The situation as of 8:00 on April 15, 2022 (other languages version in PDF)
OPERATIONAL SITUATION
Russian troops continue to prepare for an offensive in eastern Ukraine. The aviation grouping and the command and control system are being built up. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation confirmed the loss of the missile cruiser Moskva, which is the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Kyiv and Zhytomyr directions:
Units of the State Border Guard Service reached Ukraine’s state border with Belarus in the Kyiv region, in particular, at the “Vilcha” checkpoint.
Chernihiv and Sumy directions:
Operational Command North reports a missile strike from the Tochka-U tactical missile system in the direction of the town of Horodnia, in Chernihiv region.
According to the head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Serhii Deineko, grenade launchers and small arms fire from the Russian checkpoint Pogar was recorded in the Chernihiv region on April 13.
Also, for the first time in ten days, Russian troops fired from their territory at the border settlements of Sumy region. The head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration Dmytro Zhyvytskyi reports damage to private houses.
Kharkiv and Luhansk directions:
In the Kharkiv region, Russian troops are conducting reconnaissance for an offensive, which is likely to be carried out in the direction of Sloviansk and Barvinkove.
A partial blockade of the city of Kharkiv is ongoing. The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, acknowledged that Russian troops launched 34 strikes against areas of Kharkiv during the day. Zolochiv and nearby populated areas were also shelled. 1 person was killed and 8 were wounded as a result of the shelling on the territory of the region.
In Luhansk region, Russian troops are trying to break through the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ defenses near Rubizhne and Novotoshkivske. The aim of the offensive is to capture Sievierodonetsk and Popasna. The shelling of populated areas continues. Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, reports 2 wounded in Kreminna. Russian troops also shelled Sievierodonetsk, Toshkivka (where 1 woman was fatally wounded), and Zolote.
Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia directions:
Fighting for Mariupol continues. Russian troops attacked positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Marinka.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, reports 3 airstrikes on Velyka Novosilka. Zarichne, Vuhledar, Volnovakha and Bohorodychne were also shelled. As a result of the April 14 shelling in the region, 3 people were killed, and at least 7 people were wounded.
According to Ivan Arefiev, speaker of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, the Russians continue to carry out systematic missile and bomb strikes against infrastructure facilities in the region, as well as trying to conduct assault actions in some populated areas of the Polohy district.
Dnipro direction:
The head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council, Mykola Lukashuk, stated that a Russian missile hit a non-residential building in the Synelnykivskyi district of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Information confrontation
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a unit of information and psychological operations of the Russian Armed Forces has been deployed in Belgorod (Russia) to intensify measures of psychological influence on units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and civilians of Kharkiv region.
Russia accuses Ukraine of opening fire on Russian territory in the Klimovsky district of the Bryansk region. Initially, there were reports of shelling at the border checkpoint, followed by reports of damage to homes and injuries to local residents. Instead, the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine stated that Russia’s special services have begun implementing a plan to carry out terrorist attacks on its territory to fuel anti-Ukrainian hysteria.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk indicated that 2,332 people (289 from Mariupol; 2,043 from towns in Zaporizhzhia region) reached Zaporizhzhia by their own vehicles on April 14 through humanitarian corridors. 225 people were evacuated from settlements in Luhansk region. Once again, the silence regime was not maintained by the Russian troops.
Also, local sources in the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk region reported a growing threat of shelling by the Russian military during evacuations. In recent days, permanent shelling of evacuation vehicles has been recorded, and there are reports of fatalities. In this way, Russian troops are trying to stop the evacuation of the local population to Ukrainian government-controlled territories.
Since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion, as of April 13, 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has recorded 4,577 civilian casualties in Ukraine (1,964 dead and 2,613 wounded). More than 540 children suffered in Ukraine as a result of the aggression of the Russian Federation. Juvenile prosecutors report that 197 children were killed and more than 351 were injured to varying degrees of severity.
