Russia-Ukraine war – latest news: Putin ‘struggling to maintain justification for invasion’

The UK’s Ministry of Defence has actually recommended that Russia’s management is “struggling to maintain consistency” in the narrative it utilizes to validate its war in Ukraine – according to which, the intrusion is supposedly comparable to the Soviet experience in the Second World War.

In an intelligence update, the ministry said: “On 18 April 2023, Russian state media announced the cancellation of this year’s Immortal Regiment ‘Great Patriotic War’ remembrance marches on ‘safety’ grounds. In reality, the authorities were highly likely concerned that participants would highlight the scope of recent Russian losses.

“This follows Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin publicly questioning whether there are actually any ‘Nazis’ in Ukraine, going against Russia’s justification for the war.

“The authorities have continued attempts to unify the Russian public around polarising myths about the 1940s.

“On 12 April 2023, state news agency RIA Novosti reported ‘unique’ documents from FSB archives, implicating the Nazis in the murder of 22,000 Polish nationals in the Katyn Massacre of 1940. In reality, FSB’s predecessor agency, the NKVD, was responsible. Russia’s State Duma officially condemned Joseph Stalin for ordering the killings in 2010.”

The leading authorities in the Russian-annexed Crimea area of Ukraine has actually said air defence systems have actually been triggered today.

“Air defence forces worked in the sky over Crimea. No damage or casualties. I ask everyone to remain calm and trust only trusted sources of information,” the authorities, Sergei Aksyonov, said on the messaging app Telegram.

He did not state what the target of the air defences was or define the place of the military activity.

* The U.S. choice to supply Ukraine with 31 advanced M1A2 Abrams tanks will make a distinction in the war however is no silver bullet, U.S. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Friday.

* Six German-made Leopard 2A4 tanks predestined for Ukraine left Spain by ship, according to a marine tracking website.

* Ukraine pushed allies for long-range weapons, jets and ammo as the U.S. hosted a conference at the Ramstein air base in Germany on Friday to talk about stepped up assistance to drive away the Russian intrusion.

* Russia’s Defence Ministry said attack soldiers were battling in western parts of Bakhmut, the tail end of the embattled Ukrainian city still held by Kyiv’s forces.

* Ukraine said Russian forces had actually made some advances in their defend Bakhmut however the scenario was under control.

As Ukrainian and Russian soldiers battle traditional fights on the cutting edge, Europe’s very first significant war of the web age has actually likewise stimulated a war of innovation as both sides compete for benefit with their drones and satellite interactions.

While the 2 sides have actually equaled one another so far, Ukraine’s minister in charge of innovation informed The Associated Press in an interview Friday that he was positive his nation had the inspiration and capabilities to out-innovate Russia in the end.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address that Kyiv was actively preparing brand-new systems that had yet to appear on the cutting edge amidst heavy combating in Bakhmut.

Russia’s attack on Bakhmut relies greatly on the Wagner Group personal army, whose leader Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday revealed issue about a Ukrainian counter attack.

“Today we are killing those who were trained in Ukraine but the ones coming from Germany will be technologically educated,” he said in an audio recording launched on Telegram, an obvious recommendation to Ukrainians who will be trained in Germany to utilize Abrams tanks supplied by the United States.

“The West has handed over 230 tanks and 1,500 other armoured vehicles. This, too, is enough to provide serious opposition.”

Ukraine, he anticipated, would strike when the ground had actually tightened after spring rains.

“They will attack … they will come and try to tear us apart, and we must resist,” he said.

A gut-wrenching image of a pregnant female in a bombed-out Mariupol maternity medical facility has actually won the World Press Photo award this year.

The winning image reveals 32-year-old Iryna Kalinina, a hurt pregnant female being brought from a maternity medical facility that was harmed throughout a Russian airstrike in Mariupol in March in 2015.

Her child – called Miron after the word for “peace” – was stillborn. The World Press Photo website said Kalinina passed away half an hour after delivering.

My coworker Maroosha Muzaffar reports:

Six Leopard 2A4 tanks predestined for Ukraine left Spain by ship on Friday, according to a marine tracking website, part of Western military help for Kyiv’s battle versus Russia’s intrusion.

The German-made Leopard tanks and armoured workers providers were driven onto a freight vessel, Reuters witnesses said. The ship will go to Poland and the hardware moved to Ukraine, which is anticipated to launch a spring counteroffensive. It was uncertain when the equipment would get here.

Spanish defence minister Margarita Robles said this month that Spain will send out 10 Leopard 2A4 tanks. The military is fixing the staying 4. Spain has actually likewise trained 40 tank team members and 15 mechanics.

The United States choice to supply Ukraine with 31 advanced M1A2 Abrams tanks will make a distinction in the war however is no silver bullet, United States army basic Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Friday.

Milley’s remarks came as the United States revealed that Abrams tanks to be utilized to train the Ukrainians will get here in Germany in the coming weeks.

“I’m biased, but I think the M1 tank’s the best tank in the world … I do think the M1 tank, when it is delivered, will make a difference,” Milley, the leading United States basic, said after a conference of Ukraine‘s allies at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

“But I would also caution there’s no silver bullet in war.”