Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 04-18-2025

Ambassador Michael Carpenter admits that early donations of more air defense and anti-armor capabilities would have helped Ukraine at the beginning of the war.

WASHINGTON DC – Former US President Joe Biden’s top national security aide on Europe dismisses President Donald Trump’s recent narrative on Russia’s war in Ukraine as claims that his predecessor and the Ukrainian leadership had failed to prevent “avoidable war.”

Ambassador Michael Carpenter, who served as Senior Director for Europe at the National Security Council under the Biden White House, acknowledged in an interview with Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent that early donations of more capabilities would have helped Ukraine perform better, but not stop the Russian invasion.

The text not only retains many of the elements seen in previously leaked iterations but also includes additional sections about Ukraine’s EU bid and specific actions to be taken.

Kyiv and Washington signed a memorandum of intent on Thursday to reach a final agreement on a long-discussed deal regarding the extraction of Ukraine’s strategic minerals and fossil fuels.

Ukraine’s Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said the document “paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.”

Europe’s press discusses whether the EU will benefit from Meloni’s meeting with Trump or whether the post-fascist politician only has Italy’s interests in mind.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington today for talks that will presumably focus on defusing the tariff dispute between the US and Europe. The two leaders enjoy a good personal relationship. Europe’s press discusses whether the EU will benefit from this encounter - or whether the post-fascist politician only has Italy’s interests in mind.

A delicate phase

This decision marks the 15th extension of martial law and mobilization in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law the latest extension of martial law and mobilization, which will now remain in effect until at least Aug. 6, 2025.

The update is reflected on the pages of draft laws No. 13172 (martial law) and No. 13173 (mobilization) on the Ukrainian parliament’s official website.

In mid-2024, Raiffeisen promised to speed up its exit from Russia, but the February court ruling has delayed that effort.

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has paused plans to sell its Russian operations amid “rapprochement between Washington and Moscow.”

The bank made the decision in February, according to the sources cited by the Financial Times.

Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council introduced new sanctions on April 18, targeting Russian missile makers, cultural figures, and propagandists.

Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) approved a new package of sanctions against Russia on Friday, April 18, targeting missile manufacturers, cultural figures, and companies allegedly involved in supporting the Kremlin’s war effort.

The sanctions, detailed in Presidential Decrees No. 246 and No. 247, were published on the president’s website the same dsy.

Belarusian authorities have opted for Chinese buses instead of local production, but local residents have questioned the potential impact of the new replacements.

Belarus is set to replace minibuses for a domestic long-distance route with Chinese Zhong Tong coaches, rather than opting for local production by the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ).

The buses are set to replace the existing vehicles used for the route between Belarusian capital Minsk and the western city of Hrodna, one of the most popular routes in the country.

Hoping Steve Witkoff reads this.

We have been blessed, or perhaps best put “tarnished” this week by simply idiotic comments from Donald Trump and his Middle East cum Russia – Ukraine peace talks envoy, Steve Witkoff.

In response to the heinous Russian attack on Sumy, which killed 34 civilians, injuring many more, Trump failed to criticize Russia, calling it simply a mistake and then went on to seemingly blame Zelensky for starting a war with a stronger opponent.

Putin’s war in Ukraine drags on: bloody, costly, and unwinnable. But Putin can’t end it: war props up his regime, fuels the economy, crushes dissent, and masks Russia’s internal decay.

Explosions rocked Kharkiv and Dnipro nearly simultaneously on Friday morning. In Dnipro, a missile damaged a fitness center, hotel, and an office.

The news might be updated

One person was killed and more than 100 were injured after Russia launched missile strikes using cluster munitions on a densely populated area of Kharkiv early Friday, April 18.

US Vice President met with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Friday, ahead of celebrating Easter at the Vatican and a meeting with the pope’s right-hand man.

US Vice President JD Vance said Friday he was “optimistic” about ending the Ukraine war, telling Italian premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome he would update her on developments in negotiations.

“I want to update the prime minister on some of the negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and also some of the things that have happened even in the past 24 hours,” Vance said. “I won’t prejudge them, but we do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war, this very brutal war, to a close.”

President Zelensky said the stabbing of Ukrainian journalist Makarov may be linked to his war coverage, while police also consider a domestic motive or involvement of Russian intelligence.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the stabbing of Ukrainian journalist and Suspilne media producer Yuriy Makarov may have been linked to his coverage of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

At the same time, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said investigators are also considering a domestic dispute as a possible motive.

