Passenger traffic on the western border of Ukraine on the day of the celebration of the Eastern rite of Easter by Christians has almost halved compared to the recent average – to 33,000, becoming the lowest since the beginning of the war, the State Border Service reported on Monday.
As the agency pointed out on Facebook, the flow to leave on Sunday, April 24, decreased to 16 thousand from 24 thousand the day before, while the flow to enter – to more than 17 thousand from 33 thousand, including Ukrainians – to more than 15 thousand from 30 thousand
Thus, for the fourth day in a row, the entry flow exceeded the exit flow: in total, over these days, according to the State Border Service, 23,000 people entered Ukraine, or 22.3% more than they left.
The agency clarified that over the past day, the number of registered vehicles with humanitarian cargo fell to 120 from 450 the day before.
According to data from the Polish Border Service on Twitter, on April 24, 11.8 thousand entered Ukraine from the country against 21.1 thousand the day before. In the opposite direction, the flow amounted to 9.8 thousand, which is 35% less than on April 23 (15.1 thousand), and over the first 7 hours of Monday it decreased by another 31% to 1.8 thousand.
In total, since the beginning of the war, the Polish border agency points out, 2.944 million people have entered the country from Ukraine, and 860 thousand in the opposite direction.
According to UNHCR data, as of 13:00 on April 24, a total of 5.23 million people left Ukraine since the beginning of the war (excluding the entry flow), of which 2.91 million went to Poland, 843.74 thousand to Romania and Moldova. , Russia – 605.82 thousand, Hungary – 492.98 thousand, Slovakia – 355.59 thousand, Belarus – 24.48 thousand.
At the same time, according to the State Border Service, 1.17 million people have entered Ukraine by this date since February 28.
In response to Ukraine’s request for the evacuation of patients in need of medical care and forced to leave the country due to the war unleashed by Russia, the European Union is coordinating the relevant work, as well as financing the medical aircraft involved in the transportation.
Balazs Ujvari, representative of the European Commission, announced this on Monday in Brussels.
“As the war continues and people continue to leave the country, health care systems in neighboring countries are under significant strain in Poland, Slovakia, Moldova. For the evacuation of patients in need of medical care, Ukraine requested assistance from the EU. In response, the EU coordinated the evacuation of nearly 200 people through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to eleven European countries. The first RESCEU medical evacuation aircraft funded by the EU has been operational since March and is being accepted by Norway, a member state of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism,” he said.
Ujvari also listed the countries that accept Ukrainian patients. These are Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Romania, Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain and Portugal.
The United States intends to allocate more than $322 million in military assistance to Ukraine, the US State Department has announced following a visit to Ukraine by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
“Secretary Blinken told President Zelensky that the United States intends to provide more than $713 million in foreign military financing (FMF) to Ukraine and 15 other allies and partner nations in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. This includes $650 in funding million USD, provided in accordance with the Law on additional appropriations for Ukraine of 2022,” the statement on the website of the US State Department said on Monday.
It is noted that more than $22 million in this commitment is intended for Ukraine and will provide the capacity support that the country needs as Russian forces focus their attention on the Donbas. The State Department indicated that this assistance will also help the Armed Forces of Ukraine switch to more advanced weapons and air defense systems. In addition, the funding will also help NATO allies replenish the capabilities they have transferred to Ukraine from their own stockpiles.
“Additionally, Secretary Blinken told President Zelensky that the agency notified Congress on April 24 of a sale of up to $65 million worth of non-standard munitions to Ukraine,” the US State Department said.
At the same time, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin informed the Ukrainian government that the US Department of Defense will expand military training for Ukrainian military personnel in the region on certain weapon systems.
“He highlighted US efforts to speed up the delivery of these weapons, which are now arriving within days of the announcement. And he stressed that, along with our allies and partners, the United States will continue to coordinate the delivery of additional heavy weapons, ammunition and spare parts from other countries.” , – noted in the message of the State Department.
Austin also presented Ukrainian leaders with the agenda for the Defense Consultative Meeting to be held this week in Germany. The consultative meeting, convened by the United States, will review the operational picture on the ground and review Ukraine’s short-term defense needs, as well as provide participants with an opportunity to explore ways in which Ukraine’s long-term national security interests can be best served.
“Saw the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people during my visit to Kyiv with Secretary of Defense Austin. During our meeting with President Zelensky, we reaffirmed our unwavering support for Ukraine as it resists Russian aggression,” Blinken tweeted on Monday.
Since the start of Russia’s new invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the US has provided approximately $7 billion in security assistance and has provided more than $4.3 billion since the Biden administration came to power.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that in a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he discussed in detail the threat to the global food market due to the actions of the Russian Federation, which blocked the Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
“Had an important conversation with Turkish President Erdogan. About the situation in Mariupol and the need to evacuate civilians and the wounded, about the need for an immediate exchange of blocked Ukrainian military. We discussed the negotiation process with Russia, defense issues. We touched in detail on the threat to the world food market, provoked by Russia, which blocked our Black Sea ports,” Zelensky said in a video message on Monday morning.
He stressed that the rise in food prices has already reached a critical level in many countries, and this is just the beginning.
“If Russia does not seek peace, the issue of food security in many countries will turn into a matter of the physical survival of millions of people, and hence the stability of state systems. An increasing number of political leaders in the world are aware of this threat. Therefore, we expect more pressure on Russia,” he said. head of state.
Due to the shelling of the railway infrastructure on Monday morning, 19 passenger trains were delayed – 18 long-distance trains and one Intercity +, the head of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) Alexander Kamyshin reports on his Telegram channel.
Intercity+ is already on its way, most of the long-distance trains have already left,” he said.
In addition, as Ukrzaliznytsia JSC reported on its Telegram channel, the following commuter trains are also delayed: No. 6250 Berdychiv-Kazatin (+1:30); No. 6252 Shepetovka-Kazatin (+1:30); No. 6301 Kazatin-Zhmerinka (+ 1:23); №6304 Zhmerinka-Kazatin (+30 min); No. 6343 Zhmerinka-Grechany (+ 1:25); №6342 Grechany-Zhmerynka (+10 min); No. 804/803 Rivne-Lviv (+ 1 hour); No. 816/815 Lviv – Chernivtsi (+1:35); No. 6041 Ternopil-Lviv (+42 min); No. 6042 Lviv-Ternopil (+1:22); No. 6353 Zdolbunov-Kovel (+1:17); No. 6092 Lvov-Zdolbunov (has not departed yet); No. 6093 Zdolbunov-Lviv (hadn’t left yet, more than an hour late); No. 6187 Lviv-Mukacheve (delayed at the Sknilov station +20 min).
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of April 25
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
