Brief facts:
Side note: news are marked in accordance with the Kyiv time zone: Eastern European Time (EET), GMT/UTC+2
Read more: The 47th Day of the War: Russia Has Lost 19 500 Personnel, 725 Tanks and 154 Aircraft
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23:30 The press service of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office: Russians fire on village in Kharkiv region: 1 killed, 2 wounded.
A 37-year-old man was killed and two people were wounded in a Russian troops’ strike on the village of Babayi, Kharkiv region.
"According to the investigation data, Russian servicemen fired on the village of Babayi in Kharkiv region at about 14:00 on April 12, 2022. As a result, a 37-year-old man was killed. Two more people were wounded," the press service of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office posted on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.
22:50 The press service of the Joint Forces Operation: Ukrainian defenders repulse six enemy attacks in JFO area today.
Today, Ukrainian troops have successfully repulsed six enemy attacks in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in eastern Ukraine.
"Thanks to the skillful actions and mastery of the Joint Forces, six enemy attacks have been successfully repulsed so far today. Our defenders inflicted losses on the Russian occupiers," the press service of the JFO posted on Facebook.
22:30 The White House press service: The President of the United States Joe Biden and the Prime Minister of Britain Boris Johnson discuss with continuation of assistance to Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a telephone conversation discussed the Prime Minister's recent trip to Kyiv, as well as continued assistance to Ukraine, the White House said in a statement.
"President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom about the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Ukraine," the White House said in the press release.
21:55 The Head of theSecurity Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov: No traitor will escape punishment and will be held accountable under the Law of Ukraine. For all the crimes of today, which led to his personal actions.
More information about putin's ally Victor Medvedchuk soon.
21:30 Head of the Kryvyi Rih Military Administration Oleksandr Vilkul: Ukraine’s Armed Forces liberate more than 15 localities, advance deep into Kherson region.
The Ukrainian army pushed the line of fire from Kryvyi Rih district deep into Kherson region, liberating more than 15 populated localities.
"Thanks to the valor of our military, the front line now is not on the border between Kryvyi Rih district and Kherson region, it has been advanced much deeper into Kherson region. More than 15 populated localities have been liberated. Enemies try to hit back, but our fighters destroy enemy hardware and manpower," Head of the Kryvyi Rih Military Administration Oleksandr Vilkul said during the nationwide telethon, Ukrinform reports.
21:15 CNN, citing an unnamed senior Pentagon official: The United States may transfer weapons to Ukraine, the use of which will require additional training, CNN said, citing an unnamed senior Pentagon official.
He said if the United States decide together with the Ukrainians that they need additional weapons systems that the United States can provide, but which require more training, then we will, of course, talk to them about it.
20:20 Editor-in-chief of the online publication Censor.Net, Yuriy Butusov: in kharkiv region, ukrainian army destroyed column of tanks on a ‘tip’ from russian propagandist.
Editor-in-chief of the online publication Censor.Net, Yuriy Butusov, who is currently in Kharkiv region, said this on his YouTube channel, Ukrinform reports.
"April 12. A new column of Russian tanks of the 4th Guards Tank Division of Kantemirov, the parade division of the Russian armed forces, entered eastern Ukraine... The column was completely destroyed, and this T-80 became a trophy," Butusov said.
19:50 General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted successful work of 59 separate brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
19:30 General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Operational information as of 18:00 April 12. Key points.
- In order to regroup, the enemy accelerated the training of junior specialists in the eastern military district of the Russian Federation to coordinate units of the Rosguard and their movement to the border from the regions of Ukraine.
- The partial blockade of the city of Kharkiv continues in the Slobozhansky direction.
- In the area of the city of Izyum, the occupiers regrouped units, replenished stocks of material and technical means and focused on maintaining the pontoon crossing over the Seversky Donets River. Air reconnaissance of the area with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles continues.
- In the Donetsk direction, enemy troops continue to use aviation and tactical missile systems.
- The battles for Mariupol continue.
- In the waters of the Black and Azov Seas, enemy naval groups continue to perform tasks related to the isolation of the area of hostilities and reconnaissance.
18:30 Komysh territorial community: Russian invaders used phosphorus bombs in Zaporizhzhia region.
Russian invaders used phosphorus munitions in their attack on the village of Novoiakovlivka, Zaporizhzhia region.
It is reported with a reference to the Komysh territorial community, Ukrinform reports.
