(Image by NEIVANMADE)
I had a long day and am a bit behind, so I’m going to just run through the basics tonight. And my power just went out (at 10:35 PM EDT), so I’m using my cell phone as a hot spot. So I’m just going to finish up real quick and hit publish.
Russia decided to make sure Odesa did not feel left out of its nightly missile attacks and drone swarms.
Odesa right now ‼️
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Odesa right now ‼️ at least 2 people were killed, and 5 others were injured in russian drone attack on the city.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
The Strikes Must Stop, the Killings Must Stop, and Only Then Can a Solution Be Sought Through Negotiations – Address by the President
30 April 2025 – 21:21
I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!
I have just spoken with Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada – his party has won the elections. I congratulated the Prime Minister on this victory and am confident that our relations with Canada will remain strong. Canada is currently holding the G7 Presidency. We discussed our cooperation within this platform, and I am grateful for Canada’s readiness to work with us at the G7 level. We greatly appreciate all the support that Canada and Canadians provide to Ukraine, our state, our people. We talked with the Prime Minister about sanctions against Russia and agreed on the necessity of continuing strong sanctions for the war against the aggressor. We also discussed air defense for Ukraine, diplomacy, and communication with key partners. I invited Prime Minister Carney to visit Ukraine – Kyiv. I have no doubt that Canada’s leadership in defending international law will continue to be felt.
Today, there was also quite a lot of technical work with our partners – mainly diplomatic work. We are preparing meetings and negotiations that will take place in the near future. Security is the top priority.
Today I spoke with ministers – the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense of Luxembourg visited us. Primarily, we spoke about our cooperation in Europe and the support we receive – I want to express my gratitude for the support of Ukraine. Of course, we also discussed diplomacy and the need for a full ceasefire – unconditional and lasting for a sufficient period, at least 30 days. The strikes must stop, the killings must stop – and only then can a solution be sought through negotiations. We are ready for any format of dialogue. Russia must stop its attacks and end this war.
There was a report today from Chief of Defense Intelligence Budanov on the enemy’s likely actions and potential threats. There was a report from Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi – a long report, covering all frontline directions, and also very specific – on our actions, our operations, and our next steps in the near future.
And one more thing.
Also today, on Border Guard Day, I congratulated our border guard warriors, thanked them for their service to Ukraine, and presented them with state awards. I am proud of our people. I thank everyone working for Ukraine, everyone defending our state and Ukrainian interests.
Glory to Ukraine!
And President Zelenskyy presented awards to members of the State Border Guards Service today.
Georgia:
#GeorgiaProtests
Day 154— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 3:08 PM
What’s happening in Georgia at this very moment has no precedent, at least in Central and Eastern Europe.
All too many forget that what caused the Maidan was the fact that the authorities began outright killing people. 1/
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:28 AM
That is not the case in Georgia, & before getting out your frustration that it’s time for us to start shooting or storming something, one should keep that in mind. Believe me, your being frustrated more than we are is like Europeans and Americans wanting peace in Ukraine more than Ukrainians do. 2/
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Not to mention the fact that the regime propaganda is still really powerful and a large part of Georgia that is impoverished and state-reliant is extremely vulnerable – not for benefits, but for mere survival. 3/
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:28 AM
On the other hand, the regime is not currently strong enough to break the protest despite all their efforts. We have more pockets of resistance than Belarus had by 2020 by the default of our differing history of previous decades (and not that people in Belarus are “less brave”). 4/
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:28 AM
The protest isn’t stopping and will not stop, as we simply cannot. This has to have some resolution, and the resolution is in essence, if not in form, a zero-sum game. Either we win freedom or they maintain power. 5/
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:28 AM
All this amid a lightning-speed-rushed dictatorship after more than a decade of a slow boiling of the frog. 6/
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:28 AM
The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, in an interview with Radio Liberty, did not rule out the resumption of high-level dialogue with representatives of Georgian Dream, which have been suspended since 2024.
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:12 AM
IMPORTANT: the Central Election Commission of Georgia de facto admits that the constitutionally mandated secrecy of vote was breached en masse in the fraudulent October 2024 elections.
They now state that they’ll have additional measures for ballot secrecy for the local elections. 1/2
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:34 AM
This is not to say that the upcoming local elections have a chance to be remotely fair, since they’ve already taken additional measures to control the elections, including significantly limiting election observation. 2/2.
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:34 AM
On protester Saba Buliskeria’s example, the monthly state aid for being an internally displaced person is GEL 45 (around EUR 15), while a single fine over protesting is GEL 5 000 (EUR 1600).
