Russia strikes a “military target” in Khmelnitskiy
Russia launched an attack on a military target in the western Khmelnytskiy region of Ukraine this morning. Rescuers are currently working to put out the subsequent fires, the regional governor said.
Fires are said to be raging near fuel, lubricant and ammunition storage sites,” Reuters reports.
More than $36 billion left Russia
Foreign investors who left Russia after selling their companies between March 2022 and March 2023 took an estimated $36 billion out of Russia. This was reported by the state news agency RIA on the basis of data from the Central Bank of Russia.
Many large global companies left Russia or put their businesses on the back burner after Moscow decided to attack Ukraine in February 2022.
Belarus distributes nuclear weapons
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has promised nuclear weapons to all countries willing to join the Russia-Belarus coalition. Reuters reports.
Last week, Russia unveiled a plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, in what would be the first time since 1991 that nuclear weapons have been deployed outside the country. This led to unrest in the West.
Russians on US Senator’s Blacklist
The Russian Interior Ministry has placed US Senator Lindsey Graham on the wanted list. This was reported by the Russian state media TASS.
Last week, Graham visited Kiev, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky. During that conversation, Graham is quoted as saying that military aid to Ukraine was “the best American money ever spent.” Russia criticized his remarks, accusing him of glorifying “the murder of Russian civilians”.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have not yet returned
Thousands of Ukrainian children have been kidnapped and deported to Russia since the start of the war. According to the Ukrainian government, there are 16,226 children, of whom 10,523 have been located and 300 have already returned. But experts are wary of grossly underestimating the number.
Those same experts think that single children, whose parents may have been killed in the Battle of Mariupol, have now disappeared into a system controlled by the Kremlin, which is under the scrutiny of the International Criminal Court.
Prigozhin hinders Putin
The head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, most likely stood in the way of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This was stated in an analysis by the American think tank Institute for the Study of War.
Prigozhin is said to have responded quite insinuatingly to a reporter’s question about the Russian ban on discussing the Wagner group. “The government could have leveraged their historical capabilities to censor information,” said the chief mercenary. “If they hadn’t declared war on Ukraine.”
More than 40 rockets were launched from the sky over Kiev
The Ukrainian air defense system in Kiev shot down more than 40 missiles and drones this morning, Commander Serhii Popko of the Kiev Armed Forces reports on Telegram. The debris caused some damage, but no casualties. This month was the 15th Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital.
Popko: ‘Russia is trying to deplete our air defense systems by stepping up their attacks. With this, the enemy wants to keep our population in psychological tension.”