Ukraine Daily
Saturday, 17 April 2022
[Note: Different format as the regular information which I receive from The Kyiv Independent was unavailable.]
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Russia’s war against Ukraine
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on TV that Russia is building up troops, equipment, and ammunition in Ukraine’s east but is failing to enter the new stage of the war because Ukraine’s armed forces are “powerfully holding them back,” Ukrainska Pravda reported.
EU to provide Ukraine with additional 45 million euros in humanitarian aid.
The funding is part of the 1 billion euros support package raised at the global pledging event “Stand Up For Ukraine” on April 8, the European Commission announced in a statement on April 17.
According to Vitaliy Kim, shooting between the Russian military and forces of the Russian-occupied territories in Donbas took place in the Russian-occupied city of Nova Kakhovka, Kherson Oblast, on April 16.
41 bodies recovered from under rubble in Borodyanka so far.
The State Emergency Service reported on April 17 that its rescuers have finished clearing the debris of five destroyed apartment buildings in Borodyanka, a town 40 kilometers northwest of Kyiv that was heavily bombarded and occupied by Russia for a month.
No humanitarian corridors on April 17.
Ukraine could not agree with Russian occupiers on a ceasefire on evacuation routes, so no humanitarian corridors will take place on April 17, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk reported.
Russia shells Kharkiv 23 times in past 24 hours, killing 3 civilians.
Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Synehubov said on April 17 that 31 people were injured, including four children, by the Russian forces’ attacks on multiple neighborhoods in Kharkiv in the past 24 hours.
Starting on April 17, the curfew in the capital will last from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
General Staff: Russia lost 20,300 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24.
Russian forces have also lost 773 tanks, 2,002 armored fighting vehicles, 376 artillery pieces, 127 multiple rocket launchers, 66 surface-to-air missiles, 165 jets, 146 helicopters, 8 ships, 76 fuel tanks, 148 drones, and 4 ballistic missile systems, the General Staff reported on April 17.
According to the latest update by the U.K. Defense Ministry, Russia still aims to make Ukraine abandon its Euro-Atlantic orientation and assert its dominance in the region. British intelligence also reports that Russia continues to “redeploy combat and support equipment from Belarus towards eastern Ukraine,” which includes locations close to Kharkiv and Sievierodonetsk, a city in Luhansk Oblast.
Mayor: Russian missiles hit infrastructure objects in Brovary, Kyiv Oblast.
According to Brovary Mayor Ihor Sapozhko, no casualties have yet been reported following the April 17 morning attack. Brovary is a city of 109,000 located just east of Kyiv.
Prosecutor General’s Office: Russia’s war killed 202 children in Ukraine.
More than 361 children were injured, Prosecutor General’s Office reported on April 17. The true figures are expected to be higher since they do not include child casualties in the areas where hostilities are ongoing and in the occupied cities.
Four high-rises catch fire in Sievierodonetsk after shelling.
According to Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai, four apartment buildings in Sievierodonetsk caught fire after Russian missiles struck the city overnight on April 17. A building in Novodruzhesk was also destroyed. Casualties are not yet confirmed.
General Staff: Russian forces prepare for potential naval operation in Mariupol.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces detected movement of Russian units to Ukraine from the Russian Kursk, Bryansk and Voronezh regions. Ukraine’s military also reports that despite supply problems, Russian troops currently in Ukraine were able to accumulate “significant stocks of ammunition.”
Finnish Foreign Minister: Threats from Russia will not affect country’s decision to join NATO.
In an interview with Finnish Yle news, the country’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said there is no reason to panic about Russia’s threats over Finland’s potential NATO membership. Haavisto also said that if Finland does submit an application for membership, it will happen in the next six weeks.
Von der Leyen: EU to sanction Sberbank in latest round of sanctions.
Head of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag in an interview published on April 17 that the EU’s sixth round of sanctions with target the banking sector, “especially Sberbank, which accounts for 37% of the Russian banking sector,” as well as oil.
Russia orders Ukrainian troops in Mariupol to surrender.
Russia’s Defense Ministry told the Ukrainian soldiers still remaining in Mariupol at the Azovstal steelworks plant they have from 6 a.m. until 1 p.m. Moscow time on April 17 to surrender, “without any weapons and ammunition,” Russian state media Ria Novosti reported. There was no response from Ukraine to the demand.
CNN: US military assistance shipments arrive in Ukraine.
A White House official told CNN on April 16 that shipments from the Biden’s administrations latest $800 million security assistance package to Ukraine “have begun arriving.” The assistance includes 11 Mi-17 helicopters, 18 155 mm Howitzer cannons, and 300 more Switchblade drones.
Russian missile hits World Central Kitchen partner restaurant in Kharkiv, injuring 4 employees.
Nate Mook, CEO of WCK stated on Twitter that the missile struck and damaged the front of the building. Several workers and people in the area were wounded, with one person dying from the strike.
Russian troops allegedly steal over $100,000 from Ukraine’s national postal service.
The money was intended for the payment of salaries and pensions. Ukraine is negotiating with Russia for the funds to be returned, according to Igor Smilyansky who leads Ukraine’s national postal operator Ukrposhta. The funds were stolen from a branch in the southern city of Melitopol.
Three sappers die, four wounded while demining near Kharkiv.
The group was demining Russian cluster munitions near Kharkiv when they detonated, said Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky.
One onslaught, one family, one lucky chance: Surviving Mariupol theater bombing
71% of buildings in Irpin destroyed.
Mayor of Irpin Oleksandr Markushin said more than 1,000 buildings in the city sustained damage, of which 115 were totally destroyed by Russian shelling. The majority of the buildings were residential or civilian.
Zelensky vows housing to Ukrainians who lost their homes as a result of Russia’s war.
President Zelensky announced plans to provide temporary housing to internally displaced people in Ukraine, as well as to restore all homes and communities that have been affected by Russian attacks. He also said Ukraine will provide housing for all those who have defended the state or are working in the public interest who have lost their homes.
Zelensky: ‘The situation in Mariupol remains as severe as possible, just inhuman.’
President Zelensky said in address there are only “two ways to influence” the situation in Mariupol, “either Ukraine’s partners give it all the necessary heavy weapons” needed to break through the siege of Mariupol, or a “negotiation path,” involving international partners.
Joint Forces Operation: Ten Russian attacks repelled, multiple units of Russian equipment destroyed.
According to the JFO, Russia lost 15 tanks, three artillery systems, 24 armored vehicles and 10 other vehicles on April 16. Air defense systems shot down four UAVs and two cruise missiles. Ukraine’s Air Force also reported it shot down one plane, one helicopter, five unmanned aerial vehicles, and six cruise missiles.
Nearly 1,500 people evacuated from hot spots on April 16.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, 1,381 people traveled from Mariupol and Berdiansk by their own transport to Zaporizhzhia, including 170 people from Mariupol. Despite constant shelling, 68 people were evacuated from the cities of Severodonetsk, Rubizhne and Kreminna in Luhansk Oblast.
Russia alleges most of besieged Mariupol cleared of Ukrainian forces.
A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said on April 16 that Russian troops had surrounded about 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers that had remained near the Azovstal metallurgical plant and that “their only chance to save their lives is to voluntarily lay down their arms and surrender.” The claims have not been independently verified.
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