THE RUSSO-UKRAINE WAR BRIEF
Day 1162 of the full scale invasion
Slava Ukraini! In early 2022 I began a Telegram channel aggregating news from a number of sources daily on the war in Ukraine. In June 2023 I began providing a daily draft for the Ukraine War Brief Podcast collecting news from over 70 sources daily, which formed the basis of the script. While the Podcast no longer exists I have continued to make this Brief available for my followers here on Substack for those who wish to keep up with the news from the war.
All the latest news on the Russo-Ukraine War 6 days per week
ALONG THE CONTACT LINE
GSAFU Morning Report
For: Apr 30, 2025
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in its Operational Information update at 08:00 on Apr 30 stated that day 1162 of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation against Ukraine had begun.
The situation on the line of combat remains tense in some sectors. Ukrainian defenders continue to actively counteract the Russian aggressor, causing them significant losses in personnel, equipment and technology. Exhausting the enemy along the entire front line and continuing to disrupt the plans of Russian occupiers to advance deeper into the territory of Ukraine.
During the past day, 177 combat engagements took place.
Over the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out missile strikes, 91 air strikes, used 3,186 drones and fired approximately 5,900 artillery shells across the positions of Ukrainian forces and civilians.
Air Force Daily Report
50 ENEMY UAVS SHOT DOWN, 22 SIMULATOR UAVS FAILED TO REACH THEIR TARGETS (LOCATIONALLY LOST)
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
On the night of Apr 30, 2025 (from 9:30 p.m. on Apr 29), the enemy attacked with 108 strike UAVs and other types of simulator drones from the areas of: Kursk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk - Russia, Chauda - Crimea.
The main directions of attack are Dnipro and Kharkiv.
The enemy air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare equipment, and mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
As of 11:30, it has been confirmed that 50 Shahed attack UAVs (and other types of drones) have been shot down in the east, north, south, and center of the country.
22 enemy drone simulators were lost in location (without negative consequences).
As a result of the enemy attack, the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions suffered.
Combat Operations in the Russian Federation
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US based think tank, in its Apr 29 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment reported that:
Belgorod Incursion: Russian forces recently advanced in Belgorod Oblast.
Geolocated footage published on Apr 26 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced in the fields west of Demidovka (northwest of Belgorod City).
The Khortytsia operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the northeastern part of Ukraine. )
Sumy Sector: Russian forces recently advanced in northern Sumy Oblast.
Geolocated footage published on Apr 29 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced along Tsentralna Street in northern Bilovody (northeast of Sumy City).
Toretsk Sector: Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Toretsk direction.
Geolocated footage published on Apr 29 indicates that Ukrainian forces recently advanced along Tsentralna Street in southern Shcherbynivka (west of Toretsk).
The Tavria operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the central-eastern and southeastern part of Ukraine.)
Pokrovsk Sector : Russian forces recently advanced in the Pokrovsk direction.
Geolocated footage published on Apr 29 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced along the railroad line west of Shevchenko (south of Pokrovsk).
Kurakhove Sector: Russian forces recently advanced in the Kurakhove direction.
Geolocated footage published on Apr 28 and 29 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced along the H-15 Kurakhove-Zaporizhzhia City highway (southwest of Kostyantynopil), west of Kostyantynopil, and north and northwest of Rozlyv (southwest of Kurakhove).
Velyka Novosilka Sector: Russian forces recently advanced in the Velyka Novosilka direction.
Geolocated footage published on Apr 20 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced in northern Vilne Pole.
The Odesa operational-strategic group
(Responsible for Kherson, Qırım, (also known as Crimea) and the Black Sea.)
There have been no major changes to the combat environment since our last report.
TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Nothing major to report.
THE HOME FRONT
3 killed, 70 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past day.
At least three people were killed and 70 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, the Kyiv Independent reported citing regional authorities on April 30.
In Kharkiv Oblast, 52 people were injured in total, including 47 in a drone strike against the city of Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
The attack hit residential neighborhoods, damaging apartment buildings, a hospital, and a school. Among the wounded were a 5-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy, and a 24-year-old pregnant woman.
In Donetsk Oblast, one person was killed in Shakhove, and six others were wounded in Russian attacks across the region, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.
A massive suicide drone strike killed one person and injured another in the city of Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak said.
Russian forces shelled Kherson Oblast, injuring six people and damaging 10 apartment buildings and nine homes, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Social infrastructure and residential areas were targeted.
In Sumy Oblast, one person was killed and one injured as civilian infrastructure was hit and destroyed, the local Military Administration reported.
Artillery strikes on Mykolaiv Oblast wounded a 49-year-old woman and a 51-year-old man, Governor Vitalii Kim said.