"The Russian occupiers continue to commit war crimes, shelling residential buildings in peaceful settlements, including with prohibited munitions. On the night of April 12, the village of Novoiakovlivka was shelled with phosphorus bombs. Due to the rainy weather there was no fire, no one was injured or killed. There are damaged houses,” the report says.
18:10 The Security Service of Ukraine: Russia's agents sought to stir separatism in Ukraine’s western regions.
According to Ukraine’s Security Service, a group of people recruited by Russia started working to “overthrow the constitutional order” in Ukraine’s western regions in the summer of 2021. SBU reported detaining “the organizer and key people” in Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnytsky Oblasts.
17:08 Azov Regiment has detailed the symptoms of people affected by the Russian alleged chemical strike.
The main symptoms of the victims are the following: facial hyperemia, high blood pressure, dryness and inflammation of the fauces and mucous membranes of the eyes. Russian military used unidentified "poisonous substances or potent poisonous substances, mainly the suffocating ones," Azov Special Operations Detachment wrote on Telegram. A comprehensive toxicological analysis of the toxin is impossible due to the complete blockade of Mariupol. The victims are in a "relatively satisfactory condition":
"Contact of the civilians with the substance was minimal, the epicenter was in some distance from the civilians' location. The military were a little bit closer. However, it is impossible to investigate the scene of crime due to the enemy fire, because the Russians continue using the tactics of concealing their own crimes," the Azov Detachment noted.
16:50 Ukraine NOW: the occupiers offer a hectare of land and Russian citizenship in three months to forcibly displaced citizens of Ukraine.
It is written on the leaflets that occupiers spread among the Ukrainians, forcibly deported to Russian-controlled territories. A sample of such leaflet was published by Mariupol City Council.
"The Nazis in the 1940s promised a good life, too, when they spurred people to work in Germany. But hundreds of thousands found no gold mountains there, but humiliation, inhuman abuse, or death. The history repeats itself," the city council wrote.
16:18 Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine: Ukrainian citizens helped the military find Russian radar stations.
Minister of digital transformation Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on his Telegram channel about how his team and common citizens help the Armed Forces of Ukraine to find and destroy the enemy. In just two days his team received 33 geolocations where the Russian Redut-2U mobile communication complexes are stationed. Specialists gathered the information and sent it to the military.
"In modern warfare communication is extremely important. Via this complex Russian command is giving soldiers orders and sharing information among themselves. The destruction of Redut-2US allows to disrupt this connection," Mykhailo Fedorov said.
15:54 Visegrad 24: a picture of T-72 tanks transported east from Poland appeared on the web
Visegrad 24 news agency reported on some "rumors" in Poland about the Polish authorities discovering that 100 T-72 tanks of M1R modernization had disappeared from a storage facility near Lublin.
A bit later a message appeared that Poland had bought 250 M1A2 Abrams tanks in its most modernized version SEPv3, with the first batch of them arriving later this year. It was confirmed by the Polish Defense Ministry on Twitter.
Visegrad 24 wished "Happy hunting Ukraine" implying those T-72s might be going to Ukraine as military aid from Poland or joint efforts of NATO countries.
More details in Defense Express coverage soon.
15:18 Liveuamap: The New York Times documented the bodies of almost three dozen people where they were killed in Bucha – in their homes, in the woods, in a vacant parking lot – and learned the story behind many of their deaths.
"As the Russian advance on Kyiv stalled in the face of fierce resistance, civilians said, the enemy occupation of Bucha slid into a campaign of terror and revenge. When a defeated and demoralized Russian Army finally retreated, it left behind a grim tableau: bodies of dead civilians strewn on streets, in basements or in backyards, many with gunshot wounds to their heads, some with their hands tied behind their backs," The New York Times journalists wrote as they visited Bucha, documented dozens of killings of civilians, interviewed scores of witnesses and followed local investigators to uncover the scale of Russian atrocities.
14:56 Ukraine Media Center: Ukrainian border guards bolster the defense near the so-called Transnistria breakaway region of Moldova.
"On the border with Moldova, the area adjacent to Transnistria, and on the Belarus border the security measures were enhanced to prevent escalation in these directions. We stand together with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other security and defense services, and we are ready for action in case enemies will try to invade in these directions," said Andriy Demchenko, spokesperson of the State Border Guard Service during his briefing at the Ukraine Media Center.
14:34 Defense Intelligence of Ukraine: Russia is desperately trying to keep its soldiers in Ukraine.
