Here is the situation on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.
Fighting
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian missile attack that destroyed Kharkiv’s 240-metre (787-foot) television tower was part of a deliberate effort by Moscow to make Ukraine’s second-largest city uninhabitable.
- Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern military command, described the situation around Chasiv Yar and its surrounding villages as “difficult” but “controllable” as a Russian force of about 20,000-25,000 troops tries to storm the eastern Ukrainian town, which lies on strategic high ground in the partially-occupied Donetsk region.
- Ukraine denied Russian claims that it had taken control of Novomykhailivka in eastern Ukraine, saying its forces were still in control of the village, some 40km (25 miles) southwest of the Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
Politics and diplomacy
- A court in Moscow sentenced a 39-year-old Russian man to five years’ forced labour for spreading “deliberately false information” about the army after talking about the war in Ukraine in an impromptu street interview with journalists from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is funded by the United States government.
- A military court in Moscow sentenced Meta Communications Director Andy Stone to six years in prison for “publicly defending terrorism”, a verdict handed down in absentia, the RIA news agency reported. Meta is designated an extremist organisation in Russia and its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram have been banned since 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Weapons
- Zelenskyy spoke on the phone with US President Joe Biden and said that Kyiv and Washington had started talks on a bilateral security cooperation agreement, and finalised plans for more ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) long-range missiles to be sent to Ukraine.
- European Union ministers said they were looking urgently at how to provide more air defences to Ukraine but stopped short of making concrete pledges to provide the Patriot systems that Kyiv has said it needs most.
- United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will visit Poland on Tuesday and announce a 500 million pound ($617m) boost in military support for Ukraine, warning that Russia must be defeated to prevent its troops from pressing further into Europe. The UK will also send to Ukraine what it described as its largest-ever single package of military equipment, including 60 boats, more than 1,600 strike and air defence missiles and nearly 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition.
