Mexico’s 2021 Dark Network Alliance Structure

Small Wars Journal−El Centro researchers have published a working paper, “Mexico’s 2021 Dark Network Alliance Structure: An Exploratory Social Network Analysis of Lantia Consultores’ Illicit Network Alliance and Subgroup Data” at the Center for the United States and Mexico at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

The research team was led by SWJ−El Centro Senior Fellow Nathan P. Jones, with contributions from SWJ−El Centro Fellow Irina Chindea, SWJ−El Centro Associate Daniel Weisz Argomedo, and SWJ−El Centro Senior Fellow John P. Sullivan. "Mexico’s 2021 Dark Network Alliance Structure," maps out the network of alliances and subgroups within the two most powerful cartels in Mexico — the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación— and reveals key structural differences that could have important implications for policymakers.

Abstract: This paper assesses Mexico’s organized crime alliance and subgroup network structures. Through social network analysis (SNA) of data from Lantia Consultores, a consulting firm in Mexico that specializes in the analysis of public policies, it demonstrates differential alliance structures within Mexico’s bipolar illicit network system. The Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación’s (CJNG) alliance structure is top-down and hierarchical, while the Sinaloa Cartel is denser, particularly in the broader Tierra Caliente region. Additionally, our analysis found a sparse overall network with many isolates (organized criminal groups with no relations to other groups) and disconnected components. Further, we identified organized crime networks that might fill future power vacuums based on their network positions, following state or rival high-value targeting of major cartels. The implications of these findings are discussed, and policy recommendations are provided.

Source: Nathan P. Jones, Irina Chindea, Daniel Weisz-Argomedo, and John P. Sullivan, “Mexico’s 2021 Dark Network Alliance Structure: An Exploratory Social Network Analysis of Lantia Consultores’ Illicit Network Alliance and Subgroup Data.” Center for the United States and Mexico, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. April 2022. https://doi.org/10.25613/KMGB-NC8.

Read more about Mexico’s 2021 Dark Network Alliance Structure

SOF Vision and Strategy (released 4/11/22)

The 16 page document released on 4/11/22 can be downloaded HERE.

SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES VISION

VISION STATEMENT

Create strategic, asymmetric advantages for the Nation in integrated deterrence,

crisis and conflict.

CORE VALUES

Honor. Earn the trust of the Nation by doing what is right.

Courage. Be steadfast in the face of physical and moral danger.

Excellence. Commit to achieving the highest possible standards.

Creativity. Seek innovative and novel solutions to the hardest, most complex problems.

Respect. Treat our teammates and partners with the highest regard.

WHO WE ARE

• Innovative problem solvers tackling the most complex challenges and creating strategic impacts through special operations actions and activities.

• Cohesive and disciplined teams committed to our core values and the SOF Truths.

• Mission-ready today, preparing for the future, and inspired by our rich history.

• A community of dedicated and trusted SOF professionals -military, civilian, contractors, and our families.

WHAT WE DO

• Shape the environment to reduce risk, prevent crises, and set conditions for success in

competition and conflict.

• Respond swiftly to crises worldwide and accomplish high-risk, politically-sensitive missions with a low signature and small footprint.

• Cultivate strong relationships with our global network -allies, partners, joint, interagency, multinational, industry, and academia.

• Illuminate irregular threats, foster partners’ resilience, and create dilemmas for our adversaries.

• Care for the well-being of our SOF family -mentally, spiritually, and physically.

WHERE ARE WE GOING

• Balanced force employment and readiness for integrated deterrence, crisis, and conflict.

• Sustainable counterterrorism to safeguard the Nation.

• Modernized formations, concepts, and capabilities leveraging emerging technologies.

• A resilient enterprise capable of conducting integrated all-domain special operations.

While China is our number one pacing challenge, the United States continues to face numerous advanced and persistent threats globally, including the enduring threat posed by non-state actors.

Read more about SOF Vision and Strategy (released 4/11/22)

Ukraine: WAR BULLETIN April 11, 11.00 am EST - The forty-seventh day of the resistance of the Ukrainian people to a Russian military invasion began.

Embassy of Ukraine in the USA

WAR BULLETIN

April 11, 11.00 am EST

WAR ROOM

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 11.04:

personnel - 19500,

tanks ‒ 725,

APVs ‒ 1923,

artillery systems – 347,

MLRS - 111,

Anti-aircraft warfare systems - 55,

aircrafts – 154,

helicopters – 137,

vehicles - 1387,

vessels - 7,

fuel tanks - 76,

UAVs operational-tactical level – 119,

special equipment – 25,

mobile SRBM system - 4.

The forty-seventh day of the resistance of the Ukrainian people to a Russian military invasion began.

Russia continues to create an offensive group of troops to act in the Slobozhansky direction. Probably in the coming days, the Russian invaders will try to resume the offensive.

In addition, Russia continues to train and send personnel, weapons and equipment to participate in hostilities in Ukraine.

Weapons and military equipment are being prepared at the permanent deployment point of the 60th independent motorized infantry brigade (permanent dislocation point - Monastyryliqshche, Primorsky Kray) of the 5th Combined Arms Army of Eastern Military District of the of Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Russian Federation. It is likely that these weapons will be moved to the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk oblast. Also, in order to recover the losses of the battalion tactical group from the 36th independent motorized infantry brigade (Borzya, Transbaikalia region) of the 29th All-Military Army of the Eastern Military District, recruits are being recruited from the brigade. Russia feels a special problem when recruiting drivers and mechanics-drivers. Departure of the selected personnel from the point of permanent deployment is scheduled for the second half of April this year.

It is likely that Russia, in order to disrupt the supply of goods to the places of hostilities, will continue to strike at transport infrastructure facilities in Ukraine in order to destroy or disable them.

With the help of two battalion tactical groups, Russia tried to launch an offensive in the directions of the settlements of Dovhenke and Dmytrivka, was unsuccessful and retreated to its former positions.

In the Donetsk direction, Russia continues to focus on taking control of the settlements of Popasna, Rubizhne, Nyzhne and Novobahmutivka, as well as establishing full control over the city of Mariupol.

Russian forces tried to storm the area of Zolote, but were unsuccessful.

In the city of Mariupol, with the support of artillery and aircraft, the Russian occupiers continue to storm the areas of the Azovstal plant and the Seaport.

Russian forces carried out artillery shelling of the positions of our troops in the areas of the settlements of Vysokopillya, Trudolyubivka and Maryanske.

Over the past 24 hours, the defenders of Ukraine have repulsed four enemy attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, destroyed five tanks, eight armored units, six vehicles and eight enemy artillery systems.

Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

Defence Intelligence of Ukraine has obtained a list of servicemen of the 234th Assault Regiment (military unit 74268) of Pskov, who took part in the genocide of the people of Ukraine in the Kyiv region! List: https://bit.ly/3vd41pD

https://bit.ly/3Juon2w

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine

6 rescuers were wounded during enemy rocket attacks at the city of Dnipro.

Yesterday at 10:06 the aggressor struck Dnipro again. Enemy missiles hit the airport. The facility itself and the surrounding infrastructure have been completely destroyed.

At 12:47 a rocket attack took place again in the same place, on the territory where rescuers were working to extinguish the fire and eliminate the consequences of the enemy shelling.

The missile also aimed at an infrastructure facility in the village of Zvonetsky, Dniprovskyi district. Firefighting continues. Information on the number of victims is being clarified.

https://www.facebook.com/mvs.gov.ua

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights

The level of Russian terror of the Mariupol is breaking all Nazi records.

To date, according to the city hall, confirmed data on 33 thousand citizens who were forcibly deported to Russia and the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region.

At the same time, the media of the aggressor country, citing sources in the military departments of the Russian Federation, report on more than 700,000 people deported to Russia by the occupiers, of whom more than 131,000 are children. 134,000 people were deported from Mariupol during the war.

In the occupied parts of the city, a brutal sweep of civilians is underway, which is being carried out with the assistance of local collaborators, who are transmitting data of Mariupol residents from among government officials and law enforcement agencies to the occupiers.

Witnesses report that Russian guardsmen and “Kadyrov” units are making illegal arrests, torturing detainees and executing them for any pro-Ukrainian stance.

https://bit.ly/37d7Pip

Russians captured the sailors of the foreign cargo ship SMARTA and took them away in an unknown direction.

In the territory of the Mariupol Sea Commercial Port, members of the crew of the SMARTA ship under the Liberian flag and the wife of the captain of the ship, who was on board at the time, were captured and taken away in an unknown direction by the military of the Russian Federation. According to preliminary data, they were taken in the direction of the temporarily occupied Donetsk.

18 people are citizens of Ukraine, 1 - a citizen of Egypt. There is no connection with the crew and the captain's wife. Before capturing the sailors, Russian troops fired on the ship.

https://bit.ly/3rhpOv0

As of 10 a.m. on April 10, 2022, according to the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations and other sources that need confirmation, 183 (+6 per day) children have died and 342 children (+6 per day) have been injured since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

It is impossible to establish the actual number of dead and wounded children due to the fact that the occupying forces are actively fighting in Ukrainian cities.

https://bit.ly/3rkrkfR

Russian soldiers are forcing children from the temporarily occupied territories to start studying in areas on the verge of hostilities.

During the monitoring of the social networks of the occupying power, it was revealed that in the temporarily occupied city of Volnovakha, Donetsk region, from April 11, 2022, the Russian occupiers are forcing children to go to schools.

https://bit.ly/3KLPGHj

POLICY

President of Ukraine in the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea

Russia attacked us. Attacked, taking advantage of its military force. This state has spent decades preparing for this war. Decades and enormous resources. Financial resources - hundreds of billions of dollars received for the export of oil and gas and used for the production and accumulation of weapons. As well as human resources.

Already about 2,000 missiles have been fired at our cities by Russia. Artillery shells are simply impossible to count.

But the worst thing is how Russia uses people to prepare and wage war. For the people of Russia such conditions are deliberately created when they are forced to live in total, utter poverty. When they can't afford even the simplest things - normal food, ordinary household appliances, normal education. When they do not have even basic human rights guarantees throughout their lives. And when service in the army for many of them becomes the only, so to speak, social mobility option. Opportunity to get at least something in life. At least somehow try to fend for oneself.

When they got to the war and entered the territory of a neighboring state, tens of thousands of Russian servicemen were simply shocked by the normality of life. They were shocked by cities and villages where people were not in need. Shocked by home appliances in houses. Shocked that people had normal food. A significant number of occupiers simply have never seen such a thing in their lives.

Almost immediately, Russian troops started looting in the territory of Ukraine - in those areas that they managed to invade. They tried to take home to Russia everything of any value. From washing machines to computers. From auto parts to clothes. They just stuffed armored personnel carriers, trucks, stole cars and tried to take out the loot.

You know, there were cases when Russian soldiers took protective plates from their bulletproof vests to hide stolen laptops and tablets in bulletproof vests. It is impossible to believe - when a person is so poor from birth that he thinks that a laptop is more valuable than his own life in the war. But this is exactly what we saw on our land when the Russian army invaded.

It is a collision of two different worlds. The world of ordinary people who just lived a peaceful life, just wanted harmony for themselves and their children, thought about the future. And the world of people who have been specially humiliated by their state for decades, specially driven into poverty and lawlessness, so that their government can send them to any venture. To any war against neighbors.

And this is Russia's war not just to conquer Ukraine. This is only the first step. First, Russia wants to destroy our independence, our state, to tear it apart. Wants to destroy everything that makes us Ukrainians, makes us a separate nation. And then it wants to go further to Europe. Further to Asia.

