Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO Secretary General in a hospital in Odesa, April 15, 2025

Tuesday’s Coverage: Mourning Victims of Russia’s Mass Murder in Sumy

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1541 GMT:

At least one civilian has been killed and at least 27 by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 57 of 97 drones launched by Russia overnight, and 34 decoys were lost to electronic counter-measures.

In the Sumy region in northern Ukraine, a man was killed by a drone strike.

Casualties were reported in the Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Odesa, and Kharkiv regions.

UPDATE 1420 GMT:

Italy has transferred the first installment of €25 million ($28.3 million) to help rebuild Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

The funds are part of a €200 million ($227 million) initiative co-financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The money, directed to Ukraine’s State-owned energy company Ukrhydroenergo, implements urgent measures to restore energy access, reinforce critical power grids, and ensure delivery of essential services in the hardest-hit regions.

UPDATE 1408 GMT:

Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko has claimed “significant progress” in talks on a rare earth minerals deal with the Trump Administration, citing agreement to sign a memorandum “in the near future”.

Without giving details, Svyrydenko said:

“We have now agreed with the American side to record this progress in the relevant memorandum of intent. We are preparing to complete the formalization of the agreement in the near future,” she said.

The Deputy Prime Minister added the caveat that Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, must approve the deal.

UPDATE 0740 GMT:

Steve Rosenberg, the BBC’s Russia Editor, reports the glee of the Russian media over Donald Trump’s tilt towards the Kremlin with his position on Ukraine, tariffs, and breaking of the US alliance with Europe.

UPDATE 0658 GMT:

Four Russian journalists have been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison on charges of “participating in an extremist community”.

The alleged “crime” of the quartet — Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Kriger, Konstantin Gabovm and Sergey Karelin — was working with the organizations of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

They were detained last year on accusations of gathering material and preparing and editing videos for Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, and the NavalnyLIVE YouTube channel. All four said they were being prosecuted for their work as journalists.

The trial was held behind closed doors.

In January, three former Navalny lawyers were sentenced to prison for up to 5 1/2 years s on the same charges of “extremism”.

UPDATE 0543 GMT:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reiterated that Vladimir Putin’s “annexation” of four Ukrainian regions as well as Crimea must be recognized before Moscow agrees to halt its invasion.

In an interview with the Russian State business outlet Kommersant, Lavrov also pressed the Kremlin’s demand for the removal of the Zelensky Government, saying it is “unconstitutional”.

Lavrov said Putin “very clearly outlined” Russia’s demands for a deal to halt the invasion in a speech on June 14, 2024, saying this was “not some kind of request”.

In that speech, Putin demanded that Kyiv’s forces must “completely withdraw” from Ukrainian-controlled territory in the four “annexed” regions: Donetsk and Luhansk in the east and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south, and that the international community recognize the annexation. Ukraine also had to officially abandon its goal of joining NATO, amending its Constitution, and any bilateral security arrangements, and agree to full demilitarization and “denazification”.

UPDATE 0532 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says negotiations on Black Sea security are underway in Ankara, Turkey.

During Tuesday’s press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Odesa, Zelensky said the talks involve Ukraine, the UK, France, and Turkey. They include consideration of the deployment of foreign military personnel to safeguard Black Sea waters.

“This is not about ending the war, this is about what will happen after the cease-fire – security guarantees,” Zelensky said. “We are talking about the presence of a contingent at sea, and we believe that Turkey can have a serious place in future security guarantees for the sea.”

UPDATE 0521 GMT:

A Russian court has imprisoned Anna Aleksandrova, a 47-year-old hairdresser, for 5 years and 2 months after she was denounced by her neighbor.

Aleksandrova was arrested in November 2023 for criticizing the Russian army on VKontakte, Russia’s largest social network. Prosecutors accused her of giving information about how to avoid military mobilization and of posting comments opposing Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Aleksandrova said she was set up by the neighbor, with whom she was embroiled in a land dispute.

A Russian military court has sentenced five young people to up to 18 years in prison, convicting them of setting fire to railway infrastructure and a helicopter outside Moscow last year.

Prosecutors claimed the defendants, aged 19 to 22, acted on orders of people close to Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has declared “unwavering support” for Ukraine’s resistance of Russia’s 37 1/2-month full-scale invasion.

Visiting the port city of Odesa alongside Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, Rutte condemned the “totally outrageous” Russian attack on Sumy on Palm Sunday, which killed 35 civilians and injuring 119, as “part of a terrible pattern of Russia attacking civilian targets and infrastructure”. He assured:

Ukraine’s people deserve real peace – real safety and security in their country. In their homes….

I also know that some have called NATO’s support into question in the last couple of months. But let there be no doubt. Our support is unwavering.

Zelensky said he and Rutte discussed the country’s “acute” need for air defense systems and missiles.

Absolutely everyone sees how urgent Ukraine’s need is for air defense systems and missiles for them. We are counting on the implementation of our agreements on air defense with partners in Europe and America. Patriot systems are defensive weapons, and we’re not just asking for Patriots — we are ready to purchase them.

This is a purely political matter — the systems are available in the world, the missiles for the Patriots are also available, and whether we will have sufficient protection from Russian ballistic strikes depends entirely on political decisions.

The two men considered the proposal for a UK-French-led “reassurance force” prepared “fast enough” to help Ukraine. And Rutte carefully navigated the Trump Administration’s withdrawal of support from Kyiv, referring to “the important talks that President Trump is leading with Ukraine as well as with Russia to try to end the war and secure a durable peace”.

These discussions are not easy – not least in the wake of this horrific violence – but we all support president Trump’s push for peace.

The leaders visited a hospital treating injured troops.

Hours after Rutte’s visit, Russia gave its response with an overnight drone attack that damaged residential buildings, warehouses and civilian infrastructure.

The full extent of the attack is being investigated. At least three people are injured.