Russian forces struck five railway stations in central and western Ukraine on Monday morning as part of a campaign to “systematically destroy railway infrastructure,” according to the chairman of Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state railway company. The rail system has become a vital cog in the country’s war effort, ferrying essential supplies in, and desperate civilians out of harm’s way.
Russia has made only “minor advances” since shifting their focus to taking control over the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Monday. “Without sufficient logistical and combat support enablers in place, Russia has yet to achieve a significant breakthrough,” said the MoD on Twitter.
Here are more of the latest headlines from the Russia-Ukraine war:
- UN secretary general is on his way to Moscow, UN spokesman says: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is currently on a plane en route to Moscow, deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general Farhan Haq said Monday. Guterres will be “received” by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and will have a working meeting and lunch with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He is also scheduled to travel to Kyiv and meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday.
- Explosion in Russian-occupied Kreminna results in casualties: A senior official in Ukraine’s Interior Ministry says there has been a large explosion in the town of Kreminna in the Luhansk region, an area recently occupied by Russian forces. Anton Gerashchenko said the explosion took place at an administrative building in the town. Ukrainian forces withdrew from Kreminna last week. “As a result of a gas explosion in the city council’s building in Kreminna, no one survived,” he said on Telegram. CNN cannot verify the number of casualties nor the origin of the explosion.
- Russian diplomat says ceasefire unlikely “right now”: A deputy to Russia’s ambassador to the UN took to the stakeout podium at the UN Monday to say that a ceasefire in Ukraine is not a good option right now. “We don’t think that ceasefire is a good option right now because the only advantage it will give it will give possibility for Ukrainian forces to regroup and to stage more provocations like Bucha,” Dmitry Polyanskiy, First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia’s mission to the United Nations, said. “Frankly it’s not up to me to decide but I don’t see any reasons (this would be pursued) right now.”
- US aid to Ukraine faces an uncertain future in the Senate: US military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine could be at risk of being bogged down in the immigration battle brewing on Capitol Hill between Republicans and the Biden administration. The Biden administration is expected to send another supplemental request to Congress this week for Ukraine after warning that money from the last package is nearly depleted. But, while there is broad support on Capitol Hill to give Ukraine more assistance, the path to passage is much more uncertain in the U.S. Senate.
- Russia expels 40 German diplomats in retaliatory move: Russia announced on Monday that it was expelling 40 German diplomats from the country in a retaliatory move to Berlin’s decision in early April to expel a “substantial number” of officials at the Russian embassy. Summoned by the Russian foreign ministry Monday, the German ambassador to Moscow was “met with strong protest in connection with the openly hostile decision of the German government,” the ministry said. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called Moscow’s decision to expel diplomats “unjustified.”
- US State Department approves foreign military sale of $165 million worth of ammunition to Ukraine: The US State Department approved a foreign military sale to Ukraine of $165 million worth of “non-standard ammunition” Monday, according to a release from the State Department. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the sale on April 24, the release said. The move was relayed to the Ukrainians during US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s trip to Kyiv over the weekend.
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- No agreement with Russia on corridor to evacuate Azovstal plant in Mariupol: No agreement on a corridor had been reached with Russia for the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Monday. “Today, the Russian side once again announced the existence of a corridor for civilians to leave Azovstal,” she said in a statement on Telegram. “This could be believed if the Russians had not broken the humanitarian corridors many times before. I know what I am saying because, on behalf of the president, I am personally conducting such negotiations and organizing humanitarian corridors. It is important to understand that the humanitarian corridor is opened by agreement of both sides. The corridor, announced unilaterally, does not provide security, and therefore, in fact, is not a humanitarian corridor.”