4.9 million Ukrainians fled their country
More than 4.9 million Ukrainians have fled their country after the start of the war, the UN reported on Monday, warning of the risk of refugee women and children being exploited.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that 4.934.415 Ukrainians have left the country since February 24, a daily increase of 65,396.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) of the UN affirms that, in addition, almost 215,000 foreigners living in Ukraine -mostly immigrant students and workers- they also fled to neighboring countries.
British prisoners of war ask Johnson to be exchanged for a tycoon close to Putin
Russian state television released a video of two British prisoners captured in the Ukraine, Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, in which both They ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to negotiate his release in exchange for that of businessman Viktor Medvedchuk.
“Mr. Boris Johnson, my name is Shaun Pinner. As far as I know, Viktor Medvedchuk is in detention, and Aiden Aslin and I would like to be exchanged for him. We would appreciate your help in this matter. I am treated well and I understand the situation in the I meet. They feed us and give us water. I ask you, on behalf of myself and Aiden Aslin, to facilitate the exchange for MedvedchukPinner told the Rossiya 1 television channel.
In turn, Aislin added that it seems important to her that the British prime minister heed the request of Medvedchuk’s wife, Oksana Marchenko, to be exchanged for her husband.
“If Boris Johnson truly cares about British citizens, as he says, then he will help put pressure on (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky to do the right thing and return Viktor to his family and us to our families,” he said. captive.
Moscow launches assistance for those who lost their jobs due to the war
the mayor of MoscowSergei Sobyanin stated that at least 200,000 jobs are in danger in the city due to the departure or cessation of activities of foreign companies after the start of the war with Ukraine and throw State assistance programs for affected people.
In a message on his website, Sobyanin reported that the an aid package of 3.6 billion rubles (about 43 million dollars) for the inhabitants of the capital at risk of dismissal.
“This program primarily concerns employees of foreign companies that have temporarily suspended their activities or have decided to leave Russia. According to our estimates, about 200,000 people are at risk of losing their jobs,” the mayor said.
Mayor’s office will offer affected employees “temporary jobs” to supplement your income, such as “managing files or repairing municipal equipment,” and grants to finance professional retraining. In addition, it will be provided financial assistance to families.
The Moscow mayor’s office added that they built three drug factories to compensate for the suspension of pharmaceutical imports. In this area, “we have a lot of work ahead of us, the results will take years to arrive,” Sobyanin reassured.
Businessman close to Putin asks to be exchanged for soldiers and civilians from Mariupol
Ukraine’s security services released a video on Monday showing the businessman Viktor Medvedchukwho was arrested in Ukraine, calling on the government of Vladimir Putin to be exchanged for besieged soldiers and civilians in the city of Mariupol.
“I want to address Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to ask them to change me to Ukrainian defenders and residents of Mariupol,” he said in a video. Days before, his wife had made the same request to the Russian authorities.
Zelensky had proposed on April 12 in Moscow to exchange Medvedchuk, who had been arrested that same day, for Ukrainians held in Russia.
The Kremlin dodged the issue by stating that the businessman, 67 years old, not a russian citizen and has no link to the “special military operation”.
Medvedchuk, the 12th richest man in Ukraine, had been under house arrest since May 2021 after being accused of “high treason” and “attempted looting of natural resources in Crimea”, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
The businessman is the founder of the “Opposition Platform for Life” party, which had about 30 deputies in the Ukrainian Parliament, before being banned in March after the start of the war.
Pope Francis made a new call for peace
Pope Francis called for war to give way to reconciliationleading from the Vatican the recitation of the Regina Caeli, the prayer that replaces the Angelus during the Easter season.
In that framework, without directly mentioning the conflict in Ukraine Due to the Russian invasion at the end of February, the Pope demanded “relief and hope for those who suffer”.
“Let none be abandoned. Let fights and wars give way to understanding and reconciliationFrancis maintained.
