Hungary joins Poland in banning Ukraine grain imports , and other food imports, which had begun to upset those countries food suppliers markets….
Russina and China dancing….
Putin needs as many frinds as he can get these days…..
More POW’s released back to the Ukraine by the Wagner/Russia group…..
The feeling by Western Intelligence/Military people is that BOTH Russian and the Ukraine do NOT have enough weapons tro decisively end the conflict…What does that mean about the ‘promised’ Ukraine SApring offensive?
Again….
President Biden is NOT in a hurry to supply over a certain amount of (Promised)weapons to the Ukraine , him being fearful of pissing Putin of…..
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Key developments
- The Kremlin-linked Wagner mercenary group released more than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war Sunday to mark Orthodox Easter, Reuters reported, citing a video shared on Telegram by Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the group’s leader. Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff tweeted that 130 Ukrainians were freed. The “great Easter exchange” of Ukrainians took place in several stages, Yermak said. In recent months, hundreds of prisoners of war have been released by both sides — offering a glimmer of hope for many whose loved ones are imprisoned or missing. It was not immediately clear how many Russian prisoners would be sent back the other way.
- Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has written to his family. The two-page letter was the first direct contact between Gershkovich — who was detained in Russia last month while on a reporting trip on claims of espionage that the newspaper and U.S. government have strongly denied — and his loved ones, the Journal reported. Gershkovich reportedly joked about prison food and said he was in good spirits.
- Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called Sunday for the creation of a group of countries with “no kind of involvement” in the war to broker peace for Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reported. The left-wing leader, who has refused to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine, was in China seeking investment and support, and said he raised the peace group proposal with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Lula told reporters the previous day that the United States should cease “encouraging” war in Ukraine and support peace efforts.
Battleground updates
- Rescue teams recovered four bodies from a Friday strike site in Slovyansk on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 15 as they completed the search. Another 24 people were injured. Larissa Chumak, 59, was in the opposite building when the strike hit. She said she has heard the warnings that civilians should evacuate the area, but refuses to leave. “Of course I’m worried there will be more; I’m a human,” she said. For now, she said she’ll remain in her apartment. “I don’t have anywhere to go.”
- The Russian military has lost more than 10,000 vehicles, including some 1,900 tanks, and is close to emptying its arsenal of sophisticated cruise missiles, the British Defense Ministry said. According to the recently leaked trove of sensitive U.S. documents, American intelligence believes Russia and Ukraine are likely to remain locked in a battlefield stalemate this year because neither side has sufficient troops or supplies to make a significant breakthrough, The Post has reported….