Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 428

As the war enters its 428th day, we review key developments.

This is the state of affairs on Thursday, April 27, 2023:

Diplomacy

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had an hour-long telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two discussed “possible cooperation to reach a fair and lasting peace deal for Ukraine” and Zelenskyy stressed that there “cannot be peace at the cost of territorial compromises”.
• Zelenskyy appointed Pavlo Riabikin, a former minister of strategic industries, as Kyiv’s new ambassador to China.
• The Russian Foreign Ministry noted China’s willingness to participate in a peace process for Ukraine after Xi’s phone call with Zelenskyy.
• Russia’s envoy to the United Nations in Geneva said no real progress had been made in resolving the issues raised by Moscow over the Black Sea grain deal, which expires next month.
• According to the German air force, three Russian military aircraft were intercepted over the Baltic Sea.
• Italy’s economy minister said the cost of rebuilding Kiev in 10 years is likely to exceed $400 billion as Rome hosted a conference on rebuilding Ukraine.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to temporarily control the Russian subsidiaries of two foreign energy companies.
• Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva again called for a “peace group” to negotiate an agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
• Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said the European Union was “becoming militarized at a record pace” and claimed there was little difference between the EU and NATO.
• The Kremlin dismissed rumors that Putin spends much of his time shielded in a nuclear bunker and has lookalikes.
• Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny said a new criminal case of “terrorism” had been opened against him, according to Russia’s TASS news agency. He is currently serving a sentence of more than 11 years for fraud, contempt of court and parole violations, all of which he dismisses as trumped-up charges designed to silence him.

To fight

• Russia has shelled eight areas in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, killing two people and wounding 16 in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine’s defense ministry said.
• Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said Ukraine’s counter-offensive was likely to begin after May 2 and that his mercenaries still had not received much-needed ammunition from the Russian Defense Ministry.
• Ukraine and Russia exchanged dozens of prisoners of war. Kiev said 44 people were repatriated from Russian custody, two of them civilians, while Moscow said 40 had returned.
• The British Ministry of Defense said heavy fighting was raging in the devastated town of Bakhmut, where fighting had raged for months.
• Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said journalist Corrado Zunino, who works for La Repubblica newspaper, injured his shoulder in a drone strike in Kherson.

Weapons

• The top US general in Europe, Christopher Cavoli, said the Ukrainian army will receive the weapons it needs in time for the upcoming counter-offensive against Russia.