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 12:46 PM
A massive fire broke out around 6 AM at Tbilisi’s “Vagzali Bazaar,” burning ~15,000 sq. meters. Traders say warehouses storing second-hand clothes, fruits, vegetables & other goods were destroyed.
📷 @Aleksandre keshelashvili/ Publika
— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 3:06 PM
On protester Saba Buliskeria’s example, the monthly state aid for being an internally displaced person is GEL 45 (around EUR 15), while a single fine over protesting is GEL 5 000 (EUR 1600).
— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 12:46 PM
The US:
⚡️BREAKING: Ukraine, US sign minerals deal.
Ukraine and the United States on April 30 signed a long-awaited minerals agreement that establishes a joint investment fund for reconstruction in Ukraine.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) April 30, 2025 at 5:53 PM
🇺🇦🇺🇸 Ukraine has greenlit a deal with the US to establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund, built on 5 key principles: 50/50 partnership, Ukraine retains control over resources, no debt, guaranteed investors, and alignment with EU goals. PM Shmyhal just confirmed this move will drive growth.
— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) April 30, 2025 at 4:37 PM
The Kyiv Independent has the details: (emphasis mine)
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story.
Ukraine and the United States on April 30 signed a long-awaited minerals agreement that establishes a joint investment fund in Ukraine, First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced.
“I am grateful to everyone who worked for the agreement and made it more meaningful. Now the document is such that it can ensure success for both our countries — Ukraine and the United States,” Svyrydenko said.
Svyrydenko traveled to Washington April 30 to sign the framework agreement on behalf of Ukraine. She signed the document along with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The signing of the minerals deal follows months of negotiations that at times became contentious. The U.S. and Ukraine were set to sign the deal in late February, but the plan fell apart following the infamous White House argument between President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump.
U.S. officials framed the agreement as a sign of Washington’s lasting support for Ukraine.
“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Bessent said in a U.S. Treasury Department press release.
The deal will not allow any “state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine” to profit from Ukraine’s reconstruction, Bessent said.
Shortly before the deal was signed, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announcedthe Ukrainian government had approved the agreement.
“Thanks to this agreement, we will be able to attract significant resources for reconstruction, start economic growth, and receive the latest technologies from partners and a strategic investor in the United States,” Shmyhal said.
The “Reconstruction Investment Fund” will be jointly managed by Kyiv and Washington in an equal partnership, with both sides contributing to the fund. According to Shmyhal, future military aid from the U.S. can count as contributions to the fund, but prior assistance is not included.
“The agreement does not provide for any debt obligations,” Shmyhal said.
Ukraine will retain “full control over subsoil, infrastructure, and natural resources,” the prime minister said. The establishment of the fund will also not interfere with Ukraine’s path to membership in the European Union.
Svyrydenko confirmed these stipulations in a post on social media, adding that Ukraine’s state-owned businesses such as Energoatom and Ukrnafta would retain state ownership and that the agreement abides by Ukraine’s Constitution.
The fund will exclusively be supplied with revenues from newly issued licenses, Svyrydenko said.
“We are talking about 50% of the funds from new licenses for projects in the field of critical materials and oil and gas that will go to the budget after the Fund is created,” she wrote.
“Revenues from projects already launched or budgeted revenues are not included in the Fund. The agreement refers to further strategic cooperation.”
The fund’s income and contributions will not be taxed in Ukraine or the U.S., she added.
As part of the agreement, the U.S. will help attract additional investments and technologies to Ukraine, Svyrydenko said.
According to the Washington Post (WP), which reviewed the latest version of the deal, the agreement provides no concrete security guarantees to Ukraine. It instead affirms a “long-term strategic alignment” between the two nations and pledges U.S. “support for Ukraine’s security, prosperity, reconstruction, and integration into global economic frameworks.”
The deal also includes no mention of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the WP reported. U.S. officials have previously suggested taking control of the facility as part of a future peace deal.
Shmyhal earlier on April 30 said the framework agreement, once signed, would be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada for ratification.
The deal reportedly faced a last-minute setback on April 30, as disagreements over final terms raised doubts about whether the deal would be signed, according to the Financial Times.
Despite what it may be called, this is not a minerals deal. Or a deal for rare earth elements. It’s an investment fund. Moreover, even if the Verkhovna Rada ratifies it on the Ukrainian side, the funding from the US side will have to be appropriated by Congress. It’s not in the current budget proposal or the draft reconciliation appropriation bills. And unless the Senate ratifies the agreement, it is only binding so long as whomever is president wants it to be binding.
