Friday, April 12

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A worker inspects damage to the Kharkiv Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) in Kharkiv Oblast on April 11, 2024, after it was damaged by Russian shelling. (Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Energy company loses 100% of generation capacity after Russia destroys Kyiv Oblast plant. A Russian attack overnight on April 11 destroyed the Trypillia Thermal Power Plant in the city of Ukrainka in Kyiv Oblast, Andrii Hota, the chair of Ukraine’s state energy company Centerenergo’s supervisory board, told Interfax-Ukraine.

Ukraine, Latvia sign long-term security agreement. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Latvian counterpart, Edgars Rinkevics, signed a long-term bilateral security agreement, Zelensky announced on April 11 while visiting Lithuania for an international summit.

Lithuania provides Ukraine with generators, anti-drone systems. Lithuania has provided Ukraine with 610 million euros ($655 million) in aid since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, according to the statement.

EU Parliament refuses decision on budget until members commit more Patriots to Ukraine. The European Parliament on April 11 refused discharge of the EU Council’s budget until European leaders decide to support Ukraine with additional Patriot air defense systems, MEP Guy Verhofstadt said.

Parliament passes mobilization bill in second reading. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed on April 11 the updated mobilization bill in its second reading, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said. The bill was supported by 283 lawmakers.

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Media: Netherlands to allocate additional $429 million to Ukraine for 2024. The Dutch government has also set aside 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) for Ukraine for 2025.

Ambassador: US to allocate $138 million for Ukrainian air defense system upgrades. The U.S. signed an agreement to provide Ukraine with $138 million in critical air defense modernization, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said on April 11.

DTEK thermal plants damaged in Russia’s overnight attack. Russia damaged two DTEK thermal power plants in its latest overnight mass attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, according to a press release on April 11 from DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company.

Reuters: Trump says he will not visit Ukraine as presidential candidate. U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump says it is inappropriate for him to visit Ukraine as he does not hold office, Reuters reported on April 10, citing the ex-president’s team.

House Majority Leader: ‘No agreement reached’ on Ukraine aid funding as negotiations with White House continue. Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters on April 11 that an agreement had not yet been reached on advancing a Ukraine aid funding package as negotiations between U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and the White House continue to unfold.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Russia launches large-scale attack, destroys critical energy infrastructure.

Russian forces launched a massive aerial attack across Ukraine overnight on April 11, targeting critical infrastructure in multiple regions.

Photo: Dmitri Tovstonog/Wikimedia Commons

’I’d be a king in Somalia with this money:’ Foreign POWs on being lured to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

Adil Muhammad, a Somali, sits in a Russian military uniform among other prisoners of war (POWs) in a press conference in Ukraine’s capital in mid-March.

Photo: Paula Bronstein /Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attack on Mykolaiv kills 4, injures 5. A Russian attack against Mykolaiv on April 11 killed two people and injured four, Governor Vitalii Kim reported.

Update: Death toll of Russia’s April 10 attack on Odesa Oblast rises to 5. The death toll of a Russian missile strike against Odesa Oblast on April 10 has risen to five after an injured man died in the hospital, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on April 11.

Russian attacks in Sumy Oblast injure 4 people, target critical infrastructure. Russian forces attacked border settlements and critical infrastructure in Sumy Oblast, injuring four people, including a child, the Sumy Oblast Prosecutor’s Office reported on April 11.

Governor announces mandatory evacuation from 3 Kharkiv Oblast districts. A mandatory evacuation order for families with children has been expanded to 47 more front-line settlements in Kharkiv Oblast, Governor Oleh Syniehubov announced on April 11.

Opinions and insights

‘I thought I would never walk again:’ Children injured by Russia’s war learn to live with prosthetics.

Eleven-year-old Oleksandr Reshetniak from Kharkiv Oblast still vividly remembers holding the stump of his torn-off leg, trying to stop the bleeding.

Photo: Oleh Tymoshenko / The Kyiv Independent

The Counteroffensive: Sleep deprivation is Russia’s silent torture weapon.

On more than one occasion, I’ve gotten under the covers utterly exhausted from a day spent working, ready – begging, really – for a good night’s rest. And as I begin to drift off to sleep, the air raid alarm goes off, indicating another potential Russian attack.

