Zelenskyj wants to prepare new brigades for the offensive.
Ukraine hides nearly 500 bodies at the front.
The news ticker on the Ukraine war.
War justification
: Kremlin claims NATO wants to “devour” Ukraine
Explosions
in
Belgorod
: Kiev expects more incidents
Consultations
in
Ramstein
: NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg wants to continue talking about fighter jets
Here you can read current developments from the Ukraine conflict.
The processed information on the losses of the armies involved in the Ukraine war comes partly from the warring parties from Russia or Ukraine.
They can therefore not be independently checked in part.
Update from April 22, 7:31 a.m .:
Against the background of the expected counter-offensive in Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj reported the construction of new military units.
"We are also actively preparing new brigades and units that will prove themselves at the front," the 45-year-old said in his daily video address yesterday.
His meetings with the General Staff are about providing all means to liberate Ukraine from Russian occupation.
"All of us in Ukraine must understand that the main task of the state is to liberate our territories, to bring back our land and our people from Russian captivity." State resources are primarily used for this, said the head of state.
The front has top priority, he emphasized.
Missing soldiers in the Ukraine war: Kiev has recovered almost 500 bodies of fallen soldiers
Update from April 22, 6:28 a.m.:
According to their own statements, search teams from the Ukrainian military have recovered almost 500 bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers since the beginning of the war, says the colonel of the Ukrainian armed forces, Volodymyr Lyamzin.
A total of 600 villages were searched at the front, the Ukrainian state news agency
Ukrinform
reported .
More than 7,000 Ukrainian soldiers are still missing.
Ukraine's Missing Persons Commissioner Oleh Kotenko estimates that about two-thirds of those are in captivity, while the remainder may not be alive.
+
Ukraine war: Kiev says it has recovered almost 500 bodies.
© Roman Chop/AP/dpa
Ukraine war: Ukrainian defense minister again calls for western fighter jets for Kiev
Update from April 21, 10:20 p.m .:
After the meeting of the Ukraine contact group at the US air base in Ramstein, Ukraine confirmed its desire for western fighter jets.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov said on Friday after the talks that he was certain that Kiev would receive modern fighter jets "according to NATO standards" from the allies for its air defense.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he was confident that Kiev would recapture more of the territory occupied by Russia.
Meanwhile, Germany, Ukraine and Poland have agreed to set up a joint repair center for Leopard 2 tanks.
The Ukrainian Defense Minister Resnikov said that more time was needed for the delivery of Western fighter jets, which Kiev had been demanding for months.
However, he was very satisfied with the talks in Ramstein, said Resnikov in the ZDF "heute journal".
He was able to present "Ukraine's priorities" and report what help his government expected.
This currently did not include long-range weapons to attack Russian territory.
There were "enough targets" of the Russian army on Ukrainian territory "so that we can destroy the Russian military potential".
Ukraine War: Kremlin swaps fleet commanders
Update from April 21, 6:55 p.m .:
Russia’s fleet units in the Baltic Sea and in the Pacific Ocean have each received a new commander.
The former head of the Baltic Fleet, Admiral Viktor Liina, is now in charge of the Pacific Fleet, according to the Interfax news agency on Friday.
“The Deputy Chief of General Staff, Vice-Admiral Vladimir Vorobyov, has been appointed Commander of the Baltic Fleet.
The relevant documents have been signed,” Interfax reported, citing military circles.
The replacement of the previous head of the Pacific Fleet, Sergei Avakyants, was announced on Thursday.
The news caused resonance, especially in connection with the timing: just a few days ago, the Pacific Fleet had started an unannounced major maneuver.
Although President Vladimir Putin praised the course of the exercises at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in the Kremlin, Avakyants was given a leave of absence before the end.
Officially, the 65-year-old Awakjanz was retired because he had reached retirement age.
Independent media, on the other hand, pointed to the high losses that parts of the fleet under Avakyants' leadership are said to have suffered in Ukraine.
In the future he is to lead a staff for military-sports and patriotic training.
War in Ukraine: Moscow seeks arrest warrant for Ukrainian intelligence chief Budanov
Update from April 21, 5 p.m.:
A Russian court has issued an arrest warrant for the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov.