Where does this leave us? There’s a deal. It is definitely not what Trump and his team have been stating they wanted for the past 3 months. It may not survive first contact with either the Verkhovna Rada or Congress, and it is most likely not going to be ratified by the Senate. This could be something, but it could also still be nothing. Or anything in between. We will have to wait and see.
The “Special” Envoy, LTG (ret) Kellogg, has claimed that Ukraine has agreed to all of the US’s terms and conditions for a ceasefire.
⚡️US won’t abandon peace talks, Ukraine agrees to de facto territorial concessions, Kellogg says.
U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg said on April 30 that he does not expect Washington to abandon peace efforts despite previous threats from the White House to do so.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) April 30, 2025 at 9:38 PM
From The Kyiv Independent:
U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg said on April 30 that he does not expect Washington to abandon peace efforts despite previous threats from the White House to do so.
“The Ukrainians have already said they’re willing to give up the land… not de jure, forever, but de facto because the Russians actually occupy it… That’s what they’re willing to go to, they told me that last week,” Kellogg said in a television interview with Fox News.
The U.S. has intensified efforts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on April 28 a temporary ceasefire from May 8 to 11, which Kellogg on April 29 criticized as “absurd.”
“I don’t think so,” Kellogg said when asked if the U.S. is ready to walk away from peace talks to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The U.S. has threatened to walk away from efforts to broker a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia if progress is not made.
“We had 22 concrete terms that (Ukraine) agreed to. What they want… and what they have is a very comprehensive and permanent ceasefire that leads to a peace treaty. When I mean comprehensive, sea, air, land infrastructure for at least 30 days… It could build to an important peace initiative,” Kellogg said.
Kellogg noted a ceasefire should last at least 30 days, adding that it is what U.S. President Donald Trump believes should be done.
“The reason why 30 days is important is that it stops the killing. That’s what President Trump wants to do,” Kellogg said.
When asked if Putin would be willing to accept the ceasefire, Kellogg said it is “up to” the Russian leader.
“If (Putin) really wants to stop the killing, if he wants this war to end, there is a pathway to do it that has been presented to him,” Kellogg said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump met in the Vatican on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral on April 26. Kellogg described the meeting as positive.
“I think it was a very positive discussion, in fact, what the Ukrainians told me was very constructive,” Kellogg said.
The U.S. could partially agree to Russia’s maximalist demands towards Ukraine to reach a settlement, the special envoy said.
“People don’t understand how violent this war has been. Soldiers alone, when you combine the Ukrainian and Russian soldiers killed and wounded, were over 1.2 million, that is an unheard of number,” Kellogg said.
U.S., U.K., German, French, and Ukrainian officials met in London on April 23 to discuss a path toward ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Ukraine has already agreed to a U.S.-proposed full 30-day ceasefire, saying on March 11 that Kyiv is ready if Russia also agrees to the terms. So far, Moscow has refused.
Zelensky has repeatedly called for a full 30-day ceasefire, saying on April 23, Ukraine insists on an “immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire.”
Until someone with actual authority in Ukraine confirms that Ukraine has agreed to all the conditions including the de facto occupation, I’d take LTG (ret) Kellogg’s statements with an exceedingly large grain of salt.
Back to Ukraine.
“Nearly 90% of Ukrainians do not trust Donald Trump,” according to latest poll by New Europe Center and Info Sapiens. Compare that to November, when Trump was elected: nearly half (44.6%) of Ukrainians said they trusted him. neweurope.org.ua/en/analytics…
— Christopher Miller (@christopherjm.ft.com) April 30, 2025 at 5:43 AM
More evidence of Russian genocide and war crimes:
According to the investigative organization Forbidden Stories, the body of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, handed over to the Ukrainian side by the Russians, was returned missing several internal organs.
forbiddenstories.org/russia-detai…— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) April 29, 2025 at 3:44 PM
💢 EU reacts to investigation into Russia’s murder of journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna
— Ukrainska Pravda 🇺🇦 (@pravda.ua) April 30, 2025 at 10:38 AM
From Ukrainska Pravda:
The European Commission has stated that the latest details of the death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna in Russian captivity are further proof of the cruelty of the Russian system and evidence that the occupation is a deadly threat to Ukrainians.
