During the week, Kyiv and Washington signed a memorandum certifying their intention to conclude an agreement on minerals, martial law and general mobilization were extended in Ukraine until August 6, and 277 defenders returned home from Russian captivity.
Babel has collected the main news of the week to keep you up to date.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the dismissal of Artyukh from the post of head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration
On April 15, the government agreed to dismiss Volodymyr Artyukh from the post of head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration. They want to appoint Oleh Hryhorov instead.
The officialʼs dismissal comes after a Russian missile strike on Sumy on April 13, which killed 35 people and injured 117. The occupiers attacked the city with two “Iskander-M/KN-23” ballistic missiles.
On the eve, Volodymyr Artyukh actually admitted that there was an award ceremony for the military on the day of the attack, but claims that he did not initiate it. The former official says that he was invited to this event. He did not specify who exactly.
The National Guard created new corps: they were led by the commanders of “Azov” and “Khartiia”
The National Guard of Ukraine has created two new corps: based on the 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov" and the 13th Operational Brigade of the National Guard "Khartiia".
They will be led by the commander of the 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov", Colonel Denys Prokopenko (call sign "Redys") and the commander of the 13th Operational Forces Brigade of the National Guard "Khartiia", Colonel Ihor Obolensky (call sign "Kornet").
The 1st Corps "Azov" included:
- 1 presidential operational brigade "Bureviy";
- 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov";
- 14th operational brigade "Chervona Kalyna";
- 15th operational brigade "Kara-Dag";
- the newly created 20th operational brigade "Lyubart".
Law enforcement officers have declared suspicion against the deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration
Itʼs about Volodymyr Prokopiv. He is accused of organizing a scheme to illegally transport conscripts abroad, namely to European countries.
According to the case materials, the official disguised the scheme as the transportation of humanitarian cargo to Ukraine, including fuel for the Armed Forces. To do this, the data of conscripts was entered into the “Shlyakh” system as data of volunteers cooperating with an affiliated Odesa company.
According to the documents, they traveled to the EU in the companyʼs trucks, supposedly to collect new consignments of food aid from international partners. The investigation found that the pseudo-volunteers fled abroad, and only full-time employees of the Odesa company returned.
In this way, from May to June 2022, the person involved in the case smuggled more than 30 potential conscripts abroad, law enforcement officials say. The deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration was informed of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 332 and Parts 1, 3 of Article 362. Prokopiv faces up to 7 years in prison.
Ukraine and the United States signed a memorandum confirming their intention to conclude an agreement on subsoil resources
Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko says that what lies ahead is the finalization of the text of the agreement and its signing. And then ratification by parliaments.
"We are preparing the creation of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine. The corresponding agreement will open up opportunities for significant investments, infrastructure modernization, and mutually beneficial partnership between Ukraine and the United States — it is with this goal that the teams are working on the document," the official emphasized.
On the eve of the meeting, the US President Donald Trump reported that Kyiv and Washington would sign a minerals agreement next Thursday, April 24.
Martial law and general mobilization in Ukraine extended until August 6
Volodymyr Zelensky signed documents on the extension of martial law No. 13172 and on general mobilization No. 13173 in Ukraine for another 90 days — until August 6, 2025.
Martial law in Ukraine and general mobilization of men are coming to an end on May 9. This will be the 15th such decision during the full-scale war.
Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, martial law has been imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization has been declared. Conscripts are prohibited from traveling abroad, with certain exceptions. Men aged 18–60 may be called up for service if they do not have legal grounds for deferment or exclusion from military service.
Secretary of State Rubio said the US could end efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine in a matter of days
Washington may end its mediation in establishing peace in Ukraine if it does not see clear signs of the possibility of reaching a peace agreement, Marco Rubio said on April 18.
He added that this could happen in a matter of days. Donald Trump, while still interested in reaching an agreement, has many other global priorities, Rubio added.
The Secretary of State emphasized that if both sides are “truly committed to peace”, then the United States is ready to help. If a peace deal cannot be reached, Trump will likely say, “We’re done.”
“This is not our war. We did not start it. The United States has been helping Ukraine for three years, and we want this war to end, but this is not our war,” the American official said.
Ukraine returned 277 defenders from Russian captivity on April 19
These are soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the State Special Transport Service, and border guards. They defended Mariupol and other areas in the Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regions.
246 soldiers were returned as part of the prisoner exchange, and another 31 people were freed outside the exchange. Most of those who were returned are young people born after 2000. Nine officers and 268 privates and non-commissioned officers were returned.
The current exchange is the fourth this year and the 63rd since the start of the full-scale invasion. In total, 4 552 people — soldiers and civilians — have been returned home from Russian captivity since the start of the full-scale war.
Putin declared an "Easter ceasfire" on the front
Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced an “Easter ceasfire” on April 19. According to him, the Russian army was to cease all fighting from 6:00 p.m. on April 19 to 12:00 a.m. on April 21. Volodymyr Zelensky called it “another attempt to play with people’s lives”.
He later said that if the Kremlin is ready to join the format of complete and unconditional silence, Kyiv will act in a mirror image — as it will be on the Russian side.
“If complete silence really prevails, Ukraine proposes to extend it after the end of Easter on April 20,” he emphasized.
Already on April 20, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky reported to the president that as of 8:00 p.m., the Russian army had violated the "Easter ceasfire" more than 2 000 times since the beginning of the day.
There were 67 Russian assaults against Ukrainian positions on various front lines, most of them on Pokrovsk. The enemy carried out 1 355 attacks, 713 of them from heavy weapons, and used FPV 673 times.
"Ukraine proposes to abandon any strikes with long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days with the possibility of extension. If Russia does not agree to such a step, this will be proof that it wants to continue doing only what destroys peopleʼs lives and continues the war," Zelensky said.
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