A civil war rages between them Ministry of Defense of Russia And her Wagner Groupsince the military leadership of the country refutes the information that Ukrainian forces they are counterattacking and breaking through the Russian cordon at various points north and south of the critical town of Bakhmut. Moscow’s official reaction followed Russian bloggers’ messages on the Telegram platform about the start of Kyiv’s counterattack. This was preceded by a refutation of the Ukrainian president himself, Vladimir Zelensky. “The general situation in the area of ​​the special military operation is under control,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. But the fact that the announcement was made proves that Moscow openly admits that this is a very complex military operation. leader of the Wagner Group, Evgeny Prigozhin, insists that Ukraine has managed to regain control over the important transport route linking Bakhmut with the town of Chasov Yar. The fear, in his opinion, is that if the Ukrainians continue to retake territories, they may encircle Bahamut. “An attempt by the Ministry of Defense to embellish the situation will lead to a global tragedy for Russia. That is why we must stop the lies immediately.”

Meanwhile, there was disappointment when the European EBU refused to allow Zelensky to make a speech at the Eurovision Song Contest, saying the event was “non-political”. “The values ​​and freedoms that President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people are fighting for are not political, they are fundamental, and Eurovision recognized this last year when it rightly excluded Russia from the competition,” commented British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The West is using the funds received from the imposition of sanctions against Russian oligarchs to help Ukraine.

Contacts Zelensky – Pope

Today, the Ukrainian president is expected to meet with the Pope after the pontiff expressed his intention to mediate between the two belligerents to reach a truce. Beijing is also taking a peace initiative as China’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs will visit Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia from Monday to advance peace talks.

On a different note, the NATO commander-in-chief said yesterday that Russia is now relying on inexperienced reservists and poorly trained recruits. At the same time, he turns to old weapons and obsolete equipment, which in many ways lack the accuracy and efficiency of the new ones. For example, Russian troops use T-54 type tanks, which were developed seven decades ago. At the same time, Germany intends to purchase 18 Leopard 2 tanks worth half a billion euros to replace the tanks it transported to Ukraine. The total cost of another 105 tanks reaches 3 billion, which is expected to be approved by the budget committee of the Bundestag at the end of May. For its part, Belgium announced yesterday that it would use 92 million euros from taxes on “frozen” Russian assets to help Ukraine with military and humanitarian aid. The U.S. Justice Department announced on Wednesday that it would channel millions of dollars from the Russian oligarch’s assets to rebuild Ukraine. This is the first such use of funds as a result of sanctions violations. The money comes from a law passed by Congress last year that gives the Justice Department the go-ahead to send funds to the State Department, which can then use them to cover damages from the Russian invasion. The confiscated assets belong to Konstantin Malofeev, a friend close to the Kremlin and known in Greece for trying to create a TV channel in 2015.