In the occupied Ukrainian territory, the Russian military purposefully searched for teachers, any people related to the army and the functioning of the state, activists, journalists. All those who educated and defended the national idea. Such people were abducted. Such people were killed. Deliberately. It was an order; it was a tactic.

But Russia has only just begun with Ukraine. The next step in their plan is to destroy other states. Attempt to conquer other neighboring nations. Russia wants to dominate. And it believes that it can do this in only one way: sending its army brought up in total lawlessness to destroy everything that allows other nations to live.

With missile and air strikes at our territory, Russia has already destroyed hundreds of infrastructure facilities that ensured normal economic and social life in Ukraine. Russian missiles and aircraft are destroying oil depots, destroying food warehouses, airports, railway stations, manufacturing plants and universities. 938 educational facilities alone have been destroyed. Almost 300 hospitals. This is a deliberate tactic of the Russian troops, not something accidental.

They are deliberately destroying residential neighborhoods and entire cities. Using artillery, mortars, tanks. Not one city, not two, not three. These are dozens of cities that the Russian military simply tried to wipe off the face of the earth. Black ruins instead of high-rises. Piles of stone and concrete debris instead of ordinary peaceful cities.

We still cannot determine the number of deceased. From the north to the south of the country - in all areas where Russian shells reached, bombs reached - the dismantling of debris is still ongoing.

Active hostilities are still going on in part of our territory. Russia is preparing another offensive. Hoping to break our national resistance after all. The occupiers concentrated tens of thousands of soldiers and a huge amount of equipment to try to strike again.

The worst situation is in Mariupol, in our southern port city, which has been blocked by Russian troops since March 1. It was a city of half a million. Half a million people. The occupiers blocked it and did not even allow food and water to be brought there. They tried to capture it in the most brutal way - just to destroy everything in the city.

Mariupol is destroyed. There are tens of thousands of dead. But even despite this, the Russians do not stop the offensive. They want to make Mariupol a demonstratively destroyed city.

This could be seen in the 20th century. And you remember that. You know what it's like to defend your land. You remember when in the 1950s you were attacked by those who wanted to destroy your freedom.

They destroyed, they killed. What would they have left from your identity if they had succeeded? This is a horrible question. But you withstood, the world helped you. Now we want the same.

There is no hope that Russia will simply stop on its own. There is no hope that reason will prevail, and the Russian leadership will simply refuse to continue this war. Russia can only be forced to do so. It can only be forced to seek peace. Forced to stop tormenting people. Forced to respect the independent life of neighboring nations. Forced to leave the territory of Ukraine.

Our anti-war coalition, formed after the beginning of this brutal invasion of Russia, has already imposed unprecedented sanctions against it. But these sanctions are not enough. Russia does not yet feel that it must stop. This means that much more needs to be done. And not only at the state level.

Russian banks' ties with the global financial system must be severed. It is necessary to limit Russia's exports of energy resources, especially oil. But it is also necessary that world companies stop being sponsors of this barbaric state, which believes that it has the right to destroy the lives of nations. Which believes that it has the right to sow poverty, lawlessness and death around the world.

The more companies stop trading with Russia, work in Russia, pay taxes to the Russian state, the faster reason will win. Russia will have to give up militancy and seek compromises with the world. Because it has already come to the point that Russia is openly blackmailing the world with nuclear and chemical weapons!

For 47 days we have been defending ourselves against virtually the entire Russian army - its most capable units. Our Armed Forces of Ukraine are fighting heroically, very wisely, rationally using available resources and weapons. We receive help from around the world. And I am sincerely grateful to your state, sincerely grateful to your people for their support.

But we need much more. To survive in this war against such a prepared adversary as the Russian Federation. Against a state that does not count the dead and has countless stock of military equipment since the days of the Soviet Union…

We need air defense systems, aircraft, tanks and other armored vehicles, artillery systems and ammunition. And you have something that can be indispensable for us. You have it. Armored vehicles, anti-aircraft, anti-tank, anti-ship weapons. When it comes to survival in a war aimed at the complete conquest of the people, it is necessary to give principled answers. The usual rules for the supply of weapons must be reviewed and action must be taken quickly. It is necessary to help.

Providing the necessary weapons to Ukraine means not only saving the lives of our people, not only giving us the opportunity to unblock our cities, in particular our long-suffering Mariupol, but also saving other states and other regions from further deployment of Russian aggression.

Every nation has the right to live independently. Every city has the right to complete security. Every person has the right to freedom and to seek personal happiness. People should not be instruments of some regimes, some dictators. People have the right to just live. That's what we're fighting for. That’s what we ask you to defend with us. And that is what we will rebuild - I hope together with you and the whole world - after this war.

https://bit.ly/3rknX8H

Adviser to the President of Ukraine

The countries' abandonment of Russian oil will not lead to an increase in world oil prices, even if oil production does not increase significantly, which is unlikely. This was stated by Adviser to the President of Ukraine on economic issues Oleg Ustenko in an online interview for the South Korean media outlet MoneyS.

Oleg Ustenko noted that Russia's crude oil exports have been growing steadily since the start of the war in Ukraine, reaching 4.7 million barrels last month, a record high since the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Putin earns $ 1 billion a day from oil alone. European countries have even increased imports of Russian oil," he said.

The President's adviser pointed out that, for example, Germany now has the largest oil reserves in history and, according to the German Minister of Energy, will continue to import Russian oil.

Oleg Ustenko refuted the claim that with the introduction of the embargo on Russian oil, world oil prices will begin to rise significantly.

“The Office of the President of Ukraine conducted a simulation under the conditions that additional oil supply would not happen, which is the worst scenario. As a result, we realized that the hike in oil will become normal again, within a few weeks,” he said.

“Some European nations are concerned that inflation could happen. However, the market will undergo a rapid correction, and prices will return to acceptable levels. The reason that I believe the oil price will fall is because additional crude oil will be supplied in the market, from Latin America and the Middle East,” the Adviser to the President explained.

African countries and some countries in the Middle East have begun to prepare for increased production. It is possible that Iran and Venezuela will enter the world market with the supply of oil.

Therefore, according to Oleg Ustenko, abandoning Russia's bloody oil is a top priority.

At the same time, he said, Russia will continue to sell its oil at a cheap price, even at half the current international oil price. And even if the West cuts imports significantly in the future, Russian oil could be bought by India and China.

However, Russia has limited opportunities to supply its oil, as its tanker fleet is quite small. Therefore, according to the President's Adviser, the world should not help Russia in transporting energy - it should impose sanctions on Russian ports and impose an embargo on the transportation of Russian oil.

Oleg Ustenko thanked the United States for imposing an embargo on Russian oil and gas. At the same time, he hopes for additional sanctions, including a secondary boycott of Russian energy.

The President's Adviser also thanked Seoul for supporting Ukraine, because, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently noted, the Republic of Korea sincerely feels the pain of Kyiv.

Oleg Ustenko called on the world to block the cash flow for Russian President Vladimir Putin and to stop importing bloody Russian oil and gas.

https://bit.ly/3rj3Dod

Read more about Ukraine: WAR BULLETIN April 11, 11.00 am EST - The forty-seventh day of the resistance of the Ukrainian people to a Russian military invasion began.

4/11/22 National Security and Korean News and Commentary

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

1. RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 10 (PUTIN'S WAR)
2. A Shadow War Against Putin – How America Can Covertly Undermine the Kremlin
3. The Pentagon Must ‘Campaign’ Against China, Not Hope for a Goal-Line Stand
4. Production Of The V-22 Osprey Is Ending. The Pentagon Needs To Be Sure It Has Bought Enough.
5. A Message to NATO from an SAS Soldier
6. The wartime president: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with Scott Pelley in Kyiv
7. Ukraine's Zelenskiy says tens of thousands killed in Mariupol, seeks military aid from S.Korea
8. Desperate Ukraine tells U.S. 'bureaucracy' is no excuse for failing to provide critical weapons and ammunition
9. What weapons to send to Ukraine? How debate shifted from helmets to tanks.
10. Appraising the War in Ukraine and Likely Outcomes
11. The Jack Ryan career path: How veterans can join the CIA
12. War in Ukraine - April 11, 2022 | SOF News
13. Russian students are turning in teachers who don’t back the war
14. If you thought Russia was bad, just try China
15. Ukraine, Russia Gear Up for War’s Biggest Battles
16. East Ukraine focus of new Russian assaults
17. Russia may be winning the Ukraine information war outside the West
18. ‘It feels like the end of the world’: Taiwan civilians practise for war as Ukraine revives China fears
19. SASC lawmakers bemoan classification, lack of detail in Pentagon strategies, budget
20. The Far-Right Idealized the Russian Military. Ukraine Exposes All the Ways They’re Wrong.

Korean News Content:

1. Defense chief nominee says military without training has 'no reason to exist'
2. [Column] Suggestions for Yoon to build facts-based foreign policy
3. Zelensky tells Assembly Korea must do 'much more'
4. NATO seeks ‘sustained’ military exchanges, ‘substantive’ defense cooperation with S.Korea
5. USS Abraham Lincoln to be deployed near Korea this week: sources
6. Three North Koreans provide a glimpse of North Korea’s worsening economic situation
7. N. Korea launches sweeping reorganization of Workers’ Party ahead of Apr. 11
8. Lack of food leads to deaths from hunger in Sinuiju
9. Koreans set to get a year younger as Yoon seeks to ditch ‘Korean age’
10. Yoon agrees on importance of joint military exercises with U.S.: official
11. S.Korea to Launch Homegrown Spy Satellites
12. Toward diplomacy based on values and norms
13. Ukraine war: Seoul rejects Kyiv’s request for anti-aircraft weapons ahead of Zelensky’s speech to South Korean parliament

Read more about 4/11/22 National Security and Korean News and Commentary

4/10/22 National Security and Korean News and Commentary

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

1. RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 9 (PUTIN'S WAR)
2. 1st US ambassador to Ukraine: 'I think we handled it wrong from the get-go'
3. Romney Was Right About Putin
4. Opinion | How Do We Deal With a Superpower Led by a War Criminal?
5. Nine ways Russia botched its invasion of Ukraine
6. Russia lost the battle for Kyiv with its hasty assault on a Ukrainian airport
7. Destroyed Armored Vehicle In Ukraine Gets The "Wolverines!" From 'Red Dawn' Treatment
8. An American’s search for meaning in Ukraine’s foreign legion
9. Finland is hurtling towards NATO membership
10. What Vladimir Putin misunderstood about Ukrainians
11. Terrorism, Ukraine, Taiwan and the Outsourcing Wars
12. Biden’s Choice: Win or Lose in Ukraine? by Bing West
13. Inside the covert network sending arms and drones to Ukraine forces
14. The Real Collapse Of The USSR Is Taking Place Only Now
15. Does the New U.S. National Defense Strategy Make Any Sense?
16. The Untold Story of the Afghan Women Who Hunted the Taliban
17. The AP Interview: Zelenskyy seeks peace despite atrocities
18. In Africa, U.S.-Trained Militaries Are Ousting Civilian Governments in Coups
19. Russia is Turning into North Korea
20. Intel: Putin may cite Ukraine war to meddle in US politics

Korean News Content:

