Here is the situation on Monday, April 1, 2024.
Fighting
- At least three people were killed in Russian shelling in different regions of eastern Ukraine while in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said a 19-year-old man was killed after a projectile hit a petrol station.
- Over the border in Russia’s Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a woman was killed when a border village came under attack.
- Two more people were killed after Russian cruise missiles hit infrastructure in Ukraine’s western Lviv region, far from the front lines.
- Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands in Ukraine’s Odesa region were left without power after debris from a downed Russian drone caused a fire at an energy facility, Governor Oleh Kiper said.
- Russia also said it conducted a strike on objects of energy infrastructure and the gas industry in Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defence said it used “high-precision long-range air-based weapons” and drones.
- “We defend ourselves, we endure, our spirit does not give up and knows that it is possible to avert death,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday following Russian strikes.
My greetings to Ukrainians and all Christians celebrating Easter today.
It is a holiday that reminds us of the power of the spirit that will not allow darkness to prevail. It will not allow the will to be overshadowed. It unites families, nations, and continents.
Now there is… pic.twitter.com/kshpW71W34
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 31, 2024
Politics and diplomacy
-
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree, setting out the routine spring conscription campaign, calling up 150,000 citizens for military service. All men in Russia are required to do a yearlong military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18.
- Moscow demanded that Kyiv hand over all people connected with alleged “terrorist acts” committed in Russia, including the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The SBU said such requests were “pointless”.
Weapons
-
France said it would deliver hundreds of old armoured vehicles and new surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine.
-
“The Ukrainian army needs to defend a very long front line, which requires armoured vehicles; this is absolutely crucial for troop mobility and is part of the Ukrainian requests,” French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said.
