Military
Ukraine to call for heavy arms when top U.S. officials visit Kyiv
Ukraine to call for heavy arms when top U.S. officials visit Kyiv
U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin, were set to visit Kyiv on Sunday to discuss Ukraine’s call for more powerful weapons, two months after Russia’s invasion began.
The trip, announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday, would be the highest-level by U.S. officials since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The White House has not confirmed any visit by Blinken and Austin.
The State Department and Pentagon declined to comment.
As Christians in Ukraine marked Orthodox Easter on Sunday, there was no end in sight to a war that has killed thousands of people, uprooted millions more and reduced cities to rubble.
“I pray that this horror in Ukraine ends soon and we can return home,’’ said Nataliya Krasnopolskaia, who fled to Prague from Odesa last month, one of the more than five million Ukrainians estimated to have escaped the country.
Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, said Easter celebrations had been shattered by the conflict.
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He said that seven churches in his region had been “mutilated by Russian artillery”.
Reuters could not independently verify his report.
Pope Francis called for an Easter truce: “Stop the attacks in order to help the exhausted population. Stop,’’ he said.
Zelenskiy said in an Easter video message from Kyiv’s 1,000-year-old Saint Sophia Cathedral that Ukraine would not be defeated by “wickedness” and prayed that God returns happiness to children and brings solace to grieving mothers.
He had earlier said talks with his U.S. visitors would cover the “powerful and heavy weapons” Ukraine needed to retake territory and the pace of deliveries.
The U.S. and NATO allies have shown growing readiness to supply heavier equipment and more advanced weapons systems.
Britain has promised to send military vehicles and said it was considering supplying British tanks to Poland to free up Warsaw’s Russian-designed T-72s for Ukraine.
Moscow, which describes its actions in Ukraine as a “special military operation”, denies targeting civilians and rejects what Ukraine says is evidence of atrocities, saying Kyiv staged them to undermine peace talks.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said after talks by phone with Zelenskiy that Ankara was ready to assist in negotiations with Russia.
Zelenskiy said he discussed with Erdogan the need for the immediate evacuation of civilians from the southern city of Mariupol and an exchange of troops.
Russian forces are attempting to storm the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol by land, backed up by aerial and artillery bombardment, Ukrainian Presidential Adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, said on Sunday.
“Russian troops are trying to finish off the defenders of Azovstal and more than 1,000 civilians who are hiding at the plant,’’ Arestovych wrote on Facebook.
He said on Saturday that troops in the steel complex were attempting counterattacks.
Moscow has previously declared victory in the city and said it did not need to take the plant.
Capturing Mariupol, the site of biggest battle of the conflict, would link up pro-Russian separatists who control parts of the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk that make up the Donbas with the Southern Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.
Ukraine estimates tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Mariupol and says 100,000 civilians are still in the city.
The UN and Red Cross say the civilian toll is at least in the thousands.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, called for humanitarian corridors in Mariupol and other areas of Ukraine, where he said “an indescribable human tragedy is unfolding’’.
The governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said two children were killed by shelling in his area on Sunday.
Ukraine said its forces repulsed 12 attacks on Donetsk and Luhansk a day earlier, destroying four tanks, 15 armoured equipment units and five artillery systems.
Reuters could not independently confirm the reports.
British military intelligence said Ukrainian resistance had been strong, especially in Donbas, despite some Russian gains.
“Poor Russian morale and limited time to reconstitute, re-equip and reorganise forces from prior offensives are likely hindering Russian combat effectiveness,’’ it said.
Russia said on Sunday its missiles hit eight military targets overnight, including four arms depots in the northeast Kharkiv region and one facility in the Dnipropetrovsk region producing explosives for the Ukrainian army.
Russian strikes on Saturday severed an arterial gas pipeline and caused a fire at an electricity substation, cutting gas supply to 5,500 people, Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk region wrote on Telegram on Sunday.
Moscow said on Saturday its missiles destroyed a logistics terminal in the southern city of Odesa containing weapons supplied by the U.S. and European states.
Zelenskiy said eight people, including a 3-month-old child, were killed in the Odesa strike.
(Reuters/NAN)
Military
Troops kill scores of terrorists, destroy enclaves in Borno operations
Troops kill scores of terrorists, destroy enclaves in Borno operations
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of the Joint Task Force (North East), Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), have sustained offensive operations against terrorist groups in Borno State, neutralising several insurgents and destroying key enclaves in coordinated ground and air assaults.
