The Russian military massively struck KABs at Kupyansk: 4 wounded
Russian troops launched a guided aerial bomb assault on Kupyansk. Because of the assault, dozens of homes have been broken, 4 individuals have been injured, and fires broke out.
Russian assaults in opposition to Ukraine killed a minimum of 5 civilians and injured a minimum of 16 others over the previous day, regional authorities reported on April 22.
Russian forces launched 54 drones from the Russian cities of Kursk, Bryansk, Millerovo, and Primorsk-Akhtarsk, in addition to from Cape Chauda in occupied Crimea in opposition to Ukraine in a single day, in response to Ukraine's Air Power.
Ukraine's air protection shot down 38 drones, whereas one other 16 disappeared from radars with out inflicting any harm, in response to the assertion. Drones that disappear from radars earlier than reaching their targets are sometimes decoys that Russia launches alongside actual drones to overwhelm Ukraine's air protection.
In Kharkiv Oblast, Russia attacked the village of Petropavlivka with guided aerial bombs, killing a 54-year-old lady and a 26-year-old man, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.
A 24-year-old man was killed by a Russian FPV (first-person-view) drone whereas he was driving on a scooter within the village of Ivashky.
Within the city of Kupiansk, a 58-year-old lady suffered a concussion because of a drone assault. One other 48-year-old lady was injured in a strike with glide bombs in opposition to the village of Horokhovatka.
In Kherson Oblast, Russia focused 36 settlements, together with the regional heart of Kherson, over the previous day. On account of the assaults, one individual was killed and 7 others have been injured, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.
In Sumy Oblast, Russia focused the Esman neighborhood, killing one individual on April 21. On the next day, Russian forces additionally used aerial bombs in opposition to the Bilopillia neighborhood, injuring one individual, the native navy administration reported.
In a single day on April 22, Russia attacked town of Odesa with drones, injuring three folks, Governor Oleh Kiper reported.
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a 66-year-old man and a 63-year-old lady have been injured within the Nikopol district, the native navy administration reported. Russian forces attacked a number of settlements with artillery and drones.
In Donetsk Oblast, one individual was injured in an assault in opposition to the city of Myrnohrad, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.
Within the Zaporizhzhia path, the occupiers who had been thrown to the breakthrough had been defeated: the GUR confirmed epic footage for the primary time
Ukrainian defenders repulsed the Russian assault within the Zaporizhzhia path. Greater than 100 occupiers and 15 items of kit had been destroyed, disrupting the enemy's plans.
Russia has misplaced 943,060 troops in Ukraine because the starting of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the Common Employees of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on April 22.
The quantity contains 1,130 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the previous day.
Based on the report, Russia has additionally misplaced 10,683 tanks, 22,296 armored combating autos, 45,458 autos and gasoline tanks, 26,689 artillery programs, 1,368 a number of launch rocket programs, 1,140 air protection programs, 370 airplanes, 335 helicopters, 33,388 drones, 3,148 cruise missiles, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.
Trump introduced a plan for a peaceable settlement of the conflict in Ukraine: NY Put up discovered what the administration says concerning the subject of "land"
Donald Trump plans to current a peace plan for Ukraine which will embody European troops to watch the ceasefire. The US is awaiting Russia and Ukraine's response to the deal.
Ekaterina Barabash, a Russian journalist who was arrested earlier this 12 months for talking out in opposition to the battle in Ukraine, has escaped home arrest and is now wished by police, Russian state media reported on April 21.
Barabash, 63, was initially detained by the Russian Investigative Committee, a regulation enforcement company tasked with investigating severe federal crimes, on Feb. 25.
The Russian Investigative Committee claimed in a Telegram put up on February 26 that Barabash "admitted her guilt in full" throughout an interrogation.
She was then positioned underneath home arrest by a Moscow courtroom for posting "pretend information" on her Fb account concerning the battle in Ukraine and was anticipated to remain there till April 25.
Russian authorities had been alerted to her disappearance on April 13 by an digital monitoring system. "The accused has been declared wished," Russian state media reported.
Barabash has Ukrainian heritage and is the mother-in-law of Ukrainian screenwriter Lyuba Yakimchuk. She can also be the daughter of late Ukrainian-born literary scholar and Shevchenko Prize laureate Yuriy Barabash.
For years, Barabash has publicly supported Ukraine on her social media accounts and condemned Russia's full-scale invasion.