The spy chief is accused of organizing "terrorist attacks" in Russia, the state news agency
RIA
reports .
The trial against him was announced "in absentia", apparently acknowledging that Budanov cannot be arrested immediately.
Budanov, meanwhile, has reacted ironically to his "arrest in absentia" in Russia and promised to do even better work against the Russian armed forces.
"It was kind of embarrassing that there weren't any decisions about me there.
I am happy.
This is a good indicator of our work and I promise to work even better," the spy chief told
Ukrainska Pravda
.
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
Ukraine war: Kremlin defends attack on neighboring country
Update from April 21, 3:20 p.m .:
Russia criticized the visit of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to Kiev – and used it as further justification for the 14-month war of aggression against Ukraine.
"NATO is apparently continuing on its course of engulfing Ukraine and drawing it into the alliance," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, according to the
Interfax
news agency .
Referring to the invasion of the neighboring country ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Peskov said: "All of this shows once again to anyone who has at least a little intellectual capacity that the President's decision to start this operation was correct."
One of the Kremlin's official war aims is to prevent the neighboring country from becoming a member of NATO – even if, as a sovereign state, it has the fundamental right to freely choose an alliance.
Notwithstanding, Ukraine's accession before the start of the Russian invasion was by no means imminent.
On the other hand, Stoltenberg has repeatedly indirectly ruled out an early accession in the middle of war.
Ukraine war: Kiev expects more incidents like in Belgorod
Update from April 21, 1:55 p.m .:
After an accidental explosion caused by a fighter jet in the Russian city of Belgorod, a Ukrainian military commented on the incident.
"Such bombs could have fallen elsewhere," Yuriy Ihnat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, told a Ukrainian news program.
The Russians would "rush everything" - corresponding accidents are therefore not a surprise.
Belgorod will therefore not remain the only Russian place where bombs will fall.
"Such incidents will increase," said Ihnat.
Ukraine war: Leaks continue to be an issue at Ramstein meetings
Update from April 21, 1:02 p.m .
: The documents have become known as “Ukraine Leaks”: US papers with information on arms deliveries and assessments of the Ukraine war.
They circulated online for weeks.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stressed at the Ukraine Contact Group meeting in Ramstein: "I take this issue very seriously and we will continue to work closely and respectfully with our valued allies and partners."
Ukraine war: Stoltenberg wants further talks about fighter jets for Kiev
Update from April 21, 12:03 p.m .
: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke out in Ramstein in favor of continuing to debate fighter jets for Ukraine.
So far, the country has only received Soviet-designed Mig-29 fighter jets from the West.
At his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday (April 20) in Kiev, he said that Ukraine needed more weapons, Stoltenberg said.
Among them were jets and air defense systems.
Stoltenberg also made it clear that he currently considers the discussion about further arms deliveries to be much more important than the plans for Ukraine to join NATO.
The international Ukraine contact group is currently meeting at the US air base in Ramstein.
War in Ukraine: Ukraine reports night-time drone attacks – Kiev also affected
Update from April 21, 10:58 a.m
.: The Ukrainian capital Kiev was quiet for almost a month.
Now they hit Russian combat drones again on Friday night (April 21).
This was announced by the Ukrainian General Staff.
Eight of the ten attacks nationwide could have been warded off.
The information could not be checked independently.
Nothing was initially known about possible victims.
Ukraine War: Fighter jet incident at Belgorod in Russia - heavy explosion
Update from April 21, 10:37 a.m .
: After the fighter jet incident in Belgorod, Russia, the number of injuries has risen to three.
No one is in mortal danger, said the governor of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, on Telegram.
On Thursday evening (April 20), a heavy explosion occurred in the middle of a Belgorod crossroads, tearing a crater with a radius of around 20 meters in the ground.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow later announced that a Russian fighter jet had "shot down unplanned ammunition".
Russia's losses in the Ukraine war: Kiev publishes current figures
Update from April 21, 9:53 a.m
.: Kiev has announced new figures for Russia's losses in the Ukraine war.
According to this, 630 other Russian soldiers were killed or wounded within 24 hours.
Their total number thus increases to around 185,050.
The numbers cannot be independently verified, and Russia does not publish any data.
