You missed the latest events in the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes summarizes for you every evening. Here is the essential of this Friday, April 17, 2026, the 1,514th day of the conflict.
The fact of the day
On March 23, 2026, Ukrainian drones struck the Russian oil ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, in the Leningrad region, on the edge of the Baltic Sea, causing impressive fires. In the following week, oil shipments were halved according to calculations by the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research (Crea), an independent analysis group based in Helsinki.
Likely due to the announcements made on Friday on Telegram by the governor of the region, Alexandre Drozdenko. “He decided to reinforce the protection of the region’s airspace against drone attacks,” he wrote. Additional mobile anti-aircraft defense groups will be deployed around companies and infrastructure, he added. They are expected to be composed of volunteer reservists who will be offered three-year contracts.
The quote of the day
“We have formed a large team of young people who understand how to spread the values of the state and our organization.” – Vladislav Golovine, a former Russian soldier who has become the leader of the youth movement Young Army. It is part of the training organizations supported by the Kremlin to promote a new generation of Internet influencers favorable to the “special operation” in Ukraine.
The figure
90 billion. The amount of the famous aid package that the European Union plans to grant to Kiev and on which, until his very clear electoral defeat last Sunday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had put his veto.
“The results of the elections in Hungary now allow us to unblock our support program for this year and next year,” rejoiced Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for the Economy. He hopes that the first installment of the aid package “will be transferred in the second quarter of this year,” possibly before the end of June.
The trend
Perhaps a sign that he will pay more attention to the issue. It had been a long time (in the context of his many public statements) since Donald Trump had spoken about the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. But on Thursday evening, during a long explanation about the Middle East, he showed compassion, calling the Russian airstrikes of the previous night “terrible.”
According to a still preliminary assessment by Ukrainian authorities, this large-scale aerial offensive has resulted in 19 deaths and over a hundred injuries.
