You missed the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes summarizes for you every evening. Here’s the essential of this Thursday, April 16, 2026, the 1,513th day of the conflict.
Highlight of the day
Horror strikes again. Wednesday night to Thursday, a rain of Russian missiles and drones fell on Ukraine, especially on Kiev and the southern city of Odessa. The provisional toll of this large-scale aerial offensive is 19 dead and 11 injured. “Simple people, children, civilians killed by Russian madness,” commented Volodymyr Zelensky from the Netherlands.
The President of the European Union Council denounced “an atrocious attack.” “The act of aggression by Russia against Ukraine has failed, and that is why it deliberately chooses to terrorize civilians,” stated Antonio Costa on X.
The Russian Ministry of Defense explained that these strikes targeted military-industrial sites and energy infrastructure used by the Ukrainian army. Russia also announced the deaths of two children, aged 5 and 14, in a Ukrainian drone strike in the Krasnodar region.
Quote of the day
« For years, we have been under the weight of sanctions. […] We have already learned how to minimize the impact. We will continue to do so. »
Not a big deal. Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson downplays the impact of the United States’ decision to reinstate sanctions on Russian oil. They had been partially suspended for a month to curb the surge in oil prices caused by hostilities in Iran.
Figure
7. The number of Moldovan nationals fined by the Paris criminal court in the case of tags discovered on June 7, 2024, on the walls of the National Assembly buildings. They stenciled the image of a coffin with the caption “French soldiers in Ukraine.”
Absent from their trial on February 23, five of the defendants were fined 1,000 euros, one 7,000 euros, and the one who was present as the instigator 10,000 euros. They were all acquitted of the offense of “demoralization of the army,” for which the prosecution had requested prison sentences.
Trend
Slovakia takes over from former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the case of the Druzhba oil pipeline, a partially Ukrainian infrastructure damaged in January by strikes that allows these two Eastern European countries to source Russian oil.
Like the Orban team before him, Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar declared this Thursday that his country would block the next wave of EU sanctions against Russia unless reparations are made for the pipeline.
“We have no other means to compel Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the European Commission to restore the operation of Druzhba,” affirmed the minister before the Slovak deputies.
