Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,160

Here is where things stand on Tuesday, April 29:

Fighting

• Explosions were heard across Kyiv after the Ukrainian military issued a red alert and air defence systems responded to a Russian attack on the capital.
• Ukraine’s military said it shot down 40 of 166 drones launched by Russia in multiple attacks on Monday. It also said 74 drones were redirected by electronic warfare and that damage was recorded in four regions.
• One of those attacks struck a gas facility in Ukraine’s central Cherkasy region, according to the regional governor, leaving consumers in parts of the city of Cherkasy and surrounding villages without gas.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised his foreign intelligence service for the “liquidation” of top Russian military figures, in remarks seen as a reference to the killing of senior Russian military officer Yarosalv Moskalik in a car bombing last week.
• The Ministry of Defence in Moscow said it destroyed 51 Ukrainian drones in the space of less than three hours late on Monday, most of them over Russia’s western Kursk region.
• A military analyst said that Ukraine’s decision to mount an incursion into Kursk was a strategy blunder that allowed Russia to claim additional territory inside Ukraine. “Essentially, Ukraine traded territory it values the most – its own – for territory it didn’t value and that it couldn’t hold forever,” Christopher McCallion, a fellow at Defense Priorities, a Washington, DC-based think tank, said.

Russia declares unilateral truce

• Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a three-day ceasefire in his war against Ukraine, from May 8 to May 10, to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War II.
• Zelenskyy said the world did not want to wait until May 8 for a truce, and called for a “full and unconditional ceasefire for at least 30 days” to provide “a basis for real diplomacy”.
• The White House said United States President Donald Trump wants a permanent ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and that Putin and Zelenskyy needed to come to the negotiating table to end the war.
• The statement came as the Trump administration hit its 100th day in power having failed to make good on a promise to bring an end to the war in Ukraine “shortly” after taking office.
• French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview on Monday that Western allies would “increase pressure on Russia” over the next 10 days, and that he had told the US to harden its stance against Moscow. Macron said the next 15 days would be “crucial” to implementing a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Diplomacy and politics

• Zelenskyy said a minerals deal with the US had become “stronger, more equitable” after negotiations, while Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Kyiv was seeking to finalise any deal as soon as possible.
• The United Nations refugee agency reduced some programmes to support Ukrainians fleeing the front line after the US suspended its support for the organisation.
• Germany’s new government said Berlin would play a bigger role within NATO as the alliance faces questions about its future. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told allies at a ceremony at NATO’s Brussels headquarters that “you can count on us”, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a critical threat.
• The United Kingdom proposed a broad statement of shared values with the European Union which stresses support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the Paris Climate Agreement and free trade, according to a draft document released ahead of an EU-UK summit next month.
• Amazon launched a rival service to Elon Musk’s Starlink launching its first batch of Project Kuiper internet satellites. The development makes it an alternative to Starlink, which has been vital to Kyiv’s war effort and where Musk has previously threatened to end Ukraine’s access.

Source

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Al Jazeera and news agencies