Ukrainian air defense systems shot down fifteen out of sixteen drones launched at several regions of Ukraine during today’s attack, which wounded nine people in the port city of Odesa, officials said (RFE/RL)
Senate to Consider Aid for Ukraine After House Approval
The U.S. Senate is due to consider separate packages of support for Israel, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific after they passed the House of Representatives this weekend with bipartisan support; together, the four bills total some $95 billion in aid (NYT)
The largest bill allots about $61 billion in support for Ukraine (PBS)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked lawmakers “for the decision that keeps history on the right track;” Ukraine could receive new military equipment within days from Western storage facilities in Europe upon receiving the funding (AP)
Ukraine Says It Shot Down Russian Bomber While Moscow Blames Malfunction
The plane was flying over the southern Russian region of Stavropol, hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border, when it went down today, Russia’s defense ministry said; Ukrainian forces said they used anti-aircraft missiles to target the plane (AP)
Russian Missile Attack Kills Thirteen in Northern Ukrainian City of Chernihiv
More than sixty people were injured in addition to the thirteen killed during today’s attack, Ukrainian officials said; the missiles struck apartment buildings and dozens of cars in the city’s center (Bloomberg)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy said the deaths would not have occurred had Ukraine received more air defense equipment (Politico)
Zelenskyy Signs Bill on Mobilization
The bill, which lowers the conscription age to twenty-five, passed the parliament’s second reading on April 11 and was signed on April 15 by the speaker of the parliament before being submitted to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for final approval (Kyiv Independent)
Russian Strike Kills Four, Injures More in Eastern Ukraine
The city of Siversk, along with other settlements in eastern Donetsk, undergo daily Russian attacks due to their proximity to the front lines (Kyiv Independent)
U.S. House Speaker Announces Plan for Separate Votes on Ukraine, Israel Aid
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) plans to advance four separate bills for defense aid to Israel, Ukraine, and other U.S. allies this week; if the plan is successful, it could end months of congressional deadlock over military support (NYT)
Ukraine will “have no chance of winning” without U.S. support, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy said in an interview with PBS; if the United States does not renew its aid package, Zelenskyy said, Russian forces “will be pushing us back every day” (PBS)
Ukraine Passes Conscription Law With New Incentives and Penalties
The law, approved today, offers better compensation for soldiers going to fight and tougher penalties for those who evade military service; a proposal for a cap on the total period of mandatory military service at thirty-six months was discarded from the bill (NYT)
Separately, Washington proposed a plan that would use profits from frozen Russian assets to generate funding for Ukraine; the idea is due to be evaluated on the sidelines of next week’s World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington (FT).
Russia Destroys Power Plant Near Kyiv
Russia targeted infrastructure sites across Ukraine overnight and destroyed an electricity plant near Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said; Ukrainian air defenses took down eighteen incoming missiles and thirty-nine drones out of a total of eighty-two missiles and drones used, the military said (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for more support for Ukraine’s air defenses (VoA)
Ukraine Parliament Approves First Reading of Bill to Let Convicts Serve in the Army
The bill will allow those convicted of minor offenses but excludes people with substantial charges, such as crimes against national security or murder, to perform military service (Kyiv Independent)
New Documents Expose Kremlin’s Propaganda to Undermine Support for Ukraine in the United States
The ongoing Kremlin campaign through which internet “trolls” fabricate pro-Russian news, articles, and social media comments, attempts to boost the views of far-right Republicans during political debates in Congress and decrease military and financial support for Ukraine (WaPo)
Drone Strikes Hit Zaporizhzhia Power Station
UN nuclear watchdog leader Rafael Mariano Grossi said such strikes “cannot happen,” as they heighten the risk of a major nuclear accident at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant; Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for the strikes (WaPo)
Russia Warns France Against Sending Troops to Ukraine
The admonition came when Russia’s and France’s defense ministers spoke on the phone yesterday for the first time since October 2022; Russia’s defense minister also said Moscow is ready to participate in talks to end the war (AP)
NATO Foreign Ministers Weigh Plan for Long-Term Military Fund for Ukraine
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers are in Brussels today discussing plans for a potential multiyear fund designed to make Western military support to Ukraine more reliable and predictable, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said (Reuters)
Diplomats briefed on the plans cited the possibility of a five-year fund worth some $100 billion, though the source of that financing was not immediately clear (FT)
Stoltenberg told the press today that U.S. delays in approving military aid to Kyiv had led to battlefield struggles, and said support “should be less dependent on short-term, voluntary offers” (NATO)
In effect, the proposal being weighed today could transfer some responsibility for channeling military aid from a group led by U.S. European Command to NATO; Stoltenberg also told reporters that the matter of Ukraine’s potential NATO membership is a question of “when, not if” (AP)
