As reported by Politico, Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck along with a delegation of defense and energy industry bosses arrived in Kyiv on Thursday looking to plug his country’s industrial heavyweights into Ukraine’s economy, on everything from armament production to power grid resilience. Over the next few days, Habeck and the Kyiv government are expected to launch multiple German-Ukrainian industrial collaboration projects — some under tight security. Those joining Habeck for the night train from Poland to Kyiv were asked t ..read more

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported an attack by a drone on a training center at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) site. This is the third attack on the training center in the last two weeks. On 7 April, the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency reported that drone attacks had damaged the structures of one of the plant’s six reactors. The Russian side claims that Ukrainian drones attacked the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense denies Kyiv’s involvement in the attack on the plant. UN Council also said Ru ..read more

The Tu-22M3 missile carrier, the type of aircraft Russia uses to strike Ukraine, crashed in the Russian Stavropol region after a missile attack on Ukraine’s Dnipro region on the morning of 19 April 2024. According to Vladimir Vladimirov, the governor of the Stavropol region, the plane crashed in a field in the Krasnogvardeysky district. Vladimirov added that two pilots ejected from the plane. They were found alive and taken to the hospital.  According to Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense, the crashed aircraft was indeed a Tu-22M3 bomber-m ..read more

According to Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo, Belgium should be able to deliver the promised F-16s ”before the summer.” He emphasized that this would include the Ukrainian pilots, having been trained to such an degree that they are ready to operate the Belgian aircraft. ”The F-16 coalition is very important, as the aircraft have anti-aircraft capabilities. It should be doable to deliver the first batch of aircraft – including the pilots trained and ready to fly them – before summer,” De Croo said. Besides the F-16s, De Croo also spoke on the fact that Belgium often cannot publicly ..read more

The Russian morning attack killed at least two civilians and injured 15 in the city of Dnipro following a Russian missile strike, according to Serhiy Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration. An 8-year-old child later died in the hospital. Additionally, a woman was killed in Synelnykove, the city in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.  In Dnipro, the missile hit a residential building close to the city center. The five-story building in Dnipro was partially destroyed and on fire, potentially trapping people under the rubble. Two “infrastructur ..read more

The Australian Government will extend tariff relief on Ukrainian goods for two years until July 2026, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Australia’s treasurer Jim Chalmers announced the decision on 19 April in Washington DC, following discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart. The duty exemption applies to goods produced and manufactured in Ukraine, 9NEWS reported. Australia stands with Ukraine. Today I agreed with @SergiiMarchenk3 to extend tariff concessions on Ukrainian imports to Australia. #auspol #ausecon pic.twitter.com/HRxk3EVN44 — Jim Chalmers MP (@JEChalmers) April 18 ..read more

Ukraine has developed and is preparing to launch serial production of “Shmavic,” a domestic military drone analogous to the hugely popular civilian Chinese DJI Mavic UAV extensively used by Ukrainian forces on the frontlines, Forbes reported. Ukrainian forces use a very wide range of drones, but the small cheap Chinese DJI Mavic remains the most popular. At the tactical level, small drones enable the Ukrainian military to survey the battlefield. Given the ammunition shortage, they serve as a form of “pocket artillery” for the Armed Forces, according to Valerii Yakovenko, co-founder of the Dr ..read more

Exclusive Ukraine destroys Russia’s Dzhankoi helicopter base air defenses, enabling further deep strikes on occupied Crimea. Ukraine’s ATACMS missile attack on Russia’s airfield in northern Crimea on 17 April reportedly destroyed multiple air defense assets, potentially enabling future air attacks on the occupied peninsula from the north. Military Frontline report: Ukraine hammers Russian supply lines as Kupiansk offensive loses steam. Seizing on a lull in Russia’s months-long offensive, Ukrainian forces have launched a series of punishing strikes on ammunition depots, bridges, and com ..read more

Today, there are a lot of updates from the Kupiansk direction. Here, Ukrainian forces took advantage of an apparent Russian operational pause in this direction to increase pressure on the vectors around the city of Kupiansk, raided multiple ammunition depots and assets along the entire contact line, and undermined Russian logistics. As you may remember, in the last months, Russian forces failed to advance on the positions near Kupiansk after multiple unsuccessful attempts. Screenshot from Reporting from Ukraine video In order to dynamically adjust to the situation, Russian forces adopted an a ..read more

The UK Defense Ministry reports Russia has largely withdrawn its Black Sea Fleet ships and submarines from Sevastopol in occupied Crimea to Russia’s Novorossiysk further east on the Black Sea’s eastern coast, citing a missile frigate reloading activity there on 1 April. Since March 2024, when Russia removed the Black Sea Fleet’s commander, the fleet has been the least active since the war began. The British Defense Ministry says it is likely basing at Novorossiysk to avoid potential Ukrainian attacks while Russia improves the port’s maintenance and logistics infrastructure to support the ne ..read more