Two people were injured in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where authorities received 19 reports of damage to homes, apartments, vehicles, and garages, Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
"Russian drones continue flying in the skies over Ukraine all morning. And so it goes every day," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X, calling for stronger sanctions against Russia.
"Pressure from the United States, from Europe, from everyone in the world who believes there is no place for war on this planet."
The attacks come amid Moscow's continued rejection of a complete ceasefire agreement and follow an escalation of strikes targeting civilian areas across Ukraine.
RUSSIAN WORLD
Hundreds of North Korean troops killed, thousands wounded fighting for Russia.
About 600 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine out of a total deployment of 15,000, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing South Korean lawmakers and the country's intelligence agency.
North Korea has suffered some 4,700 casualties so far, including injuries and deaths, though its troops have shown signs of improved combat capabilities over about six months by using modern weapons like drones, the lawmakers said.
In return for dispatching troops and supplying weapons to Russia, Pyongyang appears to have received technical assistance on spy satellites, as well as drones and anti-air missiles, they said.
"After six months of participation in the war, the North Korean military has become less inept, and its combat capability has significantly improved as it becomes accustomed to using new weapons such as drones," Lee Seong-kweun, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters, after being briefed by South Korea's National Intelligence Service.
Pyongyang earlier this week confirmed for the first time that it had sent troops to fight for Russia in the war in Ukraine under orders from leader Kim Jong Un and that it had helped regain control of Russian territory occupied by Ukraine.
North Korea's unprecedented deployment of thousands of troops, as well as massive amounts of artillery ammunition and missiles, gave Russia a crucial battlefield advantage in the western Kursk region and has brought the two economically and politically isolated countries closer.
Lee, the lawmaker, added that bodies of dead North Korean soldiers were cremated in Kursk before being shipped back home.
Pyongyang is also believed to have sent about 15,000 workers to Russia, said the lawmakers, citing intelligence assessments.
North Korean labour overseas is known as a source of the regime's hard currency income but U.N. sanctions prohibit the use of North Korean labour in third countries.
Ukrainian drones strike Russian military plant in Murom.
Ukrainian drones struck the Murom Instrument-Making Plant in Russia's Vladimir Oblast overnight on April 30, damaging two buildings and sparking a fire, a source in Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent.
The facility, known locally as the city's "powder factory," produces ignition components for ammunition used by Russia's Armed Forces, Interior Ministry, and Federal Security Service (FSB), according to Russia's National Defense magazine.
It is under Ukrainian and EU sanctions for its role in supporting Russia's war effort.
"There were five explosions at the facility," the SBU source said. "Two buildings were preliminarily damaged, and a fire broke out." "It specializes in the production of ammunition ignition devices, as well as components and products for the Russian Navy and Air Force," they added.
Vladimir Oblast Governor Alexander Avdeev confirmed a fire occurred at a warehouse in Murom and attributed it to downed drones.
"The attack of several drones was recorded; they were suppressed by electronic warfare equipment," he wrote on Telegram.
Residents confirmed to the independent Russian outlet Astra that the Murom plant had been hit.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that 34 Ukrainian aircraft-type drones were intercepted and destroyed overnight across multiple regions.
These included three over Vladimir Oblast, 15 over Kursk Oblast, eight over Bryansk Oblast, seven over Orel Oblast, and one over Belgorod Oblast.
Vladimir Oblast, located roughly 190 kilometers (120 miles) east of Moscow, hosts several sensitive military sites.
RELATED INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Kyiv is ready to sign a resource deal with the US, Ukraine government source says.
Ukraine is ready to sign a mineral resources deal with the United States and could do so later on Wednesday, Reuters reported citing a Ukrainian government source.
First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was travelling to the United States to sign the agreement, the source said, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
"I think maybe late evening Kyiv time, the deal there can be signed," the source said.
Ukrainian officials hope that signing the deal promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump will help to firm up softening American support for Kyiv in the war triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion more than three years ago.
The two sides signed a memorandum, published on April 18, as an initial step towards clinching an accord on developing mineral resources in Ukraine. In the memorandum, they said they aimed to complete talks by April 26 and sign the deal as soon as possible.
Trump and his administration's officials threatened to walk away from efforts to broker a peace deal earlier this month unless there are clear signs of progress soon.
Ukraine has relied on military aid from the U.S., ranging from air defence to long-range missiles, to repel Russia's onslaught for more than three years.
In February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that American aid comprised around 30% of the weapons and equipment used to defend the country.
On April 28, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Kyiv had agreed that past U.S. aid provided to Kyiv would not be counted as part of a minerals deal.
During a trip to the United States last week, Shmyhal met U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and reported "good progress" on the agreement.
Shmyhal also said that Kyiv had clearly defined the red lines regarding the agreement's compliance with Ukraine's European obligations and Ukrainian legislation.
