May 1: E-Stories
Day 432: RUattacks Bryansk UAchildren Kupiansk LuhanskMeds Wagner Marinka Poland UK NATO 20B NightWolves FranceSpies Auchan A&P Guemi ISW UKDef KyivIndie Panchenko Leicester Simmons Kuleba
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.
As reported by Ukrainska Pravda, the creator of the mural is French artist Christian Guemi, known under the pseudonym C215. This is not Christian's first work in Ukraine. The artist has already created a number of murals in Lviv, Zhytomyr and liberated cities in Kyiv Oblast. One of his most famous works is a wall painting in Kramatorsk, depicting a border guard saying goodbye to his beloved.
Stories we’re following…
The Russian Federation army carried out attacks on seven regions of Ukraine in a day: Donetsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Kherson, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Mykoliav and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts.
Russia shells downtown Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast. Russian troops shelled the downtown area of Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, with multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) at around 6:45 a.m. on April 30. There were no casualties. Russian missile strikes also hit Kramatorsk on Sunday afternoon.
The Russian forces are concentrating their main efforts on conducting offensive actions in the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Maryinka directions; Russian forces are increasing their efforts to block the T0504 highway between Kostiantynivka, Chasiv Yar, and Bakhmut.
Units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled over 48 enemy attacks on various fronts.
In the temporarily occupied territories, the Russian forces are conducting mass medical examinations of children, and it has been reported that around 70% of children are declared sick and then offered "treatment" in Russia.
Rescue operations complete in Uman after Russian missile strike kills 23. Rescue operations are over in Uman, where an April 28 Russian missile strike on a residential building killed 23 people, including six children, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
National Resistance Centre: A humanitarian crisis is worsening in the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk Oblast because of a shortage of medicine for the civilian population. "
“After switching the majority of the region’s hospitals to a military hospital operational format, the civilian people cannot receive medical services. "At the same time, the prices of essential products rose significantly [during the] religious holidays. Along with rising prices, unemployment is rising too," the National Resistance Center says.
Bryansk governor accuses Ukraine of shelling, says 2 civilians killed. A local governor said two civilians died as a result of what he called a Ukrainian shelling on a village of Suzemka in Russia's Bryansk Oblast.
Ukrainian military: Russian forces far from controlling Bakhmut's 'road of life.’ Russian forces didn't yet manage to get a hold of the exit road from Bakhmut, Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on April 29.
Air Force: Russia shells Ukraine with recently made missiles. Russia reportedly uses missiles manufactured last fall or winter to strike Ukraine, Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said on April 29. Ihnat added that Russia still has missiles and also keeps producing them, although at a slower pace.
After days of rumours, the Russian army has replaced its highest ranking general, the Butcher of Mariupol, in charge of logistics ahead of an expected counter-offensive by Kyiv. AFP reports that in a Russian defence ministry statement, Alexei Kuzmenkov - a former official from the National Guard - had replaced Mizintsev.
In a comment to RBC-Ukraine, representative of HUR Andriy Yusov said:
"Cotton" in Sevastopol is God's punishment, in particular for the killed civilians in Uman, among whom there are five children. This punishment will be long lasting. All residents of the temporarily occupied Crimea should avoid being near military facilities and facilities providing the aggressor's army in the near future.”
Prigozhin threatens to pull Wagner out of Bakhmut if not given munitions. Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly told Telegram-based outlet WarGonzo that he sent a letter to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu with his ultimatum, supposedly giving Shoigu until April 28 to decide.
According to General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, "[c]ases of units of the Russian occupation forces collectively refusing to participate in hostilities have become more frequent in the Marinka area.
It has been established that the main factors affecting this are significant losses of personnel, untimely provision of ammunition to the occupiers, lack of personal protective equipment, and the forcing of Russian Armed Forces servicemen to conduct assault operations without the support of heavy equipment and artillery."
The FSB reported that the Tambov organized criminal group was behind the murder of the vice-governor of St. Petersburg Manevich. She is closely associated with Putin. According to the FSB report, the assassin was ordered by the leader of the Tambov organized crime group Vladimir Barsukov (at the birth of Kumarin). The FSB allegedly managed to obtain confessions from both. Barsukov himself is already serving a term of 23.5 years for the amount of other crimes.
How is Putin connected to the Tambov group?
The Tambov organized criminal group is closely connected with Vladimir Putin. From 1997 to 2000, he served on the advisory board of the Russian-German real estate company St. Peterburg Immobilien und Beteiligungs AG (SPAG). In 2001 , Newsweek wrote that the Tambov organized crime group began to control it and used the company for money laundering. In addition, the already mentioned seizure of the oil terminal also took place with the permission of Putin. It was he who, on May 17, 1996, being the vice-mayor of St. Petersburg, signed an order to transfer the complex to the lease of CJSC Sovex. At that time, it was controlled by associates of the Tambov organized crime group Dmitry Skigin, Ilya Traber and the already mentioned Sergey Vasiliev. For this deal, Putin received 4% of the company's income.
