The Moscow court sentenced dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison. The opponent was tried, among other things, for treason for his criticism of the war in Ukraine and sentenced to imprisonment in a maximum security penitentiary, the Judiciary Commission chaired by Judge Sergei Podoprigorov said in a statement released by Interfax. The treason charge is related to “dissemination of knowingly false information about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces and collaboration with an organization undesirable in Russia”. The dissident’s defense has declared that it intends to appeal the sentence. “Russia will be free, tell everyone”, the dissident yelled in the courtroom after the reading of his sentence. The UN has called for his “immediate” release. And a similar request came from the spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry, Andrea Sasse.
In the aftermath of the meeting between Putin and Defense Minister Li Shangfu, the report of the talks arrives from Beijing. China, Li said, “is willing to work with Russia to fully implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state”, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, in order to “further strengthen strategic communication between the two armies, multilateral coordination and cooperation and make new contributions to maintaining global and regional security and stability,” he said. Li, in the account provided by Beijing, said the two heads of state set “the direction for the development of China-Russia relations,” while the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in the new era has been continuously deepened”. Furthermore, mutual military trust “has been increasingly consolidated, and cooperation has yielded fruitful results“. Putin, “asked to convey the most sincere greetings and best wishes to President Xi Jinping”, recalling his visit to Russia made in March “with fruitful results. President Xi and I made plans and agreements for the development of Russia-China relations into the new era, and agreed to further strengthen bilateral strategic coordination and deepen practical cooperation in the fields of economy, culture and education.” Putin added according to the note from the Chinese Defense Ministry. Russia-China military cooperation occupies “an important position in relations between the two countries”with the hope that the parties “strengthen cooperation in areas such as joint exercises and professional exchanges.” Li is on the list of Chinese officials sanctioned by the US Treasury for his recent role in military purchases from Russia.
ANSA Agency
The European Commission is working on a new aid package that could reach 75 million euros from the CAP crisis reserve, to relieve pressure on cereal prices in countries bordering Ukraine. Brussels trusts that the proposal will be presented in the next few days (ANSA)
On the ground, while Putin reiterated from the Kremlin that Russia has clear priorities in the use of its Armed Forces, “first of all, in Ukraine and in the protection of our people in Donbass, in other new territories”, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the killing of seven British mercenaries. “Troops killed a group of seven British mercenaries with numerous F-1 grenades and small arms and seized a Ukrainian Armed Forces stronghold,” the ministry said.
Alongside the fighting there is another drama affecting Ukraine. Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, more than 750 civilians have died or been injured by landmine explosions, including more than 90 children, the British Ministry of Defense has revealed. (1 in 8): It will probably take at least a decade to demine the entire country. Every day civilians are killed in Ukraine by mines, according to the report published on the Internet: the most affected areas are the regions of Kherson and Kharkiv, and more particularly the areas previously occupied by Russia. With the arrival of spring and the increase in people engaged in agricultural activities, the London experts conclude, the risk of civilian accidents due to landmines will also increase.
ANSA Agency
Pro-Russian, rockets on Donetsk near the cathedral, one dead and wounded. The vigil of the Orthodox Easter was in progress. Russian missiles destroy a Ukrainian Orthodox church in the Zaporizhzhia region. Two injured by the bombs against the church of Nikopol, in front of the nuclear power plant. Two teenagers killed in a Russian bombing in the Mykolaiv region. The Pope’s prayer: ‘May Easter help peace in Russia and Ukraine’. Wagner militia releases 130 Ukrainian prisoners of war
In the balance of yesterday’s fighting, according to Kiev, Ukrainian forces yesterday repulsed 60 Russian attacks in the directions of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Russian troops have launched 25 rocket attacks on the cities of Zaporizhzhia, Kamyshevakha (Zaporizhzhia region) and Snigirevka (Mykolaiv) in the last 24 hours, as well as 42 air raids. In addition, the Russians carried out 46 attacks with multiple launch rocket systems against Ukrainian military positions and civilian infrastructure resulting in deaths and injuries.
ANSA Agency
A similar step was taken in recent days by Poland and Hungary (ANSA)