Date—April 21, 2022

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Stories

1. Anonymous has made public about 5.8 TB of data from Russian sources. The hackers have promised to continue the fight against the Kremlin, spreading more and more information that belongs to the Russian government and financial institutions. The other day, hackers broke into the base of the GUOV and the Central Bank (Main Directorate for the Arrangement of Troops and Civil Engineering), the ultimate owner of which is the Russian Defense Ministry. As a result of the hack, 9.5 GB of data got into the network, including more than 15 thousand company emails. The hackers announced this on their official Twitter page. Earlier, activists hacked the site of Neocom Geoservice, which conducts geological exploration for hydrocarbon production. The hackers also shared 107 GB of the company’s emails. They also managed to break Gazprom’s database. (Source: NV).

War

1. The day before, Russian troops announced the start of an assault on the Azovstal plant, the last center of resistance in Mariupol. According to the Ukrainian military, there are also hundreds of civilians there. Russian sources published a video with the alleged evacuation of 140 residents in Ukraine. They said that They should check this. A brutal bombardment of the plant was also reported. (Source: Current Time).

2. Kyrylenko: “For the past 24 hours, the Russians have been shelling civilians along the front line, most actively in the Mariinka, Avdeevka, Ocheretinske, and Toretsk directions. Several houses, an agricultural enterprise, and a medical facility were damaged in 24 hours. Russians cut off the gas pipeline and power lines yesterday. Yinka, Krasnohorivka and Novomykhailivka. A power supply is damaged – specialists are working on restoration. New York and nearby villages are under fire from Gradov in the Toretsk direction. Housing is damaged, but fortunately, no one is injured. We carefully record all the crimes of the Russian invaders!” (Source: Telegram).

Opinions

1. Grabsky: Here, we can say that it is precisely the path of negotiations that looks acceptable to both sides today. Because let’s be frank: the Russians will not be able to defeat the Mariupol fortress and the Azovstal fortress in this situation by military means without destroying a considerable number of forces there. It will require a colossal amount of time, losses, and time. They have very little time because you understand that they need at least some kind of victory. On the other hand, we know how many wounded, how many civilians are in the bomb shelters and basements of Azovstal, and we understand that they are not guilty of anything and need to be evacuated. They need to be saved. Thus, now there is such a unique chance when there is a possibility that the political dialogue can bear certain fruits and they can hold people. It is a unique chance. As a rule, it does not work, but it can work here. (Source: Current Time).

Military Help

1. Lithuania handed over a consignment of heavy mortars to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The number of weapons is not specified, says Defense Minister Arvidas Anushauskas. “We handed over heavy mortars in support of Ukraine. I will not name the number, but we handed over a lot,” the minister said. Anushauskas did not specify when the transfer occurred, whether it was one-time or stretched in time. They also handed over stinger MANPADS and other anti-aircraft weapons, anti-tank weapons, ammunition, grenades, submachine guns, machine guns, etc., to Ukraine: “I counted a month ago, it was 35 positions of various types.” Anushauskas estimated the military assistance already provided at “several tens of millions of euros.” “And the final cost can be 5-10 times higher,” he added. (Source: BNS). 

