re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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Corpus Christi port/docks was filling up with military equipment yesterday for shipment.

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BREAKING: “There may be no need to discuss the legitimacy of Zelensky’s role after May 20. Let's wait until then.”

— Lavrov, hinting that Zelensky may not be in power in two months

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The Patriot systems that are now in Ukraine were handed over to us not by the United States, but by other countries, Zelenskyy said.

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I spoke with @SpeakerJohnson and thanked him personally, both parties, the American people, and President Biden for their critical support of Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

I briefed Speaker Johnson on the battlefield situation, specifically the dramatic increase in Russia's air terror. Last week alone, 190 missiles, 140 "Shahed" drones, and 700 guided aerial bombs were launched at Ukrainian cities and communities. Ukraine's largest hydroelectric power plant has gone offline.

In this situation, quick passage of US aid to Ukraine by Congress is vital. We recognize that there are differing views in the House of Representatives on how to proceed, but the key is to keep the issue of aid to Ukraine as a unifying factor.

We also discussed the importance of cutting off Russia's sources of funding for its war as soon as possible and using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s benefit. We also rely on the leadership of Congress in this regard.

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A @FT investigation using satellite data found that at least five North Korean tankers picked up oil products from Russia this month in an arms-for-oil trade deal in defiance of UN sanctions.

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Budanov is of course known to send complementary autographed photographs and detailed receipts whenever he pays for terrorist attacks via Coinbase.

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The Moscow terrorists received 'significant' amount of money in the form of cryptocurrency from Ukraine, Russia's investigative committee says - TASS

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A Russian military plane was shot down in Sevastopol

It probably came under "friendly fire".

According to preliminary information, the pilot ejected.

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Russia has to go all in while they have the advantage

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Almost $2 billion worth of aircraft parts were imported into Russia from abroad in 2023 and most of them - almost $1.5 billion - were allegedly shipped from Gabon, according to Russian customs data seen by The Moscow Times. The Russian companies for which the parts were imported from Africa have the hallmarks of dummy firms.

According to Russian customs data, Gabon imported into Russia spare parts for Boeing and Airbus airplanes: oxygen masks, washers, pipes, bolts, nuts, brackets, fuel regulators, used computers and ground collision warning and fuel level measurement systems.

In addition, 15 used engines for Boeing-737 and Airbus A320/A321 worth more than $58 million were imported from Gabon.

The first aircraft parts from Gabon went to Russia in August 2023.

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I hope Russia does a better job of installing nuts and bolts than Boeing does.

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Key Takeaways:

Ukraine is currently preventing Russian forces from making significant tactical gains along the entire frontline, but continued delays in US security assistance will likely expand the threat of Russian operational success, including in non-linear and possibly exponential ways.

The continued degradation of Ukraine’s air defense umbrella provides one of the most immediate avenues through which Russian forces could generate non-linear operational impacts.

Russia’s ability to conduct opportunistic but limited offensive actions along Ukraine’s international border with Russia offers Russia further opportunities to constrain Ukrainian manpower and materiel, but Western aid provisions and Ukrainian efforts to address manpower challenges would ease the impacts of such Russian efforts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to make sensationalized statements as part of Russia’s ongoing reflexive control campaign, which aims to deter further Western military aid provisions to Ukraine and deflect attention from the growing Russian force posturing against NATO.

Putin’s March 27 statements are neither new nor surprising, and best illustrate how the Kremlin routinely overwhelms the Western information space, often with irrelevant or decontextualized truths rather than with outright misinformation or disinformation, to shape global perceptions and advance its own long-term objectives.

The Russian Investigative Committee unsurprisingly claimed that it has evidence tying Ukraine to the March 22 Crocus City Hall attack amid continued Kremlin efforts to link Ukraine and the West to the terrorist attack to generate more domestic support for the war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed concern for heightened ethnic tension in Russian society following the Crocus City Hall attacks and may be falsely blaming Ukraine and the West for the Crocus City Hall attack in order to divert domestic attention away from ethnic tensions.

Ukrainian drone strikes against oil refineries in Russia are reportedly forcing Russia to import gasoline from Belarus.

An independent investigation found that international information operation campaigns linked to deceased Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin remained active, despite the Russian government shutting down media companies and organizations overtly linked to Prigozhin after his death.

Senior Russian officials are intensifying their victim-blaming of Armenian leadership as Armenia continues to distance itself from security relations with Russia after the Kremlin abandoned Armenia to its fate as it lost Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russian forces made confirmed advances near Donetsk City.

Russia continues efforts to source ballistic missiles and other weapons from North Korea for use in Ukraine.

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Trump is likely to go all in on side to make the war end.

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Russian-backed "propaganda" network has been broken up

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