Newsweek magazine on April 16, citing information from leaked Pentagon and US intelligence documents, said that the US and its allies are preparing the Ukrainian military to launch a spring counterattack on April 30.
The total force involved in the operation consisted of 9 brigades, requiring 253 tanks, 381 mechanized equipment, 480 vehicles, 147 cannons and 571 Humvee multi-purpose armored vehicles. On the other hand, US intelligence believes that losing Bakhmut will be a psychological blow to the Ukrainian army.
Quick view: What’s hot about the Russian military campaign in Ukraine on 417?
The accuracy of this information is unknown at this time. After the leak, Ukrainian officials recently emphasized that the counter-attack plan was discussed by only a few top officials and could be changed.
On the Russian side, the Ministry of Defense of the country on April 17 announced that Wagner mercenaries had captured the central and northwestern districts of Bakhmut. Mr. Yevgeny Prigozhin previously said he controlled more than 80% of the city, including administrative centers.
On April 17, the Slovakian Ministry of Defense announced that it had delivered 13 promised MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. Previously, Poland supplied several MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said on April 16 that the country had not seen Chinese weapons used by Russian forces on the battlefield.
Ukraine doubts the possibility of an end to the conflict
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba visited Iraq on April 17, the first visit by a Ukrainian foreign minister in 11 years. In a joint press conference with his counterpart, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said that Baghdad is ready to help the two conflicting sides reach a ceasefire agreement to negotiate.
The West does not believe that Ukraine will take back Crimea
However, Mr. Kuleba is pessimistic about the chances of this effort succeeding. “Russia is looking for a war and this is the biggest obstacle, the biggest barrier on the way to peace,” Kuleba said. The diplomat said that negotiations can only take place if Russia stops fighting and withdraws its troops from Ukrainian territory.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a visit to Brazil on the same day said that Moscow wants the conflict to end as soon as possible. Previously, Russia repeatedly demanded that the negotiations recognize new realities, referring to Russia’s annexation of four regions in Ukraine.
G7 discuss Ukraine situation
The foreign ministers of the G7 countries agreed to strengthen cooperation to prevent Russia from evading sanctions and buying weapons from abroad, as well as against actions that change the status quo, including in Ukraine.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry said on April 17 that top diplomats from seven industrialized countries, or G7, had committed to “strengthening, fully coordinating and implementing” sanctions against Russia, the latest move to show support for Ukraine in the ongoing conflict, according to Kyodo news agency.
Poland and Hungary ban Ukrainian grain imports, Kyiv unhappy
More EU members ban Ukrainian grains
Slovak Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan announced on April 17 that the authorities had banned the import of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine, following a similar decision by Poland over the weekend. Mr. Vlcan said that this is an action to protect the domestic market and the health of consumers. Earlier, Slovakia banned the distribution of a batch of Ukrainian grain after detecting a pesticide concentration higher than the allowable threshold.
Despite the import ban, Slovakia still allows Ukrainian agricultural products to be brought through Slovak territory to other countries.
Earlier, Poland and Hungary announced a ban on imports of grain and other Ukrainian products, as goods from the war-torn country flooded neighboring Eastern European countries, causing local agricultural products to drop in price. serious.
Kyiv expressed regret over the move while the EU warned members against taking unilateral action, according to Reuters. The news agency quoted a senior EU official as saying that the ambassadors of the countries would discuss the moves of Poland and Hungary this week.
NATO artillery, M777 howitzer ‘failed’ because of Russian Lancet-3 UAV?