Friday’s repatriation is at least the eighth involving 500 or more Ukrainian bodies since last October. A similar swap of 909 bodies took place on March 28.

Ukraine has received the bodies of 909 fallen soldiers in the second such repatriation in the space of three weeks, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said Friday, April 18.

The operation was carried out with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to the headquarters.

The Kremlin unilaterally claimed that the ceasefire had started on March 18, on the day Trump spoke by phone with Putin about the ceasefire.

A 30-day pause – which didn’t seem to materialize – on Russian strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, ordered by President Vladimir Putin, has expired, the Kremlin said Friday, April 18.

Ukraine and Russia have technically agreed to implement a ceasefire against each other’s energy infrastructure, though in practice, there’s been no common agreement between the two.

Beijing slammed Zelensky’s claims that China is helping arm Moscow, claiming it’s “groundless.” Ukraine says more details will come next week.

China has never made lethal weapons available to either side during this war, said ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Friday, according to Sky News.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday, Zelensky said that Kyiv has obtained preliminary intelligence indicating that China is supplying weapons to Russia.

According to a copy of a one-page “memorandum of intent” signed by both countries, the two sides “aim” to complete discussions by April 26 and sign the final agreement “as soon as possible”.

Ukraine’s prime minister will visit Washington next week for talks with top US officials aimed at clinching a long-fraught minerals and resources deal by April 26, according to a memorandum released on Friday.

Kyiv and Washington had planned to sign a deal on extracting Ukraine’s strategic minerals weeks ago, but a clash between presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in February temporarily derailed work on the agreement.

The use of “Flankers” for this unusual task of safeguarding its high value airborne surveillance platform underlines Moscow’s nervousness after having had two shot down.

The pro-Kremlin milblogger “FighterBomber,” who has links to Russia’s aerospace forces (VKS), said on Telegram on Tuesday that Su-35S fighter aircraft (NATO: Flanker) were being used for airborne radar reconnaissance missions. The role is normally assigned to the purpose-built A-50U Beriev (NATO: Mainstay) airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C).

It was more than a year following the shoot down of two A-50Us in January and February, and a Ukrainian drone attack in March 2024, that damaged a workshop in the Beriev repair facility in the Russian city of Taganrog that the A-50U was seen again.  A-50s and other aircraft were stored for repair and maintenance.

Incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz wants Germany to become Ukraine’s arsenal. The Kremlin is so mad they called Merz a “Nazi.”

Artillery shell output at a state-of-the-art Rheinmetall factory will be almost twice initial corporate targets and, thanks to near-bottomless demand for munitions driven by the Russo-Ukraine War, production and profits for Germany’s biggest arms manufacturer will  accelerate, CEO Armin Papperger said in Thursday comments to industry media.

A brand-new Rheinmetall artillery shell production facility in the Lower-Saxony village   Unterlüß, coming on line in 2026, will be able to produce up to 350,000 155mm shells per year instead of the planned 200,000, Papperger told the major German business publication Handelsblatt in an interview.

After weeks of frustration over Moscow’s missile attacks and reluctance to accept an unconditional ceasefire, Rubio said that the Russo-Ukrainian War is a “terrible thing, but it’s not our war.”

WASHINGTON DC – The top US diplomat said Friday that his country was prepared to be engaged in Ukraine peace efforts for “as long as it takes, but not indefinitely, not without progress,” Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent reports.

Speaking to reporters at Le Bourget airport in France before flying to Washington Friday morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Paris talks “constructive, very helpful” and thanked European partners for hosting them, signaling another meeting early next week, where he said, “we’ll have some more definitive answers about how close we are to actually making progress, but this isn’t going to go on forever.”

The US is becoming increasingly impatient with what appear to be Russia’s stalling tactics. Moscow’s seriousness would be judged by “actions, not words,” State Department spokesperson says.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The United States said Thursday it has now finalized “presenting to all parties” its framework of a durable and lasting peace in Ukraine, after high-level talks in the French capital, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio ending the day by calling Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to “convey… the same message the US team communicated to the Ukrainian delegation and our European allies in Paris.”

State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce praised “the encouraging reception” of the US framework in Paris saying it showed that peace was “possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement.”

