Who wants to play Moldova’s card?
Against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and demonstration of actions to prepare for the offensive of Russian troops from the unrecognized Transnistrian Republic, the Odessa region’s territorial defense is training another 2,000 volunteers in the Odessa region to protect the borders with Transnistria.
The Armed Forces of Belarus will deploy special forces to the border of Ukraine because “the United States and its allies continue to increase their military presence at the state borders,” according to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Viktor Gulevich.
“In order to ensure the security of the Republic of Belarus in the southern direction, the forces of the units of the special operations forces are deployed in three tactical directions,” according to a statement Tuesday. It said the Ukrainians had created a force of 20,000 close to the Belarus border, which “requires a response from us”.
President Vladimir Putin is expected to become more unpredictable and could order martial law in Russia to support his ambitions in Ukraine, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Tuesday.
According to Haines, Putin is counting on a protracted war in Eastern Europe, hoping that the United States and its allies will “lose determination” in countering aggression. He wants to impose martial law to mobilize forces. He could also provoke a war in Transnistria.
Luhansk region fully occupied by aggressor
The Russian Ministry of Defense Spokesperson, Major General Igor Konashenkov, announced that the units of the Luhansk People’s Republic, with the support of the Russian Armed Forces, completed the cleansing of the town of Popasnaya from the Nazis, penetrated deep into the defenses of the Ukrainian forces and reached the administrative borders of the republic.
Gaining control of the Donbas region is the goal of the second phase of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, commander of the central military district Rustam Minnekayev said last month. He noted the control over Donbas will open a ground passage from Russia to Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
Biden worried Putin does not have way out of Ukraine war
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday he is worried that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not have a way out of the Ukraine war, and Biden said he was trying to figure out what to do about that.
Biden, speaking at a political fundraiser in a Washington suburb, said Putin had mistakenly believed the invasion of Ukraine would break up NATO and break up the European Union.
Instead, the United States and many European countries have rallied to Ukraine's side.
Biden reactivates Lend-Lease law
President Biden on Monday signed an updated version of the Lend-Lease Act that supplied Britain and eventually other allies during World War II, summoning the spirit of the last century’s epic battle for democracy as he paved the way for further arms shipments to Ukrainians fighting to repel Russian invaders.
The original Lend-Lease Act was enacted in March 1941 when the United States was still officially neutral during World War II, as a way for President Franklin D. Roosevelt to send weaponry and other supplies to Britain as it faced Nazi Germany essentially on its own. Among the other allies it later helped was the Soviet Union.
Propaganda means presenting defeat as success
To change Russians’ perception of their military “invincibility” and to prepare society for a possible defeat, the Russian mass media were ordered to speak about the Russo-Ukrainian war as about an armed confrontation between Russia and all the EU and NATO member states. According to political technologists from the Kremlin, this will diminish the shame of losing to a stronger opponent.
What yesterday would have been considered a victory, today is not
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the Financial Times that Ukraine initially believed victory would be the withdrawal of Russian troops to positions they occupied before the Feb. 24 invasion. But the focus shifted to the eastern industrial heartland of the Donbas after Russian forces failed to take Kyiv early in the war.
“Now if we are strong enough on the military front, and we win the battle for Donbas, which will be crucial for the following dynamics of the war, of course the victory for us in this war will be the liberation of the rest of our territories,” Kuleba said.
He noted that the most important thing for Ukraine right now will be getting the candidate status for the EU membership. Kuleba emphasized that Ukraine is the only place in Europe where people are dying for the values of EU. “I believe that this should be respected,” he said.
Russia moving against everyone
Russia announced on Tuesday it will not participate in Thursday’s special UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session on the Ukraine crisis, describing the upcoming meeting as a ‘new political show.’ Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman at Russia's Ministry of foreign affairs, said, “The Russian delegation will not legitimize with its presence this new political show organized under the guise of an extraordinary session.”
On April 7, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, calling for Russia to be suspended from the Human Rights Council. The same day Russia announced its withdrawal from the Council.
