Thursday, April 25

Russia’s war against Ukraine

The aftermath of Russian strikes on Kharkiv Oblast on April 24, 2024. (Governor Oleh Syniehubov/Telegram)

Zelensky on US aid: ‘We will do everything to compensate for the 6 months that have passed in debate and doubt.’ President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his April 24 evening address that Ukraine “will do everything” to compensate for the six months that passed while the country waited for the U.S. to pass further assistance for Kyiv.

Zaluzhnyi to start new ambassador to UK role ‘in a matter of weeks’. Speaking to KYIV24, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said some “logistical issues” still had to be resolved before he could take up his new position.

Russian priest suspended after presiding over Navalny’s funeral. The document posted on the website of the Moscow City Diocese did not give an official reason for Dmitriy Safranov’s suspension, but it is believed to be connected to Alexei Navalny’s funeral.

Sources: SBU drone attack destroys 26,000 cubic meters of Russian fuel in Smolensk Oblast. Drones of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) attacked two oil depots in Russia’s Smolensk Oblast overnight, destroying 26,000 cubic meters of fuel, sources in law enforcement agencies told the Kyiv Independent on April 24.

Parliament passes bill strengthening gambling oversight in first reading. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, backed in the first reading on April 24 a bill strengthening the state’s oversight over the gambling business, lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko said.

SBU suspects metropolitan of Kremlin-linked church of leaking information about Ukrainian forces. According to the investigation, Metropolitan Arsenii, who served in the Svyatohirsk Lavra in Donetsk Oblast, allegedly told parishioners the coordinates of Ukrainian military checkpoints in the Kramatorsk district in Donetsk Oblast during a liturgy.

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Government bans sending passports to military-age Ukrainian men abroad. The Ukrainian government has banned sending identification documents and passports abroad for Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60, according to a decree published on the Cabinet of Ministers’ website on April 24.

Prosecutors to request arrest of agriculture minister over alleged illegal acquisition of state-owned land. Ukraine’s Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) will request the arrest of Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi with an alternative option of a Hr 200 million ($5 million) bail, Economic Pravda reported on April 24.

Justice Ministry freezes assets, accounts of ex-Supreme Court chief after failing to comply with court order. Ukraine’s Justice Ministry froze all assets and accounts of former head of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Kniaziev after he failed to pay a court-ordered sum of nearly Hr 1 million ($25,200) over an illegally received gift.

Ukraine’s parliament passes bill increasing the size of border guard by 15,000. The law would apply up to one year after the cancellation of martial law, which has been in place since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russian man jailed for 10 years over railway sabotage, treason. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, what were previously treated as acts of hooliganism have often been tried as acts of sabotage aimed at disrupting the Kremlin’s war effort and those found guilty now face far harsher punishments.

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Ukraine war latest: Biden signs $61 billion aid bill for Ukraine; US began secretly providing ATACMS in March

U.S. President Joe Biden announced during a briefing on April 24 he had signed the foreign aid bill containing close to $61 billion for Ukraine into law, marking the final step of the legislative process.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Explaining Washington’s REPO Act that could kick-start the confiscation of frozen Russian assets

The U.S. on April 20 became the first nation to adopt legislation green-lighting confiscating frozen Russian assets for Ukraine. President Joe Biden signed the REPO Act alongside a $95 billion foreign aid bill that included $61 billion for Kyiv on April 24, setting the legal basis for liquidating immobilized Russian assets held in the U.S.

Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attacks over past day kill 1, injure at least 23. Russian forces also struck Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, causing damage but inflicting no casualties.

General Staff: Russia has lost 461,940 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 880 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

What’s happening with Russia’s assets frozen in the West?

International response

Zelensky: Russia planning to disrupt global peace summit in Switzerland. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 24 that Ukraine has precise intelligence information that Russia is preparing to disrupt a global peace summit set to take place in Switzerland in June.

Latvian defense minister: Drone coalition raises over $535 million to buy drones for Ukraine. A drone coalition co-led by the U.K. and Latvia has collected over 500 million euros ($535 million) to purchase drones for Ukraine, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds wrote on X on April 24.

Ukraine, Portugal start talks on security agreement. Ukraine and Portugal have begun negotiations on a draft bilateral security agreement, the Presidential Office announced on April 24.

State department confirms US began secretly providing Ukraine long-range ATACMS missiles in March The U.S. began this spring secretly providing Ukraine with long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) at President Joe Biden’s direction, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel confirmed at a press briefing on April 24.

Bloomberg: Russia to supply China with cheaper gas compared to European market at least through 2027. Russia is expected to export natural gas to China with prices as much as 28% below those for Russia’s European clients at least until 2027, Bloomberg reported on April 23, citing the Russian Economy Ministry’s outlook.

Pentagon ready to send $1 billion in weapons to Kyiv after Biden signs aid bill. The Pentagon announced on April 24 that it is ready to move forward with sending $1 billion of weapons from U.S. stockpiles to Kyiv now that President Joe Biden has signed a $95 billion aid package that includes more aid for Ukraine.

Biden signs $61 billion aid bill for Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden signed the foreign aid bill containing close to $61 billion for Ukraine into law on April 24, marking the final step of the legislative process.

Bloomberg: France proposes new sanctions to target Russian disinformation, election interference. The proposal “would target those responsible for threatening the stability, security or sovereignty of EU member states or third countries by undermining elections, the rule of law, facilitating acts of violence or do so through the use of information manipulation and interference,” Bloomberg wrote.

Reuters: Russia’s April oil and gas revenue to double compared to 2023, slightly drop from March. The figures demonstrate that western sanctions targeting Moscow’s oil and gas industries have not been as effective as hoped.

Yermak: ‘I can tell you for sure – there will be more Patriots’. Speaking on national television, Andriy Yermak said Kyiv was “talking with many partners, primarily the U.S.” about securing more of the badly needed systems and referred to recent news of German efforts to convince Washington to send more.

Hugo Boss to sell its Russian subsidiary. Along with many other Western companies, Hugo Boss suspended its retail operations in Russia after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine receives 1.5 billion euros from EU in second tranche of financial aid.

The EU approved the four-year Ukraine Facility in February, allocating 33 billion euros ($35 billion) in loans and 17 billion euros ($18 billion) in grants.

Reuters: Canada grants Airbus waiver against sanctions on Russian titanium. Airbus has been granted a waiver by the Canadian government, allowing it to continue using Russian titanium after Ottawa became the first Western nation to ban the metal in its latest package of sanctions targeting the Kremlin, Reuters reported on April 23.

NYT: Project Maven AI having mixed results on Ukraine’s battlefields. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine presented the first opportunity to test how the system would work in a conventional ground war between two armies.

North Korea sends delegation to Iran. North Korea’s delegation is led by Yun Jung Ho, North Korea’s minister of external economic relations, state media said.

Pentagon says military aid can arrive in Ukraine ‘within days’ once Biden signs bill. Speaking ahead of the final vote in the Senate, Pentagon spokesperson General Pat Ryder did not provide specifics but said, “We would expect to be able to deliver aid within days.”

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Chris York, Martin Fornusek, Lili Bivings, Kateryna Denisova, Nate Ostiller, Kateryna Hodunova, Olena Goncharova, and Rachel Amran.

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