Apr 18: E-Stories
Day 419: Uldarov RUattacks Nikopol UASpecForces Budanov Teplinsky KaraMurza Deripaska Turkey NewAlliance US/FR/GER ITA Poland NS2 AIVD China A&Ps ISW UKDef MacKay Tatlow Magnitsky UAHackers Browder
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Monique: It’s been a very busy day for the news, and I’m in the middle of exams, or rather my students are. My apologies for the subpar posting today. I haven’t included information in this post about the video confessions. I’ll put out a dedicated post I’m preparing within the next day or so.
Stories we’re following…
Russia launched attacks across Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Donetsk oblasts over the past 24 hours, injuring three people.
Governor: Russian forces shell Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, injuring civilians. Russian troops hit the Nikopol district in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with heavy artillery on April 17, wounding a 42-year-old man as well as damaging infrastructure and homes, according to Governor Serhii Lysak.
The Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have posted a selection of photos of the effective work of their snipers in the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast. "Sniper groups of Special Operations Forces kill enemies mainly at night. Under the fire of Special Operations Forces soldiers are mainly Russian attack aircraft. At the same time, snipers of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine make it impossible for the enemy to gain a foothold in the occupied areas and equip positions with accurate fire."
Russian forces have intensified the use of heavy artillery and air strikes on the Bakhmut front in Donetsk Oblast—Hanna Maliar, Deputy Minister of Defence, on Telegram. "The use of heavy artillery and air strikes has intensified on the Bakhmut front. The enemy simply razes Bakhmut’s buildings and infrastructure to the ground."
Michael MacKay: “The rashists shelled Keramik, Novokalynove, Berdychi, Avdiyivka, Tonen'ke, Netaylove, Pervomays'ke, Karlivka, Krasnohorivka, Mar'yinka, Pobyeda, Novomykhaylivka, Vuhledar, Prechystivka, Zolota Nyva, Novoukrayinka, Shakhtars'ke, Velyka Novosilka and Neskuchne.”
Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, has said that another attempted Russian offensive failed on 31 March of this year.
"On 31 March 2023, another attempt at a Russian offensive, the so-called winter-spring offensive, failed. I am officially telling you this.
On 31 March, they were supposed to reach the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Again, this is not even the fifth attempt that has failed.
Russia does not have the offensive potential to conduct a strategic offensive operation, and will not have it in the near future.
Russia has switched to a strategic defensive operation. Their task is to hold our captured territories, disrupting our offensive operation to liberate them."
Ukrainian defenders on Monday repelled over 50 enemy attacks in the Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka sectors. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said this in its evening update published on Facebook. The General Staff said the Russian aggressor continued to use terror tactics, with the probability of missile and air strikes on targets across Ukraine remaining high.
ISW: Responsibility for Russian offensive operations in Ukraine likely shifting to Russian Airborne Force The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on April 16 that the renewed involvement of Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky, the commander of Russia's Airborne Forces, likely means Moscow is also working to "reshuffle senior commanders."
Ombudsman says his office has received 'dozens' of videos with alleged executions of Ukrainian POWs. Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets told Ukrainska Pravda publication that over the past nine months, his office had received "several dozens" of videos allegedly showing executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war carried out by Russian soldiers.
A top Russian general, Gen. Col. Mikhail Teplinsky, who is considered to be "widely respected" has likely returned to having a major role in the Ukraine war, British intelligence officials said Sunday, as analysts said Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to tap military brass for upcoming elections. Teplinsky is the commander of Russia's airborne troops, known as the VDV, and is "highly likely" to boost the division's role as an elite force, according to the British Defense Ministry.
Sanctioned Russian aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska has bemoaned a “primitive” Russian finance system dominated by state banks, saying it was sliding into the past while other countries took advantage of a realignment in global finance. Deripaska has been sanctioned by the UK, US and EU.
Energoatom: Russian forces begin deporting Ukrainian children from occupied Enerhodar. Russian troops started the forced deportation of children from schools and kindergartens in occupied Enerhodar, the town that hosts Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine's nuclear energy company Energoatom said.
The Ukrainian infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, will visit Turkey on Tuesday to discuss the status of the Black Sea grain initiative, the Turkish defence ministry said yesterday.
An alliance of five countries has been formed that aims to diminish Russia’s hold on the global nuclear energy market. The UK, US, Canada, Japan and France came to the agreement at the nuclear energy forum at the G7 summit in Sapporo, Japan. According to a UK government release on Sunday, the group will use “respective resources and capabilities” of their nuclear power stations to undermine Russia’s grip on supply chains.
NYT: Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has prompted the NATO to restore its own military capabilities to Cold War-era levels, as well as to reconsider its approach to deterrence on its eastern borders. As The New York Times wrote, NATO is rapidly moving from what the military calls deterrence by retaliation to deterrence by denial.
