Russia says its troops are continuing to advance in Bakhmout, while the death toll from a strike on Sloviansk on Friday has risen to eleven.
The town of Bakhmout, on the eastern front, remains the epicenter of the fighting in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed new advances on Saturday, April 15: “Wagner’s assault units advanced successfully, capturing two blocks on the northern and southern outskirts of the city”. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, “airborne troops” of the Army “restrain the enemy on the flanks and support the actions of the assault groups [de Wagner] in the grip of the city”. Ukrainian troops “retreat”, assures Moscow. Thursday, kyiv had denied the encirclement of its troops. Here are the other news to remember from this new day of war.
Death toll rises to 11 in Sloviansk
A new toll has reported three more casualties to reach 11 after Russian strikes hit the eastern Ukrainian town of Sloviansk on Friday, 45 kilometers northwest of Bakhmout. The town hall also counts 23 injured. According to Ukrainian authorities, seven Russian anti-aircraft missiles fell on Sloviansk on Friday, hitting five buildings, five houses, a school and an administrative building. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of “brutally bombard” residential buildings and “kill people in broad daylight”.
Two women killed in another strike in Kherson
A mother and her daughter were killed Saturday in a Russian bombardment on Kherson, in the south of the country, announced on Telegram the head of the presidential administration, Andriy Iermak.
Lula accuses the United States and the EU of “encouraging war”
Since his election, the new Brazilian President Lula had already distanced himself from Western positions on the Russian offensive in Ukraine. He did it again on Saturday, at the end of a two-day visit to China, a mark of rapprochement with his counterpart Xi Jinping. “The United States must stop encouraging war and start talking about peace, the European Union must start talking about peace”, declared the head of state to journalists. This is how the international community can “convince” Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that “Peace is in the interest of the whole world”he estimated.
Zelensky thanks Macron for his statements in China
Before Lula, the French president met Xi Jinping in China at the beginning of April, in particular to discuss Beijing’s attitude towards Ukraine. On Saturday, the Ukrainian president said to himself “grateful” to Emmanuel Macron for having defended during this visit “the Ukrainian position on the need for a total withdrawal of Russian troops in Ukraine”. The two presidents had a telephone exchange, explained Volodymyr Zelensky on Twitter (in English) : “I welcomed the French intention to strengthen its support for Ukraine on the battlefield”, and thanked France for its condemnation of the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier, he wrote. Saturday at the end of the day, the Elysée had not made a report of this discussion.
Poland bans import of Ukrainian grain
Ukraine is one of the world’s leading producers of cereals, and their export is a crucial economic issue for the country as it defends itself against the Russian offensive. On Saturday, Poland announced its decision to ban the entry of Ukrainian cereals into its soil, as well as dozens of other agri-food products from its neighbor, of which it is nevertheless one of the main supporters.
The leader of the ruling party in Poland, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, justified this decision by “a serious crisis in the agricultural sector in Poland”. Due to the difficulties of movement of goods in the Black Sea, Ukrainian cereals pass through his country, and logistical problems lead part of the stocks to pile up there, causing the price of Polish products to fall. A situation that provoked demonstrations by Polish farmers and the resignation of the local Minister of Agriculture. His Ukrainian counterpart said “regret the decision” of the Polish government.