Tanks are falling on the Ukrainian front, Zelensky received an important call – Our war news on Wednesday

Russian Patriarch Kirill is the first person to be placed on the Czech Republic’s national sanctions list by the Prague government for supporting the invasion of Ukraine, the CTK news agency reported, citing the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The imposition of national punitive measures against natural and legal persons who seriously violate human rights in the Czech Republic is made possible by the so-called Magnitsky Law, which was adopted by the Czech Parliament last summer and entered into force at the beginning of January.

Based on the law, the Czech authorities can now ban Patriarch Kirill from entering the Czech Republic and confiscate any property he may have in the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic is expanding the European Union’s sanctions list with the national list. The European Union had previously wanted to put Patriarch Kirill, civilly known as Vladimir Mihajlovich Gungyaev, on the sanctions list, but due to Hungary’s disagreement, this did not take place. Based on this, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended adding the patriarch to the national sanctions list, CTK reports.

(MTI)

Romania has reduced housing and food support for foreigners seeking refuge in the country due to the war in Ukraine, and stipulated that the refugees must work and send their children to school as a condition of the aid.

According to the decision adopted at Wednesday’s government meeting, single refugees can receive housing support of 750 lei (57,000 forints) per month, and families fleeing the war can receive 2,000 lei per month throughout the year. Until now, the housing allowance was twice this amount, but it was not given to the refugee, but to the host who took him in. The monthly meal allowance of 600 lei per refugee will not be reduced.

After applying for temporary protection, the support is automatically granted for only one month, after which only those who take up work are entitled to the aid.

(MTI)

A fire of unknown origin caused significant damage to a Russian cultural center in the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, on Wednesday, the local fire department said.

The flames broke out around noon in the building, which is located in the heart of the commercial center of the capital.

Firefighters managed to control the fire in less than two hours.

Andreasz Kettisz, the spokesperson of the fire department, said that the cause of the fire is being investigated together with the police, and if necessary, other state agencies will also be involved in the investigation.

According to public opinion, the cultural center has close ties with the Russian embassy in Cyprus. The building used to host exhibitions and plays.

(MTI)

A MiG-31 fighter jet that went on a training flight crashed in the Murmansk region, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday.

According to the information, the engine caught fire and the plane crashed into the ground in an uninhabited area, the pilots ejected, and were later transported by search and rescue helicopter from the scene.

The emergency services first reported that the pilots were hospitalized in serious condition. The governor of Murmansk, Andrej Tsibisz, later announced that after their medical examination, it was found that their lives and health are not in danger, and they do not even need hospital treatment.

These pilots are heroes, they successfully steered the plane away from the inhabited area

– emphasized Csibisz on Telegram.

It is understood that the plane crashed into a lake 10 kilometers from the city of Monchegorsk, near an island called Ryz-Guba.

(MTI)

Russia announced on Wednesday that it had expelled ten Norwegian diplomats.

According to the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry, “Russia expresses its strong protest against the fact that Oslo expelled 15 Russian diplomats in April; at the same time, it regrets that the Norwegian side only further aggravated the already low-level relations between the two countries with the expulsion.”

The ministry also announced that the Norwegian ambassador in Moscow, Robert Kvile, was summoned on Wednesday and informed that it was a response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats in April. The ambassador was also told that as a further retaliatory measure, Russia will limit the number of Russian citizens that can be employed by the Norwegian embassy in Moscow.

In her response to the Russian expulsions, the spokesperson of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ragnhild Simenstad, emphasized that

the decision is evaluated as retaliation, while Russia also knows that Norwegian diplomats working on its territory do not engage in activities incompatible with their basic duties.

On April 13, Norway announced the expulsion of 15 Russian diplomats, which was justified by the fact that the persons involved carried out espionage activities that threatened the security of Norway.

The previously close Russian-Norwegian relations deteriorated after Norway almost without exception joined the EU sanctions against Russia due to the war in Ukraine.
(MTI)

Everything must be done to prevent Russia from blackmailing the world with nuclear facilities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his message published on Telegram on Wednesday, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.

“Thirty-seven years ago, the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant left a huge scar on the whole world. A radiation leak turned the once cozy and developed area into a forbidden zone. Today, the thirty-kilometer zone around Chernobyl is still a dangerous place with high levels of radiation. Last year, the Russian invaders not only they occupied the nuclear power plant, but once again put the whole world in danger. We must do everything to prevent a terrorist state from blackmailing Ukraine and the world with nuclear facilities,” the head of state emphasized.

Zelensky added that a year after the recapture of the territory, the scientific and security enterprises operating in the Chernobyl zone are operating as usual again. According to his words, Ukraine and the world have paid a high price for eliminating the consequences of the disaster, which is still ongoing.

(MTI)

On April 25, 2023, 5,042 people entered the territory of Hungary at the Ukrainian-Hungarian border between midnight and midnight. Among those who entered the Romanian-Hungarian border section, 5,175 people declared that they came from Ukraine, the ORFK told MTI.

Our article is constantly updated with the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

You can see our coverage from yesterday here:

Cover photo: Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images