By 2 May, Poland must abandon the ban on importing dozens of food products from Ukraine and replace it with the decision of the European Commission, namely the embargo on four products - wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower. As "European Pravda" reports, the Polish publication RMF24 writes about this regarding sources in Brussels. Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia have confirmed that they will annul national measures as soon as possible.
Ukraine has sent a note of protest to Poland regarding the blocking of imports of agricultural products, according to spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Such restrictions, no matter what reasons they are based on, do not comply with the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU and the principles and norms of the EU Single Market," he said.
As per the German government website and confirmed by Reznikov, the Germans have handed over another military aid package to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including a second IRIS-T air defence missile system. The updated list of aid includes eight Zetros trucks, two 8x6 forklift trucks with eight slide-out containers and one IRIS-T air defence system.
Zelensky holds call with Macron, discusses military needs. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron had a phone call on April 30, discussing Ukraine's peace formula and the situation on the frontline, according to the President's Office.
According to Defence24, the United Kingdom wants to purchase long-range missiles and modern weapons for Ukraine within the framework of a special fund. It is expected that the priority will be the purchase of missiles with a range of up to 300 km.
Following diplomatic meetings in Odesa yesterday, 2 more countries in support of Ukraine's accession to NATO. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this on the air of the nationwide telethon, Ukrinform reports. "Yesterday, following the talks, one of our close friends came up to me, leaned over and whispered: "Congratulations, Dmytro, today Ukraine has received two more votes in its support in NATO," Kuleba said. The minister didn’t specify which ones.
Politico: Finance minister says Ukraine will need another $20 billion in 2024. Ukraine will need financial backing from its Western partners next year as the budget needs will remain high, the country's Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said on April 29 before joining a meeting of EU finance ministers, Politico reports.
President Biden said he is ‘working like hell’ to secure release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, held in Russia. He was speaking at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday. He praised the “absolute courage” of the US journalist and reiterated calls on Moscow for his immediate release.
DW: France is investigating the work of Auchan in the Russian Federation - in the case of corruption and bribery. Auchan denies the allegations. 10% of Auchan sales are in Russia, where the group did not leave, unlike other French companies in connection with the outbreak of the Russian war against Ukraine
Hundreds of Kremlin-loyal bikers under the banner of the Night Wolves motorcycle club took to the streets of Moscow on Saturday for a "patriotic" rally across Europe. The motorcade headed by club founder and leader Alexander Zaldastanov, known as "The Surgeon," aims to complete the rally in Berlin by May 9. The bikers will continue their journey to the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, the scene of heavy fighting, where they will distribute humanitarian aid to civilians and Russian soldiers.
Zelensky on how to defeat Russia
As reported by Ukrainska Pravda, journalist Dmytro Komarov interviewed president Zelensky as part of a special project "A Year Behind the Scenes", recorded in autumn 2022.
"The war with the Russian Federation is like a pie. We cannot eat it [whole – ed.] – you would tear your mouth, it’s a large state and large in volume.
It is hard to swallow this trouble, you have to divide the war into pieces, and these are victories, one after another, sometimes parallel, but mostly they come one after another, consecutively...
‘Moskva’ [the sunken Russian cruiser – ed.] is a piece like that, and a very important psychologically motivated victory..."
"For us, victory is [Ukrainian – ed.] territory under the protection of global security guarantees. NATO or other security guarantees. They are very important..."
"Our task is to show that we can’t avoid [coexisting with Russia – ed.], and will become stronger than we were. We simply have no other way out.
We just have to be stronger than we were. This is the first thing.
The second thing is to do everything possible to weaken the Russian Federation. We must defend our land, liberate our Ukraine. This will already be a step to weaken the neighbour..."
Intelligence chief: Russian spy ring had ‘source’ in France
By John Leicester, The Associated Press, April 27, 2023
LE PECQ, France (AP) — The French chief of counterintelligence has given new details about a Russian spy ring broken up by France in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, saying the six intelligence agents were caught red-handed interacting with a source on French soil.
The director of the DGSI counterintelligence and counterterrorism agency, Nicolas Lerner, was speaking to a French parliamentary enquiry looking into foreign efforts to influence or corrupt political parties, leaders and opinion-makers in France. His testimony was delivered behind closed doors in February. But the website of the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, published his comments this week.
Lerner described the unmasking of the Russian agents as “one of the most significant counter-intelligence operations carried out by the DGSI in recent decades.”
At the time, in April 2022, France’s Foreign Ministry said the Russian “clandestine operation” was unmasked by “a very long” DGSI investigation. It said the six agents posed as diplomats and that their activities were “contrary to our national interests.” Its statement made no mention of a source in France.
A week prior to those expulsions, as the horrors of war crimes committed by Russian forces in Bucha, Ukraine, were coming to light, France also expelled 35 Russian diplomats. saying their activities were ” contrary to our security interests. ”
Programming note…
The Kyiv Independent’s podcast featured Francis Farrell last week: “Ukrainian attacks deep behind enemy lines – on Russian soil, and in occupied Crimea.”