Source: European Pravda, citing European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper at a daily briefing on 30 April
Details: Hipper was commenting on an investigation by journalists who have collected together all the available information about the torture and death in Russian captivity of Ukrainska Pravda freelance writer Viktoriia Roshchyna.
Quote from Hipper: “Russia does not miss any opportunity to show its despicable brutality towards the Ukrainians by killing and torturing, as it was in the case of Viktoriia Roshchyna, a brave Ukrainian journalist who was brutally not only killed but also tortured previously. This also clearly shows that life under Russiaʼs occupation is not an option. It is not a safe option for the Ukrainians. For journalists, her courage will always be remembered, and Russia should be and we make everything possible in our power to make sure that they remain accountable for all these war crimes and atrocities committed.”
Background:
- Viktoriia Roshchyna left Ukraine for Poland on 25 July 2023 to travel to the occupied territory. She planned to reach the occupied part of Ukraine’s east via Russia in three days.
- Roshchyna disappeared on 3 August 2023 in the temporary occupied territory she was reporting from.
- Russia admitted for the first time in May 2024 that they had detained Roshchyna. The Russian Ministry of Defence sent a letter of confirmation to her father, Volodymyr Roshchyn.
The Guardian has more:
he exchange took place on a lonely forest road in February. Moving along a line of refrigerated lorries, the teams in hazmat suits went about their grim work: preparing the remains of 757 Ukrainian military casualties handed over by Russia for the journey back to Kyiv.
Clipboards in hand, intermediaries from the Red Cross checked their lists. For each body shrouded in white plastic, the Russians had provided a number, a name, a location, sometimes a cause of death. And then, at the very bottom of the last page, a mystery entry: “NM SPAS 757.” The letters were abbreviations, taken to mean “unidentified man” and “extensive damage to the coronary arteries”.
It would be weeks before officials could confirm what the Guardian and its reporting partners are publishing today. The unlabelled remains were those of a woman. Not a soldier, either, but one of the most high-profile civilians detained since the full-scale invasion.
The journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna was captured in the summer of 2023 near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. It was at least her fourth reporting trip into the occupied territories. She was by this stage of the war the only Ukrainian journalist prepared to risk crossing the frontline in order to pierce the information blackout imposed by Russia.
Roshchyna died after a year in detention, aged 27.
Information on the circumstances of her death is limited. Roshchyna was held without charge and without access to a lawyer. During her detention, her only known contact with the outside world was a four-minute phone call to her parents, a full year after she was taken.
Preliminary forensics suggest “numerous signs of torture”, according to the prosecutor. Burn marks on her feet from electric shocks, abrasions on the hips and head, and a broken rib. Her hair, which she liked to wear long and tinted blonde at the tips, had been shaved.
Sources close to the official investigation have also disclosed that the hyoid bone in her neck was broken. It is the kind of damage that can occur during strangulation. However, the exact cause of death may never be known because when her body was returned during the exchange on 14 February, certain parts were missing, namely the brain, eyes and larynx.
A war crimes investigation has been opened with a view to prosecuting those responsible.
There were also witnesses to her suffering. The Guardian, working with media partners including Roshchyna’s publisher, Ukrainska Pravda, in a collaboration led by the French newsroom Forbidden Stories, has tracked down first-hand testimonies to reconstruct the events that led to Roshchyna’s capture, and the details of her treatment in detention.
This account, part of the Viktoriia project, is part of an investigationinto the abduction and systematic torture of what Ukraine believes could be as many as 16,000 of its civilians, the second part of which will be published on Wednesday.
Most of those detained are being held without charge. The conditions of their detention constitute a suspected war crime, and evidence is being gathered for eventual prosecutions.
The detained are aid workers, journalists, business owners, local politicians, church leaders, and anyone suspected of resisting the invasion. They are being held at more than 180 facilities in the occupied territories and inside Russia itself. And yet, in all the noise around peace talks, they are rarely mentioned. It is a subject Roshchyna felt was under-reported, and it was the focus of her last mission.
The information about her final months has been gathered thanks to more than 50 interviews with survivors of Russian captivity as well as the families of some of those still held. Legal sources operating inside Russia and the occupied territories have also shared information, as have prison officials who resigned from the service in distress over what they had witnessed.
While questions remain, one thing is certain: Roshchyna fell victim to the very crimes she had set out to expose.
The prosecutor believes she was taken to a black site in Melitopol known as the “garages”, and according to her cellmate’s testimony, Roshchyna later recounted how she was tortured there. Her body was covered in bruises. “During interrogations, they used electric shocks … She got stabbed a few times – I saw them on her: arm for sure, leg too … Fresh knife scar – forearm, soft tissue between wrist and elbow. A scar of roughly 3cm, pierced through. She said one guy, she called him a jerk … was brutal, unhinged.