Ukraine Lowers Military Conscription Age to Twenty-Five
The drop from the previous age of twenty-seven is part of Ukraine’s efforts to increase the number of troops able to fight in the war against Russia; Ukraine’s parliament passed the law last year, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy only signed it into law today (AP)
France to Provide Armored Vehicles to Ukraine by Next Year
According to the French Defense Minister, France will also send more anti-aircraft missiles and seventy-eight howitzers as the country ramps up its military production to meet Kyiv’s needs on the frontlines (AP)
Ukraine Foreign Minister Urges India to Rethink Russia Ties
Dmytro Kuleba urged India to stand by Ukraine on a two-day visit to New Delhi, saying that the “Soviet legacy” is the basis for India-Russia ties, but it is “evaporating” (FT)
Ahead of the visit that began yesterday, a spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry said India hopes for a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine and is open to engaging in any means that could help achieve it (PTI)
Ukraine Fortifies Defensive Lines as Part of Strategy Shift
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited northern Ukraine to inspect progress on a new effort to fortify the country’s defensive lines spanning around 1,243 miles (2,000 kilometers) (Al Jazeera)
The fortifications are expected to be completed by the end of spring and are part of a shift from an offensive to an “active defense” strategy amid the impasse in the United States over new weapons support; those fortifications include digging deeper trenches and installing more anti-tank bulwarks (FT)
As Ukraine focuses on defense, Russia launched what appeared to be a guided bomb on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, reportedly killing at least one person and wounding nineteen others (Reuters)
Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that while Russia is not planning to attack North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries, it would shoot down Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets being used in Ukraine (Reuters)
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Replaces Two Top Security Officials
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaced the head of Kyiv’s national security and defense council as well as the head of foreign intelligence, saying the changes would improve Ukraine’s strategic capabilities and war effort; the shuffle comes more than a month after Zelenskyy dismissed the commander-in-chief of the armed forces (FT)
Russia Attacks Ukraine Energy Infrastructure, Triggering Blackouts
Russian air strikes hit Ukrainian energy facilities overnight, leaving more than one million people without power, Kyiv said (Reuters)
Ukrainian officials reported that dozens of drones and missiles put the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on the verge of a blackout and sustained significant damage to the Dnipro hydropower station, Ukraine’s largest dam; the attacks follow a series of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refining facilities in recent weeks (Politico)
U.S. officials have repeatedly warned Ukrainian officials to halt the attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure over concerns they will provoke Russia to retaliate and drive up oil prices, the Financial Times reported (FT)
Kyiv’s anti-missile defense systems shot down some of Moscow’s strikes overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, but he pointed to the need for an increase in military aid from allies; at least five people were reported killed in Russia’s attack, which Ukraine’s grid operator called the “largest combined attack” on Ukraine’s energy system since the start of the war (CBS)
EU Leaders Discuss Using Profits From Frozen Russian Assets to Fund Ukraine
European Union (EU) member states are discussing the proposal at a summit today, where they are also debating how Europe can boost its defense industry (RFI, Reuters)
The meeting comes after Moscow launched ballistic missiles into Kyiv today in its biggest attack in weeks, and as U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan completed an unannounced trip to Kyiv to reaffirm U.S. support (NYT)
FT: EU Leaders Plan to Impose Tariffs on Russian, Belarusian Grain
The European Commission is due to announce the tariffs in the coming days after months of demands from Poland and the Baltic states to impose restrictions; farmers in Poland said cheap imports from Russia and Ukraine were affecting domestic prices, but until now, the European Union (EU) has been wary of steps it said would disrupt global food markets (FT)
Russian Exile Groups Stage Five Consecutive Days of Ground Attacks on Russia’s Souther Border
The groups are backed by Ukraine’s military intelligence agency; the attacks are the most sweeping such ground incursions since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, the New York Times reported (NYT)
White House Announces $300 Million in New Military Aid to Ukraine
The United States will send a weapons package including anti-aircraft missiles, ammunition, artillery rounds, and anti-armor systems to Ukraine, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said yesterday (ABC News)
While U.S. lawmakers have stalled on approving a larger aid package worth some $60 billion for Kyiv, this package comes from “unanticipated cost savings” from previously approved defense contracts; it is designed as a stopgap measure “to help Ukraine hold the line against Russia’s brutal attacks for the next couple of weeks,” U.S. President Joe Biden said (WaPo)
The new aid comes as Ukraine has launched attacks inside Russian territory in recent days (AP)
Ukrainian drones hit oil refineries inside Russia for a second day today; around sixty drones were destroyed over Russian territory today, Russian media reported (Reuters)
Ukrainian Drones Hit Targets Deep Inside Russia
Russian officials said the strikes hit at least two oil refineries; one of the Ukrainian strikes was on a refinery some 480 miles from the Ukrainian border (AP)