Sunday, April 14

Russia’s war against Ukraine

86-year-old Luba is seen in front of the building in Lyman, Donetsk Oblast on April 11, 2024. She is the only resident of the buillding. (Wojciech Grzedzinski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Syrskyi: ‘Situation on eastern front has significantly deteriorated in recent days.’ Ukraine is working to stabilize the situation and “strengthen the most problematic defense areas with electronic warfare and air defense,” said Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

Defense Ministry: Russian forces reach outskirts of Donetsk Oblast’s Bohdanivka. The ministry refuted earlier reports about the alleged occupation of Bohdanivka in Donetsk Oblast, saying the village remains under the control of Ukraine’s forces.

FT: Russia may be gearing up for large-scale offensive against Ukraine. Russian forces may be preparing for a large-scale offensive in late spring or summer, aiming to capture more land in Ukraine’s partially-occupied Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, the Financial Times reported on April 13, citing unnamed Ukrainian and Western officials.

Germany to send additional Patriot air defense system, missiles to Ukraine. Berlin will provide Ukraine with one more Patriot air defense system amid intensified Russian attacks, the German Defense Ministry announced on April 13.

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Russian proxy claims missile strike on machinery factory in occupied Luhansk. A machinery factory in the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk came under attack on April 13, Moscow-installed head of the occupied region Leonid Pasechnik claimed.

Deputy commander: Drone deliveries to front line this year already 3 times higher than in 2023. Drone deliveries to the front lines in Ukraine since the start of 2024 are already three times higher than for all of last year, according to the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Vadym Sukharevskyi.

Trump reportedly thought Ukraine ‘must be part of Russia’ as president. As president of the U.S., Donald Trump “made it very clear” that he believed Ukraine “must be part of Russia,” his former advisor Fiona Hill said, The Guardian reported on April 12, citing an excerpt from a book by The New York Times reporter David Sanger.

IAEA: All reactors at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant put into state of cold shutdown. All six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) have reached a state of cold shutdown for the first time since October 2022, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a news release on April 13.

Opinions and insights

Ethnic tensions on the rise in Russia, as government attempts to divert attention from war.

Adam, a Tajik migrant, navigates daily life in Moscow amidst growing scrutiny and suspicion: since the Crocus City Hall attack, he’s been taken to the police station every other day.

Human cost of war

Russian attack on Kupiansk injures 2. The State Emergency Service said that Russian strikes hit the center of the city, causing damage and starting fires in residential buildings.

Police: Russian forces attack civilian car in Chernihiv Oblast, killing man. Russian troops opened fire at a civilian car in the border area of Chernihiv Oblast, killing a man, Ukraine’s National Police reported on April 13.

Russian attack on ambulance injures 1 in Kharkiv Oblast. An FPV drone dropped an explosive on an ambulance on the way to Petropavlivka, injuring its 58-year-old driver, the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration reported on April 13.

Russia attacks residential areas in Donetsk Oblast, killing 3. The regional prosecutors office reported that Russian attacks against residential areas in Pokrovsk and Volnovakha communities killed three people.

Governor: Russian attack injures 2 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The two civilians injured when the Russian shelling hit their home have been hospitalized, according to Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Ivan Fedorov.

Russia attacks 10 border communities in Sumy Oblast. Russia used artillery, mortars, missiles, FPV-drones, grenade launchers and KAB guided bombs against the border communities in attacks on April 13, the regional military administration said.

This Week in Ukraine S2 E14 – Ukraine has a mobilization problem

International response

Tajik foreign minister criticizes treatment of Moscow attack suspects, crackdown on Tajiks in Russia. “The use of torture in the form of bodily mutilation is unacceptable,” said Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin.

Zelensky: Ukraine working to secure additional IRIS-T air defense system, anti-air missiles from Germany. Ukraine is in negotiations with Germany to secure an additional IRIS-T air defense system, as well as missiles for existing air defence systems, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his evening address on April 13.

In other news

Flooding in Russia’s Orenburg, Kurgan oblasts causes widespread destruction, mass evacuations. The impact of the floodwaters has prompted the evacuation of at least 120,000 people in the two oblasts and in a neighboring region of northern Kazakhstan.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Alexander Khrebet, Katya Denisova, Lili Bivings, Toma Istomina, Nate Ostiller, Oleksiy Sorokin, Dmytro Basmat, and Sonya Bandouil.

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