Here is the situation on Monday, April 29, 2024.
Fighting
- Ukraine’s top commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskii said Kyiv’s troops fell back to new positions west of three villages on the eastern front, as the situation on the front line worsened. Syrskii said the “most difficult” areas were west of Russian-occupied Maryinka and northwest of Avdiivka, the town captured by Russian forces in February.
- Syrskii also said his forces were closely monitoring an increase in the number of Russian troops in the area of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city and just 30km (19 miles) from the Russian border. “In the most threatening directions, our troops have been reinforced by artillery and tank units,” he said.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its troops had captured the village of Novobakhmutivka in the Donetsk region, about 10km (six miles) north of Avdiivka.
- Moscow-appointed officials in Russian-occupied parts of eastern and southern Ukraine said three people were killed in Ukrainian shelling.
- A Russian drone attack hit a hotel in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv, causing a fire, which was quickly extinguished. No casualties were reported.
- Russia said its air defences destroyed 17 Ukrainian drones over its border regions. No damage or casualties were reported.
Politics and diplomacy
- Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin, both Russian journalists, were arrested and held in custody on charges of “extremism” for allegedly working for a group founded by the Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, who died suddenly in an Arctic prison in February. Karelin is a dual Russian-Israeli citizen and had been working with the Associated Press news agency, which said it was “very concerned” at his detention. The two men deny the charges.
Weapons
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a new plea to the international community to deliver more air defences. Speaking in his evening video address, Zelenskyy said he had spoken on the phone with Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the United States House of Representatives, and stressed the need for Patriot anti-missile systems to be sent “as soon as possible”.
- North Korea criticised the US for supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine, according to a report in the state-run KCNA. The US and others have accused Pyongyang, which is under strict United Nations sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme, of supplying arms to Moscow for use in its war in Ukraine.
