WORLD BRIEFING: April 29, 2024
A long-awaited influx of U.S. weapons will help Ukraine to blunt Russia’s advance in the coming months, Biden administration officials said after Congress passed a major aid package, but an acute troop shortage and Moscow’s firepower advantage mean that Kyiv won’t likely regain major offensive momentum until 2025 at the earliest. Lawmakers’ approval of the foreign aid bill following months of partisan gridlock was a victory for President Biden. The sprawling legislation includes $61 billion to fuel Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invading forces. As initial shipments of arms, including artillery shells, air defense missiles, and armored vehicles, begin to reach Ukraine, U.S. officials said they expect the new weapons will buy time for Kyiv to replenish its military ranks and strengthen battlefield defenses — including trenches and minefields — ahead of an expected Russian offensive. A U.S. defense official, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Western projections, said the aid would give Ukraine the chance to better cope with continued Russian attacks “whether on the front lines or in the skies” and more effectively defend troops and civilians alike. “But time is precious,” the official said. “And time shouldn’t be wasted.” - Washington Post
Ukraine’s army chief reported that the battlefield situation was worsening for Kyiv, with Ukrainian forces tactically retreating along three sections of the front line in the eastern Donetsk region. In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Russian troops continue to attack “along the entire front line" of more than 1,000 kilometres, with pitched battles raging west of the city of Avdiivka. Russian troops “will likely make significant tactical gains in the coming weeks” while Kyiv awaits badly needed weaponry from the US, a Washington-based think tank said. In its latest operational assessment, the Institute for the Study of War said that Moscow’s forces have opportunities to push forward around Avdiivka, the eastern city they took in late February after a grueling, montshlong fight, and threaten nearby Chasiv Yar. Its capture would give Russia control of a hilltop from which it can attack other key cities forming the backbone of Ukraine’s eastern defences. Despite this, the think tank assessed that neither of these efforts by Moscow are likely to cause Kyiv’s defensive lines to collapse “in the near term.” - Euronews
Pro-Palestinian protests are disrupting major US universities, and several schools have called police to remove demonstrators. As colleges crack down, students are signaling they're prepared to accept the consequences to support their cause. In Los Angeles, opposing protest groups have physically clashed on UCLA's campus after crossing a barrier meant to keep them apart. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest at Washington University, according to her campaign. More than 80 others were also arrested at the campus in St. Louis, the university said. At New York's Columbia University, the epicenter of the demonstrations, protesters are demanding the school cut ties with Israeli academic institutions and disinvest from Israel-linked entities, as the death toll climbs from Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Protesters on other campuses have similar demands. - CNN
World Central Kitchen said it plans to restart aid operations in Gaza on Monday after halting its relief efforts when an Israeli airstrike killed seven of its workers on April 1. The killings interrupted the crucial flow of food into the war-torn strip, where many displaced Gazans are on the brink of starvation. Prior to the airstrike, World Central Kitchen had distributed more than 43 millions in Gaza, the charity said. However, after the airstrike, many organizations pulled their aid workers from the area and demanded an investigation into the deaths of civilians who were providing aid. The Israel Defense Forces took responsibility for the attack and said it is investigating how it happened. President Joe Biden criticized Israel after the tragedy, stating that it demonstrated the country was not doing enough to protect civilians. - Scripps News
Russian drones early on Sunday struck the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv, setting a hotel ablaze and damaging energy infrastructure, Ukrainian officials said. Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv province, said that Russian drones “seriously damaged” a hotel in its namesake capital, sparking a fire that was later extinguished. Kim also reported that the strike damaged heat-generating infrastructure in the city. He added that there were no casualties.
Another red line crossed by Russia? In the past days and weeks, we’ve seen massive attacks on railway infrastructure in Ukraine: a station & depot in Dnipro, a station in Kharkiv region, rail infrastructure near ports in Odesa, also Pokrovsk, Cherkasy. National rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia lost three on-duty staff: two of them were under 30 years old
