Here's the update for Wednesday, April 17, 2024:
Conflict:
- Ukraine's Air Force reported destroying nine Russian drones launched over various eastern and southern regions.
- The Institute for the Study of War stated that Russian troops, due to delays in US military aid to Ukraine, were shifting from positional warfare to maneuver warfare. The think tank emphasized the urgent need for US assistance, particularly in air defense and artillery, to maintain Ukrainian defense lines.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a new mobilization bill into law to address significant troop shortages, including measures to penalize draft dodgers and encourage conscription. However, there's no provision for demobilizing long-serving soldiers at the front line, with the changes set to take effect in a month.
- Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets highlighted that nearly 37,000 individuals, including military personnel, remain unaccounted for since Russia's invasion in February 2022. Lubinets warned that the actual number might be much higher. Additionally, Ukraine and the Red Cross identified about 1,700 individuals "illegally detained" by Russia.
Politics and Diplomacy:
- During a visit to Beijing, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to pressure Russia to end its campaign in Ukraine. Xi did not express support for a Ukrainian-led peace summit scheduled for June, emphasizing the need for mutual recognition and equal participation in any peace conference.
- A Ukrainian man, alleging detention and torture by Russian occupying forces, filed a war crimes case in Argentina. The filing accuses specific individuals of torture using methods such as electrocution and unlawful imprisonment in mid-to-late 2022. Russia denies involvement in war crimes.
- Russia's FSB security service detained a man accused of attempting to assassinate a former officer of Ukraine's main security service (SBU) residing in Moscow exile. The FSB claimed the plot was orchestrated by Kyiv. The targeted officer, Vasily Prozorov, previously admitted to sharing sensitive information with Russia's intelligence services since 2014. Prozorov's car was destroyed in a suspected car bombing in Moscow the previous week.
Weapons:
- Zelenskyy lamented the depletion of defensive weapons, leaving Ukraine unable to protect the Trypilska thermal power plant (TTPP). The plant, a significant electricity supplier to the Kyiv region, was destroyed by Russian missiles on April 11.
- Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced that 20 countries had pledged support to purchase 500,000 artillery shells for Ukraine as part of a Czech-led international fundraising initiative to provide ammunition for the Ukrainian army.
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