injured and a crater with a diameter of 20 meters / Moscow denies a new mobilization / Kiev asks YouTube to block the activities of the Wagner group

UPDATE 22:00 Explosions in Zaporozhye, air alert in some regions

Two explosions were heard this evening in Zaporozhye, when an air alert was announced in several regions in the southeast of the country, informs Ukrinform. The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andri Iermak, wrote on social networks that the anti-aircraft defense is working.

UPDATE 22:00 Austin: Putin’s war responsible for NATO expansion

“Putin’s chosen war did not occur as a result of NATO expansion. Putin’s war has become the cause of NATO expansion,” said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during his speech at the eleventh meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine at the US base in Ramstein, Germany. Moscow “thought that Ukraine would not dare to react, but Ukraine remained firm with the help of its partners. Putin thought that our unity would collapse, but Russia’s brutal war only brought us together,” he emphasized.

UPDATE 21:00 Ukraine: Spain announces new military aid

The Spanish Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, announced that Spain will send more military equipment to Ukraine to meet the “priority needs” of the Armed Forces in Kiev. Robles attended the Defense Contact Group of Ukraine meeting in Ramstein, Germany. The new transports “are aimed at strengthening the Armed Forces of Ukraine in areas such as mobility, protection of land forces, anti-aircraft protection and defense, maritime and amphibious protection”, considered “fundamental” to guarantee the export of Ukrainian wheat, according to a note issued by the Spanish Defense at the end of the meeting from the American base.

UPDATE 20:30 Ukraine: air alert throughout the country

An air warning has been issued throughout Ukraine. The Kiev press reports this. Iuri Ignat, Ukrainian aviation spokesman, said the alarm was triggered by the takeoff of a MiG-31K fighter jet from Savasleyka Airport in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region. The plane – it is explained – can carry the Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic ballistic missile.

UPDATE 19:40 Estonia: stay united in support of Ukraine

“We must continue to work together to support Ukraine and strengthen sanctions, emphasizing Russia’s responsibilities.” The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Margus Tsahkna, stated today, at the end of the bilateral meeting held today in Stockholm with his Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billström.

UPDATE 19:30 US Secretary of Defense, on the dissemination of secret documents: nothing will affect our unit

“We will not let anything affect our unity,” said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, commenting on the release of classified documents. “The United States continues to work closely and respectfully with our highly valued allies and partners,” the Pentagon chief said again, speaking today in Ramstein, where the 11th meeting of the contact group on Ukraine, stressing that he was impressed by solidarity demonstrations from the allies. Austin then reiterated that the US administration takes “very seriously” the online dissemination of classified documents, for which a 21-year-old airman, Jack Teixeira, who worked in the intelligence unit of a military base in Massachusetts, was arrested.

UPDATE 19:00 Medvedev threatens with the Russian parade in Berlin

“The Germans who want to attack Russia must be prepared for our parade in Berlin,” said former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, commenting on the words of German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who, quoted by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, had declared that Ukrainian attacks on the territory Russian can also be “accepted as a necessity”.

UPDATE 18:40 Kyiv asks YouTube to block the activities of the Wagner group

The Minister of Culture and Information Policy, Oleksandr Tkachenko, asked YouTube to block the activities of the Wagner mercenary group on the video platform. “Russian propaganda is changing and evolving” and “the popularization of Russian military formations takes place through video hosting, especially for ‘Wagners.’ IT giants such as TikTok or YouTube, despite the fact that they have a rather strict editorial policy, serve as effective advertising platforms for the Russians to increase, “rejuvenate” the audience and recruit new mercenaries for the war in Ukraine,” the minister wrote in – a message on Telegram.

UPDATE 16:20 Borrell: 16,000 trained, weapons worth 600 million euros

“At the Defense Contact Group of Ukraine, I informed about the EU’s military support. Over 16,000 Ukrainian soldiers already trained; over 600 million euros of ammunition and missiles already delivered; we are working on joint acquisitions. The EU continues to work with partners to ensure Ukraine’s victory.” The High Representative of the EU for foreign policy, Josep Borrell, writes in a tweet.

UPDATE 16:10 The Kremlin denies the new mobilization campaign

The Kremlin again denied any plans to launch a second mobilization campaign to send troops to Ukraine. Some Russian media sources have reported on the military call-up received by some students in recent days, but presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov ruled it out: “There are no discussions in the Kremlin about any mobilization wave,” he said. .

UPDATE 15:30 Russian bomb on Belgorod, the number of injured has increased to three

The death toll from the bomb accidentally dropped yesterday evening in the Russian city of Belgorod by a Su-34 fighter-bomber from Moscow has risen to three. This was reported on Telegram by the governor of the region on the border with Ukraine, Vyacheslav Gladkov, quoted by Tass, who initially spoke of two wounded. The bomb caused damage and a 20-meter-wide crater, Gladkov himself said.

UPDATE 15:20 New leaks: China is building cyber weapons to monitor enemy satellites

China is building sophisticated cyber weapons to “hijack” enemy satellites, rendering them useless for wartime data signals or surveillance, according to a US intelligence report seen by the Financial Times. The United States sees China’s efforts to develop capabilities to “deny, exploit or hijack” enemy satellites as a key part of its goal to control information, which Beijing sees as a key “domain of war”.

UPDATE 14:00 Kremlin: NATO policy justifies the intervention in Ukraine

NATO “continues its policy of bringing Ukraine into the alliance” and this “proves the correctness” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to “launch a special military operation” in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this after Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told President Zelensky that “Ukraine’s place is in the Euro-Atlantic family” yesterday, during a visit to Kiev. The Russian military operation, Peskov added, quoted by Tass, “is based on Russia’s interests and the need to guarantee its security.”

UPDATE 13:00 – Patriarch Kirill of Moscow said today that Russian troops in Ukraine are fighting “for the future of our country” and urged Russians to put aside internal divisions.

UPDATE 12:00 – Romania will not unilaterally ban the import of Ukrainian grains and will wait for the European Commission to implement measures to help farmers in Central and Eastern Europe, the Minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea, said on Friday.

UPDATE 11:00 – NATO’s Stoltenberg reaffirms that Ukraine should join the alliance

The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, reaffirmed on Friday NATO’s commitment that Ukraine eventually joins the military alliance.

UPDATE 10:25 – Russia attacks critical infrastructure in Vinnytsia region with Iranian drones overnight

Russia attacked an infrastructure installation in the Vinnytsia region with drones overnight on April 21, spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Command, Natalia Humeniuk, reported on national television.

UPDATE 9:15 – General Staff: Russia has lost 185,050 soldiers in Ukraine since February 24, 2022

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on April 21 that Russia has lost 185,050 troops in Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion on February 24 last year.

UPDATE 7:31 – Russia attacks Kiev, Poltava region with drones overnight

Russia launched a drone strike against Kiev and the central Ukrainian region of Poltava, where civilian infrastructure was damaged, overnight on April 21, the government announced.

UPDATE 04:00 Leaked documents show that Ukraine planned attacks on Russian forces in Syria

Ukraine’s military intelligence services have made plans to conduct covert attacks against Russian forces operating in Syria with the help of the Kurds, leaked US intelligence documents show, according to a Washington Post report.

UPDATE 03:00 Lithuanian parliamentarians impose milder restrictions on Belarusian citizens

The Lithuanian parliament decided to approve the request of the president Gitanas Nauseda to introduce the same restrictions for Russian and Belarusian citizens.

UPDATE 02:40 Biden, summoned to withdraw support for Ukraine

A minority group of 19 Republican lawmakers has called on the Biden administration to stop sending “runaway” aid and weapons to Ukraine amid the ongoing war.