were destroyed, there were no losses."
13:47 Ukrainian intelligence planned massive strikes on Moscow on the anniversary of the full-scale invasion on February 24, but abandoned it at the request of the United States, The Washington Post writes, citing secret Pentagon documents. According to the documents, US and European officials express their admiration for Budanov in private conversations, but at the same time admit that his brashness sometimes makes them nervous.
The documents also indicate that American intelligence is monitoring Budanov's communications, which is not news to the head of the GUR himself.
13:24 The SBU reported the suspicion to the head of the Chechen parliament, Magomed Daudov, who is a member of Kadyrov's inner circle and is engaged in the formation of new assault units of the occupation groups of the Russian Federation stationed in the North Caucasus. It was also established that during July-November last year, Daudov repeatedly personally came to the temporarily occupied Lisichansk, Popasnaya and Mariupol, where he met with the leaders of the new Kadyrov detachments.
Kadyrov himself said the day before that the 94th operational regiment again went "to the special operation zone."
12:38 The Russians hit Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, with two rockets at night: 43 private houses, a mobile outpatient clinic, an educational institution, a religious building and a public transport stop were damaged, the city council said. People were not hurt.
12:10 The defense forces are carrying out not only defensive operations in Bakhmut, but also actively counterattacking, said Alexander Syrsky, commander of the Eastern Group of Forces, who is working today in the combat areas in the Liman and Bakhmut directions. "This allows us to hold back the enemy's offensive for several months and not increase the front in this direction, destroy his best units and gain time," he added.
11:53 In the Kherson region, Russian commanders are forcing the military to dig trenches so that they don't get drunk, Yury Sobolevsky, deputy head of the regional council, told Radio Liberty: "In most cases, there is no logic in the fact that they are digging more trenches, more trenches. They simply have nothing to do, and when there is nothing to do, waves of looting, drunkenness and desertion begin. Therefore, their commanders try to keep them in good shape from morning to evening."
11:29 The Russians have completely switched to positional defense and are not planning new offensive operations, Budanov said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine: "The only places on the front where their attempts are going are Bakhmut, this is an attempt to cover the city of Avdiivka from the north, local hostilities in Marinka. Both in Avdiivka and Marinka, the tactics are identical, as in Bakhmut - just an attempt to wipe the settlement off the face of the earth, as they say. Fighting in the forestry in the Luhansk region - we are already completely reduced to a tactical level. " The head of the GUR also added that at present there is no big threat of the capture of Vugledar.
As for Belarus, according to the intelligence officer, Russia uses it exclusively for the preparation of its mobilized and certain political pressure on Western countries. "And from a military point of view, this is a training ground. Since Russian training grounds do not allow the number of troops that we have to train at the same time," Budanov explained.
11:16 The Chinese Embassy in France has deleted the transcript of the scandalous interview of its ambassador Lou Shaye, who questioned the independence of the former Soviet republics and called Crimea "historically Russian", writes Bloomberg. The embassy posted a full transcript of Lu Shaye's remarks in Chinese and French on its official WeChat account on the morning of April 24, however, by noon Beijing time, it was deleted, with links indicating that the content was "removed by the author." There is no interview on the official website of the embassy either.
10:47 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that Beijing respects the sovereignty of all countries that were previously part of the USSR. So she commented on the words of the Chinese ambassador to France, which caused a great resonance.
"After the collapse of the USSR, China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with related countries. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China has always adhered to the principle of mutual respect and equal treatment, and developed bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation. China respects the sovereign status of the republics formed after the collapse of the Soviet Union," Mao Ning said.
10:45 Borrell said that discussions on the 11th package of sanctions against the Russian Federation are ongoing, the EU foreign ministers at today's meeting in Luxembourg will not introduce new restrictions.
10:38 Budanov
| ...not Rantburg’s own badanov, who doesn’t capitalize... |
Budanov is also sure that there will be no nuclear strike when Ukraine enters Crimea. He recalled the story with Kherson and noted that if the Russian Federation has something good, it is propaganda: “It hurts to admit it, but I must say: their propaganda machine showed itself as effectively as possible in the loss of Kherson. They showed the loss of Kherson - and it was the greatest achievement of the so-called "special military operation" - just like an everyday thing. Moreover, they twisted it in such a way that, in principle, it was also a good thing for them. That is, they have already worked out everything. Models on how to highlight the news during the events in the Crimea - all of them already exist, they are well known to us. Believe me, they will work for their society."
10:21 The Russians are producing and accumulating missiles to disrupt the Ukrainian offensive operation, Budanov said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine: "Most of these missiles will be used during active hostilities. But at the same time they are increasing their potential." The head of the GUR refused to name the number of missiles that the Russian Federation produces every month, but noted that "these volumes are insufficient for them in terms of their scale."
09:47 The "Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Luhansk People's Republic" announced an attack by an allegedly Ukrainian drone on an oil depot in Rovenki, as a result of which a fire started.
09:34 In Russia, on average, 20,000 people are mobilized every month, Budanov said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine. At the same time, he clarified that not all mobilized people can be transferred to the front, because there are losses, there is current work that someone has to do. Since the losses are quite significant, this shortfall must be compensated by someone.
The head of the GUR said that a few days ago, Russia secretly decided to withdraw its peacekeeping contingent from the conflict region between Azerbaijan and Armenia and replace this contingent with conscripts. “That is, contract soldiers are taken away, conscripts are sent. As you understand, this is absolutely not because they are doing well,” Budanov added.
09:02 In the Kherson region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, two people were killed, six more were injured. In the Donetsk region, two dead (in Bakhmut) and two wounded, according to the IVA.
08:56 Zelensky said in an interview with Al Arabia that Ukraine will not surrender Bakhmut, as this will open the way for Russia to Kramatorsk and Slavyansk: "We cannot abandon Bakhmut, because this will help expand the front and give Russian troops and Wagner a chance to capture more of our lands".
08:51 A fallen kamikaze drone with 17 kg of explosives was found in the Moscow region, which did not detonate, Russian media and telegram channels report. The drone crashed in the Bogorodsky urban district northeast of Moscow. According to the public, it was a Ukrainian drone UJ-22 Airborn, and it fell due to the fact that it ran out of fuel.
08:36 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of April 24.
- personnel - about 187,080 (+660) people liquidated,
- tanks - 3683 (+8),
- armored combat vehicles - 7139 (+8),
- artillery systems - 2849 (+12),
- MLRS - 539 (+0),
- air defense systems - 289 (+0),
- aircraft - 308 (+0),
- helicopters - 294 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 2413 (+11),
- cruise missiles - 911 (+0),
- ships/boats - 18 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 5753 (+23),
- special equipment - 339 (+0).
08:32 The Russian army is focusing its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Bakhmut, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions - about 60 enemy attacks have been repelled. The most fierce fighting continues for Bakhmut and Marinka, the General Staff reported in the morning report .
08:14 "Governor" of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, announcing a night attack by surface drones. According to him, one drone was allegedly destroyed, and the second "exploded by itself, no objects were damaged." At the same time, telegram channels publish a video of a powerful explosion.