Russia Troop Withdrawal ‘slow But Noticeable’, Says Zelensky – Live

Zelensky says Russia starting a ‘slow but noticeable’ withdrawal

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia has started carrying out a “slow but noticeable” withdrawal in the country’s north, in an address to the country on Saturday. The president said in the address that “the responsibility for collaboration is inevitable”.

The president also urged citizens to wait for a return to normalcy, adding Russia was creating “a complete disaster” outside capital Kyiv as Russian troops were leaving mines across “the whole territory”, including around homes.

“They are mining the whole territory. They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed,” he said.

Anuj Pant2 April 2022 04:54

US ‘further isolates Russia’ by adding 120 entities to blacklist

Some 120 Russian and Belarusian entities, mostly companies linked to the military, have been added to a list of those under restrictions from receiving supplies and goods from the United States.

They were added to the list by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The department’s secretary Gina Raimondo tweeted: “Vladimir Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine has isolated his country & economy from global commerce & today’s action furthers that isolation by adding 120 Russian & Belarusian parties in the aerospace, maritime & defense sectors to the Commerce Entity List.”

Lamiat Sabin2 April 2022 03:30

Zelensky calls on China to take Ukraine’s side

Volodymyr Zelensky called on China to take Ukraine’s side against the Russian invasion of his country.

The Ukrainian president also said in an interview with Fox News that sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries against Russia are working and need to be increased.

Lamiat Sabin2 April 2022 02:30

‘Extremely difficult military situation remains in east Ukraine’

The military situation in the east of Ukraine remained extremely difficult, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Russia was preparing for new strikes in the Donbas region and the city of Kharkiv, he said in a late-night video address.

Russian troops in the north of the country were pulling back, slowly but noticeably, Mr Zelensky also said.

Lamiat Sabin2 April 2022 01:30

Putin reportedly ‘bathes in blood from deer antlers’

Health-conscious Vladimir Putin reportedly bathes in the blood drawn from deer antlers.

Russian outlet The Project has released an investigative report claiming that the 69-year-old Russian president has an “interest in unconventional medicine” despite being surrounded by doctors, including those in his own family.

The journalists state that Putin has resorted to travelling to the Altai region of Russia – that borders Khazakstan and Mongolia – to partake in the procedure involving deer antlers taken from the animals in the spring when the horns are “soft and full of blood”.

“The … elites quickly spotted Putin’s new hobby,” The Project wrote. “Antlers and other ways to extend one’s youth quickly became popular among officials.”

Putin has had 35 secret meetings with a cancer specialist over four years, the report also states.

“In medical circles, it is believed that the president was undergoing a complicated procedure related to some kind of thyroid disease during this period,” it adds.

Lamiat Sabin1 April 2022 23:59

Boost in ratings for Vladimir Putin after Ukraine invasion – poll

Vladimir Putin has received a boost in ratings since he launched Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a poll.

Some 83 per cent of respondents to the Russian survey said they support Putin’s actions.

This is compared to 69 per cent in January and 71 per cent in early February, before Putin ordered the invasion that started on 24 February.

On the other hand, the proportion of people who said they disapproved dropped from 29 per cent in January to 27 per cent in February. It then almost halved to 15 per cent in March.

The poll by the Levada Center, the first it conducted since the conflict began, asked the question: “Do you approve the activities of V. Putin as the President (Prime Minister) of Russia?”

The answers were categorised as “yes”, “no”, and “no answer”.

The survey was conducted on March 24-30 in in-person interviews with 1,632 people across Russia. The margin of error was 3.4 per cent.

The findings correlate with those of Kremlin-funded pollsters, which also showed Putin’s approval ratings at above 80 percent.

Lamiat Sabin1 April 2022 23:10

‘Belgorod oil depot fire likely to strain Russian logistics’ – UK

The destruction by fire of several oil tanks at a depot in the Russian city Belgorod will likely put pressure on the country’s supply chains, according to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).

It said that the “probable loss of fuel and ammunition supplies from these depots will likely add additional short-term strain to Russia’s already stretched logistic chains.”

“Supplies to Russian forces encircling Kharkhiv (60 km from Belgorod) may be particularly affected,” the MoD tweeted.

Earlier today, Moscow blamed the attack on Ukraine. Kyiv denied responsibility for the incident.

Speaking on national television, Ukraine’s Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said: “For some reason they say that we did it, but according to our information this does not correspond to reality.”

Lamiat Sabin1 April 2022 22:50

In case you missed it: Kyiv denies attacking Russian oil depot

Ukraine’s top security official denied Russia’s accusations that Ukraine was behind an attack on an oil depot in the Russian city of Belgorod.

Read the full story here by Stuti Mishra and Jane Dalton

Lamiat Sabin1 April 2022 22:30

‘US preparing Ukraine in case of chemical weapon attack’ – Psaki

Ukraine is being supplied with equipment by the US in case Russia deploys chemical or biological weapons, the White House said.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said the supplies were being provided after the US and other western nations warned that Russia could unleash the substances on Ukraine.

Russia could orchestrate a “false flag” operation to prepare for a chemical or biological weapon attack, she said.

Lamiat Sabin1 April 2022 22:10

Russia ‘plans to strengthen western borders to prevent attacks’

Russia would strengthen its western borders – such as that with Ukraine – so that “it wouldn’t cross anyone’s mind to attack”.

This is according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as quoted by Russian news agency RIA.

RIA also cited Peskov as saying the strengthening exercise would ensure the “necessary parity” was maintained, but did not give details.

Lamiat Sabin1 April 2022 21:50