As the war between Russia and Ukraine enters its 408th day, we take a look at the main developments.
This is the state of affairs on Friday, April 7, 2023:
Diplomacy
To fight
- Authorities in Russian-occupied areas in eastern Ukraine said a total of seven civilians were killed in two separate Ukrainian artillery attacks on Thursday.
- The head of Russia’s Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Ukrainian forces are not leaving the city of Bakhmut and he needs more support from the regular Russian army to advance further.
- Andriy Sybiha, deputy head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, told the British Financial Times that Kiev would be ready to discuss the future of Crimea with Moscow if Ukraine’s counter-offensive reached the peninsula. But Ukraine’s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak later appeared to contradict those comments, saying there would be no territory talks with Moscow until Russia pulled out all its troops.
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Kiev’s plans to recapture Russian-held territories are closely guarded, and few people know about the location and timing of a planned “spring offensive,” said Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov. in a radio interview.
Military aid and weapons
- Athens has pledged military support to Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” but officials also warned that Greece should keep many of its Russian-made weapons for its own defensive needs.
- A European Union plan to send 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine is being stalled as member states discuss how much spending on the plan will remain within the EU, officials said.
- Ukraine and Poland have agreed on the joint production of 125 mm caliber tank shells, the Ukrainian state arms producer announced a day after Zelenskyy visited Poland.
- A Ukrainian air commander said Kiev desperately needs F-16 fighter jets, which he described as “four or five times” more effective than the Soviet-era MiG-29 aircraft the country currently uses.