Diplomatic tension rises around the Ukrainian conflict: Moscow announces the strengthening of the defense of its north-western borders after the entry of neighboring Finland into NATO, and excludes that a ceasefire is currently under discussion in view of the Orthodox Easter, the April 16th. “The idea has not been proposed by anyone,” said Russian spokesman Peskov.
Meanwhile, Kiev and its allies continue to grapple with the leak of top-secret US documents leaked on social media and allegedly leading the president Volodymyr Zelenskya partially change his plans. Russian bombs have fallen in Kherson Oblast. But it is in Bakhmut that the battle is concentrated, the Ukrainians may be ready. According to the Institute for the Study of War, the Russians have continued to advance in the last 24 hours, albeit at very high human costs.
Ukraine, Kiev resists on key road for supplies to Bakhmut
Ukrainian troops defending the eastern city of Bakhmut, managed to push the Russians away from the road used to receive reinforcements and supplies. A Ukrainian military expert assured this, Alexander Kovalenko, while the interim leader appointed by Moscow in the Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, admitted that Ukrainian troops are currently managing to resist the Russian advance in the western part of the city. Kovalenko also pointed out that the Russians continue to deploy additional units to Bakhmut to deal with the large number of losses they have suffered in an attempt to totally capture the city.
In Bakhmut’s hell, among the Ukrainian soldiers ready to retreat
by our correspondent Daniele Raineri
Seoul: “The documents leaked by the Pentagon have been falsified”
The presidential office of South Korea says the defense ministers of South Korea and the United States have agreed that a “considerable amount of information in the ‘leaked Pentagon’ documents has been falsified.” Cnn reports it. A leak in recent days revealed a conversation between South Korean officials about the war in Ukraine. South Korea said its defense minister, Lee Jong-sup, held a phone call with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin this morning, at Austin’s request, to discuss the leak.
Kiev: “No change of plans after the Pentagon leaks”
The Ukrainian National Security Council has denied that there are any changes in Ukraine’s military plans following the leak of secret papers to the US, a circumstance reported by CNN: “I don’t know who CNN has spoken to. In any case, I can say that the number of people who know about our plans is extremely limited. And I don’t think the informant in contact with the US broadcaster has anything to do with our plans,” said the council secretary Oleksiy Danilov. “The data of certain operations, the number of units, who is involved and in which direction are top secret information,” added Danilov.
Here are the new files stolen from the USA. And Kiev now has to change plans
by our correspondent Paolo Mastrolilli
The UN, “We need control measures on arms exports”
Strong controls over the export, brokering, import, transit, storage and retransfer of arms and ammunition are needed to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. This is what the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs argued, Izumi Nakamitsuat the first public meeting of the month of the Russian presidency of the UN Security Council, during which numerous delegates referred to the conflict in Ukraine.
Kiev: “500 Russian soldiers killed in the last 24 hours”
Five hundred Russian soldiers have been killed in ongoing fighting in Ukraine in the past 24 hours. He made it known Kiev Army General Staffupdating to 179,320 the total of soldiers sent from Moscow who have lost their lives in Ukraine since the war began on February 24 last year.
ISW: “Russian forces advance to Bakhmut but with significant losses”
Russia continues to gain ground on Bakhmut, but is suffering “significant” losses in military operations. This was stated in the latest update on the situation of the conflict, released by the American think tank Institute for the Study of War (Isw). “Geolocated footage released on April 9 and 10 shows that Russian forces made marginal progress northwest of Khromove (2 km west of Bakhmut), southwest of Bakhmut and north of the village of Sacco and Vanzetti (15 km north of Bakhmut),” the report reads.
US military exercises with the Philippines kick off
The largest military exercises the United States and the Philippines have ever conducted together began today, the day after China “successfully completed”, according to Beijing, operations around the island of Taiwan. As reported by the Financial Timesthere are about 12,000 US soldiers, 5,400 Filipinos and more than 100 Australian soldiers who will participate in the maneuvers of shoulder, double numbers compared to exercises of previous years. Furthermore, a meeting between the foreign and defense ministers of the United States and the Philippines in the 2+2 format is scheduled for today in Washington, the first for seven years now.
Waiting for Macron’s speech in The Hague on the economic and industrial sovereignty of the EU
Looking forward to the speech that Macron will deliver this afternoon on the economic and industrial sovereignty of the EU, a speech to be held at the Nexus research institute in The Hague and which comes after Macron said in an interview with Les Echos in recent days after the visit to China that “strategic autonomy must be Europe’s battle”. A state dinner is also planned in the evening at the royal castle.
