Russian forces attacked a museum in the center of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk on Tuesday, killing one person, injuring 10 others and burying others under rubble, reports said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“So far we know of one museum worker dead and 10 injured. There are more people under the rubble. Recovery from the bombing continues. All necessary agencies are involved,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram online messenger.
Kharkiv’s regional governor said the damage was caused as part of a barrage of S-300 missiles used to attack the city near the front lines.
Zelenskyy released a video from the scene showing a ruined building and emergency workers surveying the scene.
“The terrorist country is doing everything to completely destroy us,” Zelenskyy said. “Our history, our culture, our people.”
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said three people were hospitalized, seven suffered only minor injuries and two others were missing and believed to be trapped under the rubble.
Kupiansk, in northeastern Ukraine, not far south of the Russian border, was captured by Russian forces at the start of the invasion, but was retaken by Ukrainian troops as part of their surprise counteroffensive in September . Fighting continues near the city, which lies just west of Ukrainian territory still under Russian control.
Ukraine asked vulnerable residents to leave the city as a precaution in March, anticipating a possible new Russian attack.
Here are some of the other headlines about Russia’s war in Ukraine on Tuesday, April 25:
Putin signs decree to take over Russian assets of two foreign companies
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree establishing temporary control of Russian assets of two foreign energy companies, making it clear that Moscow could take similar measures against other companies if necessary.
The decree, which outlines possible retaliation if Russian assets abroad are seized, made clear that Moscow had already taken action against the Russian division of Uniper SE and the assets of Finland’s Fortum Oyj.
The decree said Russia needed to take urgent steps to respond to unspecified actions by the United States and others that it said were “unfriendly and contrary to international law.”
The shares of the two entities have been placed under the temporary control of Rosimushchestvo, the federal government’s property agency, according to the decree.
NASA sees Russians and Americans together on the space station until 2030
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but said in Ottawa that he expected Russians and Americans to work together on the International Space Station (ISS) until that it stops working.
Nelson, who was in Ottawa to help showcase the Artemis II space mission, including a Canadian astronaut, underscored the history of U.S.-Soviet collaboration in space during the Cold War and said he hopes that it continues amid the war in Ukraine.
“We completely disagree with the aggression of President Putin” who is “killing people and invading an autonomous sovereign country,” Nelson told Reuters in an interview in Ottawa.
But the collaboration aboard the ISS “continues in a very professional way between astronauts and cosmonauts without any problems. And I hope it will continue until the end of the decade, when we will then deorbit the space station.”
NASA has estimated that it will begin deorbiting the ISS in January 2031. Launched in 1998, the ISS has been manned continuously since November 2000 under a partnership led by the US and Russia that also includes Canada, Japan and 11 European countries .
Ukraine calls for new sanctions and better controls against Russia
Ukraine calls for tougher new sanctions against Russia’s energy and precious metals sector.
In a document called Action Plan 2.0, Ukraine said the maximum price for buying oil from the Russian Urals brand should be reduced from €56 ($60) to about €41 a barrel.
The Ukrainian government also wants Western countries to impose import taxes on Russian oil and natural gas. The proceeds would then be used to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war.
The demands also include an embargo on the import of Russian metals and diamonds and stronger controls on gold imports through other countries.
Denmark and Ukraine expand energy cooperation
Denmark has signed a 5-year deal with Ukraine to help the war-torn country rebuild destroyed wind capacity and strengthen its energy independence from Russia, the Danish Climate Ministry said.
“The new 5-year partnership will help Ukraine to further expand its electricity supply with wind energy,” he said in a statement.
“The Danish authorities will, among other things, help the Ukrainian authorities to develop a regulatory framework that can promote onshore and offshore wind,” he said.
In the short term, the agreement aims to help restore existing capacity destroyed during the war and further expand onshore wind. In the long term, the collaboration will investigate the potential of offshore wind energy, the ministry said.
Lula condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pushed for peace talks as he tries to make amends with Western countries for earlier comments he made.
