Released Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) hug each other following a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location, in the Chernihiv region on April 24, 2026

AFP via Getty Images

Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 1,522.

Prisoners of War Swap

On April 24, Friday, Ukraine and Russia conducted a ​prisoner of war swap, sending ‌back 193 captured personnel each in an exchange. The exchange was facilitated by the United States ​and the United Arab Emirates. Ukraine’s president Zelenskiy said some of the returned captives, who included soldiers, border guards, and police, had injuries, while others had faced criminal charges in Russia.

Russia’s attacks on Ukraine

At least nine people have been killed and 29 others injured in Russian attacks against Ukraine over the past day, local authorities said on April 23. Russian missiles and drones hit cities and towns across Ukraine: Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Kyiv, among others.

Russia launched 155 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said, reporting that Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 139. At least 11 drones evaded defenses and struck nine locations. The fall of debris was recorded at four locations.

In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Russia hit a 13-story apartment building. The attack killed three people and injured 10 others. Four people, including two girls aged 9 and 14, were hospitalized in moderate condition, Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said.

EU approves €90 billion loan for Ukraine after Hungary removes its veto.

On April 23, the European Union formally approved a €90 billion loan to Ukraine. EU officials also gave the green light to a new set of sanctions against Russia, underlining the bloc’s determination to oppose Moscow’s expansionist agenda.

Culture Front

Ukraine at Venice Biennale. Ukraine will present the national pavilion “Security Guarantees”at the 61st International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia from May 9 to November 22, featuring artist Zhanna Kadyrova and curated by Ksenia Malykh and Leonid Marushchak, with Tetyana Berezhna as commissioner. The project centers on the sculpture “The Origami Deer,” originally installed in 2019 in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, a town in Ukraine’s east, largely destroyed by Russia’s war; it is presently occupied by Russian forces. Kadyrova’s sculpture was evacuated in 2024 as the front line advanced. The exhibition examines security assurances provided to Ukraine under the Budapest Memorandum and includes archival materials and video documentation.

The European Commission, through its education and culture agency, has cut funding for the Venice Biennale over Russia's involvement, accusing the Venice Biennale of violating EU sanctions against Russia. Separately, the jury of the Venice Biennale said it will not consider national pavilions from countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, including Israel and Russia. The position follows ICC arrest warrants issued in 2024 for Benjamin Netanyahu and in 2023 for Vladimir Putin.

The Ukrainian Choir “Homin,” founded in Lviv in 1988, is conducting its first large-scale tour of North America, with two sold-out performances held in New York City. Under the leadership of Vadym Yatsenko, the choir is presenting the program “This choir, this choir, I dream every night” across the United States and Canada, with approximately two dozen concerts scheduled in April and May, including performances in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, and Charlotte, followed by Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver. The tour presents Ukrainian retro songs in choral arrangements, and features works by Volodymyr Ivasyuk, Anatoly Horchynsky, Kvitka Tsisyk, and Nazariy Yaremchuk, with proceeds supporting the Defense Forces of Ukraine.

In Kyiv this spring, PinchukArtCentre presents the group exhibition “Joy,” a project featuring Ukrainian and international artists who examine how the concept of joy operates during wartime. Curated by Björn Geldhof and Oleksandra Pogrebnyak, the exhibition includes installations, video, painting, film, and interactive components, including a tattoo parlor, with works by Kateryna Aliinyk, Lesia Vasylchenko, Ryan Gander, Tacita Dean, Anna Zvyagintseva, Alevtina Kakhidze, Pavlo Kovach, Katya Lesiv, Kateryna Lysovenko, Iryna Loskot, Simone Post, Ashfika Rahman, Daniel Turner, Tamara Turliun, Álvaro Urbano, Roman Khimei and Yarema Malashchuk, and Julian Charrière. The exhibition addresses what sustains Ukrainians, how joy is expressed during war, and how it functions as a force in maintaining social connection and continuity. The show runs through the end of the summer.

American artist Phil Buehler presented “Together We Stand. Documentation” at BIRUCHIY Art-Center during his two-week residency in Zaporizhzhia, a major city in southeastern Ukraine close to the front lines, in a region partially occupied by Russian forces. The project, curated by Olena Speranska, featured a cyclorama photo installation constructed as a portal to a public action, connecting participants in the United States and Ukraine.

The project is based on a 360-degree panoramic photo shoot conducted on October 1, 2025, Ukraine’s Defenders Day, at Times Square. More than 70 participants from multiple countries, including activists, refugees, artists, and professionals, stood in a circle holding works by Ukrainian artists and materials from the “Wartime Posters 2022–2023” collection, along with handmade signs to express support for Ukraine and solidarity with Ukrainian veterans in response to the Russian invasion.

A musical tribute commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster will take place at Carnegie Hall on May 1. The Young Performers Foundation, under the patronage of Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Andrii Melnyk, and his spouse, Svitlana Melnyk, presents the concert marking the 1986 disaster, featuring violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv and pianists Steven Beck and Pavlo Gintov. All proceeds go toward supporting Ukrainian culture.

Leadership Program for Ukrainian Veterans at Yale University, USA

The Victor Pinchuk Foundation has announced the launch of the Ukrainian Veterans Leadership Program (UVLP), an international initiative designed to develop leadership capacity among Ukrainian veterans through access to educational practices.

The program will begin with a pilot phase collaboration with the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs. The first cohort of 15 Ukrainian veterans is scheduled to travel to the United States in late April 2026 for an intensive training residency aimed at developing leadership skills applicable across military service, communities, business, and civic society.

Jim Levinsohn, Dean of the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, said the institution will host the veterans and that faculty and senior fellows will provide perspectives from fields including history, economics, and political science.

‘Those who defended Ukraine,’ according to Victor Pinchuk, a Ukrainian philanthropist and businessman and the foundation’s founder, ‘should have access to education, rehabilitation, and support.’ The UVLP expands on the foundation’s existing leadership initiatives, including Aspen Leadership Seminars, Zavtra.UA, and the WorldWideStudies scholarship programs. It also complements projects focused on military personnel and veterans, including Recover and Returning and the Message from the Frontline initiative.

Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s Tuapse oil refinery.

​Ukraine has attacked Russia's only oil refinery on the Black Sea for the second time in a week. Overnight on April 20, Ukrainian drones attacked Tuapse, a port city, according to Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of the Krasnodar region in Russia. One man was allegedly killed and another injured. Tuapse refinery is owned by state-run Rosneft, one of the world's largest publicly traded oil and gas companies. It is the only refinery on Russia's Black Sea shoreline, can process up to 12 million tonnes of crude a year, and is geared towards exports rather than domestic fuel supply.

Kyiv has increasingly turned its drones towards the arteries of Russia's oil trade. Since last year, Ukraine has repeatedly targeted refineries and oil terminals. More recently, it has struck ports as well, including Primorsk and Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea (together handling close to 40% of Russia's seaborne oil exports), to diminish the Kremlin's oil revenues generated by the U.S. war in Iran.