Apr 20: E-Stories
Day 421: RUattacks Bakhmut Bradleys Patriots sabotage UAgrain 53,000 RUlegal Sovcomflot Navalny Shirshikov Prokhorov UAteachers NATO EU China CreditSuisse Fox-A&Ps-WarsawUprising RUspyship NAFO MFA.RU
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.
Stories we’re following…
Russian attack on Kharkiv Oblast kills 2 people. Two people were killed by a Russian air strike launched on the city of Vovchansk on April 18, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported the next day.
Ukraine's Air Force: 10 out of 12 Iranian-made Shahed drones downed over Odesa Oblast. Ukraine's Air Force reported shooting down ten out of twelve Iranian-made Shahed "kamikaze" drones Russia launched at Odesa Oblast overnight on April 19.
Russia is conducting offensive operations in the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka sectors, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has said in a morning update.
"Over the past 24 hours, units of Ukraine's defense forces repelled more than 60 enemy attacks in these areas of the front. The fiercest fighting is ongoing in Bakhmut and Marinka. [...] The enemy launched 4 missile strikes and 60 air strikes and carried out 58 attacks using multiple launch rocket systems. Civilians were also affected," the General Staff said on Facebook.
The Ukrainian army is reporting that the Russian forces in Bakhmut are taking “heavy losses” after seven strikes throughout Wednesday. An update by the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine said that two areas which included soldiers, weapons and military equipment and ammunition depots were hit.
Russian forces continued to make gains in Bakhmut on April 18. Geolocated footage published on April 17 indicates that Wagner Group forces have likely advanced closer to the House of Culture in northwestern Bakhmut.
ISW: Some Russian sources that previously warned about a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive in Zaporizhia Oblast are now warning that Ukrainian forces may conduct a counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast.
U.S.-provided Bradley Fighting Vehicles have arrived in Ukraine. Kyiv's military tweeted an image of the systems painted in a new color scheme on Monday. A Pentagon official on Tuesday confirmed to The Drive that the vehicles had indeed arrived. The official wouldn't say when they arrived or how many are now in Ukraine; more than 100 are expected.
Official: Patriot systems from US, Netherlands already in Ukraine. Patriot air defense systems pledged by the U.S. and the Netherlands have arrived in Ukraine, First Deputy Minister of Defense Oleksandr Pavliuk said on April 19. The Ukrainian official also confirmed the arrival of a Patriot battery from Germany, which Berlin had reported a day before.
Tass is reporting that authorities in Crimea claim to have thwarted a sabotage plot aimed at energy infrastructure. The FSB states that a man has been detained. Tass reports that “An improvised explosive device and means of communication were confiscated at his place of residence, containing correspondence with a representative of the special services of Ukraine, who coordinated his criminal activities.”
Putin said on Wednesday that delivering goods to regions of Ukraine that Russia unilaterally annexed last year was “problematic”, and ordered the government to address the problem, Reuters reports.
Moscow chief draft officer says authorities using facial recognition cameras to track down conscripts. Moscow Chief Enlistment Officer Maxim Loktev said Tuesday that the city’s network of facial recognition cameras are being used to search for conscripts in Russia’s spring mandatory military service drive. Speaking to Russian state media, Loktev said that the primary reason conscripts don’t report to enlistment offices is that they don’t live at the addresses where they’re registered and thus don’t receive hand-delivered summonses.
Russian State Duma approves amendment to allow revocation of naturalized citizenship for ‘actions that threaten national security’. A related amendment that was also passed Tuesday would restrict individuals who lose their citizenship on these grounds from applying to have it restored for three years after its revocation. Both amendments were passed in a second reading vote on a bill on citizenship.
Russia’s largest oil-tanker company, Sovcomflot, transferred its operations to Dubai, away from St. Petersburg in Russia and Cyprus, which is enforcing European sanctions. After the Ukraine invasion, Dubai in the UAE has become an international hub of choice for many Russian energy firms seeking to run their businesses while avoiding sanctions.
Jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny reportedly facing new charges over incident staged by prison guards. According to Kobzev, Navalny’s lawyer, prison employees put an inmate with “poor hygiene” in Navalny’s cell, causing it to smell so bad that it was “impossible to enter.” When Navalny refused to go in, Kobzev said, the guards called a “response team in bulletproof vests and helmets,” who proceeded to “drag” Navalny into the cell. The prison guards subdued Navalny with violence. When Navalny was back in the cell, he took the other inmate by the neck and tried to drag him out. The authorities are going to charge him with disorderly conduct.
Public relations expert, Yaroslav Shirshikov, who met with U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich, detained. He was the first to bring attention to Gershkovich’s disappearance. According to a source close to law enforcement, Shirshikov faces charges of justifying terrorism. His detention may be connected to a post he made on Telegram calling the pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky a “scumbag.”
Five teachers who openly collaborated with Russia in the field of education have been exposed in Luhansk Oblast. They were served with a notice of suspicion of spreading Russian propaganda and collaboration, Luhansk regional prosecutor's office reported. In addition, as the investigation found out, the teachers began to implement Russian education standards in relevant institutions, including schools, from the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
Russia must be prosecuted for destruction of Ukrainian culture, heritage. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on April 17 that Russia's destruction of Ukrainian cultural heritage and its violation of cultural rights breaches the norms of international humanitarian law.
