As the war enters its 772nd day, these are the main developments.
Here is the situation on Saturday, April 6, 2024.
Fighting
- The Ukrainian military launched a swarm of drones at the Morozovsk airbase, which it claimed destroyed six Russian warplanes, significantly damaged eight other jets, along with killing or injuring 20 members of the Russian military base. Russia said its air defences downed 53 Ukrainian drones – the majority of which targeted the southern Rostov region – and only a power substation was damaged.
- An overnight Russian drone strike on Kharkiv killed six people and wounded 11 others, according to officials in Ukraine’s second largest city. Ukraine said Iranian-made Russian drones carried out the attack, hitting multiple high-rise buildings, dormitories and a petrol station.
- Pro-Russian separatists in Moldova claimed that an explosive drone hit a military base under their control close to the Ukrainian border, targeting a radar station that suffered minor damage. They did not directly blame Ukraine.
- The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that its troops managed to take control of the settlement of Vodiane in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Russian state media also said soldiers entered the suburbs of Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut.
- At least three people were killed and 13 wounded after Russia fired five missiles on Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional governor said.
Diplomacy
- US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned of “significant consequences” for China if its companies provide material support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.
- The Kremlin slammed a claim by French President Emmanuel Macron that Russia is attempting to sabotage the Paris Olympics through a disinformation campaign, calling it “wholly unfounded”.
- British Foreign Secretary David Cameron is expected to visit the United States next week in order to persuade Republican politicians to approve a $60bn package of aid for Ukraine that they have delayed in the US Congress for months.
- Japan is adding 164 new industrial products to the list of items that it is banning from being exported to Russia. The items include lithium-ion batteries, vehicle engine oil, gas pipes and optical equipment.
- Russia’s Investigative Committee has claimed that images on the phone of one of the suspects of the deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow earlier this month contain pro-Ukraine data, including individuals in Ukrainian military attire.
Weapons
- Lithuania’s Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said the Baltic state would spend two million euros ($2.16m) to buy about 3,000 Lithuanian-made quadcopter drones for Ukraine, and would also help set up three recovery centres for Ukrainian soldiers.
