In summary :
– Russia assured on Friday evening that the strikes on Kyiv were to be intensified to respond to the attacks on Russian territory, of which it accuses Ukraine. This Friday morning, Russia bombed a military factory in the suburbs of the capital.
– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the CIA state their fears that Vladimir Putin uses tactical nuclear weapons to change the course of the war.
– At least ten people were killed and 35 others injured in Russian shelling of a residential area in Kharkiv, the regional governor announced on Friday. More than 900 corpses were reportedly found around Kyiv following Russian troops withdrew, local police say.
Over 1,900 civilians killed in Ukraine. The United Nations counts the death of 1,982 civilians between February 24, the date of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and April 14. They warn that these figures are currently experiencing a sharp increase. Among these deaths, mainly in bombings, 162 children, details the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In addition, 2,651 civilians, including 256 children, were injured. After the withdrawal of Russian troops from Boutcha nearly two weeks ago and the discovery of the massacre they had left behind, the president of the High Commission, Chilean Michelle Bachelethad already warned regarding “possible war crimes” Russians.
One person killed in the bombing of Kyiv. Several people were injured and one died in the missile strikes that hit Kyiv earlier in the day, it said the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Vitali Klitschkoas related a BBC. He said doctors were fighting to keep the injured alive.
© Provided by Liberation
Smoke rises above a forest in Kyiv, following the bombing of a military equipment factory on April 16, 2022.
Boris Johnson banned from entering Russia. Russia announced on Saturday that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several other senior British officials were banned from entering the country. “This step was taken in response to the unbridled media and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally and creating the conditions for […] strangle the economy national, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. London had imposed sanctions on senior Russian officials. Also on Moscow’s blacklist are Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defense Minister Ben Wallace, former Prime Minister Theresa May and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Alexandria airport hit. On Friday night, the mayor of the city of Aleksandria, regarding 300 km southeast of Kyiv, posted on Facebook that a Russian missile had hit his city’s airport. He said that the rescue teams were at work but without immediately claiming any victims.
The war in Ukraine disturbs even the Easter ceremonies. Thousands of faithful attended the Stations of the Cross presided over by Pope Francis in Rome on Friday evening, a celebration which was to be marked with the seal of a return to a certain normality following two years of pandemic. The ceremony was held once more at the Colosseum for the first time since 2019. But on the 51st day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the shadow of war loomed over the liturgy. During this ceremonial prelude to Easter Sunday, which revives the Calvary of Christ through 14 stations, the wearing of the crucifix was notably entrusted to two women, a Russian and a Ukrainian. But this gesture has earned the papacy criticism from the country attacked by Putin. Read our article.
Russia claims responsibility for the bombing of a military equipment factory in the suburbs of Kyiv. The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed on Saturday that it had targeted the factory, a day following Russian forces warned that they were going intensify their attacks on the Ukrainian capital. “High-precision, long-range air-to-ground weapons destroyed production buildings of an arms factory in Kyiv”the ministry announced in a statement on Telegram.
Nine humanitarian corridors opened this Saturday in Ukraine. In a statement posted on Telegram, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said nine humanitarian corridors had been agreed for this Saturday to evacuate civilians, including in the besieged city of Mariupol. In this city, the inhabitants will be able to leave with private cars. Five of the nine evacuation corridors are in the Ukrainian region of Lugansk in the east of the country, which is under heavy shelling.
A military factory targeted by a bombardment in Kyiv. This Friday morning, a military factory manufacturing tanks in particular was targeted by a bombardment in the suburbs of the Ukrainian capital. A large number of soldiers and police were present on the spot, preventing access to the complex, from which smoke escapes. The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, indicated on Facebook that he had no information on the potential victims at this stage. He once once more called on the inhabitants who had left the city not to return there, but to stay in a “safe place”. On Friday, a Russian strike hit a factory in the kyiv region manufacturing Neptune missiles that the Ukrainian military claimed it used to strike the Russian cruiser Moskva.
Zelensky claims that Ukraine has lost between 2,500 and 3,000 soldiers. In an interview with the American channel CNN, broadcast overnight from Friday to Saturday, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, took stock of the military losses suffered by his country. Between 2,500 and 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion. A figure to be compared with the 19,000 to 20,000 losses suffered by Russia, according to the Ukrainian president (Russia only recognizes 1,351). Zelensky added that there would be around 10,000 wounded Ukrainian soldiers and that he was “difficult to say how many will survive”. As for civilians, “It’s very hard to talk regarding it, since in the south and east of our country, where towns are blocked (note: by the Russian army), we don’t know how many people have died”.
Russia threatens US military aid. Russia sent a formal complaint to the United States this week warning the US government of “unforeseeable consequences” following its sharp increase in military aid to Ukraine. According to this diplomatic note, Moscow warns the United States and NATO once morest sending weapons “more sensitive” to Ukraine, judging that such military equipment put“fuel on the fire” and might cause “unforeseeable consequences”reports the Washington Post. The warning came as US President Joe Biden pledged $800 million worth of new military aid to Ukraine, including helicopters and armored personnel carriers.
Germany wants to release two billion euros in military aid. The German government announced on Friday evening that it wanted to release two billion euros in military aid, the majority of which for Ukraine, while Kyiv complains of not receiving heavy weapons from Berlin. These funds are provided for in a supplementary budget for this year. In total, all countries combined, Berlin has decided to bring its international aid to the defense sector “two billion euros” within the framework of this supplementary budget, an envelope which “mostly will go to Ukraine”, Finance Minister Christian Lindner confirmed on Twitter. The German government seeks in this way to respond to the growing criticism from the Ukrainian authoritiesbut also of some of its EU partners such as Poland or the Baltic States, on its apparent lack of support in terms of armaments in kyiv, even its complacency with regard to Moscow.
Ten dead in bombings in Kharkiv. At least ten people were killed and 35 others injured in Russian shelling of a residential area in Kharkiv, regional authorities announced on Friday evening. In a first assessment, the regional governor Oleg Sinegoubov had announced the death of “seven people, including a seven-month-old infant”. “A number of residential buildings were damaged or destroyed”, he added, accompanying his press release on Facebook with photos of partly destroyed buildings and cars. Earlier Friday, seven civilians were killed and 27 others injured by Russian fire on evacuation buses in the Kharkiv region, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office.
