How many weapons does Ukraine need? What about Moldova?
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Wednesday that the UK must be prepared to go "further and faster” to push Russia out of Ukraine. She noted that if Vladimir Putin succeeds in his attempts to seize control of some areas there will be “untold further misery across Europe and terrible consequences across the globe”.
According to the Times, the foreign secretary also fears the war could last for at least five years – and even as long as a decade – if Russia establishes any kind of foothold inside Ukraine.
Furthermore, Truss said the West should help build the defense capacities of Moldova and Georgia as Putin could invade these countries too. Earlier, the Brits said the Armed Forces of Ukraine had the “legal right” to hit targets in Russia.
Generals to command Russian offensive in Izyum direction?
Ukrainian news outlet Defense Express reported on April 27 that Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov will take personal command of the Russian offensive in the Izyum direction. Citing unspecified Ukrainian military sources, Defense Express stated that Gerasimov is already in-theater and will command the offensive “at the operational and tactical levels”.
“If confirmed, the appointment of Russia’s senior general officer to command tactical operations indicates both the importance of the Izyum drive to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the breakdown in the Russian military’s normal chain of command.”
In Bulgaria, but not at the seaside
The Ukrainian military equipment will be repaired at Bulgarian enterprises, Volodymyr Zelensky said following a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov. “This is very important for Ukraine. I am sure that such cooperation will be beneficial for both Bulgarian companies and the Bulgarian economy. And for us, quality and deadlines because we are at war every day,” Zelensky said at a briefing with the Bulgarian prime minister in Kyiv on Wednesday.
The parties also substantively discussed cooperation in the energy sector regarding the supply of electricity by Ukraine to Bulgaria. Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to supply electricity to Bulgaria and is interested in diversifying gas supplies in the region.
Earlier, it was announced that the Czech Republic will repair equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The works will be performed by companies of the Czech defense industry, including at enterprises in Slovakia.
Commemoration of victims of expansion propaganda?
The authorities of the United States, Great Britain and Ireland have banned the traditional procession with portraits of veterans of the Great Patriotic War on May 9, reported Sergei Makarov, co-chairman of the central headquarters of the Immortal Regiment of Russia movement.
The German authorities have not yet officially banned the procession, but they are working on an “alternative” format for the event. According to Makarov, this will be a procession in support of Nazism. Against the action the authorities of Kazakhstan also spoke, while Israel cancelled the mass parades and marches planned for May 9.
How long war will last?
NATO allies must plan for the possibility that the war in Ukraine could last months or even years, the military alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg warned on Wednesday.
Stoltenberg made his remarks as NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss how to best support Ukraine as Russian troops regroup and Moscow plots its next move. Speaking to reporters, Stoltenberg called the coming weeks “a critical phase of the war.” He said NATO is ready to maintain its support for Ukraine in the war against Russia for years, including help for Kyiv to shift from Soviet-era weapons to modern Western arms and systems.
The war in Ukraine will continue until “Russia decides to end it,” the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told CNN on Wednesday. “The war will end when the Russian Federation decides to end it and when there is – after a ceasefire – a possibility of a serious political agreement. We can have all the meetings but that is not what will end the war,” he said.
Russia does not want to be put on list of terrorism sponsors
After US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated the US is considering labeling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that the United States’ plan to designate Russia a state sponsor of terror is “idiotic”.
Zakharova warned that if Washington decides to pursue its plans, the move will not go “unanswered”.
Adalbi Shkhagoshev, a member of the State Duma's Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, said that Russia’s recognition of the United States as a sponsor of terrorism will be a step forward for Washington to end the dialogue.
Does money smell?
Former Gazprombank vice president Igor Volobuev said on Thursday that he fled Russia for Ukraine hoping to take up arms against Moscow’s invasion and that he believed President Vladimir Putin was leading Russia to catastrophe.
“I couldn’t watch from the sidelines what Russia was doing to my homeland,” Volobuev, who was born in the northeastern Ukrainian town of Okhtyrka, said in interviews.
Rockets instead of postcards
Russian airstrikes have hit Ukraine’s capital during a visit by United Nations Secretary General António Guterres. A 25-storey residential building was destroyed and reports said ten people were injured.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the President's office, tweeted: “Missile strikes in the downtown of Kyiv during the official visit of António Guterres. The day before he was sitting at a long table in the Kremlin, and today explosions are above his head. Postcard from Moscow? Recall why Russia still takes a seat on the UN Security Council?”
