UKRAINE WAR: April 21, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 422
A Russian Sukhoi-34 fighter-jet has accidentally bombed the Russian city of Belgorod, around 40km (25 miles) from the border with Ukraine. The bomb left a 20m (60ft) crater and caused an explosion so large it blew a car on to the roof of a nearby shop. Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said authorities had ordered the evacuation of a damaged nine-storey block of flats as a precaution. Three people were injured and several buildings were damaged, he said - BBC
At least 12 drones were launched on Kyiv early Friday from the Bryansk region of Russia, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has reaffirmed the alliance's support for Ukraine's eventual membership and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reassured Kyiv of allies' support "for as long as it takes" as they gathered in Germany to discuss beefing up weapons deliveries for Ukraine as fighting raged in the east - RFE/RL
The United States has made no determination the Russian private military Wagner Group is a "foreign terrorist organization," despite its ongoing actions in Ukraine, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
Estonia announced the delivery of more weapons to Ukraine. The package includes 155-millimeter artillery ammunition. Meanwhile, Hungary called for "progressive" aid from the EU to help move Ukraine's grain through Central European countries whose farmers are having to compete with its cheaper imports - RFE/RL
The Kyiv city council plans to terminate the land lease agreement with the Russian Embassy amid Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
A dancer with Odesa Opera has been killed while fighting on the front line, the ballet company has said. Rostyslav Yanchyshen, 31, was killed “while performing a combat mission,” the company, based in Ukraine's southern port city, said on its Facebook page. “For more than ten years, Rostyslav served at the Odesa Opera, and in the first days of the war he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine to heroically defend Ukraine, which he loved above all else! As a result, the artist's ballet flats were replaced by army boots, and the music of his favorite performances was replaced by the sounds of mortar fire,” the opera said - CNN
Russia has dropped a new social media campaign to recruit more men into its military. The ad appears to mock men into leaving their everyday jobs to become 'real men' by joining the military.