Lula angered many in Ukraine and the West by suggesting that both Ukraine and Russia were to blame for the conflict that began when Moscow invaded its neighbor in February 2022. He also said the United States and European allies should stop supply arms to Ukraine because they were. prolong the war
“Brazil understands the apprehension caused by the return of war to Europe and we condemn the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” Lula said in a speech before the Portuguese parliament.
He added that it was time for countries to “talk about peace”, and called for dialogue and diplomacy, as “war cannot go on indefinitely”.
Ukraine plans ‘complete transformation’ of six war-torn cities
Ukraine will seek the “complete transformation” of six cities that have been badly damaged by Russia’s large-scale invasion under a reconstruction program announced by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
Shmyhal said the towns of Borodianka and Moshchun near the capital Kiev, Yahidine in the north, Trostianets and Tsyrkuny in the east, and Posad-Pokrovske in the south would be rebuilt “comprehensively and according to new principles” under an experimental program.
Shmyhal said the project was part of a broader plan to speed up reconstruction even though the war is not over. “It is important for us that Ukrainians see this year that reconstruction is a reality,” he added.
Sweden asks Russian diplomats to leave on suspicion of espionage
Sweden says it is expelling five Russian embassy employees in Stockholm, saying they are suspected of espionage.
Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said the diplomats’ activities were “incompatible” with their diplomatic status. He said Russia’s ambassador to Sweden, Viktor Tatarintsev, had been informed of the decision.
The Russian embassy has so far declined to comment on the move.
A year ago, Sweden expelled three Russian embassy staff in a move similar to several other countries.
Sweden’s national security agency SAPO has said that “every third The Russian diplomat in Sweden is an intelligence officer.”
Ukraine says it is often attacking the Dnieper River in Kherson
In another battleground town far south of Kupiansk, Ukrainian officials say they often storm the eastern bank of the Dnieper River near Kherson, trying to dislodge Russian troops and hamper their readiness for combat ahead of a counteroffensive so proclaimed.
Yuriy Sobolevskiy, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration, told Ukrainian television that the army was trying to establish a base similar to when it liberated the western bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson area in November.
“Our military is visiting the left [eastern] bank very often, making raids. The Ukrainian armed forces are working, and working very effectively,” Sobolevskiy said. “The results will come as they did on the right bank of the Kherson region when, thanks to a complex and long operation, they were able to free our territories with minimal losses for our military”.
Russia seized Kherson shortly after its invasion, but lost control of it late last year.
The US research group the Institute for the Study of War, which regularly tries to chart the front lines of the conflict, also reported last week that it had seen sufficient evidence to suggest that Ukrainian forces had established a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnieper in the region.
Russia deploys new T-14 Armata tanks to Ukraine: RIA
Russia has started using its new T-14 Armata main battle tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions “but they have not yet engaged in direct assault operations,” state news agency RIA reported on Tuesday, citing a close source to the matter
RIA said the tanks had been fitted with additional flank protection and the crews had undergone “combat coordination” at training camps in Ukraine.
The T-14’s turret is unmanned, with the crew able to control the armament remotely from within.
The next-generation tank was designed in 2014, but integration into the military has been slow. Reports suggest problems with mass production, combat readiness and field maintenance.
British military intelligence said last year that there were problems with the vehicle’s engine and thermal imaging systems and that the vehicle would not yet be considered combat-ready by normal standards.
“Production is likely only in the low tens, while commanders are unlikely to trust the vehicle in combat,” the British military said. “Eleven years into development, the program has been plagued by delays, reductions in the size of the planned fleet and reports of manufacturing problems.”
Russian officials also downplayed the need to field T-14s before the war, saying the older T-72s and T-90s remained effective. But in recent months, amid rumors that the project could be scrapped and significant armor losses for Russia in Ukraine, the T-14 has appeared regularly on state television and is being talked about in more positive terms.
ie msh/dj, jcg (AFP, AP, Reuters)
