TURIN, Italy (AP) — Juventus forward Arkadiusz Milik’s season is likely over after yet another injury setback.
Milik had only returned in March after nearly two years out following knee surgery in June 2024.
The Poland international has endured several injury setbacks since then — missing the entirety of last season — and had only played 34 minutes across two matches following his comeback.
Juventus said on Wednesday that Milik had injured a muscle in training the previous day.
“Tests revealed a moderate-grade strain of the biceps femoris muscle in his right thigh,” the team said in a statement. “Further tests will be conducted in about 10 days’ time to determine the exact recovery time.”
Italian media reports that Milik will be sidelined for at least four to five weeks and that the 32-year-old’s season is over.
Milik joined Juventus in 2022 but has only made 77 appearances across all competitions, scoring 17 goals.
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FILE - Juventus' Arkadiusz Milik celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the Italian Cup semi-final soccer match between Lazio and Juventus at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Italy, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s top diplomatic priority is securing its allies’ help to buy and build more air defense systems, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday between meetings with European leaders, as Russia kept up its deadly attacks on civilians and public infrastructure.
Russian strikes hit more than a half-dozen areas of Ukraine behind the front line from Tuesday to Wednesday, killing an 8-year-old boy in the central Cherkasy region and a woman who was in a kiosk near a bus stop that was hit in southern Zaporizhzhia, according to Zelenskyy and local officials.
“Every day we need air defense missiles — every day Russia continues its strikes,” Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
With no plans announced for further U.S.-mediated talks with Russia, Zelenskyy was visiting three European capitals in 48 hours, securing promises of further military and financial support from Germany and Norway ahead of his trip to Italy on Wednesday. Germany and Ukraine agreed a defense package valued at 4 billion euros ($4.7 billion), and Norway has pledged 9 billion euros ($10.6 billion) in assistance, Ukrainian officials said.
After more than four years of fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine possesses battle-tested drone interceptor expertise and has developed groundbreaking air defense technology, but it lacks the money to scale up production to levels that would press its advantage.
Zelenskyy said he is asking European countries to keep adding money to a fund that allows the purchase from the United States of American-made weapons for Ukraine, especially the Patriot air defense system that can stop Russian cruise and ballistic missiles hitting civilian areas.
Between November and March, Russia launched 27,000 Shahed-type drones, nearly 600 cruise missiles and 462 ballistic missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.
Zelenskyy is also championing joint weapons production agreements, including for drones and missiles, while pushing for the European Union to move quickly on providing a promised 90 billion euro ($106 billion) loan.
Defense leaders from the about 50 nations who regularly gather to coordinate weapons aid for Kyiv held an online meeting Wednesday, chaired by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and British Defense Secretary John Healey. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also attended.
Ahead of the meeting, Britain announced it will send 120,000 drones to Ukraine this year, its biggest delivery of the weapons so far. Officials didn’t say how soon they will be sent.
Ukraine’s war effort has gained momentum in recent weeks, according to Western officials and analysts. Its short-handed troops have disrupted Russia’s spring offensive, thanks in part to drones and ground robots, and its long-range strikes have dented Russian oil exports and some manufacturing output.
Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said Wednesday that last month Ukrainian troops recaptured nearly 50 square kilometers (20 square miles) of territory from Russian forces. Also in March, Ukrainian deep strike operations hit 76 Russian targets, including 15 oil refining facilities, he said.
But clouds have also gathered, as the Iran war drains stockpiles of advanced air defense missiles that Ukraine needs, and Kyiv’s money is running short.
“We cannot lose sight of Ukraine” amid the Middle East conflict, NATO chief Rutte said.
Russia launched 324 drones and three ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said, in its biggest barrage in almost two weeks. Air defenses intercepted 309 of the drones.
Russia also fired a powerful FAB-1500 glide bomb, weighing 1.5 metric tons, at the central part of Sloviansk before dawn Wednesday, the Sloviansk City Military Administration head Vadym Liakh said.
The blast destroyed a children’s sports facility that was a city landmark, he said.
In a nighttime strike on the southeastern city of Dnipro, Russian forces struck two universities overnight, damaging academic buildings, dormitories and nearby homes, Mayor Borys Filatov said.
The blast wave shattered more than 1,000 windows in surrounding buildings, he said, adding that there were no military targets in the area.
Meanwhile, Ukraine proceeded with its long-range drone attacks, with the Russian Defense Ministry reporting Wednesday that its air defenses intercepted 85 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Ukrainian drones targeted an industrial facility in Sterlitamak, a Russian city about 1,300 kilometers (roughly 800 miles) east of the border with Ukraine, local authorities said.
Radiy Khabirov, governor of the Bashkortostan region where Sterlitamak is located, said in an online statement Wednesday that several drones were shot down over Sterlitamak’s “industrial zone,” and debris fell on one of the facilities there, starting a fire. One person died in the attack, he said.
Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is welcomed by the President of the Norwegian Parliament Masud Gharahkhani, left, during his visit to Norway on Wednesday April 15, 2026. (Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB via AP)
Cars damaged by Russia's drone attack are seen in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