The Main Directorate of Ukrainian intelligence has found out that Russian servicemen don't receive the payment they were promised for participation in the military operation on Ukraine's territory. Furthermore, they cannot get a veteran status unless they are wounded, All the appeals to the HQ by Russian troops are ignored.
To prevent the spread of panic, the command ordered to transport bodies of killed Russians in small groups. This way riots in their units may be prevented, as well as worrying among locals in the Russian Federation. Defense Express notes, that according to the latest General Staff report, more than 19,600 Russian personnel has already been lost. These are the most strict estimates, real numbers could be much higher.
Also, a Russian army contract is going to include a provision on consent as granted to participate in military activities regardless of the location, according to the intelligence's findings.
14:10 Special Communications Service: Ukraine's electrical infrastructure suffered a massive cyberattack
Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) which operates under the Special Communications Service (SSSCIP) of Ukraine reported a Sandworm (UAC-0082) cyberattack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure using Industroyer2 and CaddyWiper malware.
The attackers attempted to take down several infrastructure components of their target, namely: electrical substations, Windows-operated computing systems, Linux-operated server equipment, and active network equipment. They used different types of attacks on each segment. More details here.
As reported, the target organization suffered two attack waves. The initial compromise occurred not later than in February 2022. And on Friday evening, April 8, the attackers planned to shut down the electrical substations and take down the enterprise’s infrastructure.
However, the malicious intent has been prevented, SSSCIP reports. To prevent further cyberattacks the information, including malicious software samples, has been shared with the international partners and Ukraine’s energy sector enterprises.
13:43 The Guardian: Russia receives military equipment and ammunition for the war against Ukraine from Iraq
The supplies are delivered to Russia with the help of Iranian weapons smuggling networks, writes The Guardian citing its Iraqi sources and regional intelligence. The underworld deals brought to Russia anti-tank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, and Brazilian-designed Astros II rocket launcher systems. The latter were dismantled and sent in pieces.
In addition, Iran returned to Russia the earlier donated S-300 air defense systems and transferred a similar Iranian-made Bavar 373 missile system, said a source who helped organize the transport.
13:31 Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights: Russian occupiers raped at least 25 girls and women in Bucha
Ukraine's ombudsman for human rights Lyudmyla Denisova told BBC about several documented cases of such violence. She said, 25 girls and women of age 14 to 24 were found in one basement in Bucha only. Nine of them became pregnant:
"Russian soldiers told them they would rape them to the point where they wouldn't want sexual contact with any man, to prevent them from having Ukrainian children," Lyudmyla Denisova said.
12:46 Major General Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine: Russian special services plan to carry out terrorist attacks in the territory of Russia to escalate anti-Ukrainian hysteria.
"Russian special services plan to carry out a series of terrorist attacks to mine and blow up residential houses, hospitals, and schools in Russian populated localities, as well as to launch missile and bomb strikes on Belgorod or one of the towns in Crimea," said Major General Kyrylo Budanov, the Directorate posted on Telegram.
12:01 Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Malyar said during the nationwide telethon: The information about the possible use of chemical weapons by Russian invaders in Mariupol is being verified. Russians could have used phosphorus bombs.
"As of now, we are verifying this information. We are trying to understand what it was. But I can say from preliminary data that there are, rather, assumptions that phosphorus munitions could have been used. The final official information will be released later. But we need to understand that the risk of using chemical weapons does exist, it is quite high," said Hanna Malyar.
11:15 Serhiy Hamaliy, the head of Khmelnytsky Regional Military Administration .On Tuesday, Russian occupiers night launched a missile attack on an infrastructure facility in Khmelnytsky region.
"At night, the enemy attacked an infrastructure facility on the territory of the Khmelnytsky region with a missile strike. As a result of the strike, there was a fire that has already been eliminated," Hamaliy wrote on Telegram on Tuesday. He added that no people were injured as a result of the shelling.
10:45 The United States will make every effort to hold Russia accountable for all its war crimes committed in Ukraine. “Let there be no doubt that Russia will be held accountable for the Kramatorsk missile strike, the civilian deaths in Bucha, and the continuing destruction of Mariupol and Kharkiv. We have already said that we assess that members of Russian armed forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine. The United States is committed to pursuing accountability for those responsible for such crimes,” Ambassador Michael Carpenter, U.S. Permanent Representative to OSCE, said at a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council dedicated to Russia's missile attack on the Kramatorsk railway station.