1. Defense minister nominee, a former JCS vice chairman with expertise in S. Korea-US alliance
2. Yoon names 8 Cabinet members, including defense, finance ministers
3. Yoon picks half of his Cabinet
4. S. Korean FM joins NATO meeting on Ukraine, reaffirms support for Ukraine
5. Defense chief visits UNC post near North Korea amid tensions
6. More Koreans now see themselves as conservative than progressive
7. North Korea-China trade on restoration path, but Pyongyang faces challenges
8. A new cycle of escalation begins on the Korean Peninsula
9. Why South Korea’s new president Yoon Seok-yeol is not a ‘K-Trump’ but ‘K-Clinton’
10. One Garment’s Journey Through History
11. Stuck between the state and neighbors, North Korean local watch chiefs are quitting
12. After Calling Bush a 'Monkey' & Trump 'Mentally Deranged', North Korea Comes for 'Old Man' Biden
13. South Korea's new missile interception weapon amid nuclear tension with North

Read more about 4/10/22 National Security and Korean News and Commentary

4/9/22 National Security and Korean News and Commentary

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

1. RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 8 (PUTIN'S WAR)
2. UKRAINE INVASION UPDATE 22
3. How the Ukraine War Will Likely End
4. Why China Chose Russia on the Russo-Ukrainian War
5. China is Russia’s most powerful weapon for information warfare
6. 'No one will ever listen to Russia:' Why Ukraine is winning the propaganda war
7. Possible Evidence of Russian Atrocities: German Intelligence Intercepts Radio Traffic Discussing the Murder of Civilians in Bucha
8. 60 elite Russian paratroopers refused to fight in the invasion of Ukraine, report says
9. Opinion: Why sanctions won't deter Putin
10. Three reasons why defense is beating offense in Ukraine - and why it matters for Taiwan
11. The Cold War Never Ended: Ukraine, the China Challenge, and the Revival of the West
12. Was Ukraine Wrong to Give Up Its Nukes?
13. Is China’s navy as dangerous as so many fear?
14. How Toxic Is Complexity? It Was A Sabotage Tactic In WWII
15. The Threat to the West Is Inside the House
16. Opinion: Virginia’s universities should not support China’s military
17. Japan, Philippines Agree to Boost Security Cooperation
18. Unraveling the tale of Hunter Biden and $3.5 million from Russia
19. Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells 60 Minutes what he saw in Bucha: "Death. Just death."
20. Understanding Vladimir Putin, the man who fooled the world

Korean News Content:

1. N. Korea slams U.S. over Ukraine crisis, calls Joe Biden 'old man in his senility'
2. ‘CVID should be maintained,’ says US Ambassador nominee
3. Warning against provocations (north Korea)
4. We need US nuclear arms to deter Kim, South Korea pleads
5. Failure to Launch: Why America Can’t Stop North Korean Missile Tests
6. U.S. continues to adjust readiness to meet N. Korean threats: Pentagon
7. U.S. urges N. Korea to engage in dialogue amid reports of possible nuclear test
8. North Korea Is Surviving the Pandemic Off Stolen Cryptocurrency
9. The forgotten nuclear threat of North Korea
10. The US Should Pay Attention to the China-South Korea Culture Clash
11. South Korea wants US strategic weapons on its soil
12. Explosion at N. Hamgyong Province chemical factory kills four, injures 30
13. Korean grand narratives: the problem of ideology

Read more about 4/9/22 National Security and Korean News and Commentary

Ukraine: WAR BULLETIN April 8, 6.30 pm EST

Embassy of Ukraine in the USA

WAR BULLETIN

April 8, 6.30 pm EST

WAR ROOM

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The forty-fourth day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to Russian military invasion continues.

The armed forces of the Russian Federation continue to conduct a full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine. The Russian forces are being prepared for an offensive operation in the east of Ukraine.

The Russian occupiers continue to destroy civilian infrastructure by launching missile and artillery strikes at railway junctions and roads, stations, residential areas and places of evacuation of civilians.

In the Donetsk and Tavriya directions, Russia continues to increase the number of troops.

The Russian occupiers did not abandon attempts at an offensive in the direction of Popasna and Severodonetsk. All of the attempts have been unsuccessful.

In the Pivdennobuzhsky direction, the enemy fought in the area of the settlement of Oleksandrivka.

In the Slobozhansky direction, the Russians continued to blockade the city of Kharkiv, shelling residential neighborhoods using artillery, including multiple rocket launchers and large-caliber mortars.

The Russian occupiers completely withdrew their troops from the Sumy region, relocating the forces to the territory of Russian Federation.

The Russian enemy has significant problems with the recruitment of military units that suffered significant losses during hostilities in Ukraine. According to available information, more than 80 percent of the Russian personnel, that was involved in the war since 24^th of February, do not want to take part in further hostilities. The commanders of the occupying Russian forces of the occupiers forbade the release of servicemen whose contracts had expired before the end of the so-called "special military operation".

In the temporarily occupied territories, the enemy continues to violate international humanitarian law by committing illegal acts against civilians, including looting, theft of vehicles and detention of Ukrainian citizens.

The Russian occupying authorities in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region have received instructions from Russian curators to return to these territories the people who left for the Russian Federation in January-February 2022. According to the instructions of local administrations, citizens must return to the settlements at the place of registration / residence after two months of stay in Russia.

https://bit.ly/3unn0yo

Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has acquired the list of servicemen of Khabarovsk Rosguard who took part in genocide of the Ukrainian people in the Kyiv region (Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka and other settlements).

List of the Russian soldiers: https://bit.ly/3uoGvH1

https://bit.ly/3NQwIB0

A unit of Russian special forces with experience in Syrian hostilities, in full, refused to participate in further attempts to storm Mariupol. In the battles against the Armed Forces of Ukraine from April 2 to 4, this unit lost about 30 servicemen.

https://bit.ly/38EatOH

Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine

The Russian military tortured and then set on fire three local residents during the occupation of Gusarivka, Izium district. In order to destroy traces of their crimes, the Russian military covered their bodies with car tires before setting them on fire.

After the liberation of the village from the Russian invaders on April 7, 2022, the remains of the dead were found in the basement of one of the houses.

https://bit.ly/3jCakh7

On 8 April 2022, in violation of international humanitarian law, the Russian armed forces carried out missile strikes on the railway station in Kramatorsk. At the time, the population was being evacuated and nearly 4,000 civilians, most of them women and children, were at the railway station. According to preliminary reports, dozens of people were killed and injured.

https://bit.ly/3jkPv9y

Exhumation of bodies from the place of mass temporary burial began in Bucha.

There is a big grave near the church - communal workers buried in it the victims of war crimes - those who died after the shelling and murder. Approximately 67 bodies here.

Each is examined by forensic experts, forensic scientists, investigators and prosecutors. Of those who were examined, most were with gunshots and shrapnel wounds from explosions, in some cases only fragments of bodies remained.

https://bit.ly/3jlrFL2

Borodyanka is the most destroyed town in Kyiv region: it was hit by unguided 250-kilogram high-explosive bombs, multiple rocket launchers “Urgan” and “Smerch”. Evidence of Russian war crimes is here at every turn. How many casualties there will be is hard to predict. Twenty-six bodies were extracted from under the rubble of two bombed-out apartment blocks alone. The airstrikes on the housing infrastructure were insidiously launched by the enemy in the evening, when there was the maximum number of people at home. The target was exclusively civilians - there are no military installations there.

The occupants purposefully exterminated the civilian population: killing, torturing and mutilating. There is already a confirmed case of sexual violence in Borodyanka here.

In Motyzhyn a woman was killed by the Russians just because she was wearing black. The murdered woman's father was blindfolded in a shed for 7 days. Also there in Motyzhyn, Russian army intelligence checked people's phones, selecting victims for so-called "denazification".

https://bit.ly/3KBPMAQ

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights

As of 10 a.m. on April 8, 2022, according to the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations, as well as other sources that need confirmation, 169 (+2 per day) children have died and 306 children (+9 per day) have been injured since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

https://bit.ly/3NZia20

The level of brutality of the Russian army knows no bounds – multiple cases of raped children.

A 14-year-old girl was raped by 5 occupying men. She is pregnant now. Bucha.

An 11-year-old boy was raped in front of his mother - she was tied to a chair to watch. Bucha.

A 20-year-old woman, raped by three occupiers in all possible ways at once. Irpen.

There is no place on earth or in hell where racist criminals can hide from retribution!

https://bit.ly/3umr6qo

The price of the truth about the crimes of the Russian terrorist army - a Fox News journalist who came under fire from the occupiers in Kyiv region, lost part of his leg and went blind in one eye.

On March 16, a shell hit a car in the village of Gorenka, Kyiv Oblast, as a result of artillery shelling by racist forces. The injuries killed the operator of the American TV channel "Fox News", an Irish citizen Pierre Zakzewski, and fatally injured a journalist - a citizen of Ukraine Oleksandra Kuvshinova.

A British journalist, Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall was injured and taken to the capital's medical facility.

As a result of the attack, the journalist lost half a leg on one side and a foot on the other. One eye can no longer see, hearing has deteriorated.

Benjamin believes that he is still very lucky and expresses gratitude to the Ukrainians who pulled him out and saved him.

https://bit.ly/3DU2eJL

Horrific sexual crimes committed by the Russian occupiers continue to be uncovered. In a village in Kherson region, Russian invaders raped a 16-year-old pregnant girl and a 78-year-old grandmother. The Prosecutor General’s Office has uncovered rapes not only of women, but also of men.

https://bit.ly/3Kkqg34

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine

In the Kyiv region, the guards of the National Guard of Ukraine found the official documentation of the Russian module of intelligence and control.

https://bit.ly/3rci911

During the day, pyrotechnic units of the State Emergency Service detected and neutralized 6,393 explosive devices, an area of 346.79 hectares was inspected.

In total, 38,117 explosive devices and 417 kg of explosives, including 1,366 aviation bombs, have been neutralized since the beginning of the full-scale military invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine. The area of 6064 hectares was surveyed.

https://bit.ly/38EgoTZ

POLICY

President of Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the Prime Minister of Slovakia in Kyiv

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Eduard Heger who is on a visit to our country.

The President thanked the Slovak people and personally the Prime Minister of Slovakia for supporting Ukraine and providing real assistance in the form of weapons that strengthen our country's defense capabilities in times of the Russian invasion.

"I want to thank the Slovak people and the Slovak Prime Minister not for the future, but for the present, for what they are doing for us during the war. Fully supporting us, our position, condemning the aggression of the Russian Federation not only in words, but also in deeds," said the President of Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that he would not disclose details of this support and stressed that this was historically important assistance.

According to the Head of State, during today’s visit of Eduard Heger to Kyiv, the Prime Minister of Slovakia also held talks with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, and many important issues for the future of our state were discussed.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the Slovak side for supporting Ukrainians who were forced to flee their homes due to Russia's military invasion.

For his part, the Prime Minister of Slovakia thanked the President and the citizens of Ukraine who are fighting for the ideals of freedom and democracy, defending European values.

Eduard Heger noted that the Slovak Republic will continue to provide assistance to Ukraine, because the successful struggle of our country is a success for the whole of Europe. In particular, he focused on the defense support for the Ukrainian state.

The Prime Minister of Slovakia also stressed the importance of establishing a fund for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/volodimir-zelenskij-u-kiyevi-zustrivsya-z-premyer-ministrom-74189

Address by the President of Ukraine

The 44th day of our defense against the Russian invasion is coming to an end. The 44th dark day. Russian troops launched a missile attack on the Kramatorsk railway station this morning. 38 people died on the spot. Another 12 people died in hospitals during the day. We lost five children. Dozens more heavily wounded remain in hospital.

This is another war crime of Russia, for which everyone involved will be held accountable.

Russian state propagandists were in such a hurry to shift responsibility for the attack to Ukrainian forces that they accidentally blamed Russia.

RIA Novosti reported that the strike on Kramatorsk had been inflicted when the missiles were still in the air. The day before, other Russian propagandists were spreading threats to all those who escaped from Donbas by rail.

