Civilians and servicemen attend funerals of Oleh Yashchyshyn, Serhiy Melnyk and Rostyslav Romanchuk, Ukrainian servicemen killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at Lychakiv cemetery in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on March 15, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)
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One month ago, just after 4:45 a.m. Kyiv time on Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin went on television to announce what he called a “special operation” to “disarm and de-Nazify” Ukraine. His address was immediately followed by missile strikes on major Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, and multi-directional assaults towards Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kherson, and Mariupol.
Since then, Russian forces have launched more than 1,100 missilies onto the Ukrainian territory, according to Pentagon.
Russia has been shelling Ukrainian cities, large and small, forcing over 10 million Ukrainians to flee their homes, with 6.5 million being displaced inside the country and 3.6 million going abroad, according to the United Nations.
Russian forces have besieged several Ukrainian cities, attacked agreed-upon humanitarian corridors for evacuation and have committed multiple atrocities towards civilians, which have shocked the Ukrainian nation.
At least 977 civilians were killed and 1,594 injured, according to the UN, but the actual figures are belived to be significantly higher. According to the local authorities in Mariupol, a besieged seaport city in south-eastern Ukraine, over 2,000 residents were killed in the city alone. Russia's war took the lives of at least 128 children and injured at least 172 other children, according to Prosecutor General's Office.
Civilian infrastructure has been damaged across the country. Some 4,431 residential buildings, 548 schools, and 135 health care institutions were partially or completely destroyed, according to the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group.
The body of a rocket stuck in a flat after recent shelling on the northern outskirts of Kharkiv on Feb. 24, 2022. (AFP/ Getty Images)Residents of Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, hide in a basement during the heavy shelling by Russian forces on Feb. 28, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (2L) and Chief of Russia's General Staff Valery Gerasimov in Moscow on Feb. 27, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)People remove personal belongings from a burning house after being shelled in the city of Irpin, outside Kyiv, on March 4, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)Ukrainians fleeing the war to Poland get for the train at Lviv train station on Feb. 28, 2022. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)Around 100,000 protesters crowd around the victory column and close to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to demonstrate against Russia's war in Ukraine on Feb. 27, 2022.(AFP/Getty Images)People cross a destroyed bridge as they evacuate from the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling and bombing on March 5, 2022. (AFP/ Getty Images)U.S. President Joe Biden takes questions as he addresses the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the White House on Feb. 24, 2022, in Washington, DC. (AFP/Getty Images)A Ukrainian soldier holds a Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon (NLAW) that was used to destroy a Russian armored personal carrier (APC) in Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on March 12, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A staff member and the parents of a newborn baby hide in the bomb shelter of a maternity hospital on March 2, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Getty Images)Ukrainian servicemen patrol in the streets as security measures tightened due to the ongoing Russian attacks in the Black Sea port city of Odesa on March 14, 2022. Volunteers have placed sandbags around one of Odesa’s landmarks, the monument to Duke of Richelieu, to protect it from potential Russian bombardment. (Getty Images)Service members of Ukrainian Territorial Defense, Valery (3rdL) and Lesya (2ndL), get married not far from a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kyiv on March 6, 2022. (AFP/ Getty Images)President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference in Kyiv on March 3, 2022. (AFP via Getty Images)Ukrainian emergency workers carry an injured pregnant woman from a maternity hospital that was damaged by Russian shelling in Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast on March 9, 2022. The mother and her unborn baby died. (Evgeniy Maloletka)Residents of Kherson block Russian military vehicles as Russian troops attempt to occupy the city. Kherson has been under the Russian control since March 5, 2022.A woman learns how to use an AK-47 assault rifle during a civilian self-defense course in the outskirts of Lviv on March 4, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A mass grave in Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, on March 9, 2022. According to local authorities, over 2,000 residents have been killed in the city since Feb. 24, 2022. (Mstyslav Chernov)A wounded woman is seen following an airstrike that damaged a residential building outside of Kharkiv on Feb. 24, 2022. (Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)Ukrainian soldiers search for bodies in the debris at the military school hit by Russian rockets the day before, in Mykolaiv on March 19, 2022. Ukrainian media reported that the attack had killed at least 40 Ukrainian soldiers at their brigade headquarters. (AFP/Getty Images)An evacuated resident is comforted by Svitlana Vodolaga, spokeswoman for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (R) outside a burning apartment building in Kyiv on March 15, 2022, following attacks on residential areas that had killed at least two people. (AFP/Getty Images)
The sanctioned network helped the Houthis acquire "tens of millions of dollars' worth of commodities from Russia, including weapons and sensitive goods, as well as stolen Ukrainian grain," according to the Treasury.
The strike damaged apartment buildings and caused a fire at the scene, where rescue operations are ongoing, said Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s military administration.
"I know at least two big leaders that were speaking secretly to (Putin) because of course I still have my friends in the Kremlin," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, who played a role in backchannel diplomacy between Moscow and the Trump administration in 2016, is set to meet Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's envoy, according to CNN.
The Levada Center survey found that 26% of respondents strongly support a truce, while 24% "somewhat support" it. Meanwhile, 41% oppose the idea, including 25% who strongly reject it.
Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies on April 2 announced charges in a corruption case involving overpriced food purchases by the Defense Ministry between 2022 and 2023.
HUR claimed drones operated by its "Prymary" special unit struck a Tor M2 short-range air defense system, and two Russian landing craft operating at sea.
The Unmanned Systems Forces are recruiting members for its new Harpies unit, including exclusively female drone operators, the branch announced on April 2.
The joint declaration at the Washington summit last year included a commitment to "develop recommendations on NATO's strategic approach to Russia, taking into account the changing security environment."
The U.S. reportedly temporarily eased sanctions to allow Kirill Dmitriev to obtain a visa for what will be the first high-level Russian official visit to the U.S. since the outbreak of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022.
The youngest executors of Russian orders, whom the SBU exposed for setting fire to Ukrainian Railways' railroad switchboards, were 13-year-old teenagers.
The U.K. is adding Russia to the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), a tool introduced in 2023 to protect the country against harmful covert activities.
Dan Caine told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Washington "should focus on what unique capabilities only the U.S. can provide," while European countries should increase their share of support.
Kyrylo Molchanov was initially detained in Poland and transferred to a pre-trial detention in Kyiv, marking the first such operation carried out in cooperation between Ukraine and an EU country.
The U.S. is drawing up plans to exert additional pressure on both Kyiv and Moscow as the goal of a full ceasefire by April or May seems increasingly unlikely, Reuters reported.
Russia launched 15 strike drones against the eastern city of Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported. Eight people, including three children, suffered from shock, the State Emergency Service said, reporting no physical injuries.
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