“(You) bastards bomb a rustic, raze complete cities to the bottom, kill a whole bunch of youngsters, shoot at peaceable folks for no motive, preserve Mariupol underneath a blockade, deprive tens of millions of individuals of a standard life, and pressure them to depart for international international locations. For what? For the sake of friendship with Ukraine? You are Evil on a planetary scale," Barabash wrote on Fb.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has cracked down on dissent and freedom of expression, particularly concentrating on individuals who have been important of the battle. 1000’s of Russian residents have been arrested and jailed for talking out in opposition to the Putin regime.
The UN said concerning the continuation of hostilities in Ukraine regardless of the ceasefire
The UN said that hostilities in Ukraine proceed, regardless of the declared ceasefire. The group referred to as for peace in accordance with the UN Constitution and respect for the integrity of Ukraine.
On a quiet morning on April 13, Maryna Illiashenko and her 13-year-old son Kyrylo had been taking a bus by way of town of Sumy to see his grandmother, as they typically do on Sundays.
It was a route they knew by coronary heart — one they'd taken numerous instances. However that morning, out of nowhere, a sudden blast knocked them off their toes, plunging the whole lot into darkness.
On April 13, as Ukraine marked Palm Sunday, Russia launched its deadliest assault on the northeastern metropolis, hitting Sumy downtown with two ballistic missiles. The assault killed 35 folks and injured almost 120, together with Kyrylo and his mom, who had been trapped within the epicenter.
"I instantly fell to the bottom and felt shards of glass and metallic raining down on me," Kyrylo informed the Kyiv Unbiased. "I waited till it stopped, then acquired up and tried to open the bus doorways."
The blast was so highly effective that it shattered the bus's home windows and cracked its doorways, making it unattainable to open them from the within. In shock and along with her face lined in blood, Maryna shouted to the driving force, urging him to open the door because the odor of burning unfold by way of the crowded bus. No response adopted. She quickly realized that the driving force was in all probability lifeless.
"I used to be terrified the bus was on hearth. As quickly as I smelled it, I knew we needed to get out rapidly," she informed the Kyiv Unbiased.
Though he was injured himself, Kyrylo determined to take motion.
"I threw my sports activities bag out the window and jumped onto it to keep away from touchdown in particles on the bottom," he remembers. "I started making an attempt to open the doorways from the opposite facet, and after a number of makes an attempt, I managed to do it."
The physique of a person killed in a Russian missile strike lies subsequent to a wrecked bus in Sumy, Ukraine, on April 13, 2025. (Oleksandr Oleksienko/Kordon.Media/World Photos Ukraine through Getty Photos)
Due to him, these trapped within the broken bus managed to flee safely.
"Exterior, I noticed our bodies mendacity on the bottom. There have been many individuals. However I didn’t have time to assume at that second. I simply acted," he stated.
For his bravery, Kyrylo was awarded the Honorary Distinction of the Sumy Metropolis Council "For Deserves to the Metropolis," in addition to a two-week journey to a kids's camp in Bulgaria, Appearing Sumy Mayor Artem Kobzar reported on April 17.
"Thanks, that was the act of an actual man," Kobzar informed Kyrylo in a video that he revealed on his Telegram.
The brutal strike got here amid the U.S.’s ongoing effort to finish Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, though it has utilized no obvious stress on Moscow to stop its aggression.
Russia's assault on Sumy adopted one other lethal strike on town of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on April 4, the place 21 folks had been killed, together with 9 kids.
The April 13 assault on their hometown was not the one stunning and traumatizing occasion that the Russian full-scale invasion brought about the Illiashenko household.
Early within the invasion, when elements of Sumy Oblast had been beneath Russian occupation, a Russian air strike hit close to the household's home, remembers Maryna, deeply horrifying Kyrylo and his youthful brother Matvii, now 9.
The household determined to flee Sumy for almost two months to Ukraine's safer area within the west, as the kids couldn’t recover from the assault.
"After they went to mattress, the kids stayed totally dressed so they may run and conceal at any second," Maryna remembers.
However throughout their time away from residence, the household dreamed of returning to their "pretty little hometown," she says, including that they had been relieved to come back again within the spring of 2022, after Russian forces had been pushed out of the area.
Although Russian forces fired artillery at Sumy Oblast’s border areas on a near-daily foundation for the following two years, it was principally quiet within the metropolis of Sumy.
Assaults on the northeastern area and Sumy metropolis have intensified since August of 2024, following Ukraine's shock cross-border incursion into Russia's adjoining Kursk Oblast, the place Ukrainian troops held a close-by city of Sudzha for seven months earlier than they had been compelled to withdraw in March. Preventing continues within the border areas.
Nonetheless, Maryna says they couldn't have imagined coming beneath such a lethal strike.
That morning, whereas her husband and youthful son stayed residence, Maryna and Kyrylo had been ready on the bus cease when the primary explosion hit.
Emergency service staff on web site after a Russian missile assault on Sumy, Ukraine. April 13, 2025. (Cukr media)The aftermath of a Russian missile assault on Sumy, Ukraine, on April 13, 2025. (State Emergency Service / Telegram)Ukrainian emergency staff search by way of the rubble after a Russian missile assault in Sumy, Ukraine, on Apr. 14, 2025. (Roman Pilipey/AFP through Getty Photos)Our bodies of two folks killed in a Russian ballistic missile strike lie lined with an emergency blanket on the assault web site within the northeastern metropolis of Sumy on April 13, 2025. (Yehor Kryvoruchko/Kordon.Media/World Photos Ukraine through Getty Photos)
"My husband referred to as instantly, asking us to come back again residence. However we nonetheless determined to go to grandmother," Maryna remembers, including that they entered the bus shortly after the primary explosion.
The second missile, fired minutes after the primary one in what is named a “double-tap” strike – a tactic often employed by Russia – was armed with cluster munitions. Such munitions are used to inflict larger devastation on civilians within the affected space.
"When shards of glass flew into my face, I spotted that the missile had exploded very shut," Maryna says. "I had glass in my eyes and couldn't see something as I had been standing proper by the window."
"I used to be screaming my son's identify, making an attempt to know if he was okay."
Inside Minister Ihor Klymenko (L) meets with Sumy resident Kyrylo Illiashenko, 13, and his mom, Maryna Illashenko in a hospital in Sumy, Ukraine, in April 2025. As Russia launched a brutal missile strike on town of Sumy on April 13, Kyrylo helped folks escape a bus that got here beneath assault. (Sumy Oblast Navy Administration/Telegram)
As quickly as she managed to wipe some blood and glass from her face, Maryna noticed her son leaping out of the bus window.
In line with her, there have been as much as 40 folks on the bus on the time of the assault. She believes that these sitting within the entrance rows, together with the driving force, had been killed immediately. The remainder of these surviving the strike managed to rapidly escape the bus because of her son.
"I solely noticed my mother once I opened the door," says Kyrylo. "I noticed folks leaving the bus, after which I noticed my mother's face — it was utterly lined in blood," he says, including that it was the second when he acquired actually scared.
It later turned out that Maryna’s accidents had been much less extreme than her son's — Kyrylo had a number of items of metallic shrapnel lodged in his cranium and is now present process remedy at a hospital in Sumy.
Kyrylo Illiashenko, a 13-year-old Sumy resident, accepts the Honorary Distinction of the Sumy Metropolis Council "For Deserves to the Metropolis" from Appearing Sumy Mayor Artem Kobzar in a hospital in Sumy, Ukraine, April 2025. As Russia launched a brutal missile strike on town of Sumy on April 13, Kyrylo helped folks escape a bus that got here beneath assault. (Sumy Oblast Navy Administration/Telegram)
Kyrylo says he’s very upset about lacking the freestyle wrestling competitors he had been making ready for over months resulting from his accidents. But, in accordance with Kyrylo, the game helped him keep targeted and composed in the course of the assault.
"It was because of sports activities as a result of each competitors places you beneath stress. And with each, you get increasingly used to dealing with your self."
He now receives quite a few calls from locals thanking him for his brave actions.
"My classmates have been messaging me. One among them had a grandmother on that bus, and one other had an aunt," Kyrylo says.
"They thanked me quite a bit as a result of their family had been capable of get out by way of the exit I opened."
Word from the creator:
Hello! Daria Shulzhenko right here. I wrote this piece for you. For the reason that first day of Russia's all-out warfare, I’ve been working nearly continuous to inform the tales of these affected by Russia’s brutal aggression. By telling all these painful tales, we’re serving to to maintain the world knowledgeable concerning the actuality of Russia’s warfare towards Ukraine. By becoming the Kyiv Independent's member, you possibly can assist us proceed telling the world the reality about this warfare.