All the world's leading powers have already condemned Russia's attack on Kramatorsk. We expect a firm, global response to this war crime.

Like the massacre in Bucha, like many other Russian war crimes, the missile strike on Kramatorsk must be one of the charges at the tribunal, which is bound to happen.

All the efforts of the world will be aimed to establish every minute: who did what, who gave orders. Where did the rocket come from, who was carrying it, who gave the order and how the strike was coordinated. Responsibility is inevitable.

I spoke about this today with representatives of the European Union who arrived in Kyiv. With President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.

During the day, they visited Bucha and witnessed the consequences of the occupation. They saw how many people were killed by the Russian military. I appreciate the EU's readiness to provide the necessary financial and technical assistance to document and investigate Russian crimes. I am grateful to the President of the European Commission for her personal involvement and assistance in setting up a joint investigation team to establish the full truth about the actions of the Russian occupiers and bring all those responsible to justice.

I am also grateful for the financial support - one billion euros for weapons. Plus today we agreed on another 500 million euros for defense needs.

I held negotiations with the Prime Minister of Slovakia and thanked for the unprecedented defensive and other support. For the warmth of Slovak hearts towards Ukrainian men and women.

We also talked with EU officials about further steps to force Russia to seek peace. I emphasized that the existing sanctions are not enough. The pressure on Russia must be increased.

It is necessary to introduce a full energy embargo - on oil, on gas. It is energy exports that provide the lion's share of Russia's profits and allow the Russian leadership to believe in its impunity. This allows Russia to hope that the world will ignore the war crimes of its army. We will not allow this. Everyone in the world who has the courage, like Ukrainians, to resist tyranny will not allow this.

Russian banks must also be completely disconnected from the global financial system. Not some of them, but all, the entire banking system of Russia. It is inadmissible that the greatest threat to global security is finding its way to global wealth.

In this context, I also evaluate the new announced package of sanctions against Russia.

I believe the softness with which some in the West still treat the Russian state is wrong. We know who is constantly trying to soften sanctions proposals. And we will do our best to finally make Europe understand: in any case, you will have to impose really principled and really strong sanctions against Russia. And not some partial restriction of Russian energy exports. Not some partial restriction of Russian navigation. We know everyone who delays the decisions. But I am confident that both these politicians and these countries will change their position under the pressure of all that Russia is doing against Ukrainians and against freedom in Europe.

I addressed the Parliament and the people of Finland today. I called on Finnish politicians to do everything possible to help Ukraine. I also reminded that the best way to stop tyranny and protect freedom is to provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons. The weapons we have repeatedly asked for from the West. The weapons that are available there. I will continue to fight every day, literally every hour, to get everything our state needs.

Russia's war against our people may end in victory of freedom much sooner than many in the world think if Ukraine simply receives the weapons the list of which we have provided. Any delay in providing such weapons to Ukraine, any excuses can mean only one thing: the relevant politicians want to help the Russian leadership more than us Ukrainians.

No matter what, we will continue to protect our land and our people in any case.

Yes, not everyone in the world has found the courage we have. But we have powerful and principled partners and friends. Real friends who help Ukraine to really protect us. To really protect freedom in Europe. I am convinced that Ukraine's victory is only a matter of time. And I will do my best to reduce this time.

By the way, we also talked today about the time needed for Ukraine's full accession to the European Union.

Today we received a questionnaire from the European Commission. Finally. A questionnaire the answers to which will be the basis for preparing the conclusion of the European Commission on Ukraine's readiness for EU membership negotiations.

Our Government will prepare answers qualitatively and very quickly. I think in a week. Next is the conclusion of the European Commission, which will be prepared in the next few months. And then there will be the decisions of the member states and the negotiations on accession.

I am convinced of our success on this path. I am convinced that we are finally close to realizing our long-standing goal. Ukraine will be one of the equals in our common European home. Ukraine will be a member of the European Union. A peaceful, sovereign, rebuilt state. We will provide it. There is no doubt.

We are also preparing for tomorrow's mass event in Warsaw, which will take place within the initiative of President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau – Stand for Ukraine.

It is about the support for Ukrainians, for our migrants. All funds will be allocated for the support of Ukrainians.

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/udar-po-kramatorsku-maye-stati-odnim-zi-zvinuvachen-na-tribu-74197

Address of the First Lady of Ukraine to the participants of the conference on the new Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027), which took place under the auspices of the Council of Europe.

In her address, the First Lady of Ukraine noted the importance of universal protection of children's rights. She said that due to a full-scale Russian attack, Ukrainian children cannot exercise none of their rights.

Olena Zelenska thanked the Council of Europe, which responded immediately to the unjustified and unprovoked aggression of Russia against Ukraine, and on March 16 completed the procedure for excluding it from the organization.

At the same time, the President's wife stated that the skies over Ukraine were never closed to Russian planes: “From the very beginning of the war, we asked NATO to close the skies over our cities, over Ukraine. We were not heard. Well, now I ask you to at least ensure the right of children to get out of danger. They need real humanitarian corridors, because now the enemy is shooting at civilian cars as well as at military ones."

She also called on the participants to ensure, in accordance with the declared goal of "child-friendly justice", an international investigation and punishment for all Russians who in one way or another have committed and continue to commit violence against children in Ukraine.

"But to this end, you need to know about such a threat. The right to know is also an inalienable right of adults and children,” the First Lady concluded.

https://bit.ly/3um4A0N

Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine

Ukraine is actively working to consolidate international support for the restoration of destroyed and the construction of new youth infrastructure. This was stated by Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Dniprov during an online conversation with the leadership of the National Democratic Institute (NDI, USA), which was dedicated to the development of democracy and youth spaces in Ukrainian settlements affected by large-scale military aggression against Ukraine.

The meeting was also attended by NDI President Derek Mitchell, people's deputy of Ukraine, co-chair of the Youth Council under the President of Ukraine Oleksandr Sanchenko, as well as heads and experts of European and Ukrainian NDI offices. The meeting was moderated by Denys Hanzha, member of the Youth Council under the President of Ukraine.

The participants of the event discussed the difficult humanitarian situation that has arisen as a result of the aggressive war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

During the meeting, in particular, the parties agreed on ways to coordinate efforts to develop youth policy in Ukraine, as well as discussed possible project areas that can be implemented in cooperation with the authorities, civil society and NDI.

https://bit.ly/3LPGPnR

Prime Minister of Ukraine

Prime Ministers of Ukraine and Slovakia have synchronized efforts to ramp up sanctions on Russia

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal discussed the increase of sanctions pressure on Russia, humanitarian aid and support on the way to joining the European Union with Prime Minister of Slovakia Eduard Heger.

Denys Shmyhal dwelled on the need to put into practice additional sanctions and restrictive measures against Russia.

"It is of utmost importance to introduce a so-called re-package of sanctions to prevent Russia from adapting and regulating the supply of sanctioned goods through other countries. This should have a decisive pressure on the aggressor, "the Head of the Ukrainian government stressed.

The sides, inter alia, discussed the establishment of the Reconstruction Fund and the Plan for the Recovery of Ukraine, as well as obtaining Ukraine's candidate status for accession to the European Union.

"We will be grateful for the expert and technical assistance in the accelerated procedure of Ukraine's accession to the European family," said the Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Eduard Heger assured that Slovakia is ready to support sanctions and expressed faith in Ukraine's victory. The Slovak Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine is defending the future of Europe.

https://bit.ly/3reNgJr

In Bucha, Kyiv region, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrel and Prime Minister of Slovakia Eduard Heger paid tribute to innocent civilians

During an official visit to Ukraine, high-ranking EU officials and the head of the Slovak government saw the consequences of crimes committed by russian troops during the occupation of the town.

https://bit.ly/3jkngrO

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

OPERATIONAL SITUATION ON THE DIPLOMATIC FRONT

as of 19:00 on April 8

️ Sanctions

The EU Council has approved a fifth package of sanctions against Russia over its war against Ukraine. Restrictions include a ban on Russian coal imports from August this year and a ban on Russian ships accessing European ports.

the US imposes sanctions on leading Russian state-owned companies, including Alrosa, the world's largest diamond miner

Daughters of Russian President Putin and Kremlin Foreign Minister Lavrov come under new British sanctions

Japan joins the US and EU countries by banning Russian coal imports

Montenegro imposed sanctions against Russia due to the military invasion of Ukraine

️ Deputinization of the world

Finland has announced its decision to expel two Russian embassy staff members

Japan expels eight Russian diplomats and trade representatives

46 UNESCO member states refuse to participate in the 45th session of UNESCO while it is headed by the Russian Federation

️ Isolation of the Russian Federation

Turkish Airlines cancels flights to and from Minsk until May 15, Sochi - until April 18, Rostov - until May 15

The American Corporation Air Products and Chemicals is developing a plan to sell its business in Russia

IT company Acer suspends operations in Russia

German food manufacturer Dr. Oetker is leaving the Russian market

Canadian professional investment management company Colliers International Group Inc suspends operations in Russia and Belarus

https://bit.ly/372TEfT

ENERGY

Ministry of energy of Ukraine

Information on energy supply in Ukraine as of April 8

Over the past 24 hours, power supply to more than 50,000 consumers has been restored.

In particular, in Donetsk region - more than 20 thousand consumers, Kyiv - more than 13 thousand, Kherson - 9 thousand, Kharkiv - 4 thousand, Sumy – 1,7 thousand, Zaporozhzhya – 1,6 thousand, Mykolayiv – 1,1 thousand consumers.

Gas supply was restored to 2,098 consumers.

Ukrainian energy companies are doing their best to quickly restore energy supply to Ukrainian citizens. However, in some areas, emergency recovery work is complicated or impossible due to the intensification of hostilities and the emergence of new damage.

As of April 8, 1173 settlements, a total of about 774 thousand consumers, remain without electricity. More than 303 000 consumers remain without gas supply.

https://bit.ly/3rdPQiD

Ukrenergo

The second month of the war is underway. The Ukrainian power system confidently keeps the balance between production and consumption and operates synchronously with ENTSO-E. The power grid frequency is 50 Hz.

Electricity consumption has traditionally reduced with warming. But, despite the spring, the maximum and minimum consumption rates are stabilizing and even gradually increasing. This is largely due to the fact that power companies are actively restoring power lines and other grid infrastructure. Every day, repairs are carried out wherever the military allows and it is possible to get to the site of the damage.

In particular, NPC Ukrenergo has completed the repair of one of the trunk lines in Sumy region. According to the Ministry of Energy, over the past 24 hours, distribution system operators have reconnected more than 13.5 thousand consumers in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv regions.

Ukrainian power plants operate according to the schedule and commands of dispatchers providing electricity to all Ukrainian consumers. We remind you that currently, there is no reason to reduce consumption. Therefore, if you are safe, please use electrical appliances as usually.

https://bit.ly/3xg1LR6

GTS Operator of Ukraine

The actions of Russian occupiers endanger the gas transit through GMS Sokhranivka

Gas TSO of Ukraine (GTSOU) reports on gross interference by representatives of the Russian Federation and illegal armed groups under their control in operational work and technological processes of gas transportation through compressor station (CS) “Novopskov” in the Luhansk region.

CS “Novopskov” is an important object for the organization of gas transportation to consumers of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Also, almost 1/3 of gas transit to Europe via Ukraine is transported through this compressor station.

GTSOU recorded several actions by the occupiers, including changes in the operation of communication equipment and technological modes, which may result in the loss of operational control over the CS equipment. It will lead to significant risks to the integrity of the Ukrainian gas transmission system, the stability of gas transportation modes, and the impossibility of gas transportation through the CS, including gas volumes under the transit contract.

