First, links to reports from National Public Radio, Reuters, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, the Kyiv Independent, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their initials or names below. (GAZA and DIPLOMACY entries are HERE and HERE.) — MCM
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House set to vote on aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Reported by Scott Simon and Claudia Grisales | NPR The U.S. House is poised to vote on a series of bills that would give additional aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The funding for Ukraine is causing divisions among House Republicans. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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Ukraine needs at least seven Patriot air defence systems, Zelenskiy tells NATO, by Tom Balmforth and Yuliia Dysa | Reuters KYIV — President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told NATO members on Friday that Ukraine needed a minimum of seven Patriot or other high-end air defence systems to counter Russian air strikes, exhorting them to step up their military assistance for Kyiv. In . . . READ MORE . . .
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NEWER Russia says it downs 50 Ukrainian drones overnight, two civilians killed. From Reuters. MOSCOW — The Russian defence ministry said today its air defence intercepted and destroyed 50 Ukrainian drones overnight, repelling one of the largest such attacks on Russia during the conflict in Ukraine. Russian officials said two civilians were killed and a fuel depot was . . . READ MORE . . .
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As Russia edges toward a possible offensive on Kharkiv, some residents flee. Others refuse to leave, by Samya Kullab | AP KHARKIV, Ukraine — Russia seemingly exploited air defense shortages in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, to pummel the region’s energy infrastructure and terrorize its 1.3 million residents. Officials say nearly 200,000 city dwellers remain without power, while . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM APRIL 19 Russian missile barrage on Ukraine city kills 18, by Anna Malpas and Ania Tsoukanova | AFP Rescuers were removing mountains of rubble on Thursday from the site of a lethal Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s historic city of Chernihiv, where at least 18 people were killed in an attack that has prompted fresh pleas for allies to boost Kyiv’s overstretched . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM APRIL 19 Russian attacks on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast kill 7, including children, injure 35, by Abbey Fenbert and Kateryna Denisova | The Kyiv Independent Russian forces attacked Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with missiles Thursday morning, killing at least seven people, including two children, and injuring at least 35 others, local authorities reported. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak said . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM APRIL 19 ‘No region in Ukraine endures hell like Donetsk Oblast,’ governor says of Russia’s war, by Alexander Khrebet | The Kyiv Independent Local authorities in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Oblast have stopped assessing the damage of Russia’s war. Daily barrages of attacks make doing so both futile and extremely dangerous. The oblast’s governor, Donetsk oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin, said . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM APRIL 19 Russia not to go for settlement on Ukraine based on ‘Zelensky formula’ — Lavrov. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russia sees no need to resolve the Ukraine crisis on the basis of the slightly edited so-called “ZelenskY formula,” which is being promoted by the West, as this is thimblerigging and a scam, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with . . . READ MORE . . .