Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 04-23-2024

The agency said the hacker group is affiliated with Russian intelligence. If successful, the attempted hack would severely disrupt Ukraine’s power, water, and heating supply.

Sandworm, a hacker group affiliated with Russia’s Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (GRU), has attempted to target a dozen critical infrastructure enterprises across Ukraine to disrupt the energy, water and heating supply.

According to the Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA), the hacks were ultimately aimed at disabling the information and communication systems (ICS) of a dozen enterprises in 10 Ukrainian regions by first targeting companies within the supply chains and obtaining primary access to the system.

Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solskyi has become one of the few top-level officials in the history of Ukraine to face corruption charges during his tenure.

The announcement of charges against Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Mykola Solskyi, by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) for illegal land acquisition came as a surprise to many, including the presidential party’s press service, journalists, and deputies.

“Really? Right now? This is quite an unpleasant story,” one lawmaker remarked in comments to Kyiv Post.

The equipment allows for secure and reliable communication for mobile phones used by Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

A French company based in Chateauroux is continuing to supply avionics and other on-board electronics for Russian aircraft used by senior military and political figures, according to an investigation by the French newspaper Le Parisien.

The company, PGA, a subsidiary of the American group Astronics, is providing advanced systems that control various aspects of flight, from cabin lighting to communication and data transmission systems, for aircraft used by top Russian officials.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will soon release detailed explanations regarding the new procedures for obtaining consular services for men of mobilization age.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced Tuesday, April 23 that there will be limits on consular services for Ukrainian men of conscription age – those between ages 18-60 – who are living abroad.

Living abroad does not relieve a Ukrainian citizen from duties to his or her homeland, Kuleba said.

A few Russian milbloggers said the Ukrainian line was smashed and Kremlin troops are advancing unopposed. That turns out to be fake news. On Tuesday neither side owned the village.

Russian infantry punched at least two kilometers into weakening Ukrainian lines with a surprise attack and were threatening a breakthrough in the battleground Avdiivka sector, news and battle reports said on Tuesday.

Russian milbloggers said assault groups from the 74th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade broke into Ukrainian fortified positions in and around the village Ocheretyne, to the northwest of the battleground city of Avdiivka, capturing most of the village and putting defenders to flight.

The good news from the US should be the stimulus for energizing joint efforts within the democratic world to stand up to Russia and the dangerous tyranny and chauvinism it represents.

So, after weeks and months of delay and dismay because of the infighting and paralysis in the US Congress at a critical geopolitical juncture, the House of Representatives has finally approved crucial bills ensuring the continuation of strong support for the US’s close friends and allies: Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The Senate is expected to endorse them on Tuesday.

We can afford ourselves a huge sigh of relief but have to face up to the fact that damage has been done and things are unlikely to be as they were before.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

Dozens of protesters have been arrested at Yale University as demonstrations against the war in Gaza rock US campuses. Protesters occupying a square ignored multiple requests to leave, the Ivy League institution told the BBC. Meanwhile, Columbia University students were told to attend classes virtually on Monday after over 100 arrests were made during protests there last week. The White House has condemned alleged incidents of antisemitism at Columbia - BBC

US House Democrats have introduced a new bill that would strip Donald Trump of Secret Service protection if he were convicted of a felony. The former president is facing an enormous slew of civil and criminal charges

RFE/RL journalists had approached him in July 2022 and asked him in a “vox pop” interview if he thought a detente between Russia and NATO countries was needed.

A Russian man was sentenced to five years’ forced labour on Monday (22 April) for spreading “deliberately false information” about the army in a street interview with US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in which he talked about the war in Ukraine.

The sentence against Yuri Kokhovets, 39, was announced by the Moscow city courts service. RFE/RL journalists had approached him in July 2022 and asked him in a “vox pop” interview if he thought a detente between Russia and NATO countries was needed.

Ukrainian Special Operations Forces, with the assistance of FPV drones, also managed to destroy the Russian 2S6 “Tunguska” anti-aircraft missile gun complex.

The Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SSO) reported on Telegram the destruction of several pieces of Russian heavy equipment during the week, including a T-72 tank, along with the elimination of 11 Russian soldiers.

