War in Ukraine, live: Russia threatens to intensify attacks on kyiv

In Kharkiv A woman watches soldiers from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) enter a building during an operation to arrest suspected Russian collaborators in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday (April 14th). FELIPE DANA / AP On the map, the evolution of the situation on the ground in Ukraine New exchange of prisoners between Moscow and kyiv on Thursday in southern Ukraine A new exchange of prisoners of war took place between Moscow and kyiv on Thursday in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine partially under Russian control, the Ukrainian army announced on Friday. “After tense negotiations, we managed to reach agreements on an exchange of prisoners in the area of ​​the village of Posad-Pokrovske, where four prisoners of the Russian army were exchanged for our five”, informed the southern command of the army on its Facebook page. The regional capital Kherson has been under the control of the Russian army since the beginning of March, as have several other localities in this coastal region. Several exchanges of soldiers and civilians have already taken place between Ukrainians and Russians since the beginning of the invasion on February 24, without being systematically confirmed by the two parties. On Thursday, kyiv announced that 30 Ukrainians had been freed in a new prisoner exchange, without specifying the number of Russian soldiers released in return. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also offered this week to exchange Vladimir Putin’s close associate and pro-Kremlin tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk, arrested Tuesday by kyiv after escaping from house arrest, for Ukrainians captured by Russia. But the Kremlin brushed this idea aside. Here is the photo you currently see at the top of this live A vehicle drives past a hole in a damaged bridge, in the suburbs of kyiv, on April 8, 2022. RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP The Moskva was what is called a cruiser. That is to say a type of very imposing ship (more than 13,000 tons), 186 meters long, capable of coordinating operations and commanding several other ships at the same time. Hence its name of “flagship”. Only Russia, the United States, China, Japan and South Korea currently have this type of ship. France, like other Western navies, does not have an equivalent building. Originally designed as an aircraft carrier destroyer, the Moskva was equipped with an impressive arsenal: Bazalt/Voulkan anti-ship missiles, Fort missiles – the navy version of the long-range S-300 missiles – and short-range Ossa missiles. It also had rocket launchers, cannons and torpedoes. Relatively old, however, it was not able to fire the famous Kalibr cruise missiles, which were used extensively at the start of the Russian offensive. These jewels of the Russian army, very handy, at short or long range (up to 1,500 or 2,500 kilometers depending on the case), are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. In Borodianka northeast of kyiv A policeman walks among the rubble of destroyed houses in the village of Borodianka, northeast of kyiv, on April 14, 2022. FADEL SENNA / AFP Men near a burnt bus and a damaged school, in Borodianka, April 14, 2022. FADEL SENNA / AFP In Borodianka, April 14, 2022. FADEL SENNA / AFP Russia threatens to intensify strikes on kyiv While Moscow had said to concentrate its offensive on Donbass and eastern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that it had bombed an arms factory near kyiv. These would be workshops for the production and repair of long and medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems as well as anti-ship missiles from the Vizar factory, the ministry said. Explosions and anti-aircraft alerts sounded overnight from Thursday to Friday in the Ukrainian capital region. Russia has thus warned: “The number and scale of missile strikes on Kyiv sites will increase in response to any terrorist-type attacks and sabotage carried out on Russian territory by the nationalist regime in Kyiv. On Thursday, Moscow accused Ukraine of bombing two Russian border villages, including one with helicopters. The Russian investigative committee, in charge of the main investigations, assured that two Ukrainian helicopters “equipped with heavy weapons” had entered Russia and carried out “at least six strikes on apartment buildings in the village of Klimovo” , in Bryansk Oblast. Subsequently, the governor of the Belgorod region, which also borders Ukraine, also accused the Ukrainian forces of having bombarded a village, that of Spodariouchino. Ukraine had denied these accusations. In addition, Russia said it killed around 30 “Polish mercenaries” in a strike carried out in northeastern Ukraine. “As a result of the strike, a detachment of mercenaries from a Polish private military company (…) was liquidated in the village of Iziumske, in the