“On her leg, above the heel – I saw that too, 5cm wound. She said: ‘I told them not to touch my leg … I begged them not to touch that wound.’”
Towards the end of 2023, Roshchyna was told by an FSB officer she named as Maxim Moroz that she would be transferred to another prison and was promised better treatment there. According to witnesses, she was transported alone, by Jeep, to Taganrog. Here, she was detained at a pre-trial detention centre known as Sizo 2.
“She arrived already pumped full of unknown drugs,” said a second detainee who encountered Roshchyna at Taganrog, who cannot be named for security reasons. “She arrived and she basically started to go crazy.”
The Guardian will publish a separate, detailed account of the abuses inflicted on Ukrainians held at Taganrog. The conditions there were among the worst seen at any of the many detention facilities operated by Russia.
Ukrainian intelligence has recorded 15 fatalities at the prison, based on information from released troops. In the torture rooms, soldiers and civilians were water-boarded, beaten and shocked in an electric chair. When outside their cells, they were forced to adopt a stress position known as the swan – bent forward with their hands clasped behind their back at chest level. Food was severely rationed, with four and a half spoonfuls per plate, according to one detainee who counted.
For Roshchyna, the effect was catastrophic. She stopped eating. “We would talk to her but she was lost in her head, eyes terrified,” recalled the first witness, her cellmate. Roshchyna would lie “curled up foetal on the floor” behind a curtain that screened the toilet, out of sight of the guards.
Her weight dropped to 30kg (less than 5st). “She could stand up, but only with me helping as she was in such a state that she could not even lift her head off the pillow. I would prop her up and she would grab the top bunk to pull herself upright,” her cellmate said.
Yevgeny Markevich, a soldier now in rehabilitation in Ukraine after a prisoner exchange, said: “She did not officially declare a hunger strike, she simply began to refuse food.” . He said he saw her once but heard her most days as she was held near to him, in cell 115. “At first she explained it by saying that it was for religious reasons, fasting or something, then she began to say that she could not [eat] for health reasons.”
Roshchyna’s feet and legs swelled, according to her cellmate’s testimony. She was offered heart pills but appears to have refused these. Heart problems and fluid retention in the leg tissues are both signs of starvation.
In June, she was carried out on a stretcher. She spent several weeks at a hospital in Taganrog where, according to witnesses, she was watched over by six masked guards armed with machine guns. The level of security, and the efforts made to keep her alive, suggest Moscow saw her as a valuable negotiating pawn. In July, she was reportedly sent back to Taganrog with an IV drip in her arm. It seems she continued to refuse food.
The head of the prison asked her cellmates what she liked to eat, and separate meals were cooked for her. Witnesses say she was offered bananas and sweets.
In April 2024, her family had received the first official confirmation that Roshchyna was alive, in a letter from the Russian defence ministry. It stated only that she “has been detained and is currently in the territory of the Russian Federation”.
Colleagues began pulling strings. A message was sent to the Vatican, where Pope Francis, who had been able to communicate with Russia through backchannels, agreed to ask for her name to be added to the prisoner exchange list.
Word eventually reached her editor that she was to be released. Towards the end of August, Roshchyna was allowed to phone home. Her parents were told by the Ukrainian negotiators she was on hunger strike. They kept their mobiles switched on all day, waiting for her call. When she finally came on the line, Roshchyna was speaking in Russian. “I was promised that I would be home in September,” she told them. Her father urged her to eat. Then she said her farewells. “Well, that’s it. Bye, bye. Mom, Dad, I love you.”
On 13 September, bathed in autumn sunshine, 49 prisoners of war stepped off a coach from Russia on to Ukrainian soil. A welcome party met them with flags and bouquets of yellow sunflowers wrapped in blue tissue paper. Roshchyna’s cellmate was there, along with at least two other men held at Taganrog. But the journalist was missing.
Exactly why has never been made clear. On 8 September, Roshchyna was taken from her cell, ready for the long journey back to Ukraine. The anonymous Taganrog detainee was one of the last to see her alive.
“We asked a girl from the cell to help her go down. With her help, she went down when they were supposed to exchange her. After that, a security officer came and said that the journalist never made it to the exchange. The officer added: ‘It’s her own fault.’”
Some weeks later, the deputy head of Russia’s military police wrote to Roshchyna’s father to say she had died on 19 September.
