As of Wednesday, April 26, 2023, the war has been ongoing for 427 days. Here are the latest developments:
Diplomacy
A high-ranking Ukrainian official has stated that the extension and improvement of the country’s grain export deal can only be successful if the international community puts pressure on Russia. The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has written to Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing a way forward for the expansion and improvement of the agreement.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has blamed the West for the deadlock over the Black Sea grain deal, stating that Moscow has seen no results from the pact for its grain and fertilizer exports. Ukraine’s presidential adviser has accused Russia of hypocrisy after Lavrov chaired a UN Security Council meeting on upholding the principles of the UN Charter on Monday.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that his country will withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to the court’s alleged unfair treatment of certain countries. This announcement comes a month after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin on accusations that Russia unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.
Russia’s foreign ministry has expelled a Moldovan diplomat in retaliation for the removal of a Russian diplomat from Moldova last week. Sweden has announced that it will expel five Russian diplomats who allegedly breached the rules on diplomatic ties. The United Kingdom and France have demanded a ban on Russian and Belarusian state-funded athletes.
Fighting
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reported that Russian forces hit a museum in the Ukrainian town of Kupiansk, killing at least two people and wounding 10. The RIA state news agency has reported that Russia has begun using its new T-14 Armata battle tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions.
A regional official has stated that Ukrainian forces on the western side of the Dnieper River have been conducting frequent raids on Russian troops on the river’s eastern bank near the city of Kherson.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that the world is “probably” on the verge of a new world war, with the risks of a nuclear confrontation rising. Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church and a close ally of Putin, has stated that Russians who failed to serve their country were “internal enemies,” aiming his comments at those who have dodged the military draft or moved abroad after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Weapons
Russia’s TASS news agency has reported that the country might abandon the moratorium on deploying intermediate and shorter-range missiles.