As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 66th day, we take a look at the main developments.
Here are the key events so far on Saturday, April 30.
Get the latest updates here.
Fighting
- Russia has been attacking the entire Donetsk front in the east with rockets, artillery, mortar bombs and aircraft to prevent the Ukrainians from regrouping, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office has said.
- Russia confirms it carried out an air strike on Kyiv as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited. Moscow said a rocket plant was destroyed in the strike.
- Ukraine said the attack killed a journalist with US-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
- Russia has said it used a diesel submarine in the Black Sea to strike Ukrainian military targets with Kalibr cruise missiles, the first time Moscow has announced the use of its submarine fleet to hit its neighbour.
- The Russian campaign to seize control of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine is moving slowly and behind schedule, a Pentagon official says.
Diplomacy
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said lifting Western sanctions on Russia was part of peace talks to end the war.
- Zelenskyy said chances were “high” that the talks would end because of Russia’s “playbook on murdering people”.
- United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she hopes to pass Biden’s $33bn aid package “as soon as possible”.
- The US does not believe that there is a threat of Russia using nuclear weapons despite a recent escalation in Moscow’s rhetoric, a senior US defence official said.
- The US is unimpressed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to November’s G20 summit in Indonesia.
Economy
- Russia’s finance ministry says it has completed payments on two dollar-denominated bonds amid mounting fears that the sanctions-hit country may be forced to default on its foreign debt.
- A ship loaded with 70,000 tonnes of Ukrainian corn left a Romanian Black Sea port, allowing Kyiv to dodge a Russian blockade of its key grain exports.