Virtually 80 firefighters extinguished fires in Odesa: picture particulars from the State Emergency Service
Civilian infrastructure, homes and an academic establishment had been broken on account of the assault. Rescuers eradicated the fires, involving 78 firefighters and 21 items of kit.
As U.S. President Donald Trump is pursuing rapprochement with Russia, the nation's embassy in Kyiv is going through inner pressure.
Following the change in administration, Bridget Brink, who had been the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine since 2022, was caught within the scorching seat.
Brink tried to align with the brand new administration's harder stance on Ukraine. She publicly backed the White Home after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's disastrous Oval Workplace assembly.
The shift in rhetoric caught the attention of Ukrainian officers. Zelensky known as the U.S. embassy out on their "weak" message following an particularly lethal Russian assault on Kryvyi Rih in early April.
Lastly, Brink resigned — on April 10, simply 1.5 months in need of the three-year mark on the publish.
A supply within the Western diplomat neighborhood in Kyiv stated Brink left town on April 21. The embassy wouldn't publicly verify it or touch upon the explanations for her resignation.
In accordance with Western diplomats stationed in Kyiv, Brink resigned over "coverage disagreements" with Washington.
Brink is the highest-ranking however not the primary U.S. Kyiv embassy member to depart over disagreements with Trump's technique on Ukraine.
International Service Officer Kraig Cook dinner, a part of the embassy's press service, resigned in February, shortly earlier than the Trump-Zelensky Oval Workplace assembly.
In his resignation letter, seen by the Kyiv Unbiased, Cook dinner criticized Trump's administration's "parroting Kremlin speaking factors" and known as the U.S.-Ukraine vital minerals deal "predatory."
He additionally criticized the embassy's management's "deafening silence."
Cook dinner instructed the Kyiv Unbiased that many U.S. embassy staff in Kyiv are involved concerning the Trump administration's coverage shift and its alignment with Russia.
Previous to the 2024 presidential election, Brink's actions and rhetoric had intently mirrored then-President Joe Biden's insurance policies.
"Brink did unbelievable work to construct assist for Ukraine, deftly navigating the typically hapless Biden administration and a divided Congress to ship help that helped Ukraine struggle again in opposition to Russia's invasion," Cook dinner instructed the Kyiv Unbiased.
He stated that there have been delays in U.S. help, however "Ambassador Brink was behind the scenes, working laborious to attenuate these delays as a lot as attainable."
"There have been some voices within the Biden administration that weren’t as supportive of help to Ukraine," he added. "I feel Ambassador Brink was very robust in convincing these folks why this was necessary for U.S. safety and U.S. international coverage to assist Ukraine."
After Trump took workplace, Brink modified her rhetoric.
Publicly, a watershed second got here on Feb. 28, when Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance lashed out at Zelensky throughout a gathering on the White Home.
US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet within the Oval Workplace of the White Home in Washington, DC, on Feb. 28, 2025. (Saul Loeb/Getty Photographs)
Trump and Vance accused Zelensky of not being grateful for the U.S. help, amongst different issues. In an unprecedented transfer, Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation have been ordered to depart the White Home forward of schedule.
The U.S. embassy in Kyiv didn’t touch upon the disastrous assembly, however Brink’s official account retweeted Trump's harsh X publish that adopted it. Within the publish, Trump claimed that Zelensky was "not prepared for peace" and that he "disrespected the US of America in its cherished Oval Workplace."
Brink additionally retweeted Secretary of State Marco Rubio's publish through which he thanked Trump "for standing up for America in a method that no president has ever had the braveness to do earlier than."
"Bridget Brink knew what she wanted to do to remain in Trump's good graces," Cook dinner stated. "The Oval Workplace assembly was not a purple line for her."
Important level
Tensions spiked in early April, when Brink commented on a lethal Russian assault on Kryvyi Rih that killed 20 folks, together with 9 youngsters. In contrast to different ambassadors, she didn’t point out or blame Russia.
"Horrified that tonight a ballistic missile struck close to a playground and restaurant in Kryvyi Rih," she posted on X on April 4. "This is the reason the warfare should finish."
Zelensky took subject with Brink's remark.
