Kievan Rus'

Because of the war in Ukraine, the World Basketball Association did not admit Russia to the qualifications for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. Bulgaria was admitted instead of the Russian basketball players, thus our men's national team gets the opportunity to fight for participation in the Olympic Games next year.

The ruling Social Democratic Party in Romania supports a ban on the import of Ukrainian grain to be introduced in Bulgaria's northern neighbor. This has already been done by Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, with only Bratislava allowing transit. Bulgaria is also considering a ban.

The fiercest fighting is taking place in Bakhmut and Liman in the Donetsk region.
Moscow claims that two districts of Bakhmut came under the control of Russian forces yesterday.

Ukraine publishes new estimate of Russian casualties; Thousands of soldiers killed

The caretaker Minister of Agriculture, Yavor Gechev, accused the European Commission that, because of its slow and sluggish work, Bulgarian farmers lost BGN 800-900 million. The reason for his comment to bTV was his request from yesterday that Bulgaria is considering stopping the import of Ukrainian grain and food. Poland and Hungary have already announced such a measure.

Day 417 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Ukrainian servicemen place candles after a special service for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, during a ceremony to bless Easter cakes at St Michael's Cathedral before Orthodox Christmas in Kyiv.

Ukrainian officials say it is not, and experts there agree with that.
No spy or whistle-blower is responsible for the leaking of alleged US secret documents about the Ukrainian counter-offensive, but a 21-year-old member of the US military.

Slovakia has banned the processing and sale of grain from Ukraine because of pesticides. This was reported by the Romanian media, referring to a message from the Ministry of Agriculture of Slovakia dated April 13, BTA reported.

Ukraine's leaders say they don't see a major U.S. intelligence leak as gravely damaging future offensives. A key reason: They have long held back on sharing their most sensitive operational information, doubting Washington's ability to keep their secrets safe.

"If we differ on the most existential of issues, it will be hard to cooperate on other fronts," summarises Andrzej Sadecki, head of the Central Europe team and a Hungary specialist at OSW, the Warsaw-based Center for Eastern Studies.