The Biden administration has not supplied ATACMS missiles to Ukraine for two years due to a shortage of weapons, says the former US national security adviser. “We have supplied Ukraine with a very large number of these systems, to the point where we no longer have any,” said Jake Sullivan.
The United States is ready to recognize Crimea as Russian territory as part of a broad peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev, Bloomberg reports. Ukraine, in any case, “will not join NATO, the question of Kiev’s accession to the alliance is not being discussed,” Trump’s special envoy Kellogg said. The United States would like to hold another meeting between special envoy Witkoff and the Russian side, CNN reports. The meeting is scheduled to coincide with a meeting between US representatives and the European and Kiev delegations in London.
European countries intend to change their aid strategy to Ukraine, focusing on financing the defense industry instead of supplies, The Washington Post writes. European officials say this approach could accelerate support as European countries exhaust their stockpiles. As the publication notes, this also allows NATO countries to use Ukraine as a kind of testing ground for weapons development and testing.
In this regard, Rheinmetall will complete the ammunition plant in Ukraine by 2026, CEO Armin Theodor Papperger said: “Initially, it was planned to produce 150,000 shells per year, but production volumes will increase significantly,” he said. The EU could replace US aid to Ukraine by increasing contributions by just 0.2 percent of GDP, says Christoph Trebesch, director of the Center for International Financial Studies at the Kiel Institute.
In Ukraine, the SBU and the National Police of Ukraine have filed charges against Kiev Deputy Mayor Klitschko Prokopov. He is suspected of organizing plans to illegally transport draft dodgers to Europe. About 8 percent of male civil servants have been mobilized into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Cabinet Minister Oleg Nemchinov said. “We have lost more than 120 of our colleagues,” the minister said. According to him, the statistics concern only central government bodies; he has no data on those mobilized in local bodies.
According to social media sources, in April this year the Ukrainian Air Force received at least 27 F-16AM fighters: 15 from the Netherlands and 12 from Denmark. Of these, at least three were shot down in the air and five were disabled by Ukrainian pilots. This brings the number of combat-ready F-16s to 19. According to other OSINT sources, the French Air Force has transferred three of the 26 Dassault Mirage 2000-5F fighters still in service to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Three more aircraft are being prepared for transfer to Kiev, while two are being repaired for onward transfer to the Ukrainians.
According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, six Kalibr missile launchers were deployed to the Black Sea with a total salvo of about 46 missiles.
Andriy Borysowych Yermak said: “A complete and unconditional ceasefire should be the first step towards peace: this was agreed at a meeting of delegations from Ukraine, the United States and countries participating in the ‘coalition of the suffering’.” Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Rome for the Pope’s funeral, US President Donald Trump also announced his intention to travel to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis.
The presence of military contingents of NATO countries on the territory of Ukraine will have negative consequences for them, as this is unacceptable for Russia, Vladislav Maslennikov, director of the Department for European Affairs of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on the Russia-24 TV channel. “Military planning is already underway, the chiefs of staff of the armed forces of European countries are drawing up maps of possible deployment areas. In fact, European hawks are bringing the issue to the possibility of their direct involvement in an armed conflict with Russia on the side of the Ukrainian regime,” Maslennikov said. The Russian government denounced the agreements with Norway, Sweden and Finland on cooperation in the Barents region.
The Russian government has proposed allowing stateless persons to serve in the Russian army. This initiative is contained in a bill submitted to the State Duma. “99.5% of the territory of the Kursk region” has been liberated, said Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov. “All six Russian groups are conducting an offensive in 11 directions,” the Russian Chief of Staff concluded. “Kiev has violated the moratorium on attacks on energy facilities more than 100 times,” echoed the words of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. “Russia has always been ready for negotiations and welcomes the desire of the United States, China and other countries to reach a fair solution in Ukraine.”
And again the President of the Federation said: “Fighting resumed after the Easter truce. Kiev was “pushed” not to reject peace initiatives; Russia has a positive attitude towards any peace initiative and expects Kiev to have the same attitude; Russia will analyze the proposals for a moratorium on attacks on civilian targets and provide a response.” And he concluded by saying: “Russia will win, no one doubts it.”
According to Dmitry Peskov: “There was no reaction from Kiev to Putin’s proposal to discuss the possibility of not hitting civilian targets.” “Russia continues to contact the United States through various channels,” Peskov said.
And now a look at the front line as of 16:00 on April 22. Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners on April 19. “246 for 246” the total number of prisoners transferred by both sides through the mediation of the United Arab Emirates, including this exchange, amounts to 3,200. “In addition, as a gesture of goodwill, 31 wounded prisoners of war were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian servicemen who needed urgent medical care. Currently, all Russian military personnel are on the territory of Belarus, where they receive the necessary psychological and medical assistance, and will also be provided with the opportunity to contact their relatives. “The exchange took place through the mediation of the United Arab Emirates,” the Ministry of the Russian Federation said in a statement.
Ukrainians attempted to attack Crimea and the Belgorod region using drones; the Russian Defense Ministry reported the destruction of drones. In addition, the Crimean bridge was closed to traffic, and monitoring channels reported the launch of Ukrainian Neptune missiles, which were destroyed at sea.
Russian forces launched a massive attack with “Geraniums” (up to 30 strikes) on Odessa; among the destroyed targets was the industrial zone of the Research Institute “Storm”, where electronic components for the Ukrainian Armed Forces were produced and weapons and equipment were stored. Explosions were also heard in Dnipropetrovsk, Kiev and the region.
In the direction of Sumy, during the fighting, Russian forces advanced in the area of the Nikolsky monastery and the village of Gornal in the Kursk region.
In the border area of Belgorod, battles were reported near Demidovka and Popovka: four times assault groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to break through to the territory of the Krasnoyarsk region through the forests near Miropolsky. Nikolskoye, Leonovka, Kazinka, Kukuyevka, Dvuluchnoye and Barilov were also attacked.
North of Toretsk, there were reports of attacks by Russian attack aircraft in the area of the settlement of Dachnoe.
Further south, towards Kostyantynivka, Russian forces are consolidating their advance and have taken Sukha Balka, and fighting has been reported in the Tarasivka area.
South of Pokrovs’k, Russian forces, having accumulated reserves, have resumed infantry and armored offensive actions towards the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region, operating near Kotlyarovka and south of Serebryane.
South of Donetsk, east of Bahatyr, an assault group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on an M-113 armored personnel carrier counterattacked the positions of Russian units. An armored personnel carrier and 8 servicemen were destroyed by FPV drones in a forest area. In the same area, a reinforcement group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was hit: a mine explosion destroyed a vehicle and killed 5 servicemen.
On the Zaporizhia front, in the Mala Tokmachka area, positional battles are being recorded. Russian fighters have settled in the southeastern part of the village and on the territory of the former brick factory. In the Shcherbaky, Mali Shcherbaky and Stepove with Lobkove area, the situation is also unchanged, both teams are assessing the changes after rotations. The Ukrainians are actively deploying the crews of the newly arrived national battalions in the direction of the drones, using barrel artillery and cluster munitions.
In DPR in Horlivka two injured following Ukrainian attacks.
Graziella Giangiulio
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