We call on the aggressor’s representatives to refrain from further pressure on GTSOU employees and interference in the CS operations. Otherwise, in case of loss of operational control, GTSOU will be forced to stop the operation of this facility to keep the integrity and safe operation of the Ukrainian GTS. Disconnection of the CS Novopskov means no transit through the GMS Sokhranivka. Responsibility for the consequences falls on the Russian Federation.

https://cutt.ly/wFfTffb

Read more about Ukraine: WAR BULLETIN April 8, 6.30 pm EST

Ukraine: WAR BULLETIN April 8, 10.00 a.m. EST - The forty-fourth day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to a Russian military invasion continues.

Embassy of Ukraine in the USA

WAR BULLETIN

April 8, 10.00 a.m. EST

WAR ROOM

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 08.04 were approximately:

personnel - about 19000,

tanks ‒ 700,

APV ‒ 1891,

artillery systems – 333,

MLRS - 108,

Anti-aircraft warfare systems - 55,

aircraft – 150,

helicopters – 135,

vehicles - 1361,

boats / cutters - 7,

fuel tanks - 76,

UAV operational-tactical level - 112.

special equipment - 25.

mobile SRBM system - 4.

Data are being updated. The calculation is complicated by the high intensity of hostilities.

The forty-fourth day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to a Russian military invasion continues.

The armed forces of the Russian federation continue their armed aggression against Ukraine. The enemy is being prepared for the offensive in eastern Ukraine.

The main efforts of the Russian invaders continue to focus on the capture of Mariupol, the offensive in the area of the city of Izyum, breakthroughs in the defense of the Joint Forces in the Donetsk direction. In the South Buh direction, the Russian enemy is trying to prevent the advance of our troops.

The Armed Forces of Belarus carry out operational and combat training activities at training grounds throughout the country. Up to four battalion tactical groups have been involved to carry out tasks to strengthen the protection of the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.

There is still a possibility of missile and air strikes from the territory of the Republic of Belarus on military and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

According to the available information, the so-called “volunteers” from among Belarusians are being recruited from the territory of the Republic of Belarus to create new units of a private military company. The information is being clarified.

The enemy completes the restoration of combat capability of units of the Central Military District in the Bryansk and Kursk regions.

Separate units of the 6th, 20th All-Army, 1st Tank Army, Coastal Troops of the Baltic and Northern Fleets carry out operational equipment of the territory. The main focus is on the rehabilitation of railway sections from Kupyansk to Kharkiv, Izyum and Svatove. For this purpose, units of the railway troops of the 38th separate railway brigade of the Western Military District from Yaroslavl were involved.

In the Kharkiv direction, the Russian enemy continues to blockade the city of Kharkiv. To prevent the advance of our troops, the invaders put up minefields.

In the temporarily occupied city of Izyum, representatives of the so-called "DPR" perform the functions of the local "police", carry out illegal checks of documents, searches of persons and premises of the local population.

Units of the occupying forces are concentrating their efforts on taking control of the settlements of Popasna and Rubizhne and establishing control over the city of Mariupol. Assault operations continue in most areas.

The enemy continues to launch air strikes and shell civilian infrastructure, including the use of multiple rocket launchers. Such activities have been recorded in the districts of Kreminna, Severodonetsk, Novotoshkivske, Popasna, Novozvanivka, Sukha Balka, Novoselivka Druha, Stepne, Troitske, Novobahmutivka, Marinka and Solodke.

In the areas of the settlements of Rubizhne, Popasna, Nyzhne, Novotoshkivske, Zolote and Borivske, the occupiers tried to carry out assault operations, but were unsuccessful.

In the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, seven enemy attacks were repulsed in the past 24 hours, four tanks, two artillery systems, ten armored units and eleven enemy vehicles were destroyed.

Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine

On April 7, 4,676 people were evacuated.

https://cutt.ly/mFsSYOQ

On April 8, 10 humanitarian corridors were agreed.

https://cutt.ly/sFsADcX

As a result of full-scale Russian aggression, Ukraine has become one of the largest mined areas in the world. Due to the great danger, many cities and towns are very difficult to reach. The authorities are now doing everything possible to eliminate the remnants of shells, missiles, clear a large number of mines - and give the opportunity to regularly deliver to the inhabitants of such settlements medicines, water, food, basic necessities.

https://cutt.ly/mFsDemQ

UNICEF organization, together with the Ukrainian Government, has developed and adopted a resolution launching a program of additional assistance to address pressing issues in the place of relocation of Ukrainians.

Within the framework of the program the following categories of the population are entitled to additional payments in the form of financial assistance:

- families with three or more children, of which at least one child is aged under two;

- families with two or more children, of which at least one child has a disability.

https://cutt.ly/IFsAcQ9

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights

A targeted missile strike by the enemy on the Kramatorsk railway station killed 39 people, 4 of whom were children, and 87 civilians were injured.

The Russian army used a high-precision “Iskander” missile.

Thousands of people were at the station during the enemy attack, as residents of Donetsk region were being evacuated to safer areas.

Due to the large number of injured, local hospitals are unable to provide assistance to all victims. Doctors sought help from medical workers in the surrounding villages.

The goal of the occupiers is to spread panic among the population and disrupt the evacuation so that as many civilians as possible remain hostages in the region.

The rocket attack on Kramatorsk station is another act of genocide of the Ukrainian people and a horrible war crime and a crime against humanity in accordance with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and Articles 6-8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

https://bit.ly/372cFPy

Every day new crimes of the army of executioners of the Russian Federation in the liberated territories are recorded.

During the occupation of the village of Husarivka, Izyum district, the Russian military tortured and then set fire to three local residents. In order to destroy the traces of their crimes, the Russians covered their bodies before setting fire to the tires of the car. The burnt fragments of the bodies of three people were found in the basement of one of the houses on April 7, after the liberation of the village

In the village of Obukhovychi in the Kyiv region, which has been under Russian occupation, about 150 people of all ages, including children and pensioners, were driven into the gym of a local school by peasants. People were kept under fire for 24 hours.

In Borodyanka, people's bodies continue to be pulled out from under the rubble. As a result of shelling by the occupying army, thousands of citizens found themselves under the rubble of destroyed houses. The enemy did not allow Ukrainian rescuers to dismantle the debris, effectively condemning people to a long and painful death - without water, food, in the cold and opaque darkness.

Such actions of the terrorist army of the Russian Federation fall under the definition of the crime of "genocide" in accordance with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

https://bit.ly/37txgvS

Yesterday morning, on the shores of the Kakhovka Reservoir near the Svitanok recreation center in Maryansky, Kryvyi Rih district, enemy shot a boat sailing from Pervomaivka in the Kherson region to evacuate people from the occupied part of the Kherson region.

People who were only 70 meters from the shore were fired at by the "Hail" multiple rocket launcher, which has a range of tens of kilometers.

There were 14 people in the boat, three children and 11 adults, two adult men and a woman died at once, a 13-year-old child died shortly afterwards, seven people were hospitalized, including children aged 4 and 16, and two civilians were missing.

The deliberate and brutal killing of civilians and children is a war crime and a crime against humanity under Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and a gross violation of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its Additional Protocols.

https://bit.ly/3rb0VBb

Russian media began to publish information about the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation to amend the legislation to organize an accelerated procedure for the adoption of children from Donbass.

It is reported that the State Duma is already working on appropriate amendments to the legislation, after which the replacement of the family for the child will be impossible.

According to various sources, more than 121,000 children have already been forcibly deported to the Russian Federation. These are both orphans and those who have parents.

It is now known that some of the children were taken by the occupiers from Mariupol to Donetsk and in the direction of Taganrog.

Russian invaders say they are orphans, but all orphans, including orphanages, were evacuated from Mariupol and centralized on February 24-25 during the first two days of the war.

Ukraine has no proved information that children who are planned to be adopted have the status of orphans or deprived of parental care.

Russia is repeating the scenario of 2014, when it took Ukrainian children out of the occupied Crimea by the so-called "train of hope" for their adoption.

Russia has been expelled from the European Network of Ombudsmen for Children's Rights (ENOC) for abducting children from the Crimean Peninsula.

Now enemy, firing rockets and tanks at the homes of Ukrainian citizens, are killing parents and kidnapping our children in the occupied territories of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Such actions of the Russian Federation are a gross violation of Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provides that every child has the right to a name and citizenship, as well as the right to know their parents and the right to care, Article 49 of the Geneva Convention on Civil Protection population during the war, which prohibits forced individual or mass resettlement or deportation.

In addition, Article 21 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that adoption in another country may be considered only as an alternative means of caring for a child if the child cannot be placed in foster care or to a family that could provide for her or him upbringing or adoption in the country of origin.

https://bit.ly/3KrlVeo

POLICY

President of Ukraine

Speech by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Eduskunta, the Parliament of Finland

I'll start with what happened this morning.

The Russian military struck at the railway station in our city of Kramatorsk. At the usual train station. At the ordinary people, there were no militaries. At the people who were waiting for trains to leave to a safe area. They hit people with missiles. There are witnesses, there are videos, there are remnants of missiles, but there are no more people. At least 30 dead. About 300 wounded. This is for now.

Once again: this is an ordinary train station. An ordinary city in the east of our state. That's how Russia came to "defend" Donbas. That's how Russia came to "protect" Russian-speaking people. This is how we live for the 44th day. After 8 years of war in the east of our country.

Russia has sent all its combat capable forces from all over their territory up to the Far East to seize Ukraine. But even they were not enough. That is why Russia is gathering as many people as possible who are capable of holding weapons in order to continue the aggression against Ukraine. Looking for mercenaries around the world. Sending militants from various de facto terrorist groups and so-called "private armies" created by some Russian officials. We have seen so many of them among the captured Russian military.

Both very experienced killers and very young boys born in 2003-2004. But none of them could adequately explain why they need this war against Ukraine, what is the purpose of these missile strikes at civilians, what is the purpose of the cruelty that the world saw in Bucha and other cities liberated by the Ukrainian army.

Of course, among the nearly two hundred thousand Russian occupiers on our land were those who did their best not to fight. Who fled to Russia, who deliberately surrendered, who inflicted severe injuries on themselves to get to the hospital and leave the war zone.

But still it was a minority. And the majority of their army continues war on our land for no apparent reason. Absolutely pointless. And as cruel as possible. Continues to fight in a way that you often think - are they people at all?

Yesterday, the Russian military fired from artillery at a boat with civilians on the Kakhovka reservoir. People were just trying to escape from the occupied territories. But they were hit by "Grad". Three children, eleven adults. On the boat. In the middle of the reservoir. Tens of meters from the shore. And they are being hit by artillery...

Hundreds and hundreds of cars with gunshot traces remained on all roads of our country in the areas where Russian troops entered. Ordinary cars of ordinary people who just wanted to live. The Russian military knew for sure that those were ordinary civilians. They saw that there was no threat. But they fired.

There are many examples of such cars with people who were simply crushed by armored vehicles. Literally - crushed by tanks.

You all know what the Russian military has done in our city of Bucha. But they still make such Buchas every day - from Kramatorsk to Mariupol, from Kharkiv to Kherson.

And I'm sure you realize that if the Russian army is ordered to invade your land, they will do the same to your country. I do not wish you this. They will do what happened in Bucha to your cities. To the cities of any country that the leadership of the Russian Federation decides is allegedly part of their empire, not the land of another nation.

And even if Russian soldiers do not understand why they need it, they will still be at war. Because it is hatred and contempt for other people that are being brought up now in Russia at the state level.

