Saturday, April 8

Russia’s war against Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelensky joins iftar, the meal breaking the daily fast during Ramadan, with Muslim Ukrainian soldiers and representatives of the Crimean Tatar community, on April 7. (Courtesy)

Zelensky honors Muslim tradition by participating in first ‘official’ iftar. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on April 7 that Ukraine was beginning a new tradition of hosting official iftar meals during Ramadan.

Ukraine says Russia refuses all-for-all Muslim POW exchange for Ramadan. Russian authorities rebuffed Ukraine’s proposition to exchange all Muslim prisoners of war from both sides at the beginning of the Ramadan month on March 22, Daria Zarivna, a communication adviser to the head of the President’s Office, told Voice of America.

Financial Times: UK firm has exported $1.2 billion of electronics to Russia despite sanctions. British firm Mykines Corporation reportedly exported $1.2 billion worth of technical equipment, including high-end microchips, telecom equipment, and servers, to Russia since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, potentially violating sanctions on export, the Financial Times reported.

Slovak defense minister: Russian technicians possibly sabotaged Ukraine-bound MiGs. Russian technicians, who were present at the Slovak air base in Sliač until last year, may have deliberately damaged Slovak MiG-29 jet fighters that Bratislava recently supplied to Ukraine. “They were able to fly, but that doesn’t mean they were also capable of combat,” Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď said.

Zelensky: Ukraine prepares new sanctions list. Ukrainian authorities are preparing a new “powerful sanctions list of persons who work for (the Russian) aggression,“ President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his evening address on April 7.

UK Defense Ministry: Russian troops ‘have regained some momentum’ in Bakhmut. Russian forces have recently “regained some momentum” in the battle for Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut after a delay in their advance since late March, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on April 7.

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ISW: Alleged leak of classified war documents highlights Russians’ fear of upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive. Russian military bloggers expressed concerns over the supposed classified war documents about Ukraine’s war effort recently leaked online, emphasizing the fear of the prospective counteroffensive, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest update.

Russian media: Members of Russian government not allowed to travel abroad, Kremlin officials not impacted. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin reportedly banned government officials from leaving Russia without special permission.

National Resistance Center: Russia increases repression in occupied parts of Ukraine’s south for refusing to obtain Russian citizenship. Moscow-installed proxies in the occupied territories of southern Ukraine have increasingly forced civilians to obtain Russin passports, resorting to violence against those who refuse to do it, the Ukrainian military’s National Resistance Center reported on April 7.

National Resistance Center: Russia resettles deported Ukrainians in 55 remote regions. Ukrainians are deported for “further assimilation” in remote regions in Russia, while Russian authorities are creating conditions forcing them to obtain a Russian passport, the Ukrainian military’s National Resistance Center reported on April 7.

Russia’s naphtha exports to Singapore nearly tripled in Q1 2023. Russia’s naphtha exports to Singapore almost tripled in the first quarter of 2023 following the Western sanctions on Moscow’s oil products. The Asian country imported 741,000 metric tons of the Russian refined product in the first three months of this year, compared to 261,000 in the last quarter of 2022, according to Reuters.

Ukraine to stop exporting grain to Poland, keep transit to third countries. Polish farmers have been actively protesting against the significant influx of Ukrainian grain because of a threat to their domestic market.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Kyiv dismisses classified war papers leaked online as ’fake.’

Ukraine’s military intelligence said that the supposed classified war files leaked online were forged by Russia.

Photo: Getty Images

Human cost of Russia’s war

3 killed, 17 injured as Russia attacks 9 Ukrainian regions over past 24 hours. Russian troops carried out attacks against nine Ukrainian oblasts over the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry media center reported on April 7. Three civilians were killed, and 17 more were wounded as of 9 a.m.

Russia shells Stanislav in Kherson Oblast, injuring 2 children. A Russian projectile hit a house in the village of Stanislav, broke through the roof, and detonated, wounding a woman and her two children, according to Ukraine’s Presidential Office head Andrii Yermak.

General Staff: Russia has lost 177,110 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on April 7 that Russia had also lost 3,633 tanks, 7,016 armored fighting vehicles, 5,587 vehicles and fuel tanks, 2,722 artillery systems, 533 multiple launch rocket systems, 281 air defense systems, 306 airplanes, 292 helicopters, 2,291 drones, and 18 boats.

Opinions and insights

Group of authors: Surveys show Ukrainians don’t want ‘Kalashnikov society’

“Results demonstrate a significant reversal in the prewar, largely prohibitive, attitudes toward guns, with more and more Ukrainians now supportive of gun ownership. Nevertheless, a sizeable proportion of Ukrainians are still opposed to the presence of guns in civilian society, and most are not personally interested in owning them,” the group of authors said in their recent op-ed.

International response

Brazil says Ukraine should cede Crimea to Russia to end war, Kyiv says no. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva suggested that Ukraine should be open to the idea of giving up Crimea in exchange for peace with Russia. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, “Ukraine does not give up its territories.”

Financial Times: US, Germany, Hungary oppose offering Ukraine ‘road map’ to NATO membership. The United States, Germany, and Hungary oppose the efforts by some other NATO allies to offer Ukraine a “road map” for membership at the alliance’s July summit in Vilnius, the Financial Times reported, citing officials involved in the talks.

Estonia does not rule out purchase of ammunition for Ukraine worldwide. “The primary goal was to support and strengthen the capabilities of European manufacturers. However, if European manufacturers say that they will not be able to produce shells in a year and Ukraine needs a million shells, we should not rule out purchasing outside of Europe as well,” Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said.

Ukraine, Poland open tank repair shop for T-64. The repair shop is in Poland. The cooperation could extend to T-72 and PT-91 models, as well as Leopard 2 tanks.

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