'Three-day ceasefire is absurd' — Kellogg
U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg on April 29 dismissed Russia’s plan for a three-day ceasefire next week as "absurd" and reiterated that the United States is seeking a comprehensive and lasting peace deal to end the war, the Kyiv Independent reports.
"A three-day ceasefire is absurd. What the president wants is a permanent, comprehensive ceasefire — sea, air, land, infrastructure — for a minimum of 30 days, and then we can extend that," Kellogg said during a Fox News interview. "The president has this one right on the money, and that’s where we want to go to."
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Apr 28 a temporary ceasefire from May 8 to 11 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
The move follows Trump’s growing frustration over what he views as Moscow’s unwillingness to bring an end to the three-year war, as Russian attacks against Ukraine continue. Meanwhile, Putin continues to demand formal recognition of Russia’s control over Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson—territories Russia annexed on paper in 2022 but has never fully occupied.
Ukraine also dismissed the Kremlin’s proposed short-term truce. "If Russia truly wants peace, it must cease fire immediately," Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X. "Why wait until May 8th? If the fire can be ceased now and since any date for 30 days—so it is real, not just for a parade."
Kellogg, who recently led U.S. talks on Ukraine in London, said negotiators produced a 22-point term sheet focused on ending the war. He acknowledged that Ukrainian officials "didn’t like them all," but described that as usual during negotiations.
"When you look at everything the Ukrainians are willing to work with — now, it’s over to the Russians, over to Putin," he said, adding that the Ukrainian side "really doubled down on this (peace proposal)."
Kellogg likened the diplomatic process to a long-distance race. "The first mile isn’t the hardest, it’s the last one that’s the hardest, and we’re in the last mile," he said.
"Nobody is going to win this war militarily," Kellogg told Fox News. "So when Russia says they're winning-no, they're not. If they were winning, they would have already won this war... So I think they need to sit back and realize it. I think Ukraine's in a good position."
MILITARY & TECH
Estonia Ready to Deploy Troops to Ukraine for “coalition of the willing”
Estonia is ready to deploy a company of its troops to Ukraine as part of an international deterrence force. Militarnyi reported citing Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal.
In this way, the country is prepared to contribute to the “coalition of the willing,” led by the United Kingdom and France, which offers security guarantees to Ukraine.
According to the Prime Minister, planning for the Coalition of the Willing is still ongoing, but Estonia is ready to provide a combat unit from its land forces of up to company size, as well as training instructors and staff officers.
Michal stated that Estonia still believes the best way to guarantee Ukraine’s security is through its membership in NATO.
“If NATO membership takes time, Ukraine should be guaranteed deterrence and defense measures from allied forces based on its territory,” the Prime Minister noted.
He emphasized that “Ukraine’s security is Europe’s security.”
Amid Estonia’s desire to contribute troops to the “coalition of the willing,” The Times, citing its own sources, reported that Europe will be unable to assemble a 25,000-strong force to establish deterrence forces on Ukrainian territory. This is attributed to the insufficient number of active personnel in European armies.
European partners expressed their doubts to Secretary of State John Healey, as ensuring a constant presence of 25,000 soldiers over two years with rotations would require the involvement of approximately 256,000 military personnel.
Polish company begins ammunition deliveries to Ukraine.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have started receiving ammunition under a major procurement contract worth UAH 23 billion (~$550 mln), with initial shipments already delivered to frontline units. The announcement was made by Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, which was delegated the authority to oversee this large-scale purchase, Defense Express reports.
According to Demchenko, the deliveries include a wide range of critical munitions necessary to support ongoing defensive and offensive operations.
Initial shipments of ammunition have reached Ukrainian troops, with PHU Lechmar meeting delivery schedules.
"This is equipment that is urgently needed on the front lines to stop the enemy and maintain a balance of power. We're talking about a diverse range of ammunition, not just small arms but also more complex types used in modern combat," he said.
The contract payments were finalized in late December 2024, with deliveries scheduled to continue throughout 2025. However, the official emphasized that shipments are already underway and are not being delayed until the end of the year.
The supplier, Polish PHU Lechmar company, has so far demonstrated strict adherence to the delivery timetable, despite facing criticism in some circles. Ukrinform reports on accusations earlier voiced by Ukrainian parliament member Yaroslav Zhelezniak that this manufacturer had previously broken deadlines for arms procurements worth ₴1.7 billion. The border guards' spokesman, however, defends the new 23-billion agreement.
"Attempts to label PHU Lechmar as a 'shell company' are unfounded. The company is fulfilling its obligations on time and in accordance with the contract. Facts must prevail over speculation," Demchenko stated.
That’s it for today’s Brief folks if you would like to keep up with events in Ukraine daily please consider subscribing, it’s free!