Date—April 6, 2022

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Announcements

1. ANTAC: The United States, the EU and the G7 may announce new sanctions on Russia tomorrow, including a ban on all investment. (Source: Facebook).

War

1. Russia is preparing an offensive against the city of Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine in an attempt to link up with its units in the Donbas. “The offensive of Russian troops from Izyum to Slovyansk is likely to be another turning point in the war in Ukraine,” analysts at the Institute for the Study of War say. At the same time, the capture of Slavyansk should be considered a minimal task. If they do not succeed, then the efforts aimed at seizing the Donetsk and Luhansk regions will also most likely be in vain. Moreover, it is already clear that there is practically no progress there. “The recruitment of reservists and an attempt to throw seriously battered units from the northeast into an offensive in eastern Ukraine will hardly increase the chances of success,” the institute said in a report. (Source: BBC). 

Opinions

1. 20% of the dead reported by the Russian regions are officers. As of April 5, Russian official sources have published the names of at least 1,083 dead Russian soldiers. Of the 1,083 identified dead, 217 are officers from junior lieutenant to general. This is 20% of the number of all servicemen in the list of confirmed losses of the Russian army. Such a high number of officers in the lists of established losses does not mean that every fifth Russian who died on the battlefield was an officer. By tradition, the bodies of the dead commanders in the Russian army are trying to send home as a priority. Now in the lists of losses – 10 colonels (including one captain of the first rank), 20 lieutenant colonels, 31 majors and 155 junior officers (ranking from junior lieutenant to captain). Ukraine claims that seven Russian generals have already died, but Russia has only confirmed the death of Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky. When studying the list of confirmed casualties in Russia, another trend is noticeable: about 15% of all identified dead served in the airborne troops. Most often, the dead in Ukraine were reported in Dagestan – 93 buried soldiers are known there. Schools are named after them and even streets are renamed. The highest death toll was also reported in Buryatia (52 people), Volgograd region (48), Orenburg region (41) and North Ossetia (39). (Source: BBC).

2. General Mark Milley expressed the opinion that the conflict in Ukraine will last for more than one year: “I won’t say about decades, but at least several years – for sure.” (Source: BBC).

Economy, Social life, and Culture

1. Shabunin: EU announces details of 5th package of sanctions, including embargo on Russian coal, closure of ports for Russian ships and ban on trucks from Russia and Belarus, EU is already working on new sanctions, including those on oil imports ; The US Treasury Department has banned Russia from paying off debt from frozen accounts; Belgium froze 2.7 billion euros in Russian assets and blocked transactions for 196.4 billion euros; Australia will ban the export of luxury goods to Russia; The United States has stopped exchanging tax information with Russia; Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank suspends operations with Russia and Belarus; The European Commission plans to cut funding for Hungary for “undermining the rule of law”. (Source: Facebook).

2. Shabunin: Auchan’s head office is suspending investments and supplies to Russia. The world’s leading aluminum producer Alcoa is leaving the Russian market. Canonical Ltd, which develops the Ubuntu operating system, will not work with Russian companies. Ivo Lukačovych, the founder of the Czech search engine Lista.cz, donated 100 million Czech crowns to the Ukrainian army. Fortnite players raised $ 144 million for Ukraine in two weeks. Irish company for the production of building materials Kingspan leaves Russia. (Source: Facebook).

Military Help

1. The Czech Republic sent Soviet T-72 and BMP tanks to Ukraine from its reserves; Estonia has provided 220 million euros in military assistance to Ukraine; NATO will continue to supply arms to Ukraine, including anti-tank weapons, air defense systems and other equipment.  (Source: Facebook).

Foreign news

1. The EU recognized 19 employees of the Permanent Representation of the Russian Federation as non-grata persons. Slovenia sends 33 Russian “diplomats”, Italy – 30, Spain – 25, Denmark – 15, Latvia – 13 and closes two Russian consulates, Estonia – 14 and closes the consulates in Narva, Portugal and Romania – 10, Sweden – 3. (Source: Facebook).

2. Antac: Tours to Turkey and Egypt rose by 35% for Russians. The Russians have problems with making “peace” cards due to a shortage of chips. In Russia, the shortage of self-adhesive tape. In Novgorod for 2 months residents bought an annual supply of sugar and salt. Russian Urals oil is already trying to sell at a record discount of $ 35. (Source: Facebook).

Refugees

1. More than 11 million people have fled their homes due to the war in Ukraine, according to a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). According to the organization, more than 7.1 million Ukrainians forced to flee remain in the country, and about 4 million more have become refugees, that is, they have left for other states. The number of internally displaced persons has risen by 10% since mid-March, when a similar study was last conducted. More than half of the families that left their homes have children or elderly relatives. (Source: BBC).