“Heavy equipment and 11 enemy soldiers were destroyed in the Donetsk region,” read the caption to the video released by the SSO.

US DoD officials are preparing to send Bradley armored vehicles, unnamed air defenses, and artillery in a new aid package larger than its recent $300 million emergency tranche, plus possible advisors.

Following House passage of its $61 billion aid package, likely to be approved by the Senate this week and quickly signed by President Joe Biden, the US Department of Defense (DoD) is already preparing its next batch of weapons to be sent to Ukraine as soon as possible, along with possible military advisors in non-combat roles.

Anticipating the approval and signature, the Pentagon is preparing a “larger-than-normal package” for Kyiv that will include “urgently needed artillery and air defenses” along with Bradley Fighting Vehicles and other equipment, according to a report Tuesday by Politico, citing two DoD officials.

Of the injured, four are children, two under one-year-old, while the other two are aged nine and twelve.

Russian forces launched a drone attack on Odesa overnight April 22-23, injuring nine people, including four children, the head of the regional military administration Oleh Kiper stated.

Of the injured, four are children, two under one-year-old, while the other two are aged nine and twelve. They are currently in hospital in a moderate condition.

The suspect was reportedly relaying the coordinates of the Kraken special forces base in Kharkiv, on which Russians planned to use ballistic missiles and half-ton glide bombs.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained a suspected traitor in Kharkiv who intended to relay coordinates to Russians for launching aerial bombs on a base of the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), the SBU’s Telegram channel reported today.

The official said Sweden is now closely monitoring the ships Russia has used to bypass oil sanctions after spotting “antennas and masts” atypical of fishing vessels.

Sweden said Russia might have been using its “shadow fleets” – uninsured vessels Moscow has been using to export its oil and circumvent Western sanctions – to intercept communications in addition to transporting oil.

Chief of Swedish Navy Ewa Skoog Haslum said Moscow’s hybrid operation is multifaceted, and the communications equipment spotted on some of the “shadow fleet” vessels could indicate their potential espionage usage, as reported by Swedish news outlet SVT on Monday, April 22. 

Russia has stepped up devastating bombardments on Ukrainian power plants in recent weeks, at a perilous moment for Kyiv as it struggles with manpower and ammunition shortages.

The clocks had stopped at the exact moment Russian missiles recently ripped into the Ukrainian power plant, where workers were clearing scorched debris under a gaping hole in the roof.

Oleksandr, the 51-year-old production manager at the facility, said it had already been damaged by Russian attacks but noted a worrying difference in damage after the last barrage.

Washington is poised to confiscate frozen Russian assets in the US. This is the right action to take, and now the EU, which holds the lion’s share of Moscow’s frozen assets, must follow suit.

On Saturday April 20, the US House of Representatives passed a bill on Repurposing of Russian Sovereign Assets with the overwhelming majority of 360 against 58. It states that the President shall transfer Russian state assets in the United States to a Ukraine Support Fund. The European Union should follow this example.

This well-written bill notes that the leaders of the G7 have called Russia’s “unprovoked and completely unjustified attack on the democratic state of Ukraine” a “serious violation of international law and a grave breach of the United Nations Charter and all commitments Russia entered in the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris and its commitments in the Budapest Memorandum.”

NBU does not prevent hryvnia weakening.

Bonds: Investors expect further decline in bond yields

After a long pause, investors' interest shifted to longer bonds last week. This may indicate that investors expect a further reduction in NBU interest rates, so bond yields in the primary market are strengthening.

A delegation comprising leaders from the Ukrainian tech sector visited Washington DC to explore opportunities in developing the Ukrainian tech sector.

A Ukrainian delegation comprising leaders of the local IT sector visited Washington, DC, on April 16-18 to establish working relations with state institutions, familiarize themselves with the principles of their interaction and explore cooperation with big business in the US.

During a meeting with representatives of the US business community organized by the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) on April 17, the parties discussed the launch of a platform to foster interaction between Ukrainian IT companies and the private and public sectors thanks to new agreements for service companies and market promotion for product companies, access to capital.

