WAR IN UKRAINE: April 22, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 423
Ukraine says its military has fended off dozens of Russian attacks over the past day, as Kyiv's Western allies discussed fortifying its air defenses ahead of a spring counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces. The Ukrainian military "repelled 53 Russian attacks on the Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, Maryinka, and Shakhtar areas" in the country's east, Ukraine's General Staff said on April 22 - RFE/RL
In his nightly video address Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was readying for a counteroffensive. “The front line is priority No. 1," he said Friday. “We are also actively preparing new brigades and units that will show themselves at the front." Zelenskyy thanked the allies for their commitment to Ukraine's defense.
More than 3,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in the Russian city of Belgorod after an undetonated explosive was found. It comes two days after Russia accidentally dropped a bomb on the same city, damaging houses and injuring several people. It's not known if the bomb discovered on Saturday came from the same aircraft - a Russian Sukhoi-34 fighter-jet. The city is located about 40km (25 miles) from the border with Ukraine. The local governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, confirmed on Telegram that 17 apartment buildings had to be cordoned off "within a radius of 200 metres", affecting 3,000 residents - BBC
General Mark Milley, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news conference that beefing up Ukraine's air-defense system was "the critical military task right now," adding that the goal is to make sure that it is robust and rigorous.
Milley said air defense was the theme all day of the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking alongside Milley at the news conference, said Kyiv's allies in the contact group believe that what Ukraine needs most urgently is ground-based air defense capability. "That is what has enabled them to prevent the Russian air forces from having a meaningful impact in this fight," Austin said - RFE/RL
In its daily intelligence update on Ukraine, then British Defense Ministry said Saturday that Russia is “struggling to maintain consistency in a core narrative it uses to justify the war in Ukraine.” The narrative is that the invasion of Ukraine is similar to the Soviet experience in World War II. Earlier this month, Russia cited safety issues as the reason for canceling the annual observance of the Immortal Regiment “Great Patriotic War” remembrance marches. “In reality,” the ministry said,” the authorities were highly likely concerned that participants would highlight the scope of recent Russian losses.” Another part of the Russian narrative is the rallying cry that there are Nazis in Ukraine. But now, however, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the chief of the Wagner Group and also a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has publicly questioned the existence of Nazis in Ukraine, contradicting Russia’s justification for the invasion, the British ministry said - VOA