Wednesday, May 1

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukrainian forces continue to investigate an attack site after Russian forces hit a civilian infrastructure facility in Kharkiv with a guided aerial bomb on April 30, 2024. (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Prosecutor General: Russia using cluster munition against Odesa points to deliberate targeting of civilians. “This (cluster munition) is an indiscriminate weapon, the use of which can lead to significant casualties among the civilian population,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Telegram, citing Andrii Kostin.

Zelensky: Ukraine will join NATO only after defeating Russia. President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes that the win against Russia will help to reach a perfect agreement among all NATO member states on Ukraine’s membership.

Ukraine’s TV, radio-broadcasting body urges government not to use Telegram. “Although Telegram is a very convenient form of communication, officials and official governmental organizations must be kept off Telegram, and this ban must be implemented immediately,” Olha Herasymyuk, the head of the Council, said.

Ukraine allocates funds for 300,000 drones. Ukraine has allocated a further Hr 15.5 billion ($391 million) to purchasing drones for the country’s armed forces, enough to buy 300,000, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on April 30.

Trump says he would only continue US aid to Ukraine if Europe ‘starts equalizing.’ The U.S. should stop providing aid to Ukraine “unless Europe starts equalizing,” presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said in an interview with Time published on April 30.

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State Border Guard Service establishes new brigade on Ukraine’s Border Guard Day. The State Border Guard Service founded its third combat brigade, “Hart” (a Ukrainian word for “to harden”), on April 30 on the occasion of Ukraine’s Border Guard Day, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko announced on his Telegram channel.

Ukraine holds 3rd round of negotiations with US on bilateral security agreement. The parties discussed the content of the agreement in detail, the progress of the negotiations, and the further plan of coordinated actions.

Reuters: UN says North Korean-made missile struck Kharkiv in January. Both Ukrainian and U.S. officials have previously said that Russia has been using North Korean-produced missiles to attack Ukraine.

Deputy PM says no plan to forcibly bring back Ukrainian men from EU. Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said that there will be “no restrictions or forced return of Ukrainian citizens of any gender or age” back to Ukraine.

Kyiv authorities begin dismantling historical monument to Pereiaslav Council. The Pereiaslav Council of 1654 saw the Cossacks, inhabitants of modern-day Ukraine, enter into an alliance with Moscow against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

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Ukraine war latest: Germany delivers Skynex, Marder vehicles, ammunition

Germany has handed over 10 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, a Skynex air defense system, ammunition for Leopard 2 tanks, IRIS-T SLM air defense missiles, and other aid in its latest delivery.

Photo: Alexander Koerner/Getty Images

Skynex: The German drone destroyer reinforcing Ukraine’s air defense

According to its German manufacturer Rheinmetall, Skynex is a “networked air defense” that provides “a highly effective layered protection shield against a wide spectrum of air threats.”

Photo: Rheinmetall

Georgian government holds massive anti-West rally as it aims to pass ‘Russian-style’ law

The ruling Georgian Dream party staged a massive rally in Tbilisi on April 29, with tens of thousands of people bussed in from around the country to support the country’s democratic backsliding.

Photo: Vano Shlamov/ AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian missile attack on Odesa kills 3, injures 3. Russian forces attacked the southern port city of Odesa with ballistic missiles the night of April 30, killing three people and wounding three others, regional Governor Oleh Kiper reported.

Updated: Russian attack on Kharkiv kills 1, injures 9. Russian forces attacked the Kyivskyi and Kholodnohirskyi districts of Kharkiv on April 30, hitting residential areas, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported.

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 7, injure at least 36 over one day. Russia targeted a total of 10 Ukrainian oblasts — Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Odesa, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Donetsk. Casualties were reported in the latter four regions.

General Staff: Russia has lost 468,720 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,250 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

International response

Bloomberg: Macron hopes to convince Xi to sway Putin toward ending invasion of Ukraine. Xi Jinping will travel to the European Union for the first time in five years. The Chinese president will begin his five-day trip to France, Serbia, and Hungary on May 5, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Icelandic parliament adopts resolution on long-term support for Ukraine. The resolution aims to support the independence, sovereignty, borders, the safety of civilians, humanitarian aid, and reconstruction work in Ukraine, the statement read.

Latvia announces new military aid package for Ukraine, includes air defense. Latvia has approved the delivery of a new military aid package to Ukraine, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina announced on April 30.

Norway to allocate over $600 million for Ukrainian air defense, ammunition. The new funds will primarily support military aid to Ukraine, with a smaller portion allocated to civilian financial aid, Norway’s prime minister said on April 30.

FT: Europe ‘sleep walking’ into dependence on Russian fertilizer, producer says. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, said that the import of Russian urea, a typical fertilizer, had doubled from the previous year up to June 2023.

Stoltenberg: Ukraine’s trust in NATO ‘dented’ by aid delays. Speaking to Reuters, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said an overhaul of how international military aid was coordinated was required.

Austin says US urging other partners to provide Patriots to Ukraine. The U.S. continues to encourage other countries to provide Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on April 30.

US Senate approves ban on Russian uranium imports. The U.S. Senate on April 30 voted unanimously to approve legislation banning imports of enriched uranium from Russia. The legislation will now advance to the White House, where U.S. President Joe Biden must sign the bill in order for it to become law.

In other news

Reuters: Georgian police attack protesters with tear gas, water cannons. Georgian police on April 30 attacked protesters with tear gas and water cannons outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, where demonstrators gathered to protest the government’s controversial “foreign agents” law, Reuters reported.

Media: Lukashenko building luxury residence near Sochi. The residence is reportedly being built in the elite Russian resort town of Krasnaya Polyana on a plot of more than 97,000 square meters.

Ukrainian boy defeats Russian chess star to win World Championship. Oleksii Nakonechnyi, a 10-year-old chess player from Truskavets, won the U10 World Cadet Rapid Chess Championship in Albania, defeating Russian champion Roman Shogdzhiev, who participated in the tournament as a neutral player.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Kateryna Hodunova, Nate Ostiller, Chris York, Elsa Court, Toma Istomina, and Abbey Fenbert.

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