You have already seen in your history the cruelty and absurdity of the invasion of Russia. Let's be honest: the threat remains. Everything must be done to prevent this from happening again.

Russia's war against Ukraine is now deciding not only the fate of our state. Not only the fate of our people. But the fate of all those who have a common border with Russia.

Like you 83 years ago, Ukraine has the courage to defend itself against the enemy whose forces far outnumber them. There are just a lot of them, in quantitative terms. They have a lot of equipment and a lot of missiles. A lot of people who can be thrown into the war. And a lot of dollars and euros earned from oil trade that are then spent on propaganda of aggression.

But just as your courage saved your country from Stalin's invasion, our courage resists this invasion. For 44 days already. But much remains to be done to win.

Of course, unlike before World War II, the democratic world has now realized that the expansion of tyranny cannot be ignored. If the people are fighting for freedom, they must be supported. But, unfortunately, this understanding is more common among nations than among some very influential politicians. Among smaller states than among some leading states.

We still have to convince the world's powerful states on a daily basis that sanctions against Russia that it will not be able to circumvent and that will definitely stop its military machine are necessary. We still have to ask for the necessary help, for the necessary weapons. And we are still told that we still have to wait for the aircraft, anti-missile systems, tanks, anti-ship weapons.

We are told that we have to wait while we are losing hundreds of people every day from Russian strikes. When dozens of our cities are destroyed. We have to wait while more than ten million Ukrainians have become IDPs. And we have to wait. When more than three million of these ten left our country...

We must do everything together so that they can return home. We must do everything to stop Russia, to stop the war! So that peace is restored in Ukraine, and the Russian occupiers leave our sovereign territory. This cannot be delayed, ladies and gentlemen.

We are told that we have to wait... But I have a question: should both those who kill our people and those who make us wait be held jointly accountable for the deaths of Ukrainians? Those who make us wait for the most necessary. Wait for the opportunity to defend ourselves, our life, wait for the weapons.

I am sincerely grateful to Finland for not delaying when this invasion by the Russian Federation began. For coming to our aid immediately. For the fact that you made a historic decision to provide Ukraine with defense support. For being principled in sanctions matters. For being one of the moral leaders of our anti-war coalition.

But I ask you to show even greater leadership, both at the level of the European Union and in bilateral relations with European countries, to support our struggle for freedom. For our common freedom.

When this war continues, when tyranny loses the war against Ukraine, it will be one of the greatest contributions to Europe's security in decades. Consequently, one of the greatest contributions to the security of your state. That is why we need the weapons that your EU partners have. That is why we need truly effective, powerful sanctions against Russia. Permanent. Such a sanction cocktail, which will be remembered as Molotov cocktails. Insist on it!

I am grateful to the Finnish companies that have already stopped working in the Russian market.

But economic ties with this country must be severed, and I urge you to put pressure on all your companies that continue to support the Russian military machine through their taxes and excise duties in Russia. All Russian banks must be immediately isolated from the global financial system.

We cannot limit ourselves to a partial response to Russia's threat to Europe and the democratic world, because freedom will not survive if the channels of nourishing tyranny are left. And we need to think together about how to protect Europe from Russia's energy weapons.

Every educated person knows that the time of fossil fuels has passed. Mankind can no longer rely on coal, on oil. We need to look for cleaner energy sources for everyone. And if Russia uses energy to finance aggression against other nations and the spread of hatred in the world, it should be an additional incentive. This should speed up the decision-making process.

How much longer will Europe ignore the need to impose an embargo on oil supplies from Russia? This is a matter of security in all senses of the word - from environmental to military.

And I urge you to ask this question out loud to everyone in the European Union. So that the necessary decision finally appears. The world knows the formats of how to do it. And if Europe does not want to physically cut off supplies now, if it is not ready, although it is inevitable, the first step must be to apply a scheme to limit the flow of money for oil into Russia. Let this money accumulate on special accounts without Russia's access to it. Let Russia first restore peace and be held accountable for war crimes, and only then take its dollars and euros from oil trade. Let it remember the spirit of Helsinki and restore the Helsinki Accords in full, and only then will it be possible to discuss the economy, if necessary.

And when we say that we need to stop the war, it is clear to all cultures and it is clear in all languages. When I say this in Ukrainian, it seems to me that there are no people who do not understand this. The same goes for German, Arabic, Chinese or any other language.

Peace is the same value for all. War is the same evil for all.

I believe that common sense will still prevail. I am confident that together we will be able to defend freedom and defend Ukraine. That is why we need to think now about how to rebuild our state after this war.

The world knows about the leadership of your country, your people in the field of education. You have really built an educational system that allows you to protect personal freedom, make a person educated and teach respect for other people, the environment and the world. Other countries should learn this, too!

During the month and a half of the Russian invasion, 928 educational institutions in Ukraine have already been destroyed or damaged. These are kindergartens, these are schools, these are universities. I invite your state, your companies, your specialists to join the restoration of our educational sector and the modernization of education in Ukraine. We must do everything we can to ensure that, even after this brutal war against our nation, our people continue to cultivate goodness in their hearts and stay open to the world. I believe in that.

Because hatred must lose. Freedom must win. First - in Ukraine, and then - wherever tyranny will try to raise its head.

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/promova-prezidenta-ukrayini-volodimira-zelenskogo-v-eduskunt-74181

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

The world is responding to Russia's unjustified war by expelling Russian diplomats.

Since the beginning of Russia's invasion in Ukraine, the partner states have expelled 443 Russian diplomatic staff. The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic significantly reduced the diplomatic presence of the aggressor state even before Russia started a full-scale war.

This step is an act of solidarity with Ukraine, a continuation of efforts to strengthen Russia's global isolation.

The expulsion of diplomats was the partners' coordinated response to the subversive espionage activities of Russian diplomats.

For years, Russian diplomats have been spreading propaganda narratives in an attempt to distort reality and hide the Kremlin's true face. The expulsion of diplomats is democratic society's direct response to the crimes of the Russian regime.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on the partners to apply maximum pressure on Russia to stop its barbaric war against Ukraine.

https://bit.ly/35ROv9Q

5149 crimes of aggression and war crimes by Russia have been already registered by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

https://bit.ly/35Rzfd0

Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

46 UNESCO member states will boycott World Heritage Committee meetings chaired by the Russian Federation.

The 45th session of the World Heritage Committee was planned in Kazan, Russia. The parties of the 1972 World Heritage Convention signed an open letter refusing to participate in the meeting due to Russia's systematic violation of international humanitarian law in Ukraine.

"A civilized world that understands the value of cultural identity for the country is in solidarity with Ukraine. UNESCO must prevent Russia from chairing the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, and must postpone it from Kazan. Russian Federation, which strikes at our churches, museums, monuments, theaters under any circumstances have no moral right to continue to be called a member of an organization whose purpose is to take care of culture. Instead, we are happy to organize a committee in Lviv, " underlined minister Oleksandr Tkachenko

The signatory countries are shocked by Russia's aggressive actions in Ukraine. Many people died, in some places entire cities were destroyed.

Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine called on UNESCO to move the 45th session from Kazan, Russia, to Lviv, Ukraine, and to exclude the Russian Federation from the organization.

https://bit.ly/38Dybuv

Read more about Ukraine: WAR BULLETIN April 8, 10.00 a.m. EST - The forty-fourth day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to a Russian military invasion continues.

Ukraine: WAR BULLETIN April 7, 6.00pm EST

Also posted on the Small Wars Journal:

Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations

WAR BULLETIN

April 7, 6.00pm EST

President V.Zelenskyy: More and more countries around the world support the need for full and transparent investigation of all war crimes of the Russian occupiers in Ukraine.

Minister D.Kuleba: Russia’s rights of membership in the UN Human Rights Council has just been suspended. War criminals have no place in UN bodies aimed at protecting human rights. Grateful to all member states which supported the relevant UNGA resolution.

A Russian enemy's main efforts are focused on capturing the city of Mariupol, conducting an offensive near the city of Izyum and trying to break through the defences in the Donetsk direction.

In the Kharkiv region, up to five Russian battalion tactical groups continue to blockade the city and shell it from multiple rocket launchers, artillery and mortars.

The enemy naval groups in the Black and Azov Seas continue to carry out missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine, isolate the area of hostilities and conduct reconnaissance.

WAR ROOM

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The forty-third day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to a Russian military invasion continues.

Russian enemy continues to prepare for the offensive in eastern Ukraine. The Russians are regrouping troops in order to complete the formation of the offensive group. Russians are taking measures to increase the aviation component and C2 systems and continue to conduct reconnaissance.

A Russian enemy's main efforts are focused on capturing the city of Mariupol, conducting an offensive near the city of Izyum and trying to break through the defences in the Donetsk direction.

In the South Buh area, the Russian enemy is trying to prevent further advance of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and to improve the tactical position of Russian units in some areas.

In the Volyn direction, there is a possibility of Russian enemy missile strikes on military and civilian infrastructure from the territory of the Republic of Belarus.

In the Polissya direction, the enemy did not take active action, and the Russian forces deployed to the territory of the Republic of Belarus are carrying out active movements in order to prevent the transfer of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from this area to others regions of Ukraine.

Separate units of the Russian occupiers from the Eastern Military District and the airborne troops of the Russian Armed Forces, which are recovering and regrouping on the territory of Belarus after leaving Ukraine, are likely to be sent to strengthen enemy troops in Slobozhansky direction.

In the Siversky direction, the Russian enemy completes the regrouping and restoration of combat capability of units of the Central Military District in certain areas of the Bryansk and Kursk regions. The possibility of further sending these units to other operational areas, including for combat operations in the Donetsk and Luhansk areas, is not ruled out.

In the Slobozhansky direction, Russian enemy is taking active steps to increase control and communication in the interests of the offensive group.

In the Kharkiv oblast, up to five battalion tactical groups of the Russian enemy continue to blockade the city and fire at it from multiple rocket launchers, artillery and mortars.

The Russian occupiers in the city of Izyum are trying to continue the offensive in the direction of Slоvyansk and Barvinkove.

In the Donetsk and Tavriya directions, the enemy continues to carry out fire and assault operations, inflicts rocket and bomb strikes, conducts artillery fire on the civilian infrastructure of settlements. The port of Berdyansk is used by the Russian occupiers to transfer weapons, military equipment and personnel.

The Russian enemy also intensified efforts in the Severodonetsk direction. A Russian enemy is trying to continue the offensive in the areas of Novotoshkivske and Popasna.

The Russian enemy also tried to launch an offensive in the areas of Marinka, Borivske and Solodke, where attempts to attack were unsuccessful.

It is likely that the Russian occupiers will soon try to break through the defence of Ukrainian troops in the Severodonetsk, Avdiivka and Kurakhov districts.

The Russian enemy fired artillery in the South Buh direction and used army aircraft. Russian enemy is trying to continue the offensive in the direction of the settlement of Oleksandrivka.

The enemy naval groups in the Black and Azov Seas continue to carry out missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine, isolate the area of hostilities and conduct reconnaissance.

The Russian occupiers continue to restrict the rights of Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territories. Thus, in the Zaporizhzhia region, the Russian occupiers banned men from leaving to the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. There is also a growing shortage of basic necessities, especially food, which could further complicate the humanitarian situation in the region occupied by the Russian forces.

Ukraine's Defence Forces, inflicting losses, continue to push back the enemy and liberate the territories temporarily occupied by the Russias.

https://bit.ly/35P8HZW

Ukrainian presidential adviser

The 43rd day of the active phase of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Out of nine operational areas in which the enemy has been advancing since the beginning of the war, two and a half remain: Anti-Terrorist Operation zone, Luhansk region, Mariupol.

