Here is where things stand on Wednesday, 9 April:
Fighting
The Ministry of Defence in Moscow said its units intercepted and destroyed 23 Ukrainian drones overnight on the border in Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions.
The ministry also said Russian forces mounted a shock attack and recaptured the village of Guyevo in Kursk, which had been held by Ukrainian troops since August 2024.
Moscow said it carried out air and artillery strikes on Ukrainian troops inside Russian territory, pushing Kyiv’s soldiers back towards the border.
Ukrainian forces attacked two Russian energy facilities in the past 24 hours despite a mutually agreed moratorium on energy strikes, the Russian Defence Ministry also said.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 46 drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile during an overnight attack, of which nine drones were shot down and 31 were lost due to electronic warfare measures.
At least 17 people were injured in Russian drone attacks on the Ukrainian cities of Dnipro and Kharkiv, which also caused fires and damaged houses, regional authorities said. One woman was left in serious condition due to her injuries.
Ukraine said its forces struck and destroyed an aircraft hangar complex, several military buildings and technical equipment, killing about 30 Russian soldiers in Ozerki village, located in Russia’s border region of Kursk.
Ceasefire
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Dorothy Shea told the UN Security Council that Washington “will have no patience” for negotiations made in bad faith or violation of any commitments in efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. “We will ultimately judge [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin’s commitment to a ceasefire by Russia’s actions,” Shea said.
Politics and Diplomacy
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was very hard to imagine the start of negotiations with the US on a new nuclear arms reduction treaty due to the mutually strained trust with Washington, which was only on the mend.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his troops engaged six Chinese soldiers fighting for Russia on the battlefield and detained two as prisoners of war. Zelenskyy said he had ordered officials to obtain an official explanation from China as to why Chinese nationals were fighting with Russian forces.
China’s charge d’affaires has been summoned over the presence of Chinese people fighting for Russia, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. “Chinese citizens fighting as part of Russia’s invasion army in Ukraine puts into question China’s declared stance for peace,” he said.
A new round of Russia-US consultations will take place on Thursday regarding the restoration of normal functioning of Russian and US embassies, the Reuters news agency reported citing a diplomatic source.
According to Russia’s state-owned news agency TASS, Moscow’s delegation at the normalisation talks will be led by the newly appointed Russian ambassador to the US, Alexandr Darchiev, while the US delegation will be headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Sonata Coulter.
Aid
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said his government had decided to provide a 1 billion euro ($1.19bn) aid package to Ukraine this year. He also said his country planned to support Kyiv with a similar package each year during his term.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will be virtually attending a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) on Friday, the AFP news agency reported, quoting a US defence official.
