The offensive of the Russian troops against eastern Ukraine has begun. This was confirmed in the evening by the governor of the Lugansk region, Sergei Gaïdaï. "It's hell," he wrote on Facebook, adding: "There is fighting in Rubizhne and Popasna, incessant fighting in other peaceful cities."
Russia has hit the western part of Ukraine in the past few hours. A missile bombing with dead and wounded occurred in the Lviv region, reports the regional governor, Maksym Kozitsky, who called on civilians to stay in shelters. BBC envoys reported seeing at least five explosions in the western part of the city, "a thick black and gray smoke is rising". The anti-aircraft alarm went off for 45 minutes before the explosion, many people were on the street.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin declares that "the West's economic blitz has failed", his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, who has returned to ask the West for weapons, defining any delay in supplies as a "permission for Russia to kill" his people, had anticipated that Russia was preparing a major offensive in eastern Ukraine.
"The Russian troops are preparing for an operation in the east of our country. That will begin in the near future", explained Zelensky in his latest video message: "They literally want to destroy and put an end to the Donbass. While they are destroying Mariupol, they want to sweep up away other cities and communities in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as well ".
Lugansk authorities urged residents to evacuate the southeastern region immediately. "Next week may be difficult. This may be the last time we still have a chance to save you," said regional administration chief Sergei Gaidai.
It was in Lugansk that the Russians conquered Kreminna. According to local authorities, he also opened fire on a car with civilians on board, four of whom were killed. The town of 18 thousand inhabitants is located about 50 kilometers from Kramatorsk, one of the largest centers in the region still controlled by the Ukrainians, which has been bombed again. Further north, raids continued in the Kharkiv region. Nine dead and 25 injured in 24 hours, even in the capital.
The case of the links between the founder of the microchip giant and the Chinese manager Alice Huang, accused of spying for Beijing, shakes the markets and opens a front on national security
The investigation concerns an alleged intermediation system for issuing visas and residence permits to foreign citizens.
Meanwhile, the situation in Mariupol is increasingly critical: a Crimean human rights group has denounced that the Russians forcibly took about 150 children, 100 of whom were hospitalized, to take them "to occupied Donetsk and Russian Taganrog" .
For this Ukraine needs other weapons, Zelensky reiterates. "We are doing everything to guarantee the defense - the Ukrainian president says -. We are grateful to those who really help with all they can. But whoever has the weapons and ammunition we need and delays in their supply must know that the the fate of this battle also depends on him. The fate of the people who can be saved. Any delay in arms, any political delay is a permission for Russia to take the lives of Ukrainians. "
"The democratic world - continues Zelensky - must respond to what the occupiers are doing in the south of our state, in the Kherson and Zaporizhya regions. Torture centers are built there, local authorities and anyone deemed visible to local communities is kidnapped. . Teachers are being blackmailed, pension money is stolen, humanitarian aid is blocked and people are starving. The occupiers are also trying to crack on the example of the so-called breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk by transferring this territory to the area. of the ruble and subordinating it to the Russian administrative machine ".
Meanwhile, Putin has decorated the 64th rifle brigade, which Ukraine has accused of having participated in the massacres of civilians committed in Bucha, near Kiev. The president signed a decree that grants this brigade the "honorary title for heroism and tenacity, determination and courage" of its men, the Kremlin said.
"Russia moves heavy artillery and aircraft to the east"
Russia is moving "heavy artillery and aircraft" to eastern Ukraine. This was reported by Pentagon sources to CNN underlining that from their analyzes "it seems that Moscow has learned the lesson from the failures in the north of Ukraine". At the moment, according to the US defense, Russia is still "preparing the ground" for an offensive.
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Authorities report first death on Moskva
Yulia Tsyvova, the mother of a 19-year-old conscript sailor aboard the cruiser Moskva , said she received a phone call from the Defense Ministry today in which she was informed that her son, Andrei, died in the sinking of the ship. Russian military unit on April 13. The Guardian reports it. If the news were confirmed, it would be the first relative of a crew member who claims to have officially received notification of his death from the authorities. "I have not been given any information on when the funeral will take place," added the woman.