Ukraine: Russia towards enlistment change, but no mobilisation
The Russian authorities have no plans to launch a second wave of mobilisation. This was assured by the chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma, Andrei Kartapolovwhile today the Lower Chamber of the Russian Parliament is preparing to approve new rules for summoning up to military service.
“The amendments”, he clarified speaking to the Russian media, “have absolutely nothing to do with mobilization. Everything related to mobilization is regulated by another law. There is no mobilization, and it is not foreseen”.
Kartapolov then stressed that the new rules for receiving postcards in military service will affect not only conscripts, but also all reservists.
Russia, in Belgorod massacre of soldiers in barracks: Putin’s mobilization unleashes ethnic hatred
by our correspondent Daniele Raineri
Kiev army, offensive of Russian troops in Donetsk
According to the daily report of the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russian army is concentrating on offensive operations in Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiika, and Maryinsky directions in Donetsk. He brings it back Rbc-Ukraine. The Armed Forces of Ukraine repulsed 52 attacks. Over the past day, Kremlin troops have launched 39 air and 7 missile strikes, 4 of them from the S-300 air defense system on the city of Kramatorsk, the General Staff said. “They carried out 47 attacks from multiple launch systems against Ukrainian military positions and against civilian infrastructure. In Bakhmut more attacks, fighting continues”.
Russian media, drone crashes on Belgorod airport
A drone of unknown origin crashed on the territory of the Belgorod airport in Russian territory, according to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti a representative of the emergency services. “Yesterday afternoon, a drone crashed in the territory of the airport, the fence of the airport was slightly damaged,” she said. According to initial information there would be no victims. The investigators are investigating the circumstances of the accident, the source added.
US media, Pentagon leaks: “Egypt, an ally of the West, secretly produces rockets for Outin”
The Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, one of the United States‘ closest allies in the Middle East and a major recipient of American aid, recently ordered his subordinates to secretly produce up to 40,000 rockets to be sent to Russia. This is what emerges from a US intelligence document.
In the top secret document, obtained by the Washington Post via Discord, an app popular among gamers, there are talks of alleged conversations between al-Sisi and senior Egyptian military officials and references to plans to supply Russia with artillery shells and gunpowder. The document highlights that on February 1 al-Sisi ordered officials to keep the production and shipment of the rockets secret “to avoid problems with the West”.
Pro-Russian: “Ukrainians ready to cross the Dnipro at Kherson”
Kiev’s troops are preparing to cross the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, but their attempts are doomed to failure, he told Russia’s state news agency Ria Novosti the acting governor of the region Vladimir Saldo. “On the right bank of the Dnipro, enemy units are maneuvering, changing positions and creating false positions, military personnel and equipment are being transferred, boats are being assembled. There are signs of preparations for an attempt to cross the Dnipro and keep this maneuver secret,” Saldo said. Who said he was confident that, in general, “the enemy does not have sufficient forces to cross the river”. “First of all, these are equipment, weapons, ammunition and means of support. They have reached a sufficient number of people. Provocations, even large ones, are possible on the Dnipro or Liman, but they are doomed to failure,” he added. . In recent months, Kremlin troops have withdrawn from the right bank of the Dnipro and have quartered on the left bank.
Kiev: 8 attacks on areas occupied by Russian forces
In the past 24 hours, the Air Force of the Ukrainian Defense Forces has carried out eight attacks on areas occupied by Russian forces, as well as one attack on the enemy’s anti-aircraft missile complex. This was stated in the morning summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine , reports Ukrainian media. According to reports, an enemy Mi-24 helicopter and nine unmanned aircraft of various types were shot down yesterday, while units of missile troops and artillery struck the area of concentration of manpower, weapons and military equipment, as well as a depot of Russian ammunition.
Moscow: arrested 22-year-old Russian spy for Kiev in Zaporizhzhia
Moscow says an intelligence agent of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has been detained by Russian law enforcement agencies in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. According to reports from the Tass news agency, the agent is a 22-year-old Russian citizen who ” transmitted information on the locations of military and civilian facilities of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts so that they could then be targeted by the Ukrainian army”. He risks up to 20 years in prison, according to the Russian authorities who released a video of the arrested young man’s confession.
Russian attack on civilian boat, 2 seriously injured
In the Kherson region of Ukraine, the Russians attacked a boat with civilians. Two local residents were seriously injured. This was stated in a message on Telegram by the governor of the region Oleksandr Prokudin, as reported by Ukrinform. “A 20-year-old boy and a 20-year-old girl, ignoring the restrictions on going out of small boats introduced by martial law, ignoring threats of shelling by the occupiers from the left bank, tried to go out by boat into the bay,” reads the message.