Kyiv invites Lula as Putin visits occupied regions
A look back at 19 April 2023 and the diplomatic and military developments reported from the preceding day.
What was happening on 19 April 2023, as reports from the previous day came into focus? Two developments stood out: a diplomatic exchange over Brazil's stance on the war, and a rare trip by the Russian president to occupied parts of Ukraine.
As reported on 18 April 2023, the Ukrainian government invited Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to visit Ukraine. In the same breath it criticised his approach to the Russian invasion. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, for his part, welcomed Lula's position on peace efforts.
Putin in the occupied south and east
Also on 18 April 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to Russian-occupied Kherson and Luhansk oblasts. He met military commanders in charge of operations there.
The visit carried particular weight because of the status Moscow claimed for the regions. On 30 September 2022, Russia had unilaterally declared the annexation of areas in and around four Ukrainian oblasts: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia. Most of Luhansk Oblast and part of Donetsk Oblast had been controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, while Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts were invaded by Russia in 2022. None of the four was fully under Russian control at the time of the declaration, nor afterwards.
Two tracks, one day
Taken together, the reports showed Kyiv pressing its case with a prominent international figure while Russia's leadership projected presence in the territory it claimed. Ukraine's invitation to Lula combined an open door with open criticism, and Lavrov's welcome of the Brazilian position set the two governments' reactions sharply apart.
