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The Norwegian government has formally voted and adopted a new budget to increase their military aid to Ukraine to €8 billion for this year.
The UK plans to purchase software and equipment service packages worth €500,000 for Ukraine's Central Election Commission as part of the "Technology Assistance Project (TAP).”
Another 45 Ukrainians have been returned from the occupied Ukrainian territories. Many of them required special conditions for safe transport due to serious health issues, according to Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. Evacuation was organized for 23 individuals who required special transportation, and medical support and another 10 individuals needed urgent treatment and had chronic illnesses. The majority of Ukrainians that returned were elderly, the oldest being 93. The rest that were returned previously lost their documents and needed special legal support to leave Russia.
Pierre Elbrun, the French President's Special Envoy for Ukraine Assistance and Reconstruction said that the Chornobyl exclusion zone shows potential for renewable energy projects. He specifically expressed interest in solar power projects at the location. Elbrun said that Ukraine and France have similar amounts of nuclear and renewable energy and that both countries recognize these energy sources as the foundations of European energy security. He also mentioned that France has had involvement in working in the exclusion zone in the past; the sarcophagus was constructed by French companies Bouygues and Vinci.
The US imposed sanctions on a network supplying the Houthis with weapons, military technology, and stolen grain from Ukraine. Two Afghan businessmen, a Hong Kong company transporting stolen Ukrainian grain on a Russian vessel, the vessel's Russian captains, three Russian companies, and an Iranian businessman were targeted by the sanctions.
Russian milblogger dosye_sphiona reported that on April 4, 2025, a drone strike targeted the "9A316" launcher-loader from a Buk-M2 anti-aircraft missile system. The strike took place on the outskirts of Sokologorsk, Luhansk region. Two of the BUK’s operators were lightly injured in the attack.
Russia has increased production of 2S43 Malva self-propelled guns, with at least eight units spotted on a train in February. The Malva is based on a BAZ-6910-011 chassis combined with the gun from a 2A36 Giatsint-B towed howitzer. The Malva can hit targets up to 30.5 km with conventional ammunition and 33.1 km with extended-range shells. It is believed that Russia is not producing new Giatsint-B howitzers to make the Malva, but instead is cannibalizing systems in storage.
An 88-year-old man who was injured in a Russian drone attack on Kharkiv's Novobavarskyi district has died in hospital, raising the death toll from that attack to 5. According to Regional Military Administration head Oleh Syniehubov, 32 people were injured in shahed attacks on Kharkivt on the night of April 3-4.
Russians spread disinformation over Facebook using a fake account and AI-generated images of a dead child. The post claimed to be from a Ukrainian soldier apologizing for the "murder" of the child in Kursk. The photo of the child was 87.9% likely AI-generated according to the Hive Moderation detection program. The fake account was created in January 2025 with only three posts and contained unusual biographical information, claiming to be Ukrainian and to have been educated at a school in the Dominican Republic.
On April 4, a Russian ballistic missile struck a residential area in Kryvyi Rih near apartment buildings and a children's playground, killing 14 people including 6 children, and injuring 42 others. Zelenskyy that Russia knew what it was targeting and that attacks like these are deliberate, not accidental, and called for consistent international pressure on Moscow.
Russia attacked two Kherson residents with drones. A 69-year-old woman in Beryslav suffered an explosive injury and shrapnel wound to her shin and was hospitalized in moderate condition. A 45-year-old man in Chervonyi Maiak sustained blast trauma, contusion, and shrapnel wounds to his chest and legs, and remains in serious condition in hospital.
Yuriy Fedko, head of the Left Bank Administration of Dnipro City Council, was injured in a car explosion on April 4 in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region. Fedko and his wife were hospitalized, with Fedko in intensive care. Ukrainian law enforcement is investigating the explosion.
The Dnipro Regional Council building was damaged during a Russian drone attack. Council head Mykola Lukashuk reported no casualties and stated the building will be restored. Repair crews are working to repair damage from the strike and ensure the continuation of the council’s regular business and duties.
Ukraine successfully struck a rare Russian electronic warfare system called Tirada-2. The attack was executed by the Shadow unit of the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade. The Tirada-2 jamming system is a mobile electronic warfare system designed to emit signals that interfere with satellite radio frequencies, causing them to malfunction. It is a classified system with limited publicly available information on its capabilities.
Russia is restoring old M-30 towed howitzers from storage to replace artillery losses. The M-30 is the second most abundant artillery type in Russian reserves with 2,000 guns in storage. Despite seriously limited capabilities such as needing an 8-person crew, a rate of fire of 5-6 rounds per minute, a short barrel lifespan, and a maximum range of 11.8 kilometers, Russia is beginning to deploy these guns to achieve a sufficient volume of artillery fire to support its assaults. To increase survivability, Russia relies on burying artillery systems to hide them. The M-30 entered mass production in 1938.
Russian troops from the 80th Separate Arctic Motor Rifle Brigade continue attempting to establish positions on the Dnieper islands in the Kherson region despite taking heavy casualties. According to the Atesh partisan group, recent attempts to land on Holubiv Lyman Island resulted in 26 Russian soldiers killed and over 20 wounded. ATESH reported that the number of incidents where Russian troops refuse to follow orders is on the rise. Their complaints center around how they aren’t properly trained or equipped before being sent into combat.
Ukraine's anti-corruption investigator exposed a scheme involving approximately $17.8 million embezzled during Armed Forces food procurement in 2022-2023. Charges were filed against a former Defense Ministry department head, an owner of supply companies, two executives, and another participant. Investigators found out the suppliers were inflating the costs of high-demand items. Between August and December 2022, two companies earned over $17.8 million in excess profits, with some funds used to purchase Croatian hotels and other property.
Ukraine's Deputy Defense Ministers, Valerii Churkin, and Serhii Boiev, met with Rheinmetall CEO Dr. Björn Bernhard to discuss expanding local production of military equipment in Ukraine and joint defense projects, including repairing and maintaining Western equipment and training Ukrainian specialists.
Ukraine has allocated $60 million this year for mine clearing but needs additional funding. Last year, Ukraine cleared over 35,000 square kilometers of land, prioritizing agricultural land. Once cleared of mines and explosives, the land was returned to farmers for agricultural use. The World Bank estimates that clearing the 174,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian land contaminated with mines and explosive objects will cost at least $367 billion.
On April 5, 2025, Ukrainian strike drones attacked Fiber Optic System, located in Saransk. This facility is Russia’s only manufacturer of fiber-optic cables. The attack took place just after 2 am, and ten explosions were reported. Fiber Optic System uses Western and Chinese equipment and was able to produce 12,000 kilometers of fiber daily or 4 million kilometers annually. The company’s fiber-optic cables are used by some of Russia’s military drones. Footage of the attack shows what seems to be pretty extensive damage to the building, including a fire. The strike may seriously impact Russia’s ability to produce fiber optic drones, which are one of Russia’s better weapons on the battlefield. The facility is about 660 km from the Ukrainian border.
The coordinates of the fiber optics plant are:
54.2252, 45.1963
The fiber optics plant burning.
During the attack, a Ukrainian drone dropped a FAB bomb onto the building of the Fiber Optics Engineering Center, which is also in Saransk. A publicly available video shows a Ukrainian drone with a FAB strapped to its belly. At least one photo has been published showing damage to the Engineering center.
The coordinates of the Engineering Center are:
54.2233,45.1594
Damage is visible at the Engineering Center.
FAB bomb strapped to the belly of a Ukrainian drone
Also on the night of the 5th, Ukrainian drones attacked the Promsintez explosives plant in Chapayevsk, Samara region, Russia. At least 20 explosions and several fires were reported at the plant. The plant has shut down operations. The plant produces, among other things, TNT which is used in ammunition. The plant produces 30,000 tons of explosives annually. Satellite images confirmed the damage to multiple workshops at the plant. No casualties were reported.
The explosives plant is at these coordinates:
52.9736, 49.7391
A photo of the explosives plant burning.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense claims to have intercepted 49 drones during this attack.
The Kyiv School of Economics released a 57-page report about Russia’s reliance on China to keep its military operating. China has become the main supplier for Russia's defense industry due to Western sanctions limiting access to materials, technologies, and components. From 2021 to 2023, the amount of “battlefield goods” in Russia’s military that came from China rose from 41% to 76%. The amount of “battlefield goods” coming from the EU has dropped from 41% to just 2%. China’s 3 primary ways of assisting Russia include: making replacements for Western products, re-exporting sanctioned Western products, and producing goods for Russia in Chinese factories. By 2023, China was involved in some way with 90% of all battlefield goods that Russia imported. This percentage is only increasing. China has become almost the only source Russia has for some forms of machinery, tools, optics, and communications gear. These Chinese-made goods often are produced with poor quality control and even made well, are lower quality than their Western equivalents. Re-exported Western goods come with a significantly higher price tag and may have a significant lag time in delivery.
On April 3, 2025, a Tiger armored vehicle carrying Kadyrovites from the Vostok-Akhmat unit exploded on the outskirts of occupied Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region. Ukrainian intelligence reported that at least five Kadyrovites were killed in the explosion. No details about the operation have been released yet.
NATO officials reiterated that Ukraine's path to NATO is irreversible, despite statements that may be coming from the Trump administration. NATO said that Ukraine has a right to choose its alliances and determine its foreign policy, saying that this is a fundamental principle of global politics that applies to all nations.
Ukrainian soldier Officer_alex33:
“Due to the pile of fiber optics on the battlefield, there are difficulties with flying mavic.
After all, at low altitudes and when landing, the blades simply wrap up the fiber and, accordingly, the drones fall. At best, the drone will be repairable, if it is possible to pick it up at all. Such cases have become very common recently.
This problem is already present on both sides of the frontline and, let me remind you, this is not the peak of fiber optic drones, I think it will happen in the summer and, accordingly, there will be even more problems.
Therefore, at the moment, it is necessary to conduct flights taking into account the possibility of fiber availability on the ground, especially when flights take place at low altitudes (for drops, etc.). For example, if the flight takes place below the highest point of the terrain where there are trees, bushes, etc. that the fiber constantly clings to.”
…
The [Russians] have taken a relative pause after their activation in the area of Andriyivska, but it is likely that the attacks will continue, but in this area there are a minimum of settlements in which it is more difficult and time-consuming for them to conduct hostilities, so they try to advance through the fields in columns of vehicles.
Let me remind you that the last time, on April 3, the [Russians] used 19 units of armor in the area of Andriivka, of which 12 were destroyed.”
Ukrainian soldier Stanislav Osman:
“In Chasiv Yar, we are waiting for the enemy to assault, now we have driven them into holes, they are afraid to even come out, they get provisions by dropping drones, and then we feed them with FPVs
…
The situation in Udachne - Kotlyne (Pokrovsky) is difficult, the [Russians] do not reduce pressure on the positions, they climb in small groups day and night, suffer heavy losses, but this does not stop them.
One unit in this area loses 10 to 50 [Russians] per day.”
Russian blogger DonbassYasinovatayanaliniiOgnia:
“...the impunity of the responsible persons in the Ministry of Defense is truly astonishing. They couldn’t have been unaware of the enemy’s development and production of long-range drones for strikes on industrial sites, yet nothing has been done about it for an enormous amount of time. Absolutely nothing. The creation of ZPU networks [anti-aircraft gun networks] on existing optical-electronic heads is still being sabotaged. They think they’ve got it all figured out. For the defense of airfields from unmanned light aircraft, not even "Shilkas" [more or less the Soviet version of a Gepard] have been pulled from storage, which do not even need to be put into operation, nor do you have to restore rotten radars. For now, optical guidance is enough, and it’s better than the technical personnel who are not even allowed to practice [shooting] and are forced to search for bullets. This raises the question of widespread professional incompetence or deliberate betrayal at a clearly defined level."
Quote of the Day:
“The power of a hedgehog, its strength, and its precision in hunting are unmatched, but this strength comes with great responsibility in nature’s delicate balance.”
-David Attenborough