Dear Reader, if you find this email interesting, helpful or of value, please do consider forwarding it to your friends or colleagues and encouraging them to subscribe. Thank you.
Morning Headlines
Reuters: Russia seeks to lure South Asian nations to buy shipments from its U.S.-sanctioned facilities with large discounts, leveraging a global natural gas supply crunch, Bloomberg News said on Thursday.
The Kyiv Independent: An oil pumping station in Krymsk, Krasnodar Krai, was struck by Ukrainian drones overnight on April 9, independent Telegram channel Astra reported.
ISW: Ukrainian technological adaptations and drone innovations continue to grant Ukraine tactical and operational leverage as Russian forces suffer from high casualties.
More News
Meduza: Nearly half of the staff at Russia’s embassy in Hungary may have ties to intelligence services, the independent Russian investigative outlet Agentstvo found.
The Insider discovered that several of the propagandists and intelligence officers working undercover as “diplomats” at the Russian Embassy in Budapest are actively involved in the election campaign.
VSquare: Journalists have more calls between Sergei Lavrov and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó. These include discussion of Hungary’s role in blocking financial aid to Ukraine and impeding its accession negotiations with the EU. “Sometimes good-willed direct blackmailing is the best option,” Lavrov told Szijjártó.
The Insider: A 55-year-old man has been detained in Thessaloniki on suspicion of involvement in preparing a double murder in Lithuania in the interests of Russian intelligence services.
The Moscow Times: Preschoolers across Russia will begin state-backed patriotic lessons known as “Kind Games” later this year, a senior Education Ministry official said Wednesday.
Politico: Russia cannot be counted on as a reliable partner, the European Commission said Wednesday in response to a POLITICO report showing Hungary signed a pact with Moscow ahead of Sunday’s election.
Reuters: Ukraine's anti-monopoly committee has sent back an application for a $760 million purchase of a stake in Ukraine's top drone and missile maker Fire Point by a UAE-based defence conglomerate, the agency told Reuters on Wednesday.
Reuters: Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Moscow had summoned the Japanese ambassador in protest over an investment made by a Japanese startup in Ukrainian interceptor drone technology.
Reuters: The Ukrainian military hit Russia's oil terminal in occupied Crimea, the drone forces commander said on Wednesday. Ukrainian forces struck the terminal in Feodosia, the largest maritime oil terminal on the peninsula.
RBC-Ukraine: Currently, the ratio of strike drones deployed by Ukrainian forces to those used by the Russians is 1.3 to 1. The Ukrainian Armed Forces hold the advantage, says Pavlo Palisa, deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
Anadolu: China, Russia, Türkiye and Pakistan can work together to guarantee peace in the region, the Iranian ambassador to Beijing said Wednesday, hours after the announcement of a temporary ceasefire between Tehran and Washington.
LSM: The Latvian Ministry of Finance said on April 8th it supports the proposal of Prime Minister Evika Siliņa proposal to publish a list of Latvian companies that continue to trade with aggressor states Russia and Belarus.
NV: Russian forces have plans to create a “buffer zone” extending into Ukraine’s Vinnytsia Oblast from the direction of the Transdniestria, the unrecognized separatist enclave in Moldova, Ukrainian presidential office deputy head Pavlo Palisa said.
worth mentioning
In Russia, Putin sees something not seen in years: a notable drop in approval ratings
Ukraine renews attacks on Russian energy sites - what has been hit?
Ukraine lets firms deploy air defences against Russian attacks
Putin laughs in Starmer's face as Russia sends warship through Channel
Kremlin’s bomb plot to disrupt Hungary elections and blame Ukraine smashed
Russa-Ukraine Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Do you think your friend or colleague should know about this newsletter? Forward it to them, please.They can also sign up here
Please consider supporting my work