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In Kiev, 16,000 explosive devices have so far been removed
Almost 16,000 explosive devices (exactly 15,993) have been removed in the Kiev region after the Russian occupation, including 661 in the last twenty-four hours. This is what is learned from sources in Kiev. On the outskirts of the capital, towards the destroyed cities of the north, a series of temporary bridges have been built to facilitate connections.
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In the raids in Lviv hit some sites near the railway
In the Russian raids on the Lviv region "some sites near the railway were hit". This was announced by Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, the head of Ukrainian railways, making it clear that he could not speculate on what the bombing target was. Although, he added, it didn't appear to be the railroad. During the raids - reported the international media - some trains changed their route and others were temporarily blocked. The passengers fled to the shelters, but the station quickly reopened and the convoys resumed normal travel.
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Putin: "The West's economic blitz has failed"
The economic situation in Russia "is stabilizing", as is inflation, with the ruble returning to pre-war levels in Ukraine. This was stated by President Vladimir Putin, quoted by TASS, recommending to "accelerate" the transition from the dollar "to the ruble and other national currencies" in Russia's international transactions. The "economic blitzkrieg" launched by the West against Russia through sanctions "has failed", while the same sanctions are already causing "a decline in living standards" in European countries, he added.
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Bombs on the Kharkiv region
Nine people were killed and another 25 injured in the Kharkiv region in the past 24 hours, the regional council said, according to the Kyiv Independent. In the residential areas of the city, which have been heavily bombed, there are six victims and 24 injured. Two other people were killed and one wounded in Derhachi, while one person died near Zolochiv.
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British prisoners ask for exchange with Medvedchuk
Two British citizens who fought with Ukrainian troops and taken prisoner by the Russians appeared on Moscow television and appealed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking to be released in an exchange with Viktor Medvedchuk, the arrested Ukrainian opposition oligarch and MP. in recent days by the Kiev intelligence. Tass reports it.
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The mayor: "One in five inhabitants killed in Bucha"
"We in Bucha estimate that one in five of those who remained in the city during the occupation of the Russian army was killed. Personally, like thousands of my fellow citizens, I hate those who tortured and killed the peaceful inhabitants of this place". This was stated by the mayor of Bucha, Anatoliy Fedoruk, on Ukrainian television, quoted by the UNIAN agency.
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craina, stop evacuations for the second consecutive day
No humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians from the combat zones in Ukraine will be operational today, for the second consecutive day, due to the Russian "blockades" and bombing: Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced it on Telegram. "For today, April 18, unfortunately there will be no humanitarian corridors", not even for the devastated city of Mariupol, wrote Vereshchuk.
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The father of a missing sailor from Moskva asks for "truth"
Relatives of some of the crew members of the sunken cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea wrote on the main Russian social media VKontakte that their family members who were on the ship have disappeared. This was reported by the information site Meduza, taken from Ukrainska Pravda. Among others, Dmytro Shkrebets claimed that his son Yegor served on the cruiser and after the sinking he was included in the "missing" lists. "My son, conscript soldier, as I was told by the direct commanders of the cruiser Moskva, is not among the dead and the wounded and is listed as missing: missing in the open sea? - wrote Skrebets - after my attempts to clarify the details of the incident, the commander of the cruiser and his deputy stopped communicating with me. I asked directly: why are you officers alive and my son, just enlisted, is dead? ".
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Zelensky: "Five thousand children deported to Russia from Mariupol"
About 5,000 children have been "deported" from the Mariupol region to Russia since the beginning of the Russian invasion: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during an interview with CNN broadcast yesterday. "About 5,000 children were deported from this region to the Russia side because they were not allowed to go to the Ukraine side," Zelensky said in the interview. Those "children. Where are they? Nobody knows."