In the Kherson region, where the enemy tried to attack until recently, Russian forces are now on the defensive.

Ukrainian air force continues to destroy the enemy's air attacks. UAVs shot down several planes, helicopters, and cruise missiles.

The sharp increase in the number of destroyed UAVs of the enemy shows that Russians are afraid to use aircrafts, especially army aircrafts, such as helicopters, to support their troops on the battlefield. Russian forces concentrated their aviation attacks mainly in the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone. In the rest of Ukraine, enemy aircrafts are shot down by our Air forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian 95th Brigade shot down a Russian helicopter with a shot from an anti-tank missile defense system, which is an outstanding military achievement.

Fierce fighting is taking place in the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone. The enemy continues its military actions from Izyum to the South, the general direction to Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, and is trying to attack along the way Volodarsk-Mariinka. It is an attempt to circle Ukrainian troops.

I would like to express my special gratitude to the police officers of Ukraine who perform many complicated tasks: from counter-diversion to maintaining peace and order on our streets. Many members of the National Police have been and are directly involved in military actions, especially in areas where military actions are taking place or have taken place. Also, special units of the National Police do it persistently and professionally.

https://fb.watch/ceMPtkUa96/

Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

Russia is stepping up propaganda among the personnel of military training centers. This is stated in a letter from the Chief of Missile Troops and Artillery of the RF Armed Forces Mikhail Matveevsky to the heads of training centers.

Particularly, propaganda includes an explanation of the "pros" of participating in the war with Ukraine. Namely, about social guarantees and increased payments.

All Ukrainian and "other" mass media are declared to be fake and inaccurate.

Instead, all Russian servicemen are obliged to read the content of the “Krasnaya Zvezda” newspaper every day.

https://bit.ly/3r9gWrm

Russian companies have faced serious problems in fulfilling military contracts. Inflation, due to the imposition of sanctions, "downslopes" the funds provided for the production of weapons. Additional funds in the budget of the Russian Federation are absent.

Mentioned above was a part of the report received by the Russian government on problematic issues during the implementation of state procurement contracts by enterprises of the defense industry.

https://bit.ly/3xjpnnA

Stanislav Aseyev, a Ukrainian journalist, writer and former prisoner at the Isolation prison in Donetsk, met with forcibly mobilized residents from so called “DPR” and “LPR” captured by the UAF soldiers. Most of the prisoners are students of the Donetsk educational institutions.

https://bit.ly/3Ksr3iI

Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine

On April 7, 2022, the Russian armed forces launched a missile strike on the city of Slovyansk, as a result of which a number of private households were damaged.

https://bit.ly/3v2i15l

More than 464 children have been affected in Ukraine because of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. As of 7 April, the official number of child victims remained unchanged at 167. The number of injured has increased to over 297. As a result of daily bombardment and shelling, 928 educational institutions were damaged. 84 of them were completely destroyed.

vhttps://bit.ly/3DTCE80

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine

About 400 civilians were tortured and killed in Kyiv region. About 200 people are missing in Borodyanka.

The dismantling of the blockages of apartment buildings where civilians were hiding during the air strikes has already begun.

Places of mass murder, torture and burial were found in Bucha, Gostomel, Motyzhyn.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine together with the experts from Google has launched a project to digitize the consequences of the military aggression of the Russian federation against Ukraine. The purpose of the project is to record the destruction caused by the Russian occupiers in Ukrainian cities and villages. This project started from the liberated city of Irpin. The idea is to cover as much as possible all the cities that have suffered the greatest destruction, which definitely need to be recorded. This information will be posted on Google Maps and will be available to the public. The whole world must see what Ukrainian cities looked like before and what the aggressor did to them. The first panoramic photos of the destroyed streets and buildings in Irpin will be published next week.

https://bit.ly/3je6NoO

For the second day in a row, rescuers of Ukraine are dismantling the rubble in Borodyanka. 109 rescuers and 18 units of equipment in the combined detachment arrived from Kyiv to carry out restoration work.

https://bit.ly/3jeqCw6

POLICY

President of Ukraine

Speech by the President of Ukraine in the House of Representatives of Cyprus

I am grateful for the honor of addressing you in this format and at this time. At a crucial time for my country and for the survival of the Ukrainian people. For freedom in Europe.

It is now being decided whether we will preserve the unity of our territory and our state.

Whether we will guarantee freedom for Ukraine and for the whole of Europe. For different countries where Russian troops can go after Ukraine.

The Russian military does not spare anyone - neither women nor children. Ukrainians have not seen such atrocities since the Nazi invasion during World War II. When you see so many deaths every day... When killed people are buried in mass graves in your cities, just in the yards, because it is impossible to take bodies to cemeteries...

Why does Russia wage this war? What is the goal of Russian troops? The answer to these questions is quite clear. We have heard it many times from politicians in the Russian Federation and from Russian state propagandists. We also know this answer from those documents that were seized along with Russian prisoners of war and found in the destroyed headquarters of Russian troops. They wanted to destroy our statehood and tear our country apart.

That is why the democratic world has united in its negative attitude towards Russia. Ukraine was attacked by Russia a long time ago - in 2014. When Russia tried to divide our state by force for the first time. When our Crimean Peninsula was occupied. When Russia started the war in Donbas. But then the world's response was weak, very weak. Many in the world still believed that constructive relations could be at the heart of relations with Russia. That the dialogue with Russia can be sincere and based on the principle of mutual respect.

Years have taught the world that this was all a mistake. And the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 this year showed that the Russian leadership perceived the good attitude of other states simply as a weakness. Can such behavior go unpunished? Is it right that the Russian state and its citizens are trying to use your island to their advantage? While trying to destroy the whole nation. While trying to destroy another state.

I am grateful to you for the principled position with which you, together with the whole of the European Union, responded to Russia's full-scale invasion. You have adopted a powerful decision not to allow Russian warships to enter your ports. This really strengthens security throughout our region of great Europe. I am also grateful to you for your financial and humanitarian assistance. For an important resolution passed by your parliament in support of Ukraine.

But Ukrainian children are still dying from Russian weapons. All our citizens still live in hell because of what the Russian occupiers have done on Ukrainian land. Russia is still preparing plans for a new offensive against our troops, against our cities... The Russian leadership still does not want to seriously seek peace with Ukraine. In response to all our negotiating proposals, which could have been accepted long ago in the interests of peace, in the interests of all in Europe, we hear only a play on words.

This means that much more needs to be done, both at the EU and national level, to end this war. To force Russia to seek peace. Peace is an unconditional value for each of us. Therefore, I believe that together with you we will be able to provide the necessary pressure on the Russian leadership.

The Republic of Cyprus has extremely powerful tools to influence Russian society. A unique force that can be put at the service of peace. All ports in the democratic world must be completely closed to Russian ships. This must be a joint decision - at the level of the European Union.

But at the level of your state, it is also possible to at least freeze the use by Russians of all their yachts and other vessels in your waters. You can suspend the current privileges for Russian citizens. Starting from the so-called golden passports for all Russians without exception and ending with dual citizenship for them.

Probably if it is verified and clearly proven that some of them condemn the war crimes of their military and do not intend to use your jurisdiction to avoid sanctions and other restrictions against Russia, only then will it be permissible to treat these people in the old way. Any efforts by Russian citizen’s subject to sanctions to circumvent these restrictions must be stopped.

All the proper work needs to be done to prepare the European Union for the imminent embargo on energy supplies from Russia.

I do not know how many more war crimes of the Russian military must be revealed, as it was in our city of Bucha, before all EU states have enough courage for the embargo. But Russia itself has chosen this path. It destroys innocent people in Ukraine.

The democratic world must stop being a sponsor of Russia's war crimes.

Of the destruction of cities, killing of children. And the democratic world must learn to guarantee real security for every state that can fall victim to aggression.

When Ukraine says that we deserve full membership in the European Union, we mean, first of all, that we can bring to our common European home exactly the experience that can make each EU state stronger. It is an experience that can give Europe more justice.

I'm sure you feel our pain. And that is why I believe that you will continue to support Ukraine, including on the road to the European Union.

https://bit.ly/3rcea4G

Being brave is our brand; we will spread our courage in the world - address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The 43rd day of full-scale war is over. Russia's war against Ukraine. A war that has revealed the whole truth about our country, about all other countries, about Russia and about the world in general. This war shows how much everyone did not want to notice in our country. In our people. How much the world believed in foreign propaganda and Russian myths about Ukraine, not in reality.

We have always been like that... We have always been brave. The bravest in the world. I am sure of that. Because who else would do what Ukrainians do? Who else had so much courage to constantly fight against any manifestations of tyranny and defend freedom? In every election, in revolutions and in war. Who else had the courage to fight against all Russian forces on land, in the air and at sea? Who else had the courage to go unarmed against Russian armored vehicles where the Russians temporarily managed to seize something? Who else had the courage to tell the world that hypocrisy is a bad weapon? And not just to tell, but to convince and restore honesty in the world. Who else had the courage to persuade the largest global companies to forget about accounting and recall morality? And to teach all political leaders - whatever they are - to be at least a little Ukrainian... At least a little brave.

In fact, this is our brand. This is what it means to be us. To be Ukrainians. To be brave.

If everyone in the world had at least ten percent of the courage that we Ukrainians have, there would be no danger to international law at all. There would be no danger to the freedom of the nations. We will spread our courage. We will start a special global campaign. We will teach the world to be not just a little bit, but full of courage. Like us, like Ukrainians.

There are certain results already. First of all, they are manifested in the current sanctions against the Russian Federation. But that's the thing - the results are still "certain". Not yet the ones needed to stop Russia. To stop the war.

Please note: this is not the first day that the media has been talking not about how sanctions against Russia actually work, but about why these sanctions are important. As if they are convincing themselves that they have introduced the right things, that there are enough restrictions.

But if the sanctions really worked one hundred percent, they would not have to explain in such detail why they are important.

Therefore, I emphasize once again: more sanctions are needed. Even bolder sanctions are needed.

Courage must be a criterion for evaluating decisions. Courage and practicality.

First of all, Ukraine needs weapons that will allow us to win on the battlefield. And this will be the strongest sanction against Russia of all possible ones.

We have good diplomatic news today. Russia is gradually losing even on those platforms that it considered quite comfortable for itself.

In particular, the UN General Assembly decided to suspend Russia's membership in the Human Rights Council. It is quite logical. Quite rightly. But also not without fighting for this decision. I am grateful to those states that have supported this decision. Russia has had nothing to do with the concept of human rights for a long time already. Maybe someday that will change. But so far, the Russian state and the Russian military are the greatest threat on the planet to freedom, to human security, to the concept of human rights as such. After Bucha, this is already obvious.

And the work on dismantling the debris in Borodyanka began... It's much worse there.

Even more victims of the Russian occupiers. And what will happen when the world learns the whole truth about what the Russian military did in Mariupol? There, on almost every street, is what the world saw in Bucha and other towns in the Kyiv region after the withdrawal of Russian troops. The same cruelty. The same heinous crimes.

More and more information is coming in that Russian propagandists are preparing, so to speak, a "mirror response" to the shock of all normal people from what they saw in Bucha. They are going to show the victims in Mariupol as if they were killed not by the Russian military, but by the Ukrainian defenders of the city. To do this, the occupiers collect corpses on the streets, take them out and can use them elsewhere in accordance with the elaborated propaganda scenarios.

We are dealing with invaders who have nothing human left. To justify their own killings, they take the murdered people simply as scenery, as propaganda props. And this is a separate war crime, for which each of the propagandists will be held accountable.

