What did 12 April 2022 reveal about Kyiv's diplomacy?
A look back at a day of strong words from Washington, a visit by four presidents and an arrest that Ukraine hoped to use in a prisoner exchange.
What did a single day in the spring of the war say about how Ukraine was being heard abroad? On 12 April 2022, the answers came in several forms: a word from Washington, a visit to Kyiv, a high-profile arrest and a postage stamp.
A word chosen carefully
At an event in Iowa, US President Joe Biden used the word "genocide" for the first time to describe events in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the gesture "real words of a real leader". Zelensky had himself first used the word on 3 April, describing the massacre in Bucha.
Four presidents in Kyiv
The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia came to Kyiv, including the Mariinsky Palace, to send what they described as a powerful signal of shared European solidarity with Ukraine. They also discussed continued political and military support. The leaders visited sites of alleged war crimes in nearby Borodianka.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had also offered to travel with them. As reported at the time, Kyiv regarded that trip as unwelcome, a reaction attributed to his close ties with Russia in earlier political posts.
An arrest and a stamp
Viktor Medvedchuk, a leading pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and oligarch, was detained in a special operation by the Security Service of Ukraine, Zelensky reported on Telegram. He said he planned to use Medvedchuk in a future exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Ukrposhta, meanwhile, issued a stamp illustrating the attack on Snake Island, where Ukrainian soldiers refused to surrender and answered a Russian warship with a now-famous rebuff.
The war behind the headlines
The fighting continued. In the Zaporizhzhia region, a five-hour battle took place in the Polohy district as Ukrainian forces tried to liberate the area. According to Colonel Ivan Arefiev, spokesman for the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, local territorial defence brigade units took part of the district but were forced back by Russian reinforcements.
The preceding day had set the tone. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, reported intense fighting and bombardment through the day in besieged Mariupol. In his evening video address on 11 April, Zelensky said the siege could be lifted with adequate military weapons. He also said retreating Russian troops had deliberately left tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of unexploded mines in northern Ukraine, which he called a war crime. Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said rocket attacks in the region had killed three people and injured eight.
Abroad, the picture was mixed. On 11 April, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Biden held a virtual meeting on their differing positions on Ukraine. India remained non-aligned and, despite US pressure, favoured an end to the war without criticising Russia.
Taken together, 12 April 2022 showed Ukraine winning sharper language and visible solidarity from some capitals, while the demand for weapons and the fighting on the ground went on.
