Kyiv Post Morning Memo – Everything You Need to Know on Thursday, April 27

Good morning from Kyiv.

While the capital was calm overnight, a Russian missile killed one person in the southern city of Mykolaiv during the early hours, officials there said.

At least 23 people have been injured. “Around 1 a.m., residents of Mykolaiv heard four loud explosions,” city mayor Oleksandr Senkevych posted on Telegram.

“It is already known that one of the missiles hit a high-rise building. One more hit a private house.”

What’s happening today?

The world is still digesting the hugely significant call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday.

The nearly one-hour discussion, which reportedly included Xi advocating for peace negotiations, was met by Russian accusations that Ukraine was undermining efforts to end the fighting.

Beijing proposed a vague political solution to the conflict that includes a call for dialogue and respect for all countries’ territorial sovereignty, but Ukraine has long said it would not negotiate with Vladimir Putin and that peace would only be possible after Russia withdrew its troops.

You can read how the world reacted to the call here.

What was in President Zelensky’s latest message?

During his daily address on Wednesday evening, Zelensky highlighted his call with President Xi, which he said was “an opportunity to give new impetus to our relations.”

Other Topics of Interest

Moscow Recruits Yemeni Mercenaries for War in Ukraine, Report Says

The number of mercenaries is in the hundreds, though many of them claimed they were duped into fighting after being lured by high salaries.

He added: “There is an opportunity to use China’s political influence to restore the strength of the principles and rules on which peace should be based.

“Ukraine and China, as well as the vast majority of the world, are equally interested in the strength of the sovereignty of nations and territorial integrity.”

What’s the latest military situation?

The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) update on April 27 focuses on Russia’s construction of defensive firing positions at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).

The MoD notes: “Russia has controlled ZNPP since March 2022. However, this is the first indication of the actual reactor buildings being integrated in tactical defence planning.

“Russia has likely constructed these positions because it is increasingly concerned about the prospects of a major Ukrainian offensive. The move highly likely increases the chances of damage to ZNPP safety systems if fighting takes place around ZNPP.

“However, direct catastrophic damage to the reactors is unlikely under most plausible scenarios involving infantry weapons because the structures are very heavily reinforced.”

The Institute for the Study of War’s April 26 daily assessment covers a multitude of topics, most notably:

·      Russia appears to be continuing a deliberate depopulation campaign in occupied areas of Ukraine in order to facilitate the repopulation of Ukrainian territories with Russians.

·      Comments made by Russian officials and prominent voices in the Russian information space continue to highlight a pervasive anxiety over potential Ukrainian counteroffensive actions.

·      Russian milbloggers continue to argue amongst themselves about Ukrainian activity along the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.

And that’s it for today’s Morning Memo.

Kyiv Post will bring you the latest news throughout the day and we’ll be back with another edition tomorrow.