12:50 – Two British volunteers were captured by Russian soldiers
Presidium Network, a British non-profit organization, announced that two of its British volunteers were captured in Ukraine by Russian soldiers. In a statement, the NGO said: “Two British citizens working as volunteers unrelated to us but known to us, Paul Urey (b. 1977) and Dylan Healy (b. 2000) have been captured by the military at a checkpoint in Ukraine on Monday.” The two volunteers “went to Ukraine on their own accord,” the statement explained.
12:20 – Nearly 8,000 soldiers will be sent to Eastern Europe this summer
Nearly 8,000 British soldiers will be sent to eastern Europe to take part in military exercises with NATO soldiers this summer. UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement on Friday: “These exercises will see our troops join forces with allies and partners from NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force in a show of solidarity and of force which is one of the largest shared deployments since the Cold War.” To promote the successful implementation of these exercises, 120 armored combat vehicles will be deployed from North Macedonia to Finland.
11:59 – A Ukrainian producer was killed in the kyiv attack
The Radio Liberty radio station reported that one of its producers was killed in the attack which hit the Ukrainian capital on Thursday: “Vira Ghyrych died as a result of the strike of a Russian missile on the building where she lived.” His body was discovered in the rubble on Friday April 29.
11:34 – Zelensky and Putin present at the G20 summit next November?
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he had invited Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin for next November’s G20 summit to be held in his country. It remains to be seen whether the Russian and Ukrainian presidents will accept the said invitation.
11:10 – Azovstal site in Mariupol should be evacuated this Friday
The Azovstal factory, which houses hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children, and Ukrainian soldiers, could be evacuated this Friday, announced the Ukrainian presidency. The steel plant is in Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, and has been besieged for several weeks by Russian troops
10:44 – Jean-Yves Le Drian “strongly condemns” the attack on kyiv
On his Twitter account, Jean-Yves Le Drian condemned “strongly the indiscriminate strikes by Russian forces that targeted kyiv last night”. The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs renewed his “full solidarity with the Ukrainian people”.
I strongly condemn the indiscriminate strikes by Russian forces targeting kyiv last night. Full solidarity with the Ukrainian people, as well as with @antonioguterres and @KirilPetkov who were nearby yesterday.
— Jean-Yves Le Drian (@JY_LeDrian) April 29, 2022
10:20 – At least one dead in Russian shelling of kyiv
This Thursday, while the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, was visiting kyiv, the Ukrainian capital was hit by Russian bombardments. This Friday, local authorities reported at least one death. In addition, four people were injured in the attack. For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense indicated that the Russians were indeed at the origin of the attack: “The Russian forces destroyed with high-precision long-range weapons the workshops of the space company Artyom in the city of Kyiv.”