Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,154

On Wednesday, April 23, 2018, this is the situation:

Fighting

In response to a large explosion at a storage facility for ammunition, a state of emergency was declared in the east of Moscow of Russia, according to the TASS state news agency, citing emergency services.
Emergency personnel were present at the scene, according to Vladimir’s regional governor, Alexander Avdeev, who claimed the explosion took place when ammunition caught fire in a storage area at a military base in the Kirzhach district.
Two aerial glide bombs were used by Russia to bomb Zaporizhzhia, a city in southern Russia. According to regional governor Ivan Fedorov, the attack left a 69-year-old woman dead and 24 people injured, including four children.
38 of the 77 attack drones launched by Russia early on Tuesday morning, according to Ukraine’s air force, with 31 of the drones failing to reach their targets, most likely as a result of electronic warfare, falling.

Early on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials reported that overnight Russian drone attacks on east, south, and central Ukraine had caused damage to civilian buildings and businesses in the Poltava region and the Odesa region.
At least three people were hurt overnight in Odesa by Russian drones, according to Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional administration, on his Telegram page. He claimed that a residential building in an overwhelmingly populated Odesa urban area, civilian infrastructure, and an educational facility were all destroyed.
Regional governors posted messages on Telegram channels reversing Russian airstrikes against the Kyiv region and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
According to a security source, Russian forces have taken control of the monastery St. Nicholas Belogorsky in Gornal, where Ukrainian troops had been stationed, according to a Russian news agency, TASS news agency. After ten days of bloody hostilities, Russian troops retaken the monastery, which Ukraine had deployed troops, artillery, and drone launchers, according to a Russian military Telegram channel.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, claimed that Russians were employing Chinese drones at a Russian production site and that Moscow may have “stolen” Chinese drone technology. The Ukrainian leader has already alleged that Beijing is providing Russians with weapons and gunpowder and that Beijing must stop engaging Russian forces in combat in Ukraine.
The ambassador of China was called by Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry and expressed “serious concern” over China’s involvement in the conflict on Russia’s side.

At a press conference in Kyiv, President Zelenskyy stated that he was willing to accept even a partial ceasefire with Russia. “We are ready for reciprocal measures, and Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire,” he said.
There is nothing to discuss, Zelenskyy added, adding that Ukraine would not grant recognition to any territories that had been temporarily occupied. Our constitution does not allow this.
According to the Financial Times (FT), Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly offered to stop Russia’s current front-line invasion of Ukraine.
Putin, according to the FT, made the suggestion earlier this month at a meeting with Steve Witkoff, the US ambassador. Putin indicated that he would accept to renounce Moscow’s claims to parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia, and that the US would accept that claim as Russian and prevent Ukraine from joining NATO in exchange.

In light of reports in the media that President Trump has suggested accepting that the Russian-annexed territory in Ukraine’s Crimea be recognized as Russia, US envoy Witkoff will visit Moscow once more this week.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce confirmed that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would not speak at talks with NATO to end the conflict in Ukraine later today. He had previously stated that he planned to travel to London.
Following Trump’s efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the war, Europe has grown more worried about the overtures of the US president Donald Trump toward Moscow.
Officials from Ukraine, the US, the UK, the United Kingdom, and Europe will take the helm of the peace talks in London, according to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

According to Axios, the US anticipates a resolution to the conflict’s unofficial conclusion on Wednesday that includes the acknowledgment of Russian control of nearly all of Ukraine’s occupied areas. Axios claims that the US would lift sanctions against Russia since 2014 under the proposed proposal, which was presented last week, and that Ukraine would receive a small portion of Kharkiv from Russia.
According to Axios, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is operated by the US and is owned by Ukraine, would be considered to be Ukrainian territory, and would also supply both Russia and Ukraine with electricity.

Zelenskyy, the president, stated that Ukraine and the US were not discussing any new aid options.

According to reports, the European Commission is considering whether to pass a law to forbid Russian companies from entering new agreements for fossil fuels and is developing legal remedies to stop Russian companies from violating existing gas supply agreements with Russia.

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced that Denmark would invest about 4 billion crowns ($614 million) in the construction of 26 navy vessels for oil spill response, undersea cables surveillance, and patrolling. Following the severed of numerous underwater cables and the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the Baltic Sea’s neighbors are on high alert for the investment.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, claimed that Moscow was trying to win over Ukraine with its Easter truce and that the US has not exhausted its “tools.”
According to presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn, the president will visit the late Pope Francis’ funeral service, according to Ukrainian news agency RBK-Ukraine. According to Lytvyn, Selenskyy and his wife Olena will travel to Rome together.
Putin, who is wanted for his invasion of Ukraine in the International Criminal Court, won’t be present at the funeral, according to the Kremlin.

Source: Aljazeera