Metropolitan Pavlo to stay under house arrest, and Budanov detained in absentia in Russia: highlights of the day

Detention of Budanov in absentia

A court in Moscow detained in absentia the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Kyrylo Budanov, in connection with the "terrorist attack on the Kerch Bridge." Budanov was charged on four counts. Budanov himself was allegedly put on the international wanted list.

The representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, told hromadske in a comment that "it would be frivolous to discuss the decisions of non-existent entities."

"The so-called Russian Federation today is a failed state — absolutely worthless in terms of legal position, and there is definitely no court there. Therefore, it would be frivolous to discuss the decisions of non-existent entities. At one time, Nazi Germany and Hitler personally liked to hand out various sentences to the enemies of the Third Reich," Yusov said.

Metropolitan Pavlo's house arrest

The Kyiv Court of Appeal left Metropolitan Pavlo Lebid of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate under round-the-clock house arrest. This pre-trial restriction was also chosen by the lower court.

The Metropolitan's lawyers demanded that the measure be canceled, but prosecutors considered the restriction to be justified. In the end, the court upheld the round-the-clock house arrest. The Metropolitan is obliged to wear an electronic tag until May 30.

Overnight drone attack

On the night of April 21, the Russian occupation forces carried out a drone attack, likely using the Shahed 136 drones. In the morning, it became known that the occupiers had launched up to 12 Shahed-136/131 attack drones in total. Air defense forces shot down eight of them on the approach to the capital.

However, there was damage to infrastructure in Vinnytsia and Poltava oblasts. In Vinnytsia Oblast, a critical infrastructure facility was hit, causing a fire. And in Poltava district, the occupiers caused damage to civilian infrastructure, and a fire broke out there as well.

Charges to Ukrainian serviceman

Law enforcement officers have served a notice of suspicion to Roman Chervinskyi, the former acting commander of one of the Special Operations Forces units. He took part in an unsuccessful operation that led to the misslle strike on an airfield in Kirovohrad Oblast. Chervinskyi is suspected of abuse of power. He faces up to 12 years in prison.

According to the investigation, Chervinskyi, along with other people, decided to conduct an operation and take over a Russian air force warplane after the Russian pilot allegedly agreed to go over to the side of Ukraine. However, the operation failed. Law enforcement officials say that the enemy received information about the deployment of Ukrainian aircraft and military at the Kanatove airfield.

This led to a Russian missile attack: the commander of the military unit was killed, 17 more Ukrainian soldiers were wounded, two combat fighters of the Air Force were completely destroyed, and the runway, equipment and buildings were severely damaged. The SBU also emphasizes that the operation was carried out without the consent of the Security Service and other government agencies.

Inspection of Lavra

A commission of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy continued to inspect the premises of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. They noticed signs of fire safety violations in the premises.

At the same time, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church — Moscow Patriarchate complained that police officers were not letting believers into the church. The police, for their part, deny this.

Situation at frontline

In the evening, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that on April 21, the Defense Forces repelled about 30 enemy attacks on the Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, Maryinka and Shakhtarsk axes. Bakhmut remains at the epicenter of the fighting.

The General Staff says that Ukrainian troops killed 630 Russian occupiers on April 20. In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has lost 185,050 of its soldiers.

Other news

• a court confined four people suspected of hooliganism on the territory of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra to round-the-clock house arrest;
• the government simplified the mechanism for sending military personnel for treatment abroad. Now, a council of a military medical institution is no longer required;
• President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law that provides for exams on the basics of the Constitution, the history of Ukraine, and the level of proficiency in the state language for citizenship;
• Rostyslav Yanchyshen, a ballet dancer at the Odesa Opera House, was killed while performing a combat mission at the front.