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G7 Calls For Extension, Full Implementation, And Expansion Of Black Sea Grain Deal

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has pressed the need for tightening sanctions on Russia to bring an early end to the 14-month invasion, while Kyiv also pleaded for more ammunition as intense fighting continued in eastern Ukraine and rumors swirled of possible Ukrainian plans for a river crossing in the south.

The Ukrainian military said on April 23 that the “fiercest” fighting was currently over the cities of Bakhmut and Maryinka in the Donetsk region.

And local officials in Kharkiv said civilian infrastructure was burning in that northeastern city after at least five Russian missiles hit that city and the region overnight.

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Russia’s Defense Ministry meanwhile said its forces had made gains in Bakhmut, capturing three blocks in a city with a prewar population of more than 70,000 that has been devastated by a monthslong Russian offensive.

RFE/RL cannot independently confirm battlefield claims by either side in areas of the most intense fighting.

The Ukrainian military declined to confirm or deny reports suggesting its forces were planning a landing on the left bank of the strategically crucial Dnieper River in Kherson, near the Black Sea coast, as part of a widely anticipated counteroffensive against Russian troops.

A spokeswoman for the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine, Natalia Humenyuk, said in televised comments that crossing an obstacle like the “wide and powerful” Dnieper is “very difficult work.”

“Therefore the conditions of a military operation require informational silence until it is safe for our military,” she said. “That’s why we need to be patient.” She added that “informational silence should be observed” also in light of wartime disinformation efforts by the enemy.

Hours earlier, Zelenskiy said in his regular video appearance late on April 22 that further “sanctions packages are being worked out in detail.”

He added that coordination of those trade and other efforts to punish Russia “is one of the key joint tasks for all of us — absolutely everyone who seeks a faster end to the war, a faster victory for us — to eliminate opportunities for Russia to circumvent sanctions.”

The European Union is currently working on its 11th package of economic and diplomatic sanctions against Russia since the full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022.

European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen has said the coming sanctions will be aimed primarily at preventing the circumvention of existing restrictions on Russia.

Also on April 22, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk said that while the country was grateful for assistance so far, “it is not enough.”

“Ukraine needs 10 times more to finish [R]ussian aggression this year,” Melnyk wrote on Twitter. “Thus we call upon our partners to cross all artificial red lines & devote 1% of GDP for [Ukraine] weapons deliveries.”

Earlier, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia’s “main effort is focused” on offensive operations in the areas of Bakhmut, Maryinka, and Avdiyivka.

It said it had fought off 58 attacks in the past day, and warned of the possibility of missile and air strikes around the country.

It also said Russian “defensive operations” were continuing farther south in and around Zaporizhzhya, which hosts an occupied nuclear power plant, and Kherson.

In Kharkiv, the head of the local administration, Oleh Synyehubov, said via Telegram that Russian bombardments with S-300 missiles and other weapons were targeting the city and the district.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that “a fire broke out at a civil infrastructure facility in the Novobavar district due to rocket fire” and “emergency services are working at the scene.”

Russian troops regularly shell the Kharkiv region due in part to its proximity to Russian territory, from which many of the bombardments originate.

The United States said its Abrams tanks bound for Ukraine were on their way to Germany for the training of Ukrainian tank crews, and other allies issued fresh commitments to Kyiv at a Contact Group meeting at Ramstein on April 21 largely focused on helping boost Ukrainian air defenses.

On April 22, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced it was expelling an unnamed number of German diplomats in what it called a “mirror” action to a previously unannounced move by Berlin as relations between those two countries continued to deteriorate.