Here is a selection of the numbers of the Ukrainian General Staff on Facebook:
Soldiers:
so far a total of about 185,050 (+630)
Tanks:
3668 (+1)
Armored Fighting Vehicles:
7126 (+6)
Artillery systems:
2827 (+2)
Multiple Rocket Launchers:
539 (+1)
Vehicles and fuel tanks:
5713 (+6)
Source: Ukrainian General Staff as of April 21.
The information cannot be independently verified.
Ukraine war: NATO entry for Kiev?
Pistorius recommends “a cool head and a hot heart”
Update from April 21, 9:36 a.m .
: Ukraine wants to join NATO.
When will Kiev's wish come true?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the Western military alliance on Thursday evening (April 20) to clear the way at their summit in July.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, however, assumes that the decision will only be made after the end of the Russian war of aggression.
You have to "first fend off this conflict, this attack, and then in the new era you have to weigh up this step carefully," said the SPD politician in the latest edition of "Maybrit Illner" (ZDF).
It's not a question "that you just meet out of solidarity" because the step has an effect.
"You have to decide with a cool head and a warm heart and not the other way around."
War in Ukraine: According to the secret service, Russian media underestimates the counter-offensive
Update from April 21, 8:56 a.m
.: According to British military experts, Russian online media deliberately overestimate the importance of the soil conditions for the expected Ukrainian counter-offensive.
This emerges from the latest intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defense on the Ukraine war.
Accordingly, mud slows down military operations on both sides.
According to the British, the impact on the Ukrainian offensive is being overestimated by the Russian side in order to boost their own morale.
"The soil conditions are likely to improve in the coming weeks," it said.
Ukraine war: Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov thanks Cuba for "understanding"
Update from April 21, 7:09 a.m
.: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has completed the last stop of his Latin America trip: Cuba.
In Havana he met his counterpart Bruno Rodríguez.
There Lavrov thanked the communist Cuban government for its "understanding" of the Russian actions in the Ukraine conflict.
"We appreciate that from the beginning of our special military operation, our Cuban friends (...) have expressed their full understanding," Lavrov said on Thursday (April 20), according to his ministry.
Ukraine War: Pistorius comments on Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory
Update from April 21, 5:34 a.m
.: Defense Minister Boris Pistorius considers limited attacks by Ukraine on Russian territory in the fight against the invasion to be acceptable.
It is "completely normal" in such a military conflict "that the attacked person also moves into enemy territory, for example to block supply routes," said the SPD politician on the ZDF program "Maybrit Illner".
“As long as no cities, no civilians, no civilian areas are attacked, you will have to accept that.
Not with pleasure, but it is part of it, for example to prevent supply routes.”
Referring to the state of the Russian army, Pistorius said: "We know that some of the material that is now being pushed in from the depots is in a pitiful condition.
Some are literally ancient – tanks from the 50s and 60s.”
Ukraine war news: London sees signs of restructuring in Russian military
First report from April 20th
: Kiev/Moscow/London – According to British secret services, the Russian military could have repositioned itself in the occupied areas of Ukraine.
According to their situation report from Thursday (April 20), the British see a message from the Kremlin as a sign of this, in which the recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to regional combat troops on the Dnipro River was discussed.
The designation of these troops as a larger unit named after the Dnipro was new, the British Ministry of Defense said.
However, throughout the course of the war, the Russian armed forces are said to have increasingly encountered problems.
So far, the little progress has mostly only been achieved with heavy losses on the part of Russia.
News about the Ukraine war: Dnipro troops are supposed to defend occupied areas
At the beginning of the Ukraine war, the regional combat troops were named after their home districts in Russia.
The fact that there is now a presumed new Russian Dnipro combat unit indicates that the military has reorganized itself.
The British suspect that the reason for this could be heavy casualties.
The troops on the Dnipro were probably tasked with defending the southern part of the occupied territory.
The British Ministry of Defense has published daily information on the course of the war since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, citing intelligence information.
In doing so, the British government wants to both counter the Russian portrayal and keep allies in line.
Moscow accuses London of a disinformation campaign.
(Talk to dpa/AFP)
List of rubrics: © Roman Chop/AP/dpa