According to the diplomat, the United States assesses that Russians fired a short-range ballistic missile on the Kramatorsk railway station.
As noted, in addition to providing Ukraine with the largest amount of security assistance of any country in the world, the United States is also supporting a range of accountability mechanisms in Ukraine, including investigations by Ukraine’s national authorities, international investigative mechanisms, and the important work of human rights documenters.
“Right now, at the request of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the United States is supporting a multi-national team of international prosecutors and other war crimes experts deployed to the region. This interdisciplinary team, which includes American experts, is directly supporting the efforts of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s War Crimes Units to collect, preserve, and analyze evidence of atrocities with a view toward pursuing criminal accountability processes,” Carpenter said.
He also mentioned the Moscow Mechanism invoked at the OSCE by 45 participating States to investigate possible war crimes and violations of international humanitarian and human rights law resulting from Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“We are committed to using every tool available to ensure those responsible are held accountable for atrocities,” the U.S. Permanent Representative to OSCE stressed.
10:00 The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has posted the new summary of total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 12.04. Find them in an infographic by Defense Express:
So far, the list of enemy's combat losses is the following:
Personnel - more 19 600,
Tanks ‒ 732 units,
APV ‒ 1946 units,
Artillery systems – 349 units,
MLRS – 111 units,
Anti-aircraft warfare systems – 63 units,
Aircraft – 157 units,
Helicopters – 140 units,
Vehicles – 1406 units,
Boats / cutters - 7 units,
Fuel tanks - 76,
UAV operational-tactical level - 124 units,
Special equipment – 25,
Mobile SRBM system - 4.
Data are being updated. The calculation is complicated by the intensity of hostilities.
09:09 According to data provided by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, russian troops have killed 186 children in Ukraine since February 24. As of the morning of April 12, more than 530 children suffered in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s armed aggression. In particular, 186 children were killed and more than 344 were injured, the PGO’s press service wrote on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.
It is noted that these figures are not final, as work is underway in the areas of active hostilities, in the temporarily occupied and liberated territories. The largest number of victims has been recorded in Donetsk region – 113, Kyiv region - 99, Kharkiv region - 76, Chernihiv region - 54, Mykolaiv region - 40, Luhansk region – 36, Kherson region – 36, Zaporizhzhia region – 22, Kyiv city – 16, Sumy region – 16, and Zhytomyr region – 15. In particular, during the recording of criminal crimes committed by Russian forces in the village of Havronshchyna, Bucha district, Kyiv region, a shot civilian car was found. The bodies of five people, including a one-year-old child and a 14-year-old boy, were buried nearby. In addition, in the village of Havrylivka, Bucha district, Kyiv region, the body of a five-year-old child with multiple injuries caused by the blast of an artillery shell was found.
08:45 Mykola Lukashuk, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council, wrote this on Telegram: "The night in Dnipropetrovsk region was uneasy: there were two airstrikes in Synelnykivskyi district on the border of Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. One rocket hit an old mill: as a result of the blow, the windows were broken and the roof was damaged. The second rocket was shot down over the fields,” he wrote. No casualties have been reported. He also added that there are no enemy military equipment and forces in the region.
08:02 General Staff: operational information as of 06:00, 11.04.2022 regarding the Russian invasion. Key points:
- A russian federation is trying to complete the regrouping and relocation of units to areas of concentration in the Belgorod and Voronezh regions of the russian federation.
- In the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, the russian occupiers use the premises of agricultural enterprises, energy and social infrastructure facilities, and the central districts of settlements. Cases of enemy fighting in civilian clothes have been reported.
- Units of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District are being relocated to designated areas in the Belgorod and Voronezh oblasts.
- In the Slobozhansky direction, enemy troops continue to partially block the city of Kharkiv. In the area of the city of Izyum, the russian enemy is fighting with separate units of the 1st tank and 20th Guards Combined Arms Army.
- In the Donetsk and Tavriya directions, the russian enemy is fighting and holding certain borders with forces from the Southern Military District.
- There are signs of strengthening the air defence system in the areas of Melitopol and Ilovaisk.
- It is likely that in the future the enemy will try to take control of the city of Mariupol, capture Popasna and launch an offensive in the direction of Kurakhove in order to reach the administrative borders of Donetsk region.
- In the South Buh direction, the enemy holds certain boundaries by units of the Southern Military District.
- The russian enemy does not stop trying to gain a foothold on the administrative borders of Kherson region.