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Liudmyla Denisova, reported that more than 1,100 children from boarding schools in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions had been transported to Russia by February 24. At present, 280 cases of their adoption by Russian citizens have been prepared. Denisova informed that next week the Russian State Duma will consider a bill to simplify the procedure for adoption of Ukrainian children by Russian citizens.
The head of the National Police Ihor Klymenko stated that during the full-scale war, more than 6.6 thousand cases have been opened on the facts of crimes committed by Russian servicemen in Ukraine.
Bucha Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk reports that 85% of civilians killed in the city have bullet wounds. According to him, this indicates the existence of premeditated killings, refuting the version of the accidental death of civilians.
Another (already the fourth) exchange of prisoners of war with Russia took place. As a result, 30 citizens of Ukraine (5 officers and 17 servicemen, 8 civilians, including 1 woman) were released.
The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reports the release of 2 Ukrainian pilots who were captured on March 8 near the village of Nova Basan (Chernihiv region). They said that the Russians violated the rules of detention of prisoners, in particular, regarding the lack of provision of basic medical care in the pre-trial detention center of Kursk.
The head of the party “Servant of the People” Olena Shuliak reported that as of April 14, more than 219.6 thousand people in Ukraine were left without housing. 95% of the buildings in the city of Mariupol were destroyed by Russian troops. The UN Satellite Center released images showing almost 80% of the destruction of the village of Horenka (Kyiv region). The Ministry of Health reported that Russian shelling damaged 324 hospitals, 24 of which were destroyed to the ground.
ECONOMIC SITUATION
Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solskyi told about a significant reduction in the export of agricultural products from Ukraine. Products worth $842 million were exported in March this year, while in the same period last year the value of exports amounted to $1.9 billion.
The National Bank of Ukraine informs that inflation may exceed 20% this year. The rise in prices for goods and services is caused by disruption of production processes and logistics, the effects of the hryvnia’s devaluation that occurred on the eve of the war, and the high cost of energy resources. Despite the fact that economic activity in the country is gradually recovering, the National Bank of Ukraine estimates the fall of Ukrainian GDP at one third of the economy.
National Bank of Ukraine allowed banks to sell cash foreign currency to the population starting from April 14.
POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC EVENTS
The Verkhovna Rada recognized the actions committed by Russia during the military attack on Ukraine as genocide of the Ukrainian people. In addition, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a law “On the Prohibition of Propaganda of the Russian Neo-Nazi Totalitarian Regime, an Act of Aggression against Ukraine by Russia as a Terrorist State, Symbols Used by Russian Armed Forces and Other Military Units in the War against Ukraine.” According to the law, Russia is recognized as a terrorist state, with one of the goals of its political regime being the state genocide of the Ukrainian people.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi had a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. The parties discussed the investigation of Russian war crimes, the struggle of the Ukrainian people against the Russian invasion and the negotiation process between Ukraine and Russia.
The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak held trilateral consultations with Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser to the President of the United States, and Stephen Lovegrove, Adviser to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on National Security. Yermak briefed his partners on the situation at the front and on Russia’s war crimes. The course and prospects of negotiations with Russia and mechanisms for providing security guarantees for Ukraine were also discussed.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. The parties discussed the next package of military assistance to Ukraine and agreed on positions on further sanctions to be imposed against Russia.
The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk held an official meeting with the Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Miloš Vystrčil and the Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland Tomasz Grodzki, who arrived in Ukraine. The parliamentarians together visited the settlements of Kyiv region (Bucha, Borodianka and Irpin) liberated from Russian troops. Representatives of the Senates of the Czech Republic and Poland stressed that there was no justification for Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine.
After a trip to Eastern Europe, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that the Kremlin’s long-term goal is to destabilize Western society as a whole, and this conflict of values, which has manifested itself in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, could last for years. According to him, Belgium actively supports Ukraine, in particular by providing financial and humanitarian assistance.
The information in the digest is collected from official sources — reports of state authorities of Ukraine, Ukrainian and international news agencies. The accuracy of the data is carefully checked by the project team and corrected in case of fake news.