2. The German Ministry of Defense has removed all heavy weapons from the list of needs of the Armed Forces, which were transferred to Berlin by Kyiv, although the German industry is ready to supply much of Ukraine’s needs in the short and medium-term. It happened allegedly “as always – at the office’s request.” On April 19, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany “allowed Ukraine to purchase military equipment.” Asked whether they included heavy weapons, he said the federal government had “agreed on a list with Ukraine” and that Germany planned to “pay for the party.” Shortly afterward, Ambassador of Ukraine Andriy Melnyk expressed disappointment that “the necessary weapons of the Armed Forces are not on this list.” Ukraine is asking for Leopard tanks, Marder, Puma, GTK Boxer, and TPz 1 Fuchs armored vehicles and multiple rocket launchers, anti-ship missiles, Milan and Spike anti-tank systems. Since mid-March, almost all weapons requested by Ukraine industry, including modern Leopard 2 tanks. All heavy weapons that the German industry wanted to sell to Ukraine have disappeared: “Of Ukraine’s 15 requests for weapons, only three remain, and some have alternatives to the original ones.” On April 19, Scholz said that “our other friends in the G7 are doing the same thing:” “They came to similar conclusions about supplies with their armed forces.” However, the United States, Britain, Australia, and the Netherlands already supply heavy weapons to the Armed Forces. “Melnik’s accusation that the billion euros allegedly allocated by the federal government for military support cannot be spent at all seems true. The journalists said that the total cost of all” consolidated “German weapons for Ukraine is only 307 million euros,” the journalists said. The German Ministry of Defense list includes vehicles, personal equipment, sensors, reconnaissance equipment, ammunition, logistics, weapons, small arms, and “field equipment.” German weapons exported to Ukraine are modern devices such as radars and remotely controlled combat modules for installation on Ukrainian armored vehicles. These vehicles include upgraded all-wheel-drive cars, armored trucks, and buses, nearly 100 HX81 heavy-duty semi-trailers to rapidly transport Ukrainian tanks from point A to point B. There were two more requests for assistance from the Ukrainian MoD to the German MoD. “Shocked that removed all heavy weapons from the German list, Kyiv again invited Leopard 2 and PzH-2000 anti-aircraft guns to Berlin on April 9, and IRIS-T SAM on April 16,” the media reported. The federal government ignored all these letters before Scholz said on April 19 that MoDs had reached a complete agreement with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. (Source: Bild).

Invasion Damage

1. Two more graves with the bodies of nine locals killed during the Russian occupation have been found in Borodyanka, Kyiv Oblast. The bodies of two 35-year-old men and a 15-year-old girl were found in one grave, and four men and two women in another. Kyiv Oblast Police Chief Andriy Nebytov said the occupiers and traces of torture had killed people had been found on somebodies. Police took the bodies of all the victims to the morgues of the Kyiv region for further examination. The identified bodies will then be handed over to relatives for burial. (Source: NV).

2. Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said that locals had found a new 30-meter mass grave near Mariupol, dug by the occupiers. According to him, the occupiers aim to hide all their crimes in Mariupol. Russia refused to provide a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave Mariupol. Warriors disrupted the corridor on April 20 due to Russian shelling. Mariupol has been under siege by the Russians since March 1. 95% of the buildings were destroyed by Russian bombardment. There is no water, light, heat, or communication in the city. Up to 22,000 civilians died as a result of Russian actions. The dead, who have no one to bury, are buried in mass graves by public services. Graves also appeared in courtyards and on city streets. The Russian occupiers brought to Mariupol at least 13 mobile crematoria to hide the traces of their crimes. (Source: NV).

Foreign news

1. Doctors working with wounded Russian soldiers were required to sign non-disclosure documents, said a native of Belgorod and a medical worker at a Moscow clinic, but her name was not released. Doctors from the Belgorod and Kursk regions and employees of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency have such obligations. In addition to them, doctors are sent to work with the wounded from the A.V. Vishnevsky in Moscow. “Everyone secured themselves with papers,” added the source of the publication. (Source: Mediazona).

Refugees

1. Putin ordered Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to cancel the assault on the industrial zone near the Azovstal plant in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol in the Donetsk region, calling it impractical. The shelters of the metallurgical plant house the Mariupol garrison, including the Azov National Guard regiment, marines, border guards, and police, as well as at least 1,000 civilians, mostly women with children and the elderly. “I consider the probable assault on the Azovstal industrial zone inexpedient. I order to cancel it. We should not go to the catacombs. We should block the industrial zone in Azovstal so that the fly does not fly, “Putin said during a meeting with Shoigu, which was broadcast on Russian TV channels. He also claims that all those who surrendered in this city are guaranteed a lifetime. Putin’s order came on the fifth day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the destruction of Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol would put an end to talks with Russia. On April 18, the Mariupol City Council announced that the Russian occupiers were attacking Azovstal with heavy bombs. Fighters of Azov. Those who rejected all ultimatums of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation say that the plant is practically destroyed. There are at least 1,000 civilians in Azovstal’s underground shelters – women with children, the elderly, and families of Ukrainian servicemen. (Source: NV).