Exclusives
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Dekleptocracy identifies key vulnerability in Russia’s military supply chain: lubricants. Russia heavily depends on a single Chinese company for industrial lubricant additives vital for military equipment. |
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America’s new Ukraine map looks like Putin drew it himself. To divide Ukraine as one might have divided Hitler’s Reich is a moral travesty. |
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Is everyone overreacting to Russia’s “new spring offensive” in Ukraine?. CNN calls it a new Russian offensive. General Syrskyi says it’s underway. On the front, Ukraine says: we’ve seen this before. |
Military
Frontline report: Ukraine’s elite brigade decimates half Russian battalion in single day. Forced to deploy infantry without armor support in Kharkiv Oblast, Russian commanders sacrificed hundreds of soldiers in open-field assaults against well-prepared Ukrainian positions with FPV drones.
Russian forces man up military units and prepare for assaults in Kharkiv Oblast. Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa expects Russia to focus its upcoming offensive on Pokrovsk while potentially advancing near Kupiansk and Lyman.
Frontline report: Russia ran out of armor, so Ukraine is stopping waves of troops with one machine gun near Pokrovsk. With armored vehicles in short supply, Russia is sending infantry into battle in civilian vans — and they’re being stopped by basic Ukrainian defenses.
BBC: Ukrainian F-16 shot down by Russian missile, pilot dies in combat. A 26-year-old Ukrainian pilot died when his F-16 fighter jet was hit by a Russian missile during a combat mission, BBC reports.
Intelligence and Technology
“We’re close. It’s happening”: Ukraine develops new drone specifically to intercept Russian Shaheds. Aerorozvidka chief Yaroslav Honchar reveals breakthrough in countering kamikaze drones that deliberately target residential areas and energy infrastructure.
More than 40% of Ukraine’s arsenal is domestically made, says Ukraine’s chief spy Budanov. Ukraine’s battle-tested weapons manufacturing has transformed from wartime necessity into a strategic advantage. Domestically developed naval drones strike “untouchable” targets and position Kyiv to integrate with European defense production.
Ukraine receives 40,000 repurposed rocket engines from Canada’s decommissioned arsenal. The repurposed rocket engines, once slated for disposal, will provide critical components for Ukraine’s air-to-ground strike capabilities.
UK intel: Russia struggles to curb inflation as bankruptcies likely to surge. Russia’s ruble rises to 81 per dollar, but inflation hits 10.1%, deepening fiscal strain as energy revenues shrink in ruble terms, per UK intelligence.
Norway to allocate $ 938 million for training of Ukrainian brigade.
International
European Business Association calls on EU to extend Ukraine’s visa-free regime beyond June 2025. Ukrainian businesses struggling to recover from $80 billion in agricultural losses could face another setback if the European Commission allows the autonomous trade measures to expire in June 2025.
Russia’s ambassador to UK does not deny submarine tracking, mocks UK nuclear capabilities. Andrei Kelin acknowledged Russia’s submarine tracking activities while insisting they pose no danger to the UK.
Trump: “at some point you just have to put up or shut up” when commenting Ukraine-Russia peace talks. The US president said that the negotiations are “going fine.” These remarks follow a four-hour meeting in Russia between Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Putin.
Ukraine’s foreign minister: Ukraine could strengthen NATO with battle-tested military. Andrii Sybiha stated that Ukraine’s potential NATO membership should not be taken off the table as the country can provide exceptional value to transatlantic security.
Future Chancellor of Germany: Ukraine can become EU member only after war. In his first major foreign policy statement since securing a coalition agreement, Friedrich Merz declared that Ukraine’s path to European institutions requires an end to hostilities.
Humanitarian and Social Impact
“War was initiated by Russia alone”: Macron condemns deadly Sumy missile strike that killed 34. France’s leader highlighted the Kremlin’s “blatant disregard for human lives” following Russia’s use of North Korean missiles against Ukrainian civilians.
“They can be saved”: Ukraine urges OSCE action as Russia holds 33 journalists in captivity. Recent journalist casualties include Tetyana Kulyk killed in a drone strike and Viktoriia Roshchyna who died in Russian custody last year.
Russians loot 1.7 million Ukrainian cultural heritage items from occupied territories. Beyond systematic theft, Russian officials are now selling Ukraine’s national treasures on illegal markets, marking a shift from historical practices when looted artifacts were typically displayed in Russian museums.
“When people are least protected”: Russian missile strike kills 34 civilians in Sumy on Palm Sunday [updated]. Two Russian ballistic missiles struck the city center of Sumy, around 30 km (19miles) from the Russian border, injuring 83 people, including seven children.
Meghan Markle posts video of children enjoying Easter cake from demined Ukrainian fields. Meghan Markle revealed on Instagram that her children are enjoying Ukrainian Easter cake made by grandmothers from the border Sumy Oblast following Prince Harry’s secret visit to Ukraine.
Russian guided bomb hits private home in Kupiansk. Four civilians sustained injuries when a Russian guided bomb hit a residential building in Kupiansk, Kharkiv region, with three more people potentially trapped under debris.
Ukraine diplomat slams X for hiding posts about child casualties. “This is sweeping Russian war crimes under the rug,” declared Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson after discovering X had hidden posts about child casualties from the ministry’s official account.
Political and Legal Developments
World Press Photo disinvites Russian state photographer from award ceremony amid “European tensions”. Russian photographer Mikhail Tereshchenko, who works for state-funded TASS news agency, first won the award for his photo covering protests in Georgia, while World Press Photo claimed that entries are judged anonymously.
Read our earlier daily review here.
