Latest Russia-Ukraine War News Today: April 20, 2023

A blinding flash that lit up the night sky over kyiv has sparked much confusion and speculation about its cause.

Videos posted on social media showed the sky over the Ukrainian capital suddenly lit up by bright light on Wednesday night. In one clip, a burning object appeared to crash to the ground.

Kiev authorities said an unknown aerial object had fallen from the sky around 10 p.m. local time on Wednesday, forcing them to announce an air alert in kyiv and the surrounding region.

“After verification and clarification, the information about the possible use of enemy aircraft or an air strike with missile weapons was not confirmed,” the Kiev City Military Administration wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Andriy Yermak, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, jokingly posted a UFO emoji.

NASA ruled out one theory, that the flash was caused by the crash of a US satellite. Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian air force, suggested that a meteorite may have entered Earth’s atmosphere.

He said the Ukrainian air force, in charge of air defenses, was not involved.

China is not inflaming the situation in Ukraine, the country’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang said today.

The Chinese minister said that Beijing will continue to advocate the peaceful resolution of international disputes through dialogue and diplomacy.

He added that Beijing has no intention of engaging in a major power competition, but opposes attempts to build walls and barriers to disrupt international supply chains.

Mr. Qin spoke at the Lanting Forum in Shanghai.

Hungary will add honey and certain meat products to a list of foods it has temporarily banned from importing from Ukraine in an effort to ease market pressures on Hungarian farmers, a government minister said on Thursday.

Along with honey and meat, Hungary’s government has banned the import of 25 Ukrainian products including grains, oilseeds, flour and cooking oil until June 30, Minister Gergely Gulyás told a news conference. The government will also require shipments of such products from third countries to be monitored when they enter Hungary to make sure they are not coming from Ukraine, he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron discussed issues including Ukraine, China and Sudan during a phone call with US President Joe Biden on Thursday, the Elysee office said.

“At a time when Ukraine continues to be the victim of Russian aggression, the two presidents exchanged views on recent events on the ground, as well as support given to help Ukraine’s war effort. They reaffirmed their determination to maintain this support in the long term”, added the Élysée.

Weapons manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall will team up to develop a German rocket artillery system, a weapon in the same category as the HIMARS rocket launchers that Lockheed has been supplying to Ukraine.

HIMARS is a truck-mounted missile launcher that can fire multiple guided missiles in rapid succession. The missiles supplied to Ukraine have a range of up to 50 miles (80 km) and Ukrainian forces have had great success using them to attack Russian positions.

Rheinmetall and Lockheed said in a statement that they had signed a memorandum of understanding and that the new weapon would integrate existing German components.

“The combination of Lockheed Martin’s proven capabilities and comprehensive knowledge with Rheinmetall’s experience on the production side will provide unique opportunities for both parties,” said Rheinmetall Chief Executive Armin Papperger.

The deal provides an opportunity to secure key technological know-how and significant added value for Germany, he added.

“Lockheed Martin looks forward to cooperation and optimization of our joint resources to meet immediate deterrence needs,” said Paula Hartley, Lockheed’s vice president of tactical missiles.

kyiv has terminated the Russian embassy’s agreement to lease land in the capital and wants the property returned to the Ukrainian state, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Ukraine severed relations with Russia after the February 2022 invasion. There are no Russian diplomats in the embassy building, which is located west of the city center.

“Today, the Kiev city council terminated the land lease with the embassy of the aggressor state – Russia,” Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“He also appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine regarding the return of the property of the ‘diplomatic establishment’ from the Russian barbarians to the Ukrainian state,” he said.

In response, Russia’s RIA news agency quoted a Moscow source as saying that if Ukraine nationalized the embassy building, kyiv would automatically lose property rights to its diplomatic missions in Russia.

The United States has not determined that the Russian private military group Wagner is a “foreign terrorist organization” despite its ongoing actions in Ukraine, White House spokesman John Kirby said.

“We have made no such determination, and I don’t have anything I can tell you about that,” Kirby told reporters at a White House briefing.

He added that the paramilitary group was continuing to try to take control of the town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine and was continuing to “throw many bodies of prisoners in that fight.”

The Russian foreign minister met with his Cuban counterpart and president in Havana today, the latest in a series of visits to bolster support among Russia’s closest allies in Latin America.

Serigei Lavrov told reporters that Russia and Cuba, both facing US sanctions, understood each other.

“We cannot agree that the world must permanently continue to live by these American ‘rules,’” Lavrov said in the televised conference.

“Tensions are escalating internationally, and attempts by the West to dictate its will and ignore the legitimate positions of others not only persist, but are increasing.”

Cuba, which has been under a US economic embargo since shortly after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, has repeatedly expressed support for Russia in Ukraine and a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

“I don’t think Putin has caused the conflict with Ukraine,” President Miguel Díaz-Canel told an Arab media outlet. Al Mayadeen in March, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He described Cuba’s relationship with Russia as “magnificent.”

A large explosion rocked a street in the Russian city of Belgorod, which is across the border from Ukraine, on Thursday night, but there were no initial reports of injuries, local authorities said.

Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, announcing the state of emergency, said on Telegram that there was a 20-meter-wide (65-foot) crater on one of the city’s main streets. He did not say what the cause was.

Video footage from the site showed piles of concrete in the street, several damaged cars and a building with broken windows. One shot showed what appeared to be a car upside down on the roof of a store.