Some 130 Ukrainian POWs were returned by Russia over the Orthodox Easter weekend. Russia said Saturday that mercenaries in the Wagner group captured two districts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where fierce battles have raged for months.
(Bloomberg) — Some 130 Ukrainian POWs were returned by Russia over the Orthodox Easter weekend. Russia said Saturday that mercenaries in the Wagner group captured two districts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where fierce battles have raged for months.
China’s new defense minister, Li Shangfu, heads to Russia on Sunday in his first official foreign trip since being appointed in March. Li is expected to hold talks on global and regional security with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu during the three-day visit.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia’s Wagner Group whose mercenaries are fighting alongside regular Russian troops, said Moscow could declare it has met the goals of what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine and focus on holding onto territory already seized.
Key Developments
- Hungary, Poland Block Ukrainian Farm Imports as Accord Falters
- Airman Charged Over Leak as Biden Clamps Down on Secrets
- India Could Buy Russian Crude Past Cap if OPEC+ Cuts Boost Costs
- Putin Paves Way for New Call-Up as Ukraine Invasion Drags On
- Summers Warns US Getting ‘Lonely’ as Other Powers Band Together
(All times CET)
India Could Buy Russian Crude Past Cap if OPEC+ Cuts Boost Costs (11:30 a.m.)
India will explore buying Russian crude oil near or past the price cap imposed by the G-7, said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
“We have a large population and we also therefore have to look at prices which are going to be affordable for us,” Sitharaman said in an interview Saturday in Washington, where she attended the IMF/World Bank spring meetings.
The South Asian nation needs to constantly look for the “best deal” since it imports almost 80% of its crude oil requirements, Sitharaman said. India, along with China, has emerged as one of the key buyers of Russian crude.
130 Ukrainian Prisoners Returned in Easter Exchange, Zelenskiy Aide Says (10 a.m.)
Among those returned in a Easter POW swap were members of the military, border guards, national guardsmen and sailors, including personnel captured in Bakhmut, Soledar, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, said Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine’s president.
“The quintessence of Easter holiday is hope. This is exactly what the relatives of the prisoners felt. They had been waiting for them for so long,” Yermak said. There was no immediate word from Russia on the latest exchange.
The previous big swap came on April 10, when 106 Russians and 100 Ukrainians were freed. Many of the Ukrainians were reported to have serious injuries or illnesses.
Chinese Defense Minister Heads to Russia (8:30 a.m.)
China’s new defense minister, General Li Shangfu, travels to Russia on Sunday on his first official foreign trip since he was appointed in March. He’ll meet there with Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in the latest signs of close ties between Moscow and Beijing.
Announcing the visit on Friday, Russia’s defense ministry said the pair would “discuss the status and prospects of bilateral cooperation in the defense sphere as well as topical global and regional security issues.” The statement made no mention of the war in Ukraine.
Read more: China Sends Defense Minister to Russia for First Time Since War
Teenagers Killed in Missile Attack in Mykolayiv Region (8 a.m.)
Two teenagers were killed in a Russian S-300 missile attack on Snihurivka in the Mykolayiv region of southeastern Ukraine, the local governor said in Telegram.
Missile strikes were also launched on Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions, with at least four injuries reported. The focus of hostilities remains the Donetsk towns of Bakhmut and Mariyinka.
Russia’s Teplinsky Making a Comeback, UK Says (7 a.m.)
General Colonel Mikhail Teplinsky, commander of Russia’s corps of airborne troops, or the VDV, “has highly likely returned to a major role in Ukraine” after being removed from action in January, the UK defense ministry said.
“Teplinsky is likely one of the few senior Russian generals widely respected by the rank-and-file,” the ministry said in a Twitter thread. “His recent turbulent career suggests intense tensions between factions within the Russian General Staff about Russia’s military approach in Ukraine.”
The VDC have resumed a key mission in the battle for Bakhmut in Ukraine’s east in recent days, the UK said.
Hungary, Poland Block Ukrainian Farm Imports as Accord Falters (11:32 p.m.)
Hungary joined Poland in announcing a halt in Ukrainian agricultural imports, saying that duty-free imports from its neighbor in the face of Russia’s invasion are putting Hungarian farmers at risk.
The suspension will be in effect until June 30 “in the absence of substantive EU measures,” the Agriculture Ministry in Budapest said in a statement. Poland halted imports of grain and some other food products from Ukraine to avert a “crisis of agriculture,” Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the governing Law and Justice party, said earlier Saturday.
Read more: Hungary, Poland Block Ukrainian Farm Imports as Accord Falters
Prigozhin Says Russia Should Declare It Has Met Its Goals (5:19 p.m.)
Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said Russia could simply declare victory if it ended its more than year-old invasion of Ukraine today, reasoning that its forces have seized a “fat chunk” of territory.
“The ideal scenario is to declare an end to the ‘special military operation’, and tell everyone that Russia has achieved the results it planned to,” he said in an article published by his press service and on Telegram. The thing to do now, he wrote, is to “firmly hold onto the territories that we already gained.”
Prigozhin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, later clarified his remarks. He said the main point was to underline his support for “an honest fight and no back deals” and alert to the risk of the what he called the “deep state” hindering that fight.
Yellen Backs Making Russia Pay for Damage (4 p.m.)
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Russia should pay for damage caused by its war in Ukraine, though “there are legal constraints on what we can do” with regards to frozen Russian assets.
“I think Russia should pay for the damage it has done to Ukraine” and the US is discussing the matter with partner nations,” she said on CNN in response to a question by correspondent Fareed Zakaria.
Ukraine will require at least $411 billion for recovery and reconstruction, the World Bank said in an estimate in March.
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