Missile attack on Slovyansk, return of fallen defenders: highlights of the day

Shelling of Slovyansk

Slovyansk, Donetsk Oblast, came under heavy Russian shelling. As a result, several floors of one of the high-rise buildings were destroyed, and other buildings were damaged.

At least eight people were killed and 21 others were injured. In particular, a child died in an ambulance after being pulled from the rubble by rescuers. There are at least seven places where S-300 missiles hit the city.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that with this attack, Russia "once again demonstrates its essence."

"Just in the middle of the day, killing people. Destroying, destroying all life. There will be just responsibility for every act of terrorism. We will not leave a single trace of Russia on our land. And we will not leave any enemy unpunished," the head of state emphasized.

Return of fallen defenders

Ukraine has returned the bodies of 82 more fallen defenders. This was done with the assistance of the Office of the Commissioner for Missing Persons and law enforcement agencies.

Prior to that, on March 24, Ukraine returned the bodies of 83 fallen soldiers, and on March 3, the bodies of 17 fallen Ukrainian defenders.

Poltava mayor dismissed

Oleksandr Mamai was dismissed from the post of mayor of Poltava, who was found guilty of organizing the embezzlement of more than half a million hryvnias ($13,528) through abuse of office.

On April 4, the verdict of the High Anti-Corruption Court of March 2 came into force. Pursuant to this decision, a committee of the Poltava City Council dismissed Mamai and returned his employment record book.

Probing Kharkiv Pact

The Constitutional Court has opened proceedings on the constitutionality of the 2010 agreement between Ukraine and Russia that extended the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine. The case was filed by 49 MPs from the European Solidarity and Golos factions.

They insist that the Kharkiv agreements do not comply with part 7 of Article 17 of the Constitution of Ukraine (no foreign military bases are allowed on the territory of Ukraine). They also contradict the principles of national security, so there are grounds to declare the agreement unconstitutional.

Situation at frontline

According to the General Staff, Russia is focusing on an offensive on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, and Maryinka axes. On April 14, Ukrainian defenders repelled about 40 Russian attacks there. The fiercest battles were for Bakhmut and Maryinka.

Rocket and artillery units hit one command post, three clusters of manpower, weapons and military equipment of the Russian troops, as well as one Russian electronic warfare station. At the same time, the occupiers carried out about 20 attacks from multiple rocket launchers, as well as six air and 19 missile strikes. Of these, 13 were from S-300 air defense systems at Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine estimated that the Ukrainian military killed another 500 Russian occupiers on April 13. In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, Russia has lost 181,090 of its soldiers.

Other news

• The first stage of the National Military Memorial Cemetery will be opened in late fall. It will be located on Brovarskyi Avenue in the Dniprovskyi district of Kyiv;
• The Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center reported that there is a seasonal rise in water levels in rivers in Volyn, Kyiv, Rivne, Cherkasy and Chernihiv oblasts. There is flooding in these regions. The biggest flood in 10 years is expected in Chernihiv Oblast. Authorities do not rule out evacuating people;
• In Lviv, on the night of March 14, the door to the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the UGCC in Sykhiv was set on fire. The alleged perpetrator has been detained;
• Jack Teixeira, a suspect in the leak of classified documents, was arrested and charged with two counts: unauthorized storage and transmission of national defense information, and unauthorized removal and storage of classified documents or materials.