Kharkiv region. Up to 30 Polish mercenaries have been eliminated,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement. Five people killed in Donbass, explosions south of kyiv south of kyiv, apparently without causing damage or injuries, the Ukrainian presidency announced on Friday. The control of the whole of Donbass, partially in the hands of pro-Russian separatists since 2014, has been the priority target of the Russian army since the end of March. In the largest region of Donbass, that of Donetsk, where “fighting is taking place on the entire front line”, three people were killed and seven injured, according to the presidency. The other region of this mining basin, that of Luhansk, was the scene of twenty-four bombings which left two dead and two wounded, the same source said. In the Kyiv region, “explosions were heard in the Vassylkiv district (southwest of Kyiv). According to the first information, the anti-aircraft defense has gone into action”, according to this daily point of the presidency, which is based on information sent by the regional authorities. Anti-aircraft alerts have sounded several times since Thursday evening in the capital region, said the governor of the latter, Oleksandr Pavliuk, on his Telegram account. Even though Russian troops withdrew from the kyiv region at the end of March, anti-aircraft alerts there remain quite frequent. On the map, follow the evolution of the situation in Ukraine Visualize the evolution of the situation in Ukraine: Before its sinking, the Russian Ministry of Defense had recognized, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, that this missile launcher of 186 meters in length had been “severely damaged” by a fire which caused the explosion of ammunition and that its crew of more than 500 men had been evacuated. As for what is at stake in this loss, it is “a heavy blow” to the Russian fleet in the region, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday, with “consequences on their combat capabilities”, the ship being a “key element in their efforts to establish naval dominance in the Black Sea”. The Moskva “provided air cover for the other vessels during their operations, in particular the bombardment of the coast and the landing maneuvers”, detailed for his part the spokesman for the regional military administration of Odessa, Sergey Bratchuk, on Telegram. Whatever the circumstances of the sinking, it is one of Russia’s biggest setbacks and a major humiliation. Ukraine’s president hit the nail on the head in his evening ritual video message by referring to Ukrainians as “those who showed that Russian ships can only go to the bottom”. CIA does not rule out “potential use of low-power nuclear weapons” by Russia Faced with the military setbacks suffered by the Russians in Ukraine, “none of us can take lightly the threat posed by the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or low-power nuclear weapons,” CIA chief William Burns said Thursday during a speech in Atlanta, while recalling the absence of worrying “concrete signs” on the ground. The Kremlin has spoken of putting its nuclear forces on alert, “but we haven’t really seen any concrete signs like deployments or military measures that could heighten our concerns,” Burns added. Russia recognizes the loss of the “Moskva” but continues to invoke a “fire” The cruiser Moskva, flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, damaged during the offensive against Ukraine, sank, announced Thursday evening , the Russian Defense Ministry. “During the towing of the cruiser Moskva to the port of destination, the ship lost its stability due to hull damage sustained during the fire following the detonation of ammunition. In rough sea conditions, the ship sank,” the ministry was quoted as saying by state news agency TASS. Over 500 civilians killed in Kharkiv since invasion began Over 500 civilians, including 24 children, have been killed in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, on February 24, said Thursday in a video published on his Telegram channel Oleh Synehoubov, the governor of the region, whose capital Kharkiv was heavily bombarded by the Russian army. In the previous 24 hours, the region had suffered 34 strikes, which left one dead and eight injured, Synehoubov said. Canada will send 150 soldiers on a humanitarian mission to Poland Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand announced on Thursday the sending of 150 soldiers on a humanitarian mission to Poland. The country bordering Ukraine currently hosts more than half of the 4.7 million Ukrainian refugees. Ukraine Post CEO Igor Smelyansky holds postage stamps showing a Ukrainian service member and a Russian warship depicting the guided missile cruiser ‘Moskva’, which sank on Thursday, at the company’s headquarters in Kyiv, in Ukraine, April 14, 2022. VALENTYN OGIRENKO / REUTERS Hello, welcome to this live dedicated to the war in Ukraine. You can find our live of this night on this link.