Ukrainian naval drones strike Russian FSB boats guarding Kerch Bridge; Sweden seizes shadow fleet ship; US pledges $100M for Chornobyl repairs

Ukrainian Navy drones struck Russian FSB boats guarding the Kerch Bridge in occupied Crimea early on April 30, the Navy said in a Telegram statement. "The forces and means of the Ukrainian Navy inflicted damage on the Russian naval fleet in the Kerch Strait area," the statement read, without specifying the extent of the damage.

Swedish prosecutors said Wednesday they had taken custody of the Caffa, a vessel first detained in March near Trelleborg on the Baltic coast, on the request of an unnamed third country investigating the ship's activities. Sweden's coastguard previously said the ship's captain was a Russian national suspected of using false documents. Authorities suspect the vessel of illegally exporting goods from Russian-occupied Crimea as part of Moscow's so-called "shadow fleet."

The United States announced Tuesday it will commit up to $100 million toward emergency repairs to the radiation containment system at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant after a Russian drone strike severely damaged the structure last year. In a State Department media note, Washington said the funding would support coordinated G7 efforts "to ensure the continued containment of fissile nuclear material" at the site in northern Ukraine. The funds cover 20 percent of the estimated $500 million needed to restore the damaged New Safe Confinement arch.

Russia launched two waves of massive strikes on Odesa in the early hours of April 30, injuring 16 people and damaging homes, a kindergarten, and infrastructure, according to Oleh Kiper, head of the City Military Administration. The Primorskyi district suffered the heaviest damage, with high-rise buildings on fire and a kindergarten significantly damaged, Kiper said on Telegram. Air defenses downed 172 drones across Ukraine, the Air Force reported.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Wednesday that the Pentagon had released $400 million in congressionally approved military aid for Ukraine after weeks of pressure over the delay. "The funds were released as of yesterday," Hegseth said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing, as lawmakers pressed defense officials on why Ukraine aid approved by Congress had remained stalled.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a ceasefire during May 9 Victory Day celebrations in a 90-minute phone call with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin initiated the call. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the two leaders had not spoken for some time and that the call focused more on Ukraine than on Iran. "We talked more about the war in Ukraine," Trump said, describing it as a "very good conversation."

Ukrainian forces advanced in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area, western Zaporizhia Oblast, and in the Pokrovsk, Oleksandrivka, and Hulyaipole directions, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Russian forces launched 171 drones against Ukraine, the ISW reported.