- In the waters of the Black and Azov Seas, russian enemy naval groups continue to perform tasks related to the isolation of the area of hostilities, reconnaissance, and fire support of ground units.
- The threat of the enemy's use of missile weapons remains.
- In the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, our soldiers repulsed six enemy attacks, destroyed four tanks, five armoured units, twenty-six vehicles and eight enemy artillery systems.
- The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has hit seven air targets in the previous day: one plane, two helicopters and four unmanned aerial vehicles.
07:34 Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of the besieged city of Mariupol has told the Associated Press news agency that at least 10,000 civilians have died in the southern port since the war began. He added that there were still 120,000 civilians in Mariupol. They urgently need of food, water and medicine, he added. Boychenko also said he had received reports of Russians collecting bodies and storing them in fridges at a huge shopping center. “Mobile crematoriums have arrived in the form of trucks: you open it, and there is a pipe inside and these bodies are burned,” he said.
07:00 Andriy Biletsky, the founder of the Azov Regimen stated: three persons have been affected by Russia’s chemical attack on the city of Mariupol with an unknown poisonous substance In his words, several hours ago, Russian troops used chemical weapons in Mariupol, namely within the Azovstal plant.
“Talking of the practical side of the strike, it was small. Three persons are showing the clear signs of poisoning with warfare chemicals, but no catastrophic effects. These idiots [Russians - Ed.] cannot even use the weapons of mass destruction properly. Talking of the moral side, this indicates the cowardice of Russians only,” Biletsky told.
02:00 Armed Forces of Ukraine eliminated seven enemy air targets over past day.
The Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile and defense units have destroyed seven enemy air targets over the past day, including a plane and two helicopters.
The relevant statement was made by the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, - Ukrinform reports.
“On April 11, 2022, the anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Forces and the anti-aircraft defense units of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed seven enemy air targets: one plane, two helicopters, four unmanned aerial vehicles,” - the report states.
The fighter jets of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to confront the enemy’s prevailing forces. They are patrolling the air space and covering the assault groups of Su-25 and Su-24m attack aircrafts, launching missile and air strikes on the positions of Russian troops in different areas.
01:26 The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky: Sanctions must be strong enough to prevent Russia from saying a word about weapon of mass destruction.
Ukraine is taking Russia’s threats to use chemical weapons against the Ukrainian people as seriously as possible.
The relevant statement was made by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in his video address, - Ukrinform reports.
“Today Russian occupiers have made a new statement confirming they are preparing for another stage of terror against Ukraine and our defenders. One of the occupiers’ mouthpieces announced they could use chemical weapons against Mariupol defenders. We are taking this threat as seriously as possible,” - Zelensky told.
In his words, the possible use of chemical weapons by the Russian military has already been discussed. The President of Ukraine believes that even at that time it was necessary to react to the Russian aggression in a much harder and faster manner.
According to Zelensky, the European Union has started to consider the sixth package of sanctions against Russia.
“It is time to make this package so that it would prevent Russia from saying a word about the weapons of mass destruction. The oil embargo against Russia is mandatory. Any new sanctions package against Russia that does not affect oil will be received in Moscow with a smile,” - the President of Ukraine stressed.
00.55 UN hearing increasing accounts of sexual violence in Ukraine.
The United Nations has increasingly heard accounts of rape and sexual violence in Ukraine, a senior UN official told the Security Council today, - The Guardian reports, citing Reuters.
Sima Bahous, UN Women executive director, told the council: “We are increasingly hearing of rape and sexual violence. The combination of mass displacement with the large pressure results of conscripts and mercenaries and the brutality displayed against Ukrainian civilians has raised all red flags.”
Kateryna Cherepakha, president of La Strada-Ukraine, a human rights organization, also said her group’s hotlines had received calls accusing Russian soldiers of nine cases of rape, involving 12 women and girls.
She told the council, according to Reuters: “This is just the tip of the iceberg. We know and see - and we want you to hear our voices - that violence and rape is used now as a weapon of war by Russian invaders in Ukraine.”
The UN said last week that its human rights monitors were working to verify allegations of sexual violence by Russian soldiers, including claims of gang rape and rapes in front of children. The UN further said it was investigating claims that Ukrainian forces and civil defense militias had committed acts of sexual violence; Ukraine’s UN mission did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on those allegations. Russia has repeatedly denied attacking civilians.