"Sadly, the response from the U.S. embassy is surprisingly disappointing — such a robust nation, such robust folks, and but such a weak response. They’re afraid to even say the phrase 'Russian' when talking concerning the missile that murdered youngsters," Zelensky stated in a video deal with the next day. "We should strain Russia — the one selecting to kill youngsters as an alternative of selecting a ceasefire."
Analyzing Brink's public messages, the Monetary Instances concluded that as of early April, within the 75 days following Trump's inauguration, Brink talked about Russia solely 5 instances, by no means attributing blame to Russia for its assaults on Ukraine.
Zelensky's response didn’t go unnoticed on the U.S. embassy. In all the general public messages concerning the assaults on Ukrainian civilians that adopted, Brink named Russia.
Flowers and toys positioned at a playground in Kryvyi Rih, introduced by native residents in reminiscence of the kids killed by a Russian missile on April 4, in Ukraine on April 11, 20245. (Stringer/Anadolu by way of Getty Photographs)
On April 13, Brink reacted to a Russian assault on Sumy that killed 35 folks and injured 117.
"Immediately, Palm Sunday, Russia launched ballistic missiles on Sumy — killing 32 Ukrainian civilians and injuring 99," she wrote. The ultimate toll got here in later. "Reviews point out, as in Kryvyi Rih, cluster munitions have been used, rising the devastation and hurt to civilians. Our prayers are with the folks of Sumy."
She additionally retweeted U.S. Envoy Keith Kellogg's publish that the Sumy assault "crosses any line of decency" and Rubio's assertion calling the Russian assault "horrifying."
'Coverage disagreements' and resignation
Regardless of Brink's efforts to align her rhetoric with the Trump administration, she finally resigned.
In accordance with certainly one of Western diplomats who spoke with the Kyiv Unbiased on circumstances of anonymity, Brink’s resignation wasn't related to Zelensky’s feedback calling her out for a weak response.
The diplomat stated that the ambassador's relationship with the President's Workplace "wasn't nice" lengthy earlier than Trump took workplace as a result of Brink's assist for reforms in Ukraine. Nonetheless, in accordance with the diplomat, it was the "disagreements" with Washington that led to Brink resigning.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) and U.S. Nationwide Safety Advisor Mike Waltz (R) arrive to talk with the media following conferences with a Ukrainian delegation in Jeddah on March 11, 2025. (Saul Loeb/POOL/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)
A supply in one of many G7 embassies in Kyiv, aware of the state of affairs, confirmed to the Kyiv Unbiased that "coverage disagreements with Washington" is what was communicated to G7 embassies as the explanation for Brink’s resignation.
"Provided that it seems that the Trump administration doesn’t share that very same purpose for Ukraine and for the Ukrainian-American relationship, I actually can see why she would have points remaining in her place," Cook dinner stated.
Embassy officer resigns to protest coverage shift
Cook dinner himself couldn't settle for the sudden U.S. international coverage reversal below Trump.
Cook dinner wrote in his resignation letter that after Trump was elected, he was at first "hopeful President Trump's promotion of 'peace by power' and Secretary Rubio's name for a international coverage grounded in making America 'safer, stronger, and extra affluent' may result in a simply decision to Russia's warfare in opposition to Ukraine.” However this hope quickly vaned.
Cook dinner instructed the Kyiv Unbiased that he "began to see a adverse trajectory in early February, when President Trump known as President (Vladimir) Putin and successfully established Ukraine and Russia as having, in his view, equal obligations."
He additionally referred to "the selection for the US to satisfy with Russian officers in Saudi Arabia with out Ukrainian officers current."
Cook dinner stated he had ended his service and left Kyiv on Feb. 28 — "the identical day as President Trump and Vice President Vance's shameful show of vanity in opposition to President Zelensky within the Oval Workplace."
His resignation letter goes on to say that "sending an unmistakable message to (China) that 'may makes proper' fairly than standing up in opposition to Russia's warfare crimes won’t make us stronger" and that "forcing Ukraine right into a predatory deal on vital minerals won’t make America extra affluent."
The model of the mineral useful resource deal proposed by the U.S. in March would grant Washington unprecedented management over Ukraine's pure assets by a joint funding fund and hamper Kyiv's means to hitch the EU. The U.S. has softened its place since then.
"There have been loads of conversations that I had with colleagues — notably as soon as they knew that I used to be resigning, the place lots of them expressed disagreement with the (U.S.) coverage on a private stage," Cook dinner stated.
So far as he is aware of, nevertheless, nobody else has stepped down.
The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov
