LIVE War in Ukraine – day 801: The war is entering a new stage, says Zelensky / Russian drone attack in Kharkiv / Zakharova: We are ready for “serious” peace proposals

The first military shipments from the new US aid package arrived in Ukraine earlier this week, but it will likely be several weeks before Western arms and ammunition reach the front lines in large quantities. According to The New York Times, the first tranche of US aid consisting of anti-armor missiles, rockets and 155 mm artillery shells arrived in Ukraine on April 28, four days after Joe Biden signed into law the more than $60 billion in aid. for Ukraine, and a second tranche of aid arrived on April 29.

All information about the war in Ukraine – day 801 – LIVE on HotNews.ro:

07:58 Ukraine’s central bank on Friday introduced its biggest wartime monetary liberalization measures to ease restrictions on businesses, more than two years after Russia’s invasion led to tough measures. Most of the new provisions come into effect on May 4.

A long-awaited package of liberalization measures to support business and ease restrictions on capital outflows and tight currency controls imposed after the 2022 invasion. Ukraine’s economy shrank by about a third in the first year of the war.

According to the new regulations, currency restrictions are to be lifted regarding imports of goods and services, restrictions on the repayment of newly contracted external loans and those on currency transfers to parent companies are relaxed. The new provisions also allow companies to repatriate “new” dividends, a measure that will take effect on May 13. (Reuters)

07:51 Debris from downed Russian drones fell on civilian targets early Saturday morning in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, injuring three people and causing a fire in an office building, the regional governor said.

Oleh Synehubov said on Telegram that a 13-year-old child and a woman were taken to hospital. A second woman was treated at the scene. Emergency services are bringing the fire under control, he added.

Brief recap of recent events:

• Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, at a meeting with cadets in Khmelnytskyi, a city in western Ukraine, that the war with Russia is entering a new stage, and the Russians are preparing for the expansion of the offensive.
• Russia says it is ready for “serious” peace proposals in Ukraine based on existing “realities” and Moscow’s security concerns, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
• Any Western-backed Ukrainian strike against the Crimean bridge or Crimea itself will be met with a strong retaliatory strike from Russia, Maria Zakharova said.
• Also, the Kremlin qualified as a “direct escalation” of the conflict, the statement of the British foreign minister David Cameron, according to which Ukraine could use weapons received from London against some targets inside Russia, if it wanted.
• A Ukrainian soldier fighting at a key point on the eastern front told The Associated Press how more than 100 of his comrades had been killed or disappeared as they struggled to build fortifications.
• The general director of Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger launched the idea of ​​establishing a European arms consortium, which could better compete with American rivals.
• French minister: Russia has already suffered a military failure. It has lost 500,000 soldiers in Ukraine so far, of which 150,000 have been killed.
• The institutions of the Czech Republic have been targeted by a Russian cyber attack since last year, the Czech Foreign Ministry announced on Friday. Germany had also previously announced that it was the target of a Russian cyber attack, which it described as “absolutely intolerable and unacceptable”.
• A German factory belonging to the Diehl Metal company, which produces the IRIS-T SLM air defense system that Berlin supplies to the Ukrainian army, was engulfed in an impressive fire on Friday.
• May 9, celebrated separately in Chisinau. Pro-Russians celebrate Victory Day, pro-Europeans Europe Day.
• Hungary will further increase defense spending if the war in Ukraine continues into 2025, reducing funds available for other spending, Viktor Orban said on Friday.

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