Weekly Russia-Ukraine war summary: 30-hour Easter truce, air raid on Kyiv, revolt of Russian ‘refusers’ in Krasnodar

The BBC Russian Service and Mediazona, jointly with a team of volunteers, have updated their count of confirmed Russian war dead based on open-source reports. The list now includes 104,763 names. In the past two weeks, 2,880 new names have been added.

The independent Russian publication Verstka writes, citing the Ukrainian project Hochu Nayti (“I want to find”), that as of April 2025, the project has received over 84,000 applications from people searching for missing Russian servicemen and has processed at least 58,000 names of missing soldiers. The month with the highest number of applications — more than 1,680 — was August 2024, when the AFU began its incursion into Russia's Kursk Region.

In Russia's Krasnodar garrison, servicemen imprisoned for going AWOL staged an escape attempt from the military commandant's office. According to the Russian Telegram channel Baza, some 100 soldiers attempted to break free, making an opening in the fence and making it out onto the premises of the commandant's office. Seven eventually escaped but were caught later, while a few others were detained on the spot. The captive soldiers' relatives told Astra that there was a “riot” at the commandant's office. The prisoners revolted because, previously, “commanders had released several detainees for money,” while the rest — “missing an eye or a leg, or with mental disabilities” — had remained in captivity for six months.

Weapons and military vehicles

German researсher Christoph Trebesch of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy argues that European countries could make up for reductions in U.S. aid to Ukraine by increasing contributions by as little as 0.21% of the EU's total GDP (from €44 billion to €82 billion). For now, Kyiv’s European partners plan to reorient their assistance strategy towards financing the Ukrainian defense industry instead of focusing on arms purchases. Nevertheless, the process of delivering French Mirage-2000 fighter jets to Ukraine continues, with the first group of pilots and other personnel having already returned to Ukraine after training. In addition, Japan will support Kyiv with satellite intelligence, and Denmark will allocate €42.5 million for the purchase of artillery rounds for the Defense Forces of Ukraine through Estonia.

Meanwhile, the Russian defense industry has handed over a new batch of Su-34 fighter-bombers (presumably consisting of two units) to the Air Force. The Russian Armed Forces also received North Korean 240-mm multiple-launch rocket systems with the name code M-1991. Russian troops are already outfitting the new weapons with makeshift armor in frontline workshops.