USA (bbabo.net) - Attempts by the Ukrainian military to go on the offensive may end in their encirclement, according to the British edition of the Economist. According to the article, the counter-offensive planned by the Kyiv authorities is fraught with enormous risks. “In an attack, Ukraine will need to outnumber the defenders, and this is possible only in certain areas. Even if Kyiv is able to break through the defenses, it is necessary to act carefully, otherwise the Armed Forces of Ukraine risk being surrounded, ”the publication says. Thus, Ukraine and its Western patrons should brace for worse or marginal successes in implementing this plan, the British magazine noted. Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said in early April that Ukraine's counteroffensive could begin in the summer. According to classified Pentagon documents leaked to the Net, the number of Western tanks and other weapons that Ukraine already has will not allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to carry it out.
Ukraine must be prepared for a protracted military conflict of attrition. This was announced on Saturday, April 22, by Swedish Defense Minister Paul Jonsson in an interview with RBC-Ukraine. “It seems to me that this is, to a certain extent, a conflict of attrition, a conflict in which the security of supply is really key,” he answered the question of journalists about the slowdown in hostilities due to the lack of artillery shells. Jonson also stressed that Sweden is ready to review its industrial capacity in order to increase military support for Kyiv. According to him, the country plans to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP. The minister promised that Sweden "will not leave Ukraine on its long journey."
The Russian side is expelling 34 of the approximately 90 German diplomats working in Moscow. This was reported on Saturday, citing its own sources, the newspaper Bild. The expulsion of the diplomatic staff, as stated in the Russian Foreign Ministry, was a reaction to the "hostile actions of Berlin." The maximum number of employees of the German diplomatic missions in Russia will also be significantly limited. Earlier, the DPA agency informed that the Russian Il-96-300 aircraft took off from Moscow on Saturday and landed in Berlin. It was alleged that the board had special diplomatic permission. Initially, no details about the cargo and passengers were given. However, as noted by DPA, it could be assumed that it was a flight associated with diplomats.
The desire to evacuate from Sudan to the Russian Embassy was confirmed by 140 people, the list is growing due to requests from citizens of the CIS countries and a number of other states, Russian Ambassador to Khartoum Andrey Chernovol told RIA Novosti. “The list where we take into account Russian citizens, diplomats, and so on, is about 300 people. So far, about 140 people have expressed a desire to evacuate, this list is growing not at the expense of Russian citizens, they have all already decided, but at the expense of citizens of the CIS and some other countries,” he said. According to him, evacuation plans are being made, but so far it is difficult to implement, because "any exit from the embassy is connected with crossing the line of contact, and even with guarantees from both sides, this is a very risky step."
US authorities have completed the evacuation of US embassy staff and their families from Sudan. This was reported on Saturday by The Washington Post, citing sources. According to them, the evacuation operation was carried out on Sunday morning local time. On Saturday, a spokesman for the Sudanese army said that Britain, China, the United States and France were evacuating their citizens from Khartoum by military transport aircraft of their own air force. The State Department estimates that there are about 16,000 Americans in Sudan, most of whom hold dual citizenship. The Sudanese army on Friday evening announced its readiness to observe a humanitarian truce in the country for three days. On Thursday, the opposing rapid reaction forces (special forces) announced their agreement to a cease-fire during the start of the Muslim holiday of breaking the fast, Eid al-Fitr (Eid al-Fitr).
Cyprus has blocked bank accounts of individuals and organizations that helped "Russian oligarchs" circumvent UK and US sanctions, Republican Financial Commissioner Pavlos Ioannou told CyBC TV channel, bbabo.net reports. “It was inevitable for the banks to take the actions they took … and the government also acted prudently,” Ioannou said. This week, Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letimbiotis announced his intention to take legal action against all Cypriots accused by the US and UK of providing help to circumvent sanctions. He spoke about the contacts of the President of the country, Nikos Christodoulides, with London and Washington to obtain evidence so that the Cypriot investigators could continue the investigation. According to the Cypriot Central Bank, this week the country's banks blocked the accounts of 13 individuals and companies.The association of energy workers under France's leading trade union, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), has threatened to leave the Cannes Film Festival, the Monaco Grand the Roland Garros tournament without electricity due to pension reform. The statement of the organization leads the newspaper Le Figaro. “Macron promised 100 days of appeasement, we promise him 100 days of action and anger! … In May, do what you want! The Cannes Festival, the Monaco Grand Prix, Roland Garros, the Avignon Festival can take place in the dark,” the association said in a statement. Earlier Thursday, the union shut down lights at Montpellier Airport and Gerault College when French President Emmanuel Macron visited. On April 14, France's Constitutional Council approved a key article of a pension reform bill that calls for a gradual increase in the country's retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030. On Saturday night, Macron signed the law.
US President Joe Biden must speak openly with voters about his health and age if he expects to run in the next presidential election in 2024. This assessment was made on Saturday by The New York Times newspaper, publishing data from a survey conducted by the Associated Press in conjunction with the NORC Public Relations Research Center. According to the results of the poll, 47% of voters supporting the Democratic Party believe that Biden should run in the next presidential election. In total, among Democrats and Republicans, 26% of respondents said they would consider it appropriate to nominate him for a second term. According to The New York Times, "Many Democrats, especially younger ones, fear that Biden will be too old to be effective in a second term, by the end of which he will be 86 years old." “If Biden is up for re-election, as he recently pointed out, questions about his age will persist until he does more to convince voters that he can do the job,” the newspaper notes, emphasizing that Biden is the oldest president in US history.
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