Zelenskyy signs mobilization bill, Johnson divides aid to Ukraine and Israel: highlights for April 16

Zelenskyy signed the law on mobilization

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law on mobilization.

Most of the law's provisions will come into force in a month, on May 16. Zelenskyy said that the bill would help the country's military leadership and also contains provisions to support the troops who are constantly at the front, including through rotations and leave.

Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets praised the law. He says it is "the best option in the current situation."

Johnson presented the bill with assistance to Ukraine

House Speaker Mike Johnson presented four separate bills on U.S. aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and national security priorities in a closed session, The Hill reports.

According to Johnson, one of them will provide for the seizure of Russian assets and their use to help Ukraine, loan assistance, new sanctions against Iran, and a ban on TikTok.

National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby said that "at first glance" Johnson's proposal meets the White House's requests.

At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the separation of aid to Ukraine and Israel into separate bills in the US Congress a disgrace to democracy.

He also said that the Russians managed to destroy the Trypillia Power Plant because Ukraine had run out of missiles to defend it amid a lack of help from its allies.

The US will not shoot down air targets over Ukraine

The U.S. military will not shoot down targets in Ukrainian airspace as it did over Israel during the Iranian attack.

John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator for the White House National Security Council, explained: "These are different conflicts, different airspace, different threat picture."

He also recalled that President Joe Biden "made it clear at the beginning of the Russian invasion that the United States would not be involved the conflict."

Ukrainian files lawsuit over Russian torture in Argentine court

A Ukrainian citizen has filed a criminal lawsuit with the Federal Court of Argentina requesting an investigation into the torture he was subjected to by Russians.

He went to court with the help of journalists and lawyers from The Reckoning Project, a war crimes documentation project.

As The Reckoning Project told hromadske, Argentina was chosen because the country's constitution allows courts to consider international crimes.

Russia is conducting an operation to "glorify tax evaders"

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that Russia has launched a new information operation against Ukraine. Its essence is the glorification of draft dodgers.

For example, videos are increasingly circulating on TikTok and other social media, in which allegedly Ukrainian men are filming themselves on vacation abroad and calling themselves draft dodgers. Such videos quickly gain a lot of views and various comments, both favorable and critical.

SBU hits Russian radar in Bryansk Oblast

The Security Service of Ukraine has hit the Russian radar station Nebo-U in Bryansk Oblast. This station controlled the sky 700 kilometers deep into Ukraine.

This radar station costs $100 million. It was hit by seven fixed-wing kamikaze drones.

Writer Dmytro Kapranov dies

On April 16, publicist and public figure Dmytro Kapranov died. He was 56 years old. Together with his brother Vitaliy, Dmytro Kapranov founded the Zelenyi Pes publishing house in 1999, which publishes contemporary fiction, including for children.

The Kapranov brothers also created the Taras Shevchenko YouTube channel about the history of Ukraine, which as of April 2024 had more than 930,000 subscribers.

Other news

• The mayor of Lebedyn, Sumy Oblast, Oleksandr Baklykov was killed in the war.
• Deputy Minister: The audit of the Ministry of Defense revealed violations worth more than UAH 10 billion ($252.8 million).
• A man who relieved himself on a memorial to fallen soldiers has been charged.
• France is preparing to invite Russia to the anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy.