Katya is doing amazing work protecting journalists in Ukraine. I’ve seen the difference 2402 Foundation makes on the ground here. Literally saving lives. Please support if you can.

For 18 months I’ve dug into how Russia has effectively vanished 100s of Ukrainians with disabilities into occupied territory or Russia itself. Those who escaped told me most are held incommunicado in squalid conditions& forced to take Russian passports 🧵independent.co.uk/news/world/eur…

This is the second spring that Evan will be spending behind bars:

‘Right now, both sides are jockeying for the “the most favourable position” ahead of potential talks. But meaningful negotiations can begin only in the second half of 2025 at the earliest, he guesses’ economist.com/europe/2024/05…

To be more precise, Skibitsky said Chasiv Yar will *probably* fall eventually. This assessment, by the way, is widely held among Ukraine’s military. Including Gen Pavel Fedosenko, the commander of 92 brigade now defending the city, who I also spoke to last week.

Its 3AM in the morning in Tbilisi. After waves of crackdowns, pepper sprays, tear gas, water canons, beating up, many still remain at the parliament bravely fighting for their freedom and Russia-free future.

Another day, another Ukrainian strike on Russ energy infrastructure. Today it’s turn of Ryazan. Yday, military intelligence general Vadym Skibitsky told me deep strikes are key to Urkaine’s defence. “You can’t just stupidly sit in defence and try to restrain enemy onslaught.”

Quite a book. ⁦Илья Барабанов⁩ and korotkov, in their new history of Wagner, include documents penned by one of its founders and Prigozhin’s key lieutenant Dmitrii Utkin who addressed Prigozhin with a “Heil!” and signed himself with an SS. Denazifiers ffs!

Russia using a missile with cluster munitions in the heart of Odesa. Five people were killed, many more maimed. A war crime as clear as it gets.

China's enablement of Russia's defence industry is stark: economist.com/graphic-detail…

Nice that The Guardian noticed Liosha Radynsky’s extraordinary film about Kyiv’s “flying saucer,” a modernist masterpiece
being threatened by the city’s construction mafia. It might not appear most important battle right now, but it reflects a bigger story. theguardian.com/film/2024/apr/…

I’m no advocate for Raifeissen. But it’s only fair to note that Russian govt has made exit from market practically impossible. They can do it if they surrender almost all assets to Kremlin associated players. Who would then make the money, and tax etc.

1/4 Aftermath of the Ukrainian drone strike on the Rosneft oil depot in Razdorovo, Smolensk Oblast, on Apr. 24th, as seen in a Planet satellite image captured this morning, on April 27th.

Russia has just sentenced a 17 year old girl to 3.5 years hard labour for her anti-war social media posts. She’s the second minor to be given a real prison term for anti-Kremlin views.

Video of a Russian UAV dropping a net on a reported Ukrainian UAV.
t.me/russianocontex…

Some factors “mature much more strongly next year than this year ... [but] will enable Ukraine to shape [the fighting] in much stronger ways than it has before”.

Russian independent Bёрстка counted the number of reports in the Russian press of murders committed by soldiers returning home from the Ukraine frontline. It's over 100.