On April 21 U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Senator Mark Warner announced that U.S. military aid to Ukraine, including long-range ATACMS missiles, would be transported to Ukraine "by the end of the week" if the Senate passes the supplemental appropriations bill. credits on April 23 and US President Joe Biden will sign it by April 24.
This is stated in the daily analysis of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
In an interview with CBS News on April 21, Warner said that the US presidential administration has been ready to provide Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles, as specified in the bill, for the past several months.
Warner emphasized the large-scale battlefield impact that Ukrainian forces have achieved with the help of US military assistance, saying that Ukrainian forces were able to destroy "87 percent of the existing Russian ground forces" (potentially in conjunction with Russia's professional forces before a full-scale invasion), 67% of Russian tanks and 32% of Russian armored personnel carriers (APCs) for the past two years with less than 3% of the US defense budget and US military aid and Europe.
On April 21, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that prompt delivery of US military aid to Ukraine could allow Ukrainian forces to stabilize the front line and take the initiative.
In an interview with NBC News, Zelensky said that US military support gives Ukraine a chance to win, but warned that progress on the Ukrainian battlefield will depend on how quickly military aid arrives on the front lines.
Zelensky noted that the delay in the delivery of military aid has already contributed to the loss of Ukrainian equipment and personnel in "several directions". Zelensky said that the Ukrainian military is mainly looking forward to the delivery of air defense systems and long-range weapons, since currently Ukrainian forces do not have significant long-range capabilities to prevent Ukrainian casualties on the front line.
ISW continues to assess that Ukrainian forces may suffer further setbacks in the coming weeks as they wait for US security assistance to allow Ukraine to stabilize the front, but are likely to blunt the current Russian advance if accepted. that renewed American aid arrives quickly.
Russian forces are likely to step up ongoing offensive operations and missile and drone strikes in the coming weeks to take advantage of the closing window of Ukrainian material restrictions.
On April 21, Ukrainian forces struck and damaged the submarine support vessel "Komuna" of the Russian Black Sea Fleet (Black Sea Fleet) - the oldest active warship in the world - in occupied Sevastopol, Crimea.
Geolocation footage released on April 21 showed fire and a plume of smoke in Sevastopol Bay, and Russian sources said Russian air defenses had intercepted a Ukrainian anti-ship missile in the area.
Ukrainian Navy spokesman Captain Third Rank Dmitry Pletenuk confirmed that a Ukrainian strike damaged the "Commune" and that while Ukrainian forces are still determining the extent of the damage, the "Commune" apparently unable to function.
US-sanctioned pro-Kremlin Moldovan politician Ilan Shor created on April 21 the new pro-Russian electoral bloc "Moldovan Victory", which plans to nominate its own candidate in the presidential elections in Moldova on October 20.
On April 21, Shor chaired a meeting of Moldovan opposition politicians in Moscow and announced that Shor's party, the "Revival" party, the "Chance" party, the "Alternative Forces for Salvation of Moldova" party. and the party "Victoria" will form the "Victory" electoral bloc.
The electoral bloc "Victory" will likely allow the Kremlin to focus on a unified political effort in Moldova, rather than maintaining relations with multiple pro-Russian Moldovan actors and parties as it has done recently.
The Russian and Chinese navies signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation on April 21 amid recent reports of increased Chinese support for Russia's war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has blocked access to the website of the French NGO "Reporters Without Borders". (RSF), thus denying Russians access to independent assessments of freedom of speech and press in Russia.
The independent Russian NGO "Roskomsvoboda" reported on April 21 that the website of "Reporters Without Borders" is blocked in Russia along with other resources that publish information about Russia's war in Ukraine.
Roskomsvoboda noted that the official Russian register of blocked sites did not list the federal agency responsible or the official reason for blocking Reporters Without Borders, and suggested that the likely party responsible was Russia's Prosecutor General's Office.