Mykola Solskyi has been handed a notice of suspicion of illegal land acquisition. Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies accuse Solskyi of unlawfully seizing millions of dollars worth of land.

Officers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) have presented the current Minister of Agrarian Policy, Mykola Solskyi with a notice of suspicion.

Solskyi is suspected of illegally seizing 2.5 thousand hectares of land in the Sumy region, according to a message posted by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) on Telegram.

Ukraine has asked for seven additional US-made Patriot air defense systems capable of shooting down Russia's hypersonic missiles – but is keen to get any help it can.

The European Union on Monday frustrated Ukraine's urgent plea for more air defense capabilities by failing to come up with concrete commitments at a meeting of foreign and defense ministers.

"We can prevent the worst-case scenarios if we act together and without fear. We need concrete and bold decisions today," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told his EU counterparts via videolink.

Kyiv has already signed several 10-year security agreements with NATO countries that outline long-term Western support for Ukraine in the face of a Russian invasion now in its third year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday, April 22, that Kyiv and Washington had initiated discussions on a bilateral security cooperation agreement.

He also confirmed that plans to send more long-range missiles to Ukraine's armed forces have been finalized.

President Biden assured Zelensky in a Monday phone call that the assistance would arrive "quickly" to aid Ukraine in its ongoing battle against Russia's invasion.

The US Senate is poised to vote on Tuesday, April 23, on a significant aid package for Ukraine. Following months of debate, the House of Representatives approved the assistance with broad bipartisan support, making the passage in the Senate almost certain.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Saturday, "the finish line is now in sight" for the assistance package. He confirmed that an agreement had been "locked in" for a vote on Tuesday.

While in Poland's capital, the British PM will announce £500 million ($617 million) in additional military funding for Kyiv in its more-than two-year battle against Russia's full-scale invasion.

UK leader Rishi Sunak travels to Warsaw on Tuesday for talks with Polish premier Donald Tusk and Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg that will focus on Ukraine and wider European security.

While in Poland's capital, the British prime minister will announce £500 million ($617 million) in additional military funding for Kyiv in its more-than two-year battle against Russia's full-scale invasion, his Downing Street office said in a statement.

According to the partisans, the Russians have placed paramilitary guards at oil depots and installed closed-circuit television cameras.

The Atesh partisan movement reported on Telegram that its agents have been conducting massive reconnaissance operations to locate oil depots in Sevastopol and Kerch, situated in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The partisans released photos and videos of Russian oil depots.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• The Kremlin is conducting a concerted air and information operation to destroy Kharkiv City, convince Ukrainians to flee, and internally displace millions of Ukrainians ahead of a possible future Russian offensive operation against the city or elsewhere in Ukraine.
• Kremlin mouthpieces are seizing on concerns about a future Russian offensive operation against Kharkiv City to conduct a likely coordinated information operation in an effort to create outsized panic among Ukrainians. ISW assesses that the likelihood of a successful Russian ground offensive against Kharkiv is very low if Ukraine receives renewed US military aid rapidly.
• Russia is intensifying strike and information operations against Ukrainians in Kharkiv City to exploit ongoing constraints on Ukrainian air defenses and heightened tensions in Ukraine in the likely relatively brief window before the anticipated arrival of US military assistance to frontline areas.
• Russian forces appear to be aiming to make a wide penetration of Ukrainian lines northwest of Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, but their ability to do so will likely be blunted by the arrival of US and other Western aid to the frontline.
• The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on April 22 that Finland is taking concrete steps to protect itself against Russian hybrid operations weaponizing Russian-manufactured migrant crises on the Russian-Finnish border.
•  The Kremlin appears to be highlighting its relationship with Azerbaijan while downplaying deteriorating Russian-Armenia relations following Russia’s failure to prevent Armenia’s loss of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Chasiv Yar, Avdiivka, and Donetsk City and in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area.
• The Russian state “Sudoplatov” volunteer drone initiative is reportedly equipping Russian military personnel operating in the Bakhmut direction with cheap and defective first-person view (FPV) drones.