Russian forces used aircraft to unleash fresh assaults on Ukrainian positions in the eastern Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military said on April 18 as indiscriminate shelling of the neighboring Luhansk region killed several civilians and caused extensive infrastructure damage, according to regional officials. Journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British dual national and one of the Kremlin's most vocal critics, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Moscow court after a closed-door trial for treason and other offenses, sparking an international outcry and calls for his immediate release. Putin praised the Russian Orthodox Church for its "active commitment to mercy and charity in the face of serious challenges" in a statement posted by the Kremlin