18 April 2022

April 2022 in brief

As Russian forces withdrew from the area north-west of Kyiv, the bodies of civilians were found in Bucha, where OHCHR later documented 73 civilian killings in March; Russia's defence ministry said its units had left the town by 30 March and Russian officials called the images staged. ^[1] A missile with a cluster warhead struck Kramatorsk railway station as civilians waited to be evacuated, killing at least 50 people including five children according to Ukrainian officials; Russia denied the attack. ^[1] UNHCR said more than 5 million refugees had fled Ukraine by 19 April, about 90% of them women and children, with some 7.7 million displaced inside the country, and an ICRC-led convoy carried more than 1,000 people who had fled Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia. ^[1][2] WHO recorded attacks on health care in the east, including on health transport in Ruska Lozova and a health facility in Dobropillia. ^[1][2] President Zelensky said Russian troops had begun the battle for Donbas on 18 April, the day missile strikes on Lviv killed seven people according to the regional governor. ^[1][3] The Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva sank; Russia's defence ministry said ammunition detonated in a fire, while Ukraine said it hit the ship with two Neptune missiles, which a US official said the US also assessed. ^[1] The UN General Assembly voted 93 to 24 to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, and Gazprom halted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria for not paying in roubles, which both governments called a breach of contract. ^[1][2]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.