WAR IN UKRAINE: April 29, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 64
The Shevchenkivsky District was hit by a Russian missile strike. The State Emergency Service reported that they injured 10 people and partly destroyed the first two floors of a 25-story residential building.
A high-rise apartment building not far from central Kyiv was one of the objects struck during two explosions yesterday evening - shortly after the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, wrapped up his meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky and a joint press conference. One of the bombs struck close to where the SG was staying, a UN spokesperson said. The missiles targeted the Shevchenkivsky District. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported the strike partly destroyed the first two floors of a 25-story residential building and injured 10 people. However television images show significant damage to the building and Ukrainian media reported windows blown out to many surrounding residential buildings.
The missiles also hit undisclosed infrastructure sites near the city of Fastiv. The strikes are significant as they occurred just as the capital city was headed towards normality - with residents returning, retail shops and restaurants re-opening and diplomats returning to their embassies. Early Friday morning, explosions were heard in the southern port city of Odesa, reported a journalist with Suspilne.
CNN reports that Guterres said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed “in principle” for the UN and the Red Cross to be involved in evacuating civilians from the steel plant in Mariupol, and that he had held “intense discussions” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to make evacuation from Mariupol a reality. “Today the people of Mariupol are in desperate need for such an approach. Mariupol is a crisis within a crisis.” The mission to Moscow and Kyiv were extremely politically risky for the UN and its top boss as delivering impactful results on the ground will be difficult given the poor track record of Moscow to adhere to negotiated commitments. Early in the war, the UN came under criticism for preventing the start of hostilities and for being slow to pre-position staff and supplies.
The Biden Administration is seeking fresh funding for Ukraine: The Biden administration is sending a $33 billion supplemental funding request to Congress aimed at supporting Ukraine through a new phase over the next several months, CNN reports. It includes funding for security, economic, and humanitarian aid. Analysts say that due to strong bi-partisan support for Ukraine, the request should receive full approval. The funding is expected to last about five months. Separately, a bill was passed by Congress which “encourages” the administration to liquidate Russian ill-gotten wealth - such as luxury yachts and properties - valued at more than $2 million and to funnel the proceeds to Ukraine.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has announced the formal closing of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine. It was initiated after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and approved by all 57 member states - including Russia. At its height, the SMM had well over 1,000 members and monitored the situation on the ground - including in the occupied territories - and facilitated the repair of damaged infrastructure as well as talks between the warring sides. Russia blocked the renewal of the SMM mandate, which expired at the end of March. Russian-backed combatants are currently holding five Ukrainian members of the SMM in Donetsk.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said that Russian troops were "robbing" wheat stocks, as heavy fighting continues in the country's eastern and southern regions. “The Russian occupiers are robbing the villagers," said the General Staff. "Thus, for example, over 60 tons of wheat together with the cargo trucks were stolen from the agricultural cooperative in the town of Kamianka-Dniprovska.” The allegations of Russia stealing Ukrainian wheat hits hard among ordinary Ukrainians as it triggers memories of Stalin’s forced famine in 1932-32, during which millions died of starvation.
Occupying Russian forces are trying to eradicate the Ukrainian identity, CNN reports. In the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson they are trying to extend their grip over the area. In recent days the Russians have appointed their own officials to run Kherson, replacing elected Ukrainian official and are positioning to replace the Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, with the Russian currency. Additionally, Russian television channels have taken the place of Ukrainian networks. As I told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Thursday evening, the moves are straight out of the playbook of the Russian-backed combatants in Donetsk and Luhansk: upon occupying the region then immediately replaced Ukrainian with Russian programming in air, introduced Russian curriculum in schools and imprisoned and tortured pro-Ukrainian residents.
IAEA warns missiles flying over Ukraine’s nuclear power plants might lead to a nuclear accident. The International Atomic Energy Agency said on April 28 it was reviewing Ukrainian reports that a missile had flown directly over a nuclear power plant. If a missile goes astray, it could potentially lead to nuclear accident, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement - Kyiv Independent
Kyiv Independent’s defense reporter Illia Ponomarenko (who’s been a guest on my Twitter Spaces series) says Russia has already demolished his hometown, his college town, and the town where he was about to settle in his very own apartment. Read his story on how Russia killed three cities important to his life here.