The message below from Ministry of Foreign Affairs Russia is not a sick joke. Russia propaganda is setting the stage for something they may be releasing soon or there is another purpose other than to gaslight millions of viewers on Twitter. The state of human rights in Ukraine has been atrocious in Russian-led “governance” in Donbas since 2014, and in other Russian occupied territories in Ukraine since the second invasion of the Russian armed forces, led by a pathological, evil leader and his proxies.
US defence chief urges Turkey, Hungary to quickly ratify Sweden's NATO bid. US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday during a visit to Sweden that the US looks forward to welcoming Sweden as a Nato member before the alliance’s upcoming summit in July, and will encourage Turkey and Hungary to ratify accession.
Minister: Inspections of ships carrying Ukrainian grain to resume in Turkish territorial waters. Following a meeting with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, an agreement has been reached to renew registration and inspection procedures for ships arriving to load Ukrainian grain, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov reported on April 19.
The United States announced a new $350 million military aid package for Ukraine on Wednesday to help the Ukrainian military in its war against Russia, Reuters reports. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the daily press conference the package will include more ammunition and artillery rounds. It is the 36th security package since the war began in February 2022, she told reporters.
The EU Commission is proposing €100m in compensation for EU farmers affected by the recent influx of Ukrainian grain as well as restrictions on selling wheat and maize in affected countries, in a bid to calm tensions with central and eastern Europe. Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the commission, has written to the leaders of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, setting out support measures after four of those countries banned the impact of grain and other food products earlier this week.
FT: Ukraine likely to ask for more air defense missiles at upcoming Ramstein summit. Ukraine is likely to make an urgent plea to western allies for more air defense missiles at the upcoming Ramstein Summit on April 21, the Financial Times reported on April 19.
China makes progress on an Antarctic base. The CSIS think tank scrutinized satellite photography and issued a report that finds "new support facilities, temporary buildings, a helicopter pad, and foundations for a larger main building at the 5,000 square meter (53,820 square feet) station," as Reuters put it. The new station, on Inexpressible Island near the Ross Sea, "is expected to include an observatory with a satellite ground station, and should help China 'fill in a major gap' in its ability to access the continent." CSIS estimates the station could be completed in 2024.
South Korea might extend its support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if it comes under a large-scale civilian attack, President Yoon Suk Yeol said, signaling a shift in his stance against arming Ukraine. Ahead of his state visit to the US, Yoon told Reuters his government has been exploring how to help defend and rebuild Ukraine.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of the security council of the Russian Federation, has issued a threat to South Korea on the Telegram following the news that South Korea may change its stance on sending weaponery to Ukraine.
4 US citizens, 3 Russian nationals charged with conducting 'multi-year foreign malign influence campaign' in US. Four U.S. citizens and three Russian nationals were charged by a federal grand jury in Florida for allegedly working on behalf of the Russian government to "conduct a multi-year foreign malign influence campaign in the United States," the U.S. Justice Department reported on April 18.
The Swiss bank Credit Suisse found information on more than 100 previously unknown accounts belonging to the Nazis or associated with them. Some of these accounts were in operation until 2020, the US Senate Budget Committee said in a statement.
Fox disposed of one legal threat with its $787.5 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, but the network still faces a $2.7 billion lawsuit from another voting technology company over its coverage of debunked election-rigging claims.
As reported by RIA Novosti, a warehouse is in fire in the Russian Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod region. The fire broke out at a company, Astat, that produces plastics and synthetic resins.
Russian spy ships are preparing possible sabotage against offshore wind turbines, gas pipes and power cables in Denmark and the Nordics
By Niels Fastrup, Lisbeth Quass, & Frederik Hugo Ledegaard, DR.DK, April 19, 2023
According to intelligence services and experts , a Russian military program is currently mapping offshore wind farms, gas pipelines and power and internet cables in the waters around Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden.
The mapping is done by a large number of military and civilian ships sailing around the Nordic waters and uncovering what lies at the bottom of the sea and how our infrastructure is connected.
According to the sources, the aim is to plan sabotage against the Nordic countries, including by being able to cut power and data cables across the Atlantic and to the rest of Europe.
- In the event of a conflict with the West, they are ready and know where to intervene if they want to paralyze Danish society, says counterintelligence chief Anders Henriksen from the Danish Police Intelligence Service (PET).
The military program is central to Russia's preparations for a major conflict with the West, the sources say.
- This is a strategic capacity for Russia, which is considered very important and is controlled directly from Moscow , says Nils Andreas Stensønes, head of the Norwegian Intelligence Service. [continue reading]
Programming note…
This was passed onto to me from a very good friend and I enjoyed watching it and learned a few things.
Today’s video is about NAFO “Fellas”. In the early spring, I had come across NAFO and donated to their work of countering Russian propaganda on Twitter. I also received an avatar that I kept up for some time.
From my own sources and research, NAFO has become a broad movement, with Kama and a close knit group of Fellas that form the central nucleus. Like most movements, however, NAFO was penetrated by threat actors in June 2022, which tried to break it up from inside, pitting NAFO members against each other. Sound familiar?
The good news is that the core group is still active online, debunking Russian propaganda and disinformation operations.