More and more countries around the world support the need for a full and transparent investigation of all war crimes of the Russian occupiers in Ukraine. Every murder case will be solved. Each of the torturers will be found. All those who committed rape or looting will be identified. Responsibility is inevitable.

Today I continued to address the parliaments and nations of neighboring countries, our partners, our friends. Today was Greece. Today was the Republic of Cyprus.

I thanked them for supporting Ukraine and joint European efforts to force Russia to seek peace. I urged to do more to stop the war. I urged Greece to use its influence as part of the European Union to save Mariupol. I urged Cyprus to take special measures against Russia. Such as the abolition of "golden passports" for Russians. As well as the blocking of yachts, the blocking of other Russian vessels in the waters of Cyprus.

I am planning an address to the Parliament and the people of Finland tomorrow.

I would like to note that diplomatic representatives of other states are returning to the capital together with Kyiv residents. The Turkish Embassy returned yesterday. The Ambassador of Lithuania returned today. Earlier, the Slovenian Embassy resumed its work in Kyiv.

I am sincerely grateful to the friends of Ukraine who support us exactly as we need it now, also at the level of symbols, at the level of diplomatic gestures.

This is also about courage.

And I look forward to the opportunity to have a meeting with everyone who is with us. With all who are brave. Come back. With all the diplomats who have returned to our capital and continue to work.

The presence of foreign diplomatic missions in Kyiv is a normal work of embassies, it is a clear signal to the aggressor that Kyiv is our capital. Not the provincial city of Russia, but the Ukrainian capital.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to do everything to repel the offensive of Russian troops in Donbas. The occupiers’ troops in this area are becoming more active and are being reinforced from Russia. We see it all. We analyze every step of the enemy. And we will provide an answer. A tough one.

And already a stable tradition: before delivering this address, I signed decrees to honor our bravest soldiers with state awards and the title of Hero of Ukraine.

344 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were awarded. Five more servicemen became Heroes of Ukraine today.

I am sincerely grateful for the service to each of our male defenders. I am sincerely grateful to each of our female defenders!

https://bit.ly/3NUAidk

Prime Minister of Ukraine

Denys Shmyhal: Security of citizens abroad and their future return to Ukraine should be a priority of the state

The Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal chaired an online meeting dedicated to the issues of support of forced migrants who had fled Ukraine as a result of the Russian armed aggression.

https://bit.ly/3jcwjeh

Government and UN agencies will pool efforts to provide monetary benefits to affected Ukrainians, says Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Martin Griffiths discussed humanitarian aid, financial assistance to Ukrainians and the evacuation of people from Mariupol.

Denys Shmyhal dwelled on that the urgent need to save people from the Russian-occupied Mariupol and the importance of UN mediation in this process. For his part, Martin Griffiths aired proposals related to saving civilians.

Moreover, the sides tackled the provision of monetary benefits to Ukrainians who have suffered from Russia's armed aggression.

https://bit.ly/3xbuUg5

Denys Shmyhal: The Recovery Plan and the Reconstruction Fund will be part of an initiative designed to unite the whole world in support of Ukraine

The plan to rebuild Ukraine and replenish the Reconstruction Fund was discussed by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during an online conversation with the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Werner Hoyer.

The Prime Minister noted that, according to preliminary estimates, the total losses caused by the war will exceed $ 1 trillion in the coming years. The Government is preparing a Recovery Plan for Ukraine and the architecture of the Reconstruction Fund, which encapsulates the following areas:

- support for the current functioning of Ukraine - wartime economy;

- economic recovery after the war - rapid recovery of critical infrastructure and services;

- further development and modernization of Ukraine - measures aimed at sustainable, rapid and sustainable growth.

https://bit.ly/35QCQIt

Address by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal

We can say with confidence that the next stage of our liberation war ended in victory for Ukraine. The enemy's plans are ruined. Russia’s terrorist forces have been pushed out of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions.

But the war is far from over. The enemy is constantly trying to seize our lands in the East and South. Continues to launch missile strikes across the country.

Therefore, our task now is to work strenuously to continue to repel the aggressor.

Those territories that have already been liberated, we will rebuild step by step. We will help everyone who was forced to move and who remained.

As of April 6, more than 500,000 new IDPs have been officially registered in Ukraine. The same number of people have already returned home from abroad.

But millions of Ukrainians still remain in other countries. The Government, together with our diplomats and the Governments of the partner countries, is working to systematize assistance to Ukrainians who have left.

Now we are talking about the need to remove the roaming fee, about social benefits in Diia, the deployment of the Ukrainian educational process, the inclusion of Ukraine in the single European payment area and much more.

We welcome the decisions of the EU countries on the introduction of a temporary protection mechanism. After all, our goal is to return all Ukrainians home.

A separate area of work is cooperation with international organizations in Ukraine. We have already announced a joint program with UNICEF to support large families. I want to emphasize that it will apply not only to internally displaced persons, but to all families in Ukraine. Each member of such a family will be paid UAH 2,000 per month.

What is essential. This cooperation between the Government and UNICEF will be the basis for working with all other donor organizations that want to help Ukraine. We are working to consolidate such assistance in the Diia app.

At present, the Government's focus is also on helping our citizens in the territories that have recently been occupied.

First, in the liberated territories, we are developing the same programs that work for IDPs.

Food, medicine, and basic necessities are also sent to these areas as a matter of priority. We have purchased UAH 4.7 billion worth of food packages, and thousands of them have already been distributed free of charge to our people in frontline and liberated cities.

The second area of work here is the priority reconstruction of liberated cities. The step-by-step plan is ready. The Government authorized Ukrzaliznytsia to order all basic goods for urgent needs, including construction materials, from the state budget. The state will provide the necessary funds for the purchase of windows, doors, beams, boards and other necessary goods for emergency housing reconstruction.

This whole process will definitely take more than a week, so we are currently negotiating with American partners and Ukrainian producers to provide the vacated areas with modular buildings. Temporarily. Many people are left without a roof over their heads, so this is an extremely important task.

Of course, the most important stage of our work is the restoration of critical energy infrastructure. Electricity, water, gas. Work has already begun. Where there was minor damage, light and water have already been restored. Unfortunately, there are cities and villages where this energy infrastructure is almost completely destroyed, so the work will take some time. But it will throw all the necessary forces, including from other regions.

The third point that is worth mentioning today is the Reconstruction Fund of Ukraine. A working group has been set up, which is already actively working in several areas. The first is the seizure of Russia's assets in the West and the transfer of these funds to Ukraine. There is simply no single procedure in the world to do this, so we work with each country separately. But we want to receive part of these funds in the next six months to begin to quickly rebuild our country.

We are grateful to our partners who are actively continuing to freeze the accounts and assets of Russia and oligarchic groups close to the Kremlin.

The Ukrainian people are also grateful for the new package of sanctions imposed by the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Australia. We expect that the European Union will make a statement in the coming days.

The sanctions adopted and proposed are strong but not sufficient. Ukraine hopes that the world will impose a strong oil embargo.

Yesterday during the meeting they discussed with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy the issue of imposing an embargo on Ukraine's trade in goods from Russia. Ukraine has completely halted import and export operations with the aggressor state since the beginning of the war. In the near future, we will consolidate this with government decisions, so that everyone understands the irreversibility of severing our relations with the aggressor state.

https://bit.ly/3ujnpSn

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Russia’s rights of membership in the UN Human Rights Council has just been suspended. War criminals have no place in UN bodies aimed at protecting human rights. Grateful to all member states which supported the relevant UNGA resolution and chose the right side of history.

https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba

At the entrance to NATO Headquarters today, I stated that there would be only three topics on the agenda of my talks with Allies: weapons, weapons, and weapons.

President Zelensky has set a clear task for diplomacy: all weapons that can be obtained from partners must arrive as soon as possible in a steady stream to the front. Literally: do what you want, but Ukrainian army must receive weapons. In fact, there is no more important task now than to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine expel Russian evil from our land.

In these six weeks, we broke through three blank walls. At first, a number of countries said they would never send us weapons. Sent. Then others said they would not give heavy weapons. Already giving. Then they began to create an artificial distinction between "defensive" weapons, which can be given, and allegedly "offensive", which cannot be given. But any weapon provided to Ukraine to protect its land from Russian invaders is defensive by definition! I lost count of how many times I repeated this in the negotiations in the previous weeks.

During this day at NATO Headquarters, I held talks with the G7, NATO and six separate bilateral meetings with partners. The conclusions are positive. Unity, full support for Ukraine, readiness not only for tactical but also for long-term strategic decisions that will help Ukraine expel Russian invaders from our land, save lives and win the war.

The main question now is not what we are promised, but when promises come true. Every day is important and every day we work to get the result, which is already there and will be for sure.

https://bit.ly/3DR4Isj

Read more about Ukraine: WAR BULLETIN April 7, 6.00pm EST

4/8/22 National Security and Korean News and Commentary

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

1. RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 7 (PUTIN'S WAR)
2. How Open-Source Data Got the Russia-Ukraine War Right
3. Fact Sheet: U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine
4. Russia spokesperson admits to "significant" loss of troops in Ukraine
5. Finland's NATO application could be imminent
6. Zelenskyy wants Ukraine to be ‘a big Israel.’ Here’s a road map.
7. ‘Where Is the Line Where Immoral Becomes Evil?’
8. In the fight against Putin, Senate unanimously approves measure that once helped beat Hitler
9. How Joe Biden's Lend-Lease for Ukraine could turn the tide of war
10. America may have just taken the lead in hypersonic cruise missile technology
11.U.S. opens door to new weapons, training for Ukraine
12. For a Lasting Peace, Europe Must Embrace Russia
13. Call out Chinese Spying for the Threat it Is
14. The Ukraine conflict and the problems of conflict termination
15. Cold War 2.0 and the New American Century
16. It’s also important to win the information war with Putin’s Russia
17. Putin's War - April 8, 2022 Update | SOF News
18. Romania Calls for Permanent US Presence, Air Policing to Deter Russia
19. Milley Says Ukrainians Using Land Mines 'Effectively,' Reopening Debate About Controversial Weapons
20. US Cyber Command reinforces Ukraine and allies amid Russian onslaught
21. Human rights vote at U.N. highlights stark divisions over Russia
22. As Ukraine Pummels Russians With Javelin Missiles, Can Production Keep Pace With Demand?
23. Israel Is Not Russia, and Palestinians Are Not Ukraine
24. Putin’s winning streak in European politics
25. Poland considering Italian, Korean alternatives to backfill MiG-29s

Korean News Content:

1. Seoul to push for summit between President-elect Yoon and Biden at early date: delegation
2. Complete, verifiable denuclearization of N. Korea difficult but must achieve goal: Goldberg
3. Kim Yo-jong statement a choreographed move to create tension: U.S. intelligence official
4. North Korea’s March 24 ICBM Launch: What if It Was the Hwasong-17?
5. Could the world's next nuclear power be U.S. ally South Korea?
6. South Korea Must Pick a Side
7. Tensions With North Rise as South Korea’s President-Elect Takes Tougher Line
8. Defense ministry begins relocation for presidential office
9. UNC deputy chief urges 'common sense,' dialogue amid concerns about potential N.K. provocations
10. Restoration work ongoing at N.Korea's nuclear test site: report
11. HarperNorth lands 'harrowing' story of woman who escaped North Korea twice
12. North demolishing hotel that was symbol of Korean engagement
13. What Russia's invasion means for Korean Peninsula
14. Experts voice concerns over Yoon's US-centered foreign policy

14. Experts voice concerns over Yoon's US-centered foreign policy

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Ukrainian presidential adviser