"Deterrence by denial" means the permanent location of allied troops near the border with the Russian Federation, more integration of American and allied war plans, more military spending and more detailed requirements for allies to have specific kinds of forces and equipment to fight, if necessary, in pre-assigned places.
In a statement from the US Department of State, Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, held bilateral meetings with his French and German counterparts on the sidelines of the G7 meeting. With French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna they discussed common concerns about China and stability in the Pacific region, and also emphasised the readiness to continue supporting Ukraine, which is resisting Russian aggression.
Slovakia has delivered all 13 promised MiG-29 jet fighters to Ukraine, the country's Ministry of Defense reported. As reported, the Slovak government approved the delivery of 13 MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine in March. The first four aircraft country delivered last month. Thus, Slovakia joined Poland in this decision.
Minister: Italy overcomes dependence on Russian gas. Italy is no longer dependent on Russian gas as an energy resource, Italian Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said in an interview on April 15.
La Republica: M109 howitzers delivered by Italy already in use Ukraine. The Italian newspaper La Republica reported that Italy had delivered dozens of refurbished American-made M109 self-propelled 155 mm howitzers to Ukraine.
The National Prosecutor's Office of Poland has joined the investigation into the crimes of genocide committed by Russia in Ukraine. It is emphasized that Polish prosecutors are in constant contact with the Ukrainian prosecutor's office and other members of the Joint Investigation Team. During regular meetings, the results of the team members' work are discussed and further activities are planned.
Read the article from Information here—you’ll need to activate your translation app.
International Ice Hockey Federation likely to ban Russia, Belarus from tournaments for duration of war. Russian and Belarusian players will likely be banned from participating in IIHF tournaments for the duration of the war, ESPN reported on April 16. "I hope Russia and Belarus will come back as soon as possible because it will mean the war is over," said IIHF President Luc Tardif.
Dutch intelligence—AIVD— in its 2022 report called China the greatest threat to the country's economic security. as reported by Reuters. According to the report, despite the fact that the Netherlands considers China to be its main trading partner, it is trying to illegally obtain Dutch and other Western technologies through its military ambitions.
"Chinese companies and knowledge institutions are sometimes valued partners for Dutch institutions. At the same time, the country forms the greatest threat to Dutch economic security," the agency said.
China’s defence minister, Gen Li Shangfu, has toured a top Russian military academy on a visit to Moscow that appeared to underscore the increasingly close ties between Moscow and Beijing amid the fighting in Ukraine.
The FBI has arrested two alleged Chinese agents and federal prosecutors have charged dozens of others with working to silence and harass dissidents within the United States – with some even operating an “undeclared police station” in New York City.
Read the article about Abramovich below here.
Kara-Murza sentence confirmed by court- 25 yrs in prison
The United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk has called on Moscow to free the longtime Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza who has been sentenced to a 25-year prison sentence on charges including treason. Türk said:
Kara-Murza was tried on charges that appear related to the legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of opinion, expression, and association, including his public criticism of the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine.
No one should be deprived of their liberty for exercising their human rights, and I call on the Russian authorities to release him without delay.
As long as he continues to be detained, he must be treated with humanity and respect for his dignity. He added that the sentence was “another blow to the rule of law and civic space” in Russia.
Latvia has imposed sanctions on 10 Russian officials involved in the sentencing of Vladimir Kara-Murza. Those involved have not been named by Latvia. The judge in the case, Sergei Podoprigorov, has already been subjected to sanctions by the UK, US and Canadian governments.
The Chair of the foreign affairs select committee Alicia Kearns has said that the government should “absolutely” introduce sanctions against 31 people complicit in crimes against Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza. Kara-Murza is a UK national.
To view the list of officials that should be sanctioned, click here.
Meet the hacker armies on Ukraine's cyber front line
By Joe Tidy, BBC News, April 15, 2023
When I went to visit Oleksandr in his one-bedroom flat in central Ukraine, I found a typically spartan set-up common to many hackers.
No furniture or home comforts - not even a TV - just a powerful computer in one corner of his bedroom and a powerful music system in the other.
From here, Oleksandr has helped temporarily disable hundreds of Russian websites, disrupted services at dozens of banks and defaced websites with pro-Ukraine messages.
He is one of the most prominent hackers in the vigilante group, the IT Army of Ukraine - a volunteer hacking network with a Telegram group nearly 200,000-strong.
For more than a year, he has devoted himself to causing as much chaos in Russia as possible.
Even during our visit he was running complex software attempting to take his latest target - a Russian banking website - offline.
Ironically though, he admits the idea for his favourite hack actually began with a tip from an anonymous Russian, who told them about an organisation called Chestny Znak - Russia's only product authentication system.
He was told all goods produced in Russia - including fresh food - have to be scanned for a unique number and a barcode supplied by the company from the moment of their creation at a factory, up till the moment of being sold. [continue]