Russian troops launched a massive assault near crucial city of Pokrovsk, using motorcycles and armor, but were annihilated by Ukrainian forces in a fierce battle.

Ukrainian forces reported repelling a large-scale Russian assault in the Pokrovsk sector (Donetsk region), eliminating 200 soldiers and destroying a significant amount of equipment.

Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine, Oleksandr Pivnenko, posted two videos of the battle on Telegram.

Harvard faces IRS scrutiny, Fed Chair Powell criticized by Trump, and foreign students face visa threats amid heightened tensions over US immigration and economic policies.

My comment

The side-by-side screenshots I posted on Twitter this morning should send a chill down the spine of anyone who values academic freedom—a cornerstone of democracy.

One, from CNN: “DHS threatens to revoke Harvard’s eligibility to host foreign students amid broader battle over universities’ autonomy.” The other, from The New York Times: “IRS said to be considering whether to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status.” The piece added: “The move would be a major escalation [of the] Trump administration’s attempts to choke off federal money and support for the leading research university.”

Russia’s Investigative Committee said Shamarin took bribes worth 36 million roubles (around €390,000) from a factory in the Ural Mountains that produces communications equipment.

A former high-ranking Russian general has been sentenced to seven years in a maximum-security prison after being found guilty of taking bribes worth some €390,000.

Lt Gen Vadim Shamarin, the former deputy head of the Russian army’s general staff, was arrested last year during a Kremlin-led crackdown on corruption in Russia’s defense ministry and accused of taking “a particularly large bribe” from a telecommunications firm. 

Three Russian drones struck the same facility. Preliminary reports confirm one fatality, with another person having sought medical assistance.

Russia has launched another drone attack on Sumy, killing one person and damaging an industrial facility.

Acting Mayor Artem Kobzar announced this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.

The attack reportedly destroyed two pontoons in a single sortie, followed by HIMARS fire on the remaining structures. The strike was caught on video and shared by Ukrainian Air Force personnel.

New video on Ukrainian social media shows a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet striking a pontoon ferry in Russia’s Kursk Oblast using a US-made GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), a lightweight, high-precision cruise bomb.

The video was published by the Telegram channel “Soniah” [Sunflower], which is a channel run by Ukrainian Air Force personnel who share frontline footage and experiences.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian officials continue to reiterate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s non-negotiable demands for extensive territorial concessions from Ukraine while noting that ongoing peace negotiations are unlikely to achieve results quickly.
• Russian forces recently conducted a roughly battalion-sized mechanized assault across a wide front in western Zaporizhia Oblast, representing an inflection in recently observed Russian mechanized assault tactics.
• The Kremlin is adopting increasingly threatening rhetoric towards Europe aimed at preventing Europe from supporting Ukraine and defending itself.
• Russia is increasingly adapting its drones to facilitate chemical weapons strikes against the frontline and rear areas of Ukraine — in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), of which Russia is a signatory.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that the United States and Ukraine are making progress towards signing a bilateral mineral deal.
• European countries continue to increase their domestic defense production, including in support of Ukraine.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Toretsk. Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast and near Kupyansk, Toretsk, Pokrovsk, Novopavlivka, and Velyka Novosilka and in western Zaporizhia Oblast.

The comment came at a conference after White House tariff talks with Giorgia Meloni, the EU’s choice for negotiations with the mercurial American leader. “There will be a deal, 100 percent,” he said.

A press conference on Thursday focused on a tariff deal with the EU, as US President Donald Trump hosted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, went a little off track when Trump was asked about negotiations with Ukraine on a natural resources deal.

Trump backtracked on his previous comments about the Ukrainian leader, clarifying that he does not hold President Volodymyr Zelensky responsible for Russia’s invasion, but felt compelled to criticize him, again, nonetheless.

Svyrydenko called it “an effective tool for attracting investments in the reconstruction of our country”. A final agreement on sharing revenues from Ukraine’s natural resources is expected next week.

Economics Minister Yulia Svyrydenko on Thursday announced on social media that Kyiv and Washington have signed a “memorandum of intent” to reach a final agreement on a long-discussed deal to share in the extraction of Ukraine’s strategic minerals and fossil fuels.

“We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine,” wrote Svyrydenko, who is both First Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Economic Development and Trade.