Reuters is reporting explosions in and around Kiev. This is after RT reported earlier today that three residential villages in the Belgorod region of Russia were bombed by Ukraine.

Reuters, 4/15/22

KYIV/LVIV, Ukraine, April 15 (Reuters) – Powerful explosions were heard in Kyiv early on Friday, and air raid sirens blared across Ukraine as residents braced for new Russian attacks after Moscow’s lead warship in the Black Sea sank following a fire.

The explosions appeared to be among the most significant in Ukraine’s capital region since Russian troops pulled back from the area earlier this month in preparation for battles in the south and east.

Ukraine claimed responsibility for sinking the Moskva, saying the Soviet-era flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet was struck by one of its missiles. The vessel sank late on Thursday as it was being towed to port, Russia’s defence ministry said. read more

Over 500 crew aboard the missile cruiser were evacuated after ammunition on board exploded, the ministry said, without acknowledging an attack. Ukraine says it hit the warship with a locally made Neptune anti-ship missile.

The ship’s loss comes as Russia’s navy continues its bombardment of Ukrainian cities on the Black Sea nearly 50 days after it launched the invasion. Residents of Odesa and Mariupol, on the adjacent Azov Sea, have been bracing for new Russian attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy alluded to the sunken warship in an early morning video address in which he warned of Russian intentions to target the eastern Donbas region, including Mariupol.

Zelenskiy paid homage to all “those who halted the progress of the endless convoys of Russian military equipment … Those who showed that Russian ships can go … down to the bottom.”

There were no immediate reports of damage following the explosions reported in Kyiv, Kherson in the south, the eastern city of Kharkiv and the town of Ivano-Frankivsk in the west. Ukrainian media reported electricity outages in parts of Kyiv.

Air raid sirens went off in all regions of Ukraine just after midnight on Friday and continued blaring in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia even after those elsewhere went quiet, Ukrainian media said.

Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.

I’m sure that some of my readers will have criticisms of what Golinkin has to say. That’s fine. I think it’s important to hear from independent Ukrainians. I do think he downplays some important points and he clearly thinks that whatever past criticisms he had of the ultra-right in Ukraine are now subordinate to the fact that his home country has been invaded. Outside of Donbas, Ukrainians are understandably going to view the presence of Russian forces – with their tanks and artillery – as invaders. This is true whatever the sins of the Kiev government/leadership might be. – Natylie

This is an excerpt from the official Kremlin transcript of comments made by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko during an April 12th joint press conference with Putin. Overall, he comments on the reasonableness of the “special military operation” taken by Putin. I have bolded the part that pertains to Bucha. – Natylie

There have never been such dangerous and complicated periods in the modern history of our relations with the West. I pointed this out when we discussed the issue that everyone is talking about today; I pointed this out to Mr President, and I said this for a reason, that if Russia had taken even a bit longer to start its military operation, a blow they believed to be crushing would have been delivered at the adjacent regions. We can clearly see today that this was more than possible.

Therefore, those who say that it was the wrong move or that it was made in the wrong place and at the wrong time should weigh it against the potential consequences of what would have happened had this move been made a month or even two weeks later. There is nothing more to add.

It is like the story in Bucha; we discussed that policy. There is a lot of commotion, but they just needed to adopt a new package of sanctions, as we know very well. We discussed their special operation today, the psychological operation carried out by the British. If you want to know the addresses, the secret meeting places, the licence plate numbers, the brands of vehicles they used in Bucha, and how they did it, the FSB of Russia can provide this information. If not, we can help. We exposed that ugly, disgusting position of the West together with our Russian friends, in full and from the beginning to the end.

Back then, we decided that the cold war was over, that the page had been turned and we would live in a new, civilised and fair world based on mutual understanding and the rule of international law. This is what we thought, but the West thought differently. They did not destroy us back then, and so they have decided to do it now. We are in an extremely dangerous situation; it is a showdown, and it did not appear out of thin air. Washington and Brussels have been deliberately moving towards this for years. It is perfectly clear now that, regrettably, the clash could not be avoided. Moreover, as I said before, it was only a matter of time and place. I would like to stress again that if we had waited a little longer, the consequences would have been extremely severe.

Read full transcript here.

Professor Petro explores the very important question of how Ukraine might eventually achieve a long-term peace.