This afternoon, from 6 pm in Rome (13 in Argentina), Jorge Bergoglio will lead a meeting with nearly 60,000 young people from all over Italy who have come to Rome for a pilgrimage organized by the local Church.
Some 11,000 soldiers will parade through Red Square on Victory Day
Some 11,000 Russian soldiers will parade through the Red square of moscu the Victory Day over Nazi Germanywhich is celebrated on May 9 and this year will coincide with the Russian military campaign in Ukraine if a ceasefire is not reached sooner.
“In total 11,000 servicemen, 131 units of modern weapons and military equipment, 77 planes and helicopters are involved in the preparations for the parade on Red Square,” they told the RIA Novosti agency in the Russian Ministry of Defense.
During the rehearsals of the air show, eight MiG-29 fighters were also seen in the Moscow province flying in the sky in the form of the letter “Z”, which has become one of the symbols of the Russian “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The latest bombings in Kharkov leave 9 dead and 25 wounded, according to Ukraine
At least 9 people died and 25 were injured in the bombardments that Russian troops have carried out in recent hours on the city of Kharkov, in eastern Ukraine, reported the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
The death toll was offered by the press service of the Kharkov regional military administration, one of the Ukrainian areas that is suffering the most from the Russian offensive in recent days.
Ukraine does not reopen humanitarian corridors due to lack of security
Ukraine announced on Monday that will not be able to open any humanitarian corridor in the country due to lack of security, since the Russians blockade or bomb them, said Iryna VereshchukUkrainian Deputy Prime Minister, on her Telegram account.
“Today, April 18, unfortunately there will be no humanitarian corridors,” said the minister for the reintegration of the occupied territories.
The Ukrainian leader explained that on Sunday “they had long and difficult negotiations” with the Russians to achieve the reopening of humanitarian corridors such as the one in Mariupol (south), without results.
In this city on the shores of the Sea of Azov, there are still some 100,000 people, of the half million inhabitants who lived there before the war began, on February 24.
Russia attacks 108 concentration points of soldiers and equipment in Ukraine
Russian aviation has carried out attacks on 108 concentration points of soldiers and military equipment in Ukraine in the last few hours, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense in his morning war part.
“The operational-tactical aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out attacks on 108 areas of concentration of Ukrainian military personnel and equipment,” said the military spokesman, Igor Konashénkov.
The department you lead Sergei Shoigu, noted that some of these “destroyed” military and equipment concentration points were near Mykolaiv, in the south; Barvenkovo, in the Kharkov region; in Popasna, in Lugansk; and in Yampol and Kramatorsk, in Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine reports the fall under Russian control of Kreminna, in Luhansk
The regional authorities of Luhansk today reported the fall under Russian control of Kreminnathe city where the great Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine began on Monday and where four civilians would have also died.
“The invaders took Kreminna”wrote, through the Telegram network, the regional governor, Serhiy Gaidai.
Russia accuses Ukraine of preparing a provocation on Orthodox Easter
The Russian Ministry of Defense denounced today that Ukraine plan with western support a provocation on Orthodox Easter, during which they plan to attack a number of Orthodox churches in various Ukrainian regions with mobile mortars.
“kyiv, with the support of a number of Western countries, concludes preparations for a series of sophisticated monstrous provocations, with a large number of victims in the Zaporizhia, Mikolaiv, Odessa, Sumy and Kharkov regions,” said the head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Mikhail Mizintsev.
At least six killed in Russian missile attack on Ukrainian city of Lviv
At least six dead and eight wounded left a series of “powerful” Russian missile attacks on Lvivone of the main cities in western Ukraine also known as Leopolis, on the 54th day of the Russian invasion, local authorities reported.
“For now, we have counted six dead and eight wounded. Among the victims there is a child,” he assured. Governor Maksim Kozitsky on Telegram, according to reports from AFP, Sputnik and Europa Press.
The governor specified that the bombardments had reached military infrastructure and a tire garage, which caused fires.
Thick plumes of gray smoke rose behind the apartment buildings, according to neighbors.