Ukraine’s UN ambassador also told the security council that its prosecutor general’s office was launching a “special mechanism of documentation” for cases involving sexual violence.
00:40 Ukraine’s Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmyla Denisova: Horrific acts of sexual violence by Russian troops in Bucha and elsewhere were recodered.
Ukraine’s ombudswoman for human rights said she had recorded horrific acts of sexual violence by Russian troops in Bucha and elsewhere, including a case in which women and girls were kept in a basement for 25 days, - The Guardian reports, citing the New York Times.
Nine of those victims are now pregnant, according to the ombudswoman, Lyudmyla Denisova.
Denisova has urged the UN human rights commission to “take into account these facts of Russian war crimes in Ukraine”, adding:
The level of brutality of the army of terrorists and executioners of the Russian Federation knows no bounds.”
In Bucha’s Month of Terror, the New York Times lays out horrifying details and images of the “campaign of terror and revenge against civilians” as Russia’s advance on Kyiv was stalled.
00:25 White House: Replacement of Ukraine war commander will not help Russia.
The appointment of General Alexander Dvornikov as Ukraine war commander will not erase the fact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a strategic failure for Russia.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this at a briefing in Washington on Monday, April 11, - Ukrinform reports.
"Our view is that even a changeover in personnel or leadership at the top is not going to erase the fact that this [offensive operation in Ukraine] is a strategic failure for Russia," - she said.
Psaki also noted that General Dvornikov is known for Russian forces committing barbaric acts against civilians in Syria under his leadership.
"We would expect that it would be a continuation of the types of atrocities we've already seen take place in Ukraine," - Psaki said.
00:10 Europol launched an operation targeting the assets of Russian individuals and companies.
Europol, the EU’s policy agency, based in The Hague, launched the operation dubbed “Oscar” jointly with EU member states, as well as Eurojust and Frontex, - The Guardian reports, citing the AFP.
The operation aims to “facilitate partners’ exchange of information and intelligence and provide operational support in a number of financial investigations targeting criminal assets and circumvention of the EU economic sanctions related to Russia’s military aggression,” - Europol said in a statement.
The EU’s border agency Frontex “will contribute to the operation by enhancing the scrutiny of the persons who are crossing EU’s external borders and fall under the scope of the sanctions”, the statement said.
Operation Oscar will continue for at least a year and includes a number of separate investigations, - Europol said.
In its statement, Europol said it would also provide financial support to the relevant national authorities and would help provide forensic and technical expertise and support for investigations, the AFP said. Eurojust, the judicial counterpart to Europol, will also be offering legal assistance and other supports.
Key points regarding the current state of warfare:
- Ukraine managed to establish the defense, the Russian offense has stalled, in some directions, the Ukrainian military intensively push back the invaders, numerous villages and small cities were liberated, horrific facts of genocide conducted by russians are revealed.
- Russia uses terroristic methods of war, shelling civilian facilities where there are no military facilities nearby, keeping cities in a full blockade, and sabotaging humanitarian corridors for evacuation and convoys with humanitarian aid.
- Russian army targets nuclear power plants; Zaporizhzhia NPP is currently seized by the invaders; Russian troops, poisoned by radiation, have left the Chornobyl NPP; military activities by Russian forces near the power plants were described by Ukraine as nuclear terrorism
- Ukraine offered the United Nations Security Council a platform for an updated security system – the "Kyiv U-24 Office" similar to the human rights Geneva office or the environmental protection Nairobi office. Or at least prevent from Russia abusing its veto power to continue the war in Ukraine.
- Ukraine is willing to join the European Union, has sent an application which is being considered; during the visit to Kyiv, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen handed over a questionnaire for the EU candidate country status to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said proceeding to the next stage of membership would be "a matter of weeks"
- Ukrainian citizens in the occupied cities rally against the Russians; on their part, the occupiers began to kidnap activists and authorities; locals are being forcibly "evacuated" to Russia with the following deportation to the depressed areas and appointment of jobs
- thousands of civilian volunteers join the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Ukraine has established an International Legion for foreign volunteers willing to fight for Ukraine, thousands have joined already
- Ukraine has had several rounds of negotiations with Russia; still, no significant progress towards ceasefire and peace, the main question, for now, is the provision of concrete security guarantees for Ukraine; the negotiations continue "non-stop" in an online format; President Zelenskyy expressed readiness to directly talk with Putin.
Read more: Day 47th of War Between Ukraine and Russian Federation (Live Updates)
