Friday, April 28

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Rescuers search for survivors in the rubble of a damaged residential building in Uman, central Ukraine, on April 28, 2023, after Russian missile strikes targeted several Ukrainian cities overnight. Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Air defense downs 21 missiles over Ukraine, 11 over Kyiv.Kyiv Military Administration reported in the morning of April 28 that 11 Russian cruise missiles and two drones have been downed by air defense over the capital. Russian forces launched another mass attack against Ukraine at about 4 a.m. using strategic Tu-95 aircraft, according to Ukrainian Air Force.

PM Shmyhal meets Pope Francis in Vatican, invites him to Ukraine. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal met Pope Francis in the Vatican on April 27, handing him a photo album about Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Kuleba: F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine would deter Russia, not provoke it. Providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets will deter Russia rather than provoke it, Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on April 27.

Putin signs decree allowing deportation of Ukrainians from occupied territories. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has signed a decree allowing the deportation of Ukrainians in occupied territories who refuse to take Russian citizenship, Russian state media reported on April 27.

PACE: Russia’s forced relocation of Ukrainian children shows evidence of genocide.Russia’s forced relocation of Ukrainian children and efforts to impose Russian culture on them “matches with the international definition of genocide,” the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) wrote on April 27.

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UK Defense Ministry: Russia sets up fighting positions at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. By March 2023, Russian troops had established sandbag fighting positions on the roofs of several reactor buildings at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on April 27.

SBU: Russian soldier admits killing Ukrainian POWs after interrogations. In a conversation intercepted by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), a Russian soldier admitted he has repeatedly killed Ukrainian prisoners of war by cutting their throats.

14,000 Ukrainian troops trained in UK since start of invasion. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, 14,000 Ukrainian troops have received training from the U.K. and then gone to the front line, lawmaker Andrew Murrison said on April 27.

EU ambassador: Preliminary assessment of Ukraine’s reforms delayed until June. Matti Maasikas, European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine, said in an April 27 interview that an oral assessment of Ukraine’s progress in implementing required reforms will be made public in June. Prior, it was stated that the first assessment would be made in spring.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Another Russian soldier admits committing war crimes

In the intercepted call published by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) on April 27, a Russian soldier admitted that he repeatedly killed Ukrainian prisoners of war by cutting their throats after interrogating them.

Photo: AFP via Getty Images

How a celebrated Ukrainian writer turned into a war crimes researcher

Victoria Amelina is one of Ukraine’s most celebrated young literary figures. However, she didn’t want to just write texts about the war. In late March 2022, Amelina made the decision to train to become a war crimes researcher.

Photo: Victoria Amelina/Facebook

Human cost of war

4 killed, 17 injured in Russian attack on Cherkasy Oblast. Russian strike on central Ukraine’s city of Uman in the early hours of April 28 left four civilians killed and 17 wounded, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.

2 killed in Russian attack on Dnipro.A young woman and a three-year-old child were killed in Dnipro early in the morning on April 28, according to Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov.

Russian forces shell Kharkiv Oblast, killing 1, injuring 4. Russian forces shelled the village of Tokarivka on April 27, killing one person and injuring four others, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.

Mayor: Collaborator killed in Melitopol explosion.A local collaborator Oleksandr Mishchenko was killed in an explosion in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, exiled Mayor Ivan Fedorov reported on April 27.

Governor: Russian forces hit Kherson, killing civilian.Russian troops struck a residential area in Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson on April 27, killing a 42-year-old man, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

International response

Bulgarian Foreign Minister: Bulgaria faces ‘unprecedented increase’ in Russian hybrid attacks. Acting Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov said the number of Russian hybrid attacks has increased. The increase in hybrid attacks is “aimed at undermining Bulgaria’s stability and thereby (its) democratic values and processes,” he said.

US to impose additional sanctions against Russia, Iran for detaining its citizens. The U.S. is imposing sanctions on groups in Russia and Iran associated with the wrongful detainment of its citizens, CNN reported on April 27.

Media: Erdoğan discusses grain deal in call with Putin. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke about the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin during a call on April 27, Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reported.

Denmark confirms sighting of Russian ship near Nord Stream pipeline days before explosion. A Russian SS-750 specialized vessel, which carries a submarine on board, was photographed close to the location of the Nord Steam pipelines that were sabotaged in September 2022. The defense command told Dagbladet Information that the presence of the SS-750 was confirmed with 26 photos taken from a Danish patrol boat on Sept. 22, four days before the explosion.

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