- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says conditions in Kharkiv and Donbas are difficult and Ukraine is in “the fight for our lives”.
- An operation to evacuate civilians trapped in Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant has stalled, as the situation inside the plant remains “dire”.
- Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told Chinese state media that in peace talks with Ukraine, Russia has called for sanctions to be lifted.
- The US defence department has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “brutality” and “depravity” in his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Here are the latest updates:
Russia hit Kharkiv region overnight: local authority
Kharkiv’s regional governor, Oleg Synegubov, has given on social media an update on the overnight shelling in the region:
- Russian artillery continued, hitting the eastern residential area of Saltivka.
- One person was injured.
- Ukrainian forces pushed back a Russian attempt to advance near the villages Sulyhivka and Dovhenke.
Russia says strategic stability dialogue with US formally ‘frozen’
Dialogue between Moscow and Washington on strategic stability is formally “frozen”, the TASS news agency cited a Russian foreign ministry official as saying.
Vladimir Yermakov, head of nuclear non-proliferation and controls at the foreign ministry, told TASS those contacts could be resumed once what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine was complete.
Shelling continues in Luhansk region: SES
Russian shelling hit overnight the towns of Orikhovo, Rubizhne and Novodruzhesk in the eastern Luhansk region, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) has said.
“Numerous fires of residential buildings occurred in Rubizhne and Novodruzhsk,” it said on social media, adding that there were “possible victims”.
SES also said that 15 houses in Gorsky and Orikhovo where destroyed.
Nearly 390 Ukrainian targets hit overnight: Russian ministry
Russia’s ministry of defense said it has hit overnight 389 Ukrainian targets, including 35 control points,
169 areas where Ukrainian soldiers and military equipment were concentrated, Interfax news agency reported.
It added that 15 arms and ammunition depots and four military facilities were destroyed.
Poland’s PGNiG says gas flowing after Russia cut off
Poland’s biggest gas company PGNiG said that it had started delivering gas to 10 different towns and regions across Poland that had had their gas cut off earlier in the week.
The move comes a day after PGNiG said its two subsidiaries – Polska Spolka Gazownictwa and PGNiG Obrot Detaliczny – would provide gas to customers in areas affected by a halt in deliveries from Russian company Novatek Green Energy.
Several towns across Poland had their gas supplies cut by the Russian-owned supplier hit by sanctions.
Shelling in Russia’s Bryansk hits parts of oil terminal: regional governor
Two strikes hit the Russian village of Zhecha in Starodubsky district, Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz has said on his telegram channel.
The shelling struck parts of an oil terminal and the surrounding area, he said, adding that there were no victims.
The incident took place at 6.50am local time (3.50am GMT), Bogomaz said, as Russian air defence prevented an Ukrainian aircraft from entering the Bryansk region.
Ukraine says Russia stole ‘several hundred thousand tonnes’ of grain
Russian forces have stolen “several hundred thousand tonnes” of grain in the areas of Ukraine they occupy, Ukraine’s deputy agriculture minister has said.
Speaking to Ukrainian national TV, Taras Vysotskiy expressed concern that most of what he said was 1.5 million tonnes of grain stored in occupied territory could also be stolen by Russian forces.
Russia forced to merge, redeploy depleted units: UK
Britain says Russia has been forced to merge and redeploy depleted and disparate units from failed advances in northeast Ukraine.
“Shortcomings in Russian tactical coordination remain. A lack of unit-level skills and inconsistent air support have left Russia unable to fully leverage its combat mass, despite localised improvements,” the British military said in a post on Twitter.
“Russia hopes to rectify issues that have previously constrained its invasion by geographically concentrating combat power, shortening supply lines and simplifying command and control,” the military said
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 30 April 2022
Find out more about the UK government’s response: https://t.co/TU1DzgHpEu
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/mfMgJGMqAL
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 30, 2022
Kharkiv hit by sustained Russian shelling
Kharkiv’s regional military administration says the city has been hit by multiple Russian attacks.
One person was killed and five were injured “as a result of enemy artillery and mortar strikes”, Kharkiv’s regional military administration said on its Telegram account on Saturday.
The city is the second biggest in Ukraine.
Russia wants sanctions lifted as part of peace talks
A little more detail from Lavrov’s interview with Xinhua.
He told the Chinese state media agency that a Russian demand for the removal of sanctions was part of its peace negotiations with Ukraine. He described the talks, which are taking place on video link, as “difficult”.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has told Polish journalists that the chance of the talks ending was “high” because of Russia’s “playbook on murdering people,” the Interfax news agency said.
Ukraine cracks down on anyone suspected of ‘collaboration’
Ukrainian authorities are cracking down on anyone suspected of aiding Russia and its forces.
Offenders face up to 15 years in prison for acts of collaborating with the invaders or showing public support for them under new laws adopted by Ukraine’s parliament after the Russian invasion.
A “registry of collaborators” is being compiled and will be released to the public, Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s Security Council, was quoted as saying in a report by The Associated Press news agency. He would not say how many people had been targeted nationwide.
Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations has said more than 200 criminal cases on collaboration have been opened, while Zelenskyy has also stripped two security service generals of their rank over alleged collaboration, accusing them of treason.
Lavrov dismisses need for UN help on humanitarian corridors
The Russian foreign minister appears to have dismissed the need for the United Nations to help secure humanitarian corridors out of Ukraine’s besieged cities.
As an interviewer at Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV tried to ask Lavrov about UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s call for humanitarian assistance and the evacuation of civilians, Lavrov cut him off.
“There is no need. I know, I know,” Lavrov said, appearing irritated. “There is no need for anybody to provide help to open humanitarian corridors.”
Successive efforts to help civilians escape the devastated southern port city of Mariupol have failed.
Australian Olympic Committee backs humanitarian visas
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has said it will support Ukrainian athletes seeking to resettle in Australia on humanitarian grounds, according to the Reuters news agency.
Outgoing AOC President John Coates told the committee’s annual general meeting in Sydney on Saturday that it was “sad” young Ukrainian athletes were swapping sports equipment to take up arms against Russia.
“Today I announced that the AOC executive has by circular resolution last week, determined that the AOC will support humanitarian visa applications by Ukrainian athletes and will seek the assistance of you, our member sports, in their settlement requirements,” Coates said.
More than one million people evacuated into Russia since invasion: Lavrov
Lavrov says some 1.02 million people have been evacuated into Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24.
The number includes 120,000 foreigners and people evacuated from the Russian-backed breakaway regions of Ukraine, the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics.
Lavrov made the comments to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.
Russia secures ‘tactical advances’ in Donetsk, Luhansk: IOW
The Institute for the Study of War (IOW) has released its latest update on the situation on the ground.
The key points:
- Russia continued to shell the “entire frontline” in Donetsk and Luhansk and “secured several tactical advances”.
- Russian military probably intends to leave a “minimal force” in Mariupol to block Ukrainian forces in the Azovstal plant.
- Ukraine recaptured Ruska Lozova and continued counterattacks northeast of Kharkiv.
#Kharkiv and #Izyum Update:#Ukrainian forces continued to repel #Russian attacks southwest and south of Izium on April 29. Ukrainian forces continued limited counterattacks directly northeast of Kharkiv city and recaptured Ruska Lozova.https://t.co/Yw5KKwNl6v pic.twitter.com/oinRPINWQ0
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) April…
Read More:Russia-Ukraine live news: Zelenskyy says situation ‘difficult’ | Russia-Ukraine war News
2022-04-30 02:45:52