When Roshchyna’s body was eventually returned, it was in such bad condition that visual identification was difficult. However, attached to her leg, examiners found a tag with the handwritten inscription “V.V. Roshchyna”, and the DNA test was a match with her parents.
Her father, in his grief, refuses to accept she is gone. He has requested additional examinations. And he has continued to write letters, including to Taganrog, demanding information. The Sizo director, Aleksandr Shtoda, has replied twice claiming Roshchyna was never there. His most recent response, in January, stated she “is not and was not listed in the databases”.
More at the link.
Kharkiv:
The number of injured in Kharkiv has risen to 45, as russia attacked Ukraine’s second-largest city with 16 drones last night.
— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 2:37 AM
During the day, Russia claimed it wanted peace, but at night it struck Kharkiv with a drone. The moment of the strike was captured on local residents’ dashcams.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 6:26 AM
More russian drones over Kharkiv‼️
Alerts, explosions, drones, rinse, repeat.
I’m so tired of this.— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Explosions in Kharkiv ‼️
again.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Kupyansk, Kharkiv Oblast:
Last night Russia dropped 10 glide bombs on the residential area of Kupyansk, Kharkiv region.
As I write this they are bombing Kupyansk with glide bombs again.
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Russian occupied Crimea:
On 25.04.2025, drone attacked the S-400 Triumph air defense missile system positions. At least one 91N6 radar was damaged as a result of the attack. The outskirts of the village of Saky, Crimea.
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 7:46 AM
The Kursk cross border offensive:
“In honor of Border Guard Day – a salvo of fire.” – the Czech MLRS “Vampire” of the “Steel Border” Brigade unleashed a morning strike on enemy positions along the Sumy–Kursk border.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 7:46 AM
SBU drones have attacked the Murom Instrument-Making Plant in Russia, which manufactures Russian navy and aviation equipment.
This plant is under sanctions imposed by Ukraine and the European Union.— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Vladimir Oblast, Russia:
👀 Drones reportedly attacked a defense plant in Russia’s Vladimir region.
The plant has been under EU and Ukrainian sanctions since 2023.
— UNITED24 Media (@united24media.com) April 30, 2025 at 5:11 AM
That’s enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
There are no new Patron skeets or videos tonight. Here is some adjacent material.
🐶🇺🇦 Valiant warrior of the Armed Forces of Ukraine!
— Vitalis Viva (@vitalisviva.bsky.social) April 29, 2025 at 9:44 AM
For those wondering, that’s a tactical kneepad made of ballistics cloth and kevlar that’s been adapted into a helmet.
Open thread!
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
Psst! Isn’t it “sites”?
Thank you, Adam. Now get some rest.
wjca
Of course not. But calling it one gives Trump a chance to claim he “made a deal”. Which may defer for a bit longer his totally casting US support to
RussiaPutin.Jay
Thank you, Adam.
Darkrose
Thank you Adam. Fucking monsters–and this is who the US government has decided to side with.
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
I am deliberately NOT commenting on the fate of Viktoriia Roshchyna because there isn’t anything to say. There aren’t any words that are adequate. Simply calling Russians monsters isn’t good enough. Yes, they are, but no, they are human beings too. That’s the worst thing of all. I hope her father is offered the mental health support he needs.
I have to say it was very gratifying to hear Zelensky speaking about Prime Minister Mark Carney.
AlaskaReader
Thanks Adam
no body no name
@wjca:
If Trump loses power any deals he makes are going straight out the window. Everyone knows this. Not only is Trumps word worthless in and of itself half of the alert electorate wants everything has done reversed regardless.
Eolirin
@no body no name: I could see the investment fund, if taken over by an administration and congress that actually cares about Ukraine being used for a lot of good, maybe with some tweaking of terms.
I’m not sure what peace even looks like here though. Like, let’s say Russia decides to a complete and durable ceasefire. There’s no way they’re going to do anything but rebuild their military and get ready to either attack a smaller NATO country with the expectation that the US will sit on the sidelines, or resume their war against Ukraine, from a stronger position. They’re not going to retreat into a passive isolated failed state like position like North Korea did.
If the EU doesn’t prepare for that properly, including providing military guarantees to Ukraine that’ll make it clear they’ll intercede directly if this happens again, it’ll be a disaster. And they need to continue to ramp up sanctions and do a better job of stopping sanctions evasion until Russia gives back the land it took.
Though the US is likely to try to drop them with the current administration instead, if we ever get back to sanity we need to do the same.