Ukraine Conflict Update: 9 – 15 April 2022

Heavy fighting continued in the eastern and southern parts of the country last week, though Russian forces made no major territorial gains. The besieged city of Mariupol continues to see intense fighting around the last pockets of Ukrainian forces. Russian forces escalated missile attacks across Ukraine, targeting railways, airports, and civilian buildings.

In the Black Sea, the Russian guided-missile cruiser ‘Moskva’ sank on 14 April. Ukraine claims to have hit the cruiser with two anti-ship missiles on 13 April, causing significant damage that ultimately sank the ship (Ukrayinska Pravda, 14 April 2022). While Russian official sources have not corroborated Ukrainian reports, external sources have supported the claim that Ukrainian missiles were responsible (Current Time, 15 April 2022) (Washington Post, 14 April 2022; New York Times, 15 April 2022).

In northern Ukraine, further evidence of war crimes committed by Russian occupying forces continued to emerge last week, including mass executions of civilians. Dozens of dead civilians were found in formerly occupied areas across the Kyiv region (ZMINA, 10 April 2022; Ukraine Crisis Media Center, 13 April 2022). Russian forces also continued to abduct government officials and other civilians in occupied territories.

For more information, including previous situation summaries and an interactive dashboard, visit our Ukraine Conflict Monitor.