At least nine people were killed, including a two-year-old child, and 21 injured on Friday When a Russian missile attack hit residential buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, emergency services in the Donetsk region said. Regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko previously told national television that seven Russian S-300 rockets were fired and “no fewer than seven points were hit” in the town west of Bakhmut. Rescue teams searching for victims sifted through the rubble using cranes, ladders and other heavy equipment during the night.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing authorities to issue electronic alerts to conscripts and reservists during fighting in Ukraine, fueling fears of a new wave of mobilization. The signed law was published in the official register of government documents on Friday. Russia’s military service rules previously required personal delivery of notices to conscripts and reservists called up for duty.
Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition politician, is struggling with severe abdominal pain in prison That could be the result of slow-acting poison, a close ally said Friday. “His situation is critical. We are all very concerned,” Ruslan Shaveddinov said in a phone interview.
Ukraine security service has warned the millions of people across the country who are celebrating Orthodox Easter this weekend, reported Sky News. Ukrainians have been urged to “limit participation in mass gatherings” and avoid lingering “unnecessarily” in temples during the traditional blessing of the Easter basket.
Jack Teixeira was detained pending a hearing scheduled for Wednesday April 19. The member of the US Air Force National Guard is accused of taking and storing classified documents and materials without authorization. The 21-year-old made his first appearance in federal court in Boston on Friday after the FBI arrested him in Massachusetts the previous day.
Ukraine recovered the bodies of 82 of its soldiers from Russian-controlled territory on Friday, a government ministry said. It gave no details on how the bodies were recovered but said it was done “in accordance with the norms of the Geneva Convention”.
The parents of imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich said they remain optimistic about a positive outcome to his imprisonment, who insists her son “still loves Russia”. “It’s one of those American qualities that we’ve inherited, you know, be optimistic, believe in happy endings,” Gershkovich’s mother Ella Milman told the WSJ, speaking Friday for the first time since his arrest on espionage charges. “But I’m not stupid. I get what it’s about, but I choose to believe it.”
China approved providing lethal aid to Russia for its war in Ukraine, but wanted all shipments to remain classified. according to leaked US government documents. According to a Washington Post report, a top-secret intelligence summary dated Feb. 23 said Beijing had authorized the phased delivery of weapons to Moscow that it would disguise as civilian items. China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Friday the country would not sell arms to conflicting parties in Ukraine and would regulate the export of items with dual civilian and military uses.
Ukrainian armed forces are finding a growing number of Chinese-made components in Russian weapons deployed in Ukrainesaid a senior adviser to the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Rishi Sunak condemned a video purported to show the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war and said those responsible should be brought to justice. Britain’s Prime Minister said Zelenskyy in a call on Friday that the footage was “disgusting,” Downing Street said. Sunak “also discussed efforts to accelerate military support to Ukraine.”
The 15 Russian diplomats expelled by Norway This week has been trying to recruit sources, conduct so-called signals intelligence and buy advanced technology, the Norwegian Security Police said on Friday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has written to Russia, Ukraine and Turkey Raising concerns about recent obstacles to the Black Sea Grain Export Agreement. The move comes after the UN said Tuesday no ships were inspected under the deal “as the parties needed more time to reach agreement on operational priorities.”
Ukraine has banned its national sports teams from participating in Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic events These include competitors from Russia and Belarus, the sports ministry said. The decision, published in a decree on Friday and criticized by some Ukrainian athletes, comes after the International Olympic Committee angered Kiev by paving the way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will meet his counterparts in Sweden and Germany next week. including hosting a Ukraine-related defense meeting with top officials from nearly 50 countries, the Pentagon said.