Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,150

On Saturday, April 19, 2018, this is how things are going.

Fighting

• The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia launched eight missiles and 87 drones into Ukraine overnight, causing damage in five different regions. 33 Russian drones were shot down by air defense units, and 36 were redirected by electronic warfare. The south, northeast, and east have all been damaged, with five distinct regions.
• One person was killed in Kharkiv by a Russian missile attack, and another was killed in Sumy by a drone attack, along with dozens more injured by at least five children. According to Ihor Terekhov, the attack damaged 15 residential structures, a business, and an educational facility.
• A Russian drone struck Zaporizhzhia at night, killing the city. Ivan Fedorov, the governor of the region, reported the incident on Telegram, claiming that an emergency service was called in and a fire had erupted.
• Russia asserted that it had targeted Ukrainian drone factories and that any increase in German military might result from German long-range missile launches, calling for direct military action.

diplomacy and politics

• Unnamed European officials cited by the US have a suggestion to end the conflict in Ukraine that includes lifting sanctions against Russia, according to Bloomberg. According to the report, the US strategy “would effectively freeze” the conflict because it would leave Ukrainian territory under Russian control.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a briefing to NATO’s Mark Rutte about the plan, but Rubio cautioned that Washington would “move on” if a ceasefire deal didn’t materialize within the next few days.
• In response, President Donald Trump later said that if Moscow or Kyiv continue to prevent the war from ending, the US would “take a pass” on mediating peace.
• In a deal that the UAE has brokenred, Russia and Ukraine will exchange 246 prisoners on Saturday. The 13th exchange, which Abu Dhabi mediated, will add to the growing list since 2022, bringing the total number of captives swapped to 3,233.
• Daria Kozyreva, a 19-year-old activist, was given a two-year and eight-month prison sentence by a Russian court for allegedly “discrediting” the army by quoting Ukrainian poetry from 19th-century and antiwar graffiti. The verdict was viewed as a “chilling” attack on peaceful dissent, and Amnesty International demanded Kozyreva’s immediate release.