Security sources said the operations, conducted under Operation Desert Sanity V, targeted terrorist hideouts across the Bulabulin Forest and Timbuktu axes, with strong support from the Air Component Command.

According to the sources, troops of Sector 2, in conjunction with a stabilisation force brigade and elements of the Civilian Joint Task Force, cleared multiple enclaves in Mar, Subdu, Yaro Lawanti and Yaro Shuwari areas, which are contiguous to the Bulabulin Forest and the Kamadogu Yobe stretch.
The sources disclosed that troops made contact with terrorists around Malam Shiri Village, where they executed a coordinated flanking manoeuvre and engaged the insurgents in a fierce battle.
“A total of 11 terrorists were neutralised during the encounter, while others fled with injuries. Troops destroyed life-support structures within the enclaves and recovered significant quantities of arms and logistics,” the sources said.
Recovered items include nine AK-47 rifles, three PKT machine guns, five motorcycles, assorted ammunition, and materials used for the fabrication of improvised explosive devices.
In a related engagement along the Timbuktu axis on the Wajiroko–Sabon Gari corridor, troops, supported by air strikes, engaged another group of terrorists and maintained tactical superiority throughout the encounter.
Items recovered from the scene include AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenade tubes, bandoliers, communication equipment, and a large cache of ammunition.

Further operational reports indicated that troops advancing through the Bulabulin axis also engaged terrorists around Bultuwa in Yunusari Local Government Area, where six insurgents were killed and additional weapons, including AK-47 rifles, a PKT machine gun, motorcycles, ammunition, and IED-making materials, were recovered. No casualties were recorded among troops, although some vehicles sustained tyre damage during the operation.
Meanwhile, troops deployed around the Azir Bridge area came under attack late at night by terrorists using armed drones. Reinforcements moving to the location encountered an improvised explosive device, which struck a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle without causing further losses.
Air assets were subsequently deployed, with multiple precision strikes conducted on terrorist positions, forcing the attackers to retreat.
The sources confirmed that two terrorist bodies and a rifle were recovered after the engagement, while one soldier was killed in action.They added that the Air Component Command played a decisive role in the operations by providing continuous intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as precision strikes on identified targets, which significantly degraded the terrorists’ capabilities.
Troops are currently conducting follow-up exploitation operations along the Forfor, Multe and Wajiroko axes to track fleeing insurgents and prevent regrouping.
The sources said the sustained operations demonstrate increasing operational effectiveness and continued dominance by security forces across the theatre.
Troops kill scores of terrorists, destroy enclaves in Borno operations
Military
Troops raid IPOB enclave in Enugu, destroy camp, recover explosives
Troops raid IPOB enclave in Enugu, destroy camp, recover explosives
By: Zagazola Makama
Joint troops under Operation UDO KA have conducted an offensive operation on a suspected IPOB enclave in Ajali Forest, Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State.
Security sources said the operation was carried out at about 4:30 a.m. on April 27 by troops of 82 Division Garrison in conjunction with 103 Battalion (Reinforced) and 197 Special Forces Battalion, acting on credible intelligence.
The sources disclosed that the troops made contact with the armed elements during the operation and engaged them in a firefight, forcing the suspects to flee into the forest.
According to the sources, troops subsequently exploited the area and destroyed all active structures within the camp, including a shrine.
Items recovered from the location include three rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, three cartridges, seven victim-operated improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and one locally made hand grenade.
The sources added that no further contact was made during the exploitation phase, while troops have maintained presence in the area to prevent reoccupation by the fleeing suspects.
Troops raid IPOB enclave in Enugu, destroy camp, recover explosives
Military
Troops foil kidnap attempt, rescue victim in Kaduna
Troops foil kidnap attempt, rescue victim in Kaduna
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of Operation Enduring Peace (OPEP) have foiled a kidnap attempt and rescued a civilian in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Security sources told Zagazola that the incident occurred in the early hours of April 26 at about 3:00 a.m., when troops on night patrol at Sanga responded to reports of sporadic gunshots along Ungwan Mohammadu village road.
The sources said the troops swiftly moved to the scene and made contact with suspected kidnappers, engaging them in a firefight that forced the criminals to flee.
According to the sources, one civilian who sustained gunshot wounds during the incident was rescued by the troops.
The victim was immediately evacuated to Confidence Hospital in Fadan Karshi for medical attention and is currently receiving treatment.
The sources added that troops have intensified patrols and are conducting follow-up operations to track down the fleeing suspects and prevent further attacks in the area.
Troops foil kidnap attempt, rescue victim in Kaduna
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