What did 19 April 2022 reveal about the war?

What did 19 April 2022 show about where the war was heading? Ukraine said on that date that Russian forces had begun the long-anticipated offensive in the Donbas, with explosions reported in multiple cities. The day also brought diplomatic expulsions, a ship seizure and an argument over nuclear weapons.

The Donbas offensive

Ukrainian authorities said the offensive had started. In Kramatorsk, an explosion killed a civilian and injured several others.

The previous day had pointed the same way. On 18 April 2022, Russian troops captured the city of Kreminna in Luhansk Oblast, and local authorities said four refugees were shot dead while trying to escape. Reports from the same day said Russian forces were stepping up attacks on Mykolaiv, Mariupol, Kherson, Izium and Sloviansk. Russia's defence ministry claimed that day that overnight "mass strikes" had destroyed 16 Ukrainian military facilities, including five command posts, a fuel depot and three ammunition warehouses. It also claimed to have shot down two Ukrainian MiG-29s and one Su-25.

In occupied Kherson, Igor Kastyukevich was appointed de facto mayor on 18 April 2022. Kherson was the only Ukrainian oblast capital captured during the invasion up to that point.

Nuclear words and diplomatic expulsions

On 19 April 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia would not use nuclear weapons and would continue with conventional arms. He was responding to American allegations that Moscow might use them.

Russia's foreign ministry also expelled 21 Belgian diplomats, 15 Dutch diplomats and four Austrian diplomats, describing the move as reciprocal.

China's deputy foreign minister, Le Yucheng, said Beijing was choosing to strengthen strategic ties with Russia and confirmed support for President Putin, even as Russian forces faced accusations of war crimes over the killing of civilians.

Sanctions and the cost of rebuilding

Greece seized the Russian-flagged oil tanker Pegas, also reported as Lana, off the island of Euboea as part of European Union economic sanctions on Russia. According to the Ministry of Shipping, 19 crew members were aboard.

The pressure reached sport too. Russian and Belarusian tennis players were to be barred from Wimbledon in Britain in June. The ban mainly affected Daniil Medvedev, the men's world number two.

On 18 April 2022, EU officials said the bloc planned a solidarity trust fund to finance the main part of post-war reconstruction costs. They said details would be discussed at senior level in Brussels and Washington to make sure the vast sums were not misused.

A day of several fronts

Taken together, the reports from 19 April 2022 describe a war moving into a new phase on the ground in the east. Away from the front, the expulsions, the tanker seizure, the sporting ban and the reconstruction planning showed the conflict being pursued through other channels as well.