Photo: Aris Messinis/STF/AFP via Getty Images

Sikorski: ‘We want to help Ukraine, but you must decide how long you are ready to go on.’

Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, wants to make it clear he stands for Ukraine’s place in the European Union.

Photo: Tetiana Pavliuk / The Kyiv Independent

International response

Fico: Slovakia fully supports Ukraine’s EU membership. Bratislava will not block Kyiv’s accession to the European Union, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said during a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal in Slovakia on April 11.

Bloomberg: EU set to approve Ukrainian reform plan in May, unlocking billions in aid. The EU is set to approve Ukraine’s reform plan in May, unlocking an additional 1.9 billion euros ($2.04 billion) in financial aid during late spring.

IAEA chief warns about ‘major escalation’ amid Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant attacks. The recent attacks on the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) marked a “major escalation” in nuclear safety danger in Ukraine, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Rafael Grossi told the IAEA’s Board of Governors on April 11.

Freedom House: Ukraine on democratic path amid rising authoritarianism in region. Ukraine is one of the few among the group of 29 countries evaluated by Freedom House in the Nations in Transit 2024 report that is moving successfully toward democracy amid growing anti-democratic trends.

Swiss FM: Russia has to be at peace summit ‘sooner or later.’ Russia has to participate in a global peace summit “sooner or later,” even if it does not attend its first meeting, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said in Bern, as reported by the Associated Press (AP) on April 10.

US official: US deepening cooperation with Moldova amid potential threats from Russia. The U.S. is deepening cooperation with the Moldovan government amid potential threats from Russia to undermine its stability, Ned Price, deputy to the U.S. representative to the U.N., told a Kyiv Independent reporter on April 11.

EU Parliament approves option allowing members to block Russian LNG imports. The European Parliament voted on April 11 to pass rules allowing member states to ban imports of Russian liquified natural gas (LNG), Reuters reported.

Politico: France imports growing levels of Russian LNG. France has paid Russia 600 million euros ($644 million) for liquified natural gas (LNG) imports in just the first three months of 2024, making it the fastest-growing consumer of Russian LNG in the EU, Politico reported on April 11.

Ukraine signs new partnership agreement with UN migration agency. The agreement entails “enhanced cooperation for Ukraine’s reconstruction, personal data protection, digitalization, and cybersecurity,” the ministry said. It will also help “improve migration,” as well as “border policies and processes.”

Poland has Soviet-made air defense missiles that may be sent to Ukraine, Duda says. Polish President Andrzej Duda said he has discussed the transfer of Soviet-made missiles for air defense systems to Ukraine with his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky while meeting in Lithuania at an international summit on April 11.

In other news

Popular poet Lazutkin named Defense Ministry spokesperson. Born in Kyiv in 1978, Dmytro Lazutkin is a laureate of the Shevchenko National Prize, the country’s highest award for works in culture and arts. While having background in multiple professions, he is best know for his work in poetry.

Ground Forces: Heads of southern, eastern military commands reassigned to new posts. Andrii Kovalchuk, the head of Southern Operational Command, and Serhii Litvinov, the head of Eastern Operational Command, have been promoted and will leave their current posts, the Ground Forces’ spokesperson, Volodymyr Fitio, confirmed for the Kyiv Independent on April 11.

Mayor: Russia’s war causes at least $2.9 billion in damages to Mykolaiv. Russian attacks on the southern city of Mykolaiv have caused at least $2.9 billion in damages, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych told reporters at the International Mayors Summit outside Chisinau, Moldova, on April 11.

Media: Russian soldier charged for voluntary surrender for first time since mobilization introduced. There are few details known about the case, Mediazona reported, and the circumstances of his alleged surrender were not clarified. The soldier was also charged with desertion, the court file said.

US general says Russian forces replaced battlefield losses ‘far faster’ than expected. “The overall message I would give you is (Russia’s military has) grown back to what they were before (February 2022),” said General Christopher Cavoli, the top U.S. commander in Europe, in a written statement to Congress.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Daria Shulzhenko, Elsa Court, Kateryna Hodunova, Martin Fornusek, Teah Pelechaty, Katya Denisova, Nate Ostiller, Sonya Bandouil, and Dmytro Basmat.

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