By the night of April 23, Ukrainian JFO fighters repulsed 8 attacks by Russian troops and destroyed almost 50 units of enemy equipment. In the south of Ukraine, our military has destroyed 38 Russians and 9 units of enemy equipment over the past 24 hours. The situation in Kherson and Mykolayiv oblasts remains stably tense. The occupiers inflicted 56 blows on Kharkiv and the oblast. 19 people were injured, and two more died. The Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kharkiv oblast in the Derhachi district knocked out Russian troops and established themselves in the settlements of Bezruky, Slatyne, and Prudianka. In Chernihiv oblast, Russian troops shelled from grenade launchers at border guards. A rocket attack on Odesa killed six people. Another 18 were injured. Among the dead is a three-month-old baby.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi addressed all citizens, in particular, bloggers with large audiences. He urged to refrain from public assessments of combat operations, logistics, supplies, and decisions of commanders. This information can be used by the Russians to inflict losses on the Armed Forces.
Two girls, Elizaveta and Sonya, died in Mariupol. They were actresses, both played the role of Lucy in the Mariupol Concept Theater in the play "The Lion, the Witch, the Wardrobe" based on the book "The Chronicles of Narnia".
The evacuation from the city of Mariupol was canceled. At 11 am at least 200 Mariupol residents gathered near the "Port City" shopping center, waiting to be evacuated to Zaporizhzhia. Instead of the buses promised by the Russian side, the Russian military approached and ordered to disperse, because "there will be shelling now." At the same time, the occupiers began boarding buses 200 meters from the agreed evacuation point. And only after that Mariupol residents were told that the "evacuation" would be to Dokuchaevsk — that is, to the occupied territory. People were not allowed to get off the bus.
There are practically no "peopleʼs policemen" left in the so-called "Donetsk Peopleʼs Republic" — most of them died in the battles near Mariupol. The Russian command threw all the personnel of the so-called "Ministry of Internal Affairs of the DPR" to Mariupol, including the cadets of the "Donetsk Academy." There, Russian militants lost up to a thousand killed and more than 2,800 wounded. In other areas, the DPR lost about 500 dead and about 2,100 wounded.
The Russian occupiers began forced mobilization, including medics, in the occupied territories of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv oblasts. Thus, in the city of Vovchansk, junior medical staff is forcibly sent to the front to treat the Russian wounded. If they refuse, they are threatened with execution.
At Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, the United States will meet with allies regarding the war in Ukraine. More than 20 countries have already confirmed their participation. The summit will discuss the current situation at the front, the need to supply weapons to Ukraine to repel the Russian attack and the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.
Canada has supplied Ukraine with four 155-millimeter M777 long-range howitzers. Ukraine was also provided with additional ammunition for Carl Gustaf anti-tank grenade launchers.
The German concern Rheinmetall is asking the German government to allow it to hand over 100 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. The concern emphasizes that they are ready to sell the first IFV within "several weeks". The decision to transfer is currently up to the Federal Security Council, which includes the German chancellor, Foreign and Interior Ministers, Defense, Finance, Economy, Economic cooperation, and Justice.
In Russia, publishers of childrenʼs textbooks are obliged to almost completely remove references to Ukraine and Kyiv. This applies to textbooks in history, geography, and literature. On February 24, the staff of the "Prosveshchenie" publishing house received an oral instruction to minimize the mention of Ukraine and Kyiv. Such a policy existed after 2014, but with the beginning of the acute phase of the war, according to workers, they had to "cut 15% of the texts."