As we enter the 779th day of the war, these are the most important developments.
Here is the situation as of Saturday, April 13, 2024.
Battle
- Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskii, said the situation on the Eastern Front had “deteriorated significantly in recent days” amid an intensified Russian offensive.
- Ukraine said the situation around the eastern frontline town of Chasiv Yar was “difficult and tense” as the area was “constantly under fire.” It lies 20 km (12 miles) west of Bakhmut, which was leveled by months of artillery shelling before being captured by Russia last May.
- Six people, including a child, were killed after Ukrainian troops shelled the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia region, a southern region of Ukraine. Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-deployed official, said 20 people were injured in the attack.
Politics and diplomacy
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A failed peace deal between Russia and Ukraine in 2022 could be the basis for new negotiations, but there is no sign that Kiev is ready for talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Russia and Ukraine were close to agreeing on a deal to end hostilities at talks in Istanbul in April 2022, but that Ukraine backed away from doing so after Russian troops withdrew from the country had fallen back near the Ukrainian capital.
- The United States and the United Kingdom have imposed new sanctions that will ban metals trading exchanges from accepting new aluminum, copper and nickel from Russia, one of the world’s largest producers of such minerals.
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The United States has accused China of supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine by assisting Moscow in its biggest military buildup since the Soviet era and providing drone and missile technology, satellite imagery and machine tools. Unnamed senior US officials said US President Joe Biden reportedly raised the issue during his recent phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
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Prosecutors in Belgium are investigating suspected Russian interference in upcoming European Parliament elections with the aim of influencing Ukraine policy, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said.
- Russia has summoned French Ambassador Pierre Levy over French Foreign Minister Stéphane Sejourne’s “unacceptable” comments about the Kremlin. Sejourne was quoted this week as saying France was not interested in talks with the Kremlin, days after a telephone conversation between the two countries’ defense ministers ended in a row.
Military
- Ukrainian fighter pilots, likely to fly US F-16 aircraft, will receive their initial training with the French Air Force, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu told the Ouest-France newspaper. Other countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark and Romania, are trying to help Ukraine train its F-16 pilots after the United States gave the green light.
- According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Moscow conducted a successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile at the Kapustin Yar missile launch complex in the southern Astrakhan region.