Ukraine war live updates: Zelenskyy says Russia ‘won’t get away with this’ after many civilians are hurt in strikes on Mykolaiv

Russian forces had established “sandbag fighting positions” on the roofs of reactor buildings at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant by March 2023, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence update.

Russia seized control of the power plant, Europe’s largest, in March last year. However, the ministry believes this is the first time the reactor buildings have been integrated in tactical defense planning.

“Russia has likely constructed these positions because it is increasingly concerned about the prospects of a major Ukrainian offensive,” said the ministry.

The ministry included an image purportedly showing defensive positions constructed from sandbags on reactor buildings. The plant at Zaporizhzhia is highly contested with both Russia and Ukraine accusing each other of endangering the safety of the facility.

The ministry believes the move highly increases the chances of damage to the plant’s safety systems if fighting takes place around it, although it said “direct catastrophic damage” to the reactors is unlikely.

— Audrey Wan

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia “won’t get away with this crime” after the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv was hit by a Russian missile attack overnight.

The strike left at least one person dead and 23 injured, including a child, after a house, apartment building and historical building were significantly damaged. Ukraine says it believes Russian used four Kalibr cruise missiles to carry out the attack.

Zelenskyy responded to the latest strike on Telegram, commenting that Russia “never ceases to prove that the main goal of this war is terror and the destruction of Ukrainians and everything Ukrainian.”

“At night, Russia shelled Mykolaiv with four Kalibr missiles launched from the Black Sea. High-precision weapons were aimed at private houses, a historic building and a high-rise building,” he said.

Russia “will not get away with this yet another crime against humanity,” Zelenskyy said, adding that “there will be accountability for everything.”

Russia has repeatedly said it does not target civilian infrastructure, despite multiple instances of civilian buildings being struck during missile and drone attacks.

— Holly Ellyatt

At least one person died and 23 were injured, including a child, following an overnight Russian missile strike on the city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine.

One private house was destroyed while a high-rise residential building and historical building were significantly damaged, a spokesperson from the Ukrainian army’s Operational Command South said on Facebook.

Russian forces fired four “Kalibr” missiles fired from the Black Sea direction that used “terrain features and trajectory changes to complicate detection,” the spokesperson said, according to a NBC News translation.

A fire caused by the missiles was extinguished and the dismantling of damaged buildings is ongoing, he added.

CNBC was unable to immediately verify the details within the report.

— Audrey Wan

Ukraine’s Navy said Russia suspended four vessels from moving to and from Ukraine’s ports.

“As a result, today 4 vessels, including vessel AKDENIZ-M, which has been chartered by the World Food Program of the United Nations to deliver wheat to Ethiopia, were unable to leave the ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdenny and had to wait for additional time for their passage to be approved,” Ukraine’s Navy wrote on their official Facebook page.

Under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a humanitarian sea corridor, more than 900 ships carrying nearly 29 million metric tons of agricultural products have departed from Ukraine’s war-weary ports.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov renewed Moscow’s threats of abandoning the deal on Tuesday following meetings at the United Nations.

Read more about Moscow’s demands for renewing the Black Sea Grain Initiative here.

— Amanda Macias

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the country is pushing for weapons production facilities to be moved into the country from France, Germany, Poland and the UK.

“Our defense industry is gaining momentum even now when the war continues. We are interested in localizing the production of such military equipment in Ukraine, which we receive from our partners,” Zelenskyy said via video conference during a meeting on Ukraine’s reconstruction, according to an NBC News translation.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine is already investing in several new production facilities for its own weapons and ammunition.

— Amanda Macias

The White House said it has not seen evidence that China has agreed to provide Russia with lethal weapons for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

“We still have seen no indication that the People’s Republic of China has moved in that direction and again, we reiterate that we don’t believe it would be in their best interest to do so,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on a call with reporters.

Kirby’s comments came on the heels of a call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Chinese President Xi Jinping. He added that the U.S. did not have advanced knowledge of the call but added that, “These are two sovereign leaders, and we’re glad to see that they did talk.”

Clarification: This post has been updated to state that the U.S. has not seen evidence of China providing or moving to provide Russia with lethal weapons

— Amanda Macias

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymry Zelenskyy’s office, said on Telegram that Russia returned 42 Ukrainian servicemen in the latest prisoner swap.

Yermak said that two Ukrainian civilians were also returned.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on its official Telegram channel that 40 troops were returned by Ukraine.

“All those released are being provided with the necessary medical and psychological assistance,” the ministry added.

— Amanda Macias

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni urged European allies to quickly start the negotiations needed to grant Ukraine’s full European Union membership bid, the Associated Press reported.

“The smartest way to thank Ukrainians for what they are doing is to accelerate their chance of being part of the European institutions. We need to acknowledge Kyiv’s enormous efforts to reform its system and bring it closer to targets required by the EU Commission,” Meloni said in the AP report.

Rome hosted a bilateral conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction, which attracted over a thousand Italian and Ukrainian businesses, said Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to the AP.

A World Bank report has estimated it will cost Ukraine $411 billion over the next 10 years to recover and rebuild from the war, according to the AP report.

— Melodie Warner

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a “long and meaningful” phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday.

“I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relation,” Zelenskyy added in a comment on Twitter.

Ukraine has been waiting for an audience with Xi since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and particularly after Xi’s recent visit to Moscow in March.

China is seen as one of the few countries that could influence Russia to end its military aggression against Ukraine although despite its calls for peace, Beijing is widely seen as allied with Moscow in terms of its anti-Western ideological perspective and opposition to a perceived U.S. hegemony in global affairs.

China said Wednesday that during the phone call with Zelenskyy, Xi had said he will send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties on reaching a cease-fire and an end to the conflict.

— Holly Ellyatt

China will send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties on resolving the crisis there, President Xi Jinping told his Ukrainian counterpart on Wednesday, Chinese state media reported.

Xi made the remarks during a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, state broadcaster CCTV said.

China will focus on promoting peace talks, and make efforts for a ceasefire as soon as possible, Xi told Zelenskyy, according to the report.

Xi said in early April he was willing to speak with Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy had repeatedly asked Xi to meet him, including after the Chinese leader visited Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month.

— Reuters