Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 05-01-2024

US support for Kyiv has become a major source of controversy in Congress, with a number of far-right Republicans seeking to cut off backing for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

An extreme right-wing US lawmaker said Wednesday that she plans to introduce a motion next week to oust Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, for backing new aid for Ukraine.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a firebrand Republican congresswoman from Georgia and supporter of former president Donald Trump, accused Johnson of "betrayal."

Small Countries Can Beat Big Countries

JD Vance has been one of the most vocal opponents of Ukraine aid within the Republican Party.

Like much of the MAGA caucus, JD has cited concerns of corruption and escalation with Russia alongside the increasingly bizarre argument that the easiest way to save Ukrainian lives would be to cease all support.

Key takeaways you should learn from Avdiivka to get a balanced, realistic update on the war in Ukraine.

On Ukraine’s side both the optimists and pessimists point to Avdiivka to back their ideas and positions. Here are five key takeaways you should learn about Avdiivka to get a more balanced, realistic picture of Ukrainian strategy and tactics.

1. The Russians really are gaining ground and the pace really is accelerating.

After the full-scale invasion began, Jonathan Fink launched a YouTube channel to provide in-depth interviews with some of the most well-known experts on Ukraine, Russia, and the war.

Ukrainian intelligence said the suspect controlled the operations from abroad and sold forged documents to draft dodgers to help them leave Ukraine or enter occupied territories.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said a “leader of a criminal organization” that aided draft dodgers’ escapes from Ukraine by selling them forged documents has been extradited from Bulgaria.

According to the SBU press release, the suspect was in hiding in the EU for the last two years and controlled the operations from abroad. The SBU said it arrested seven of his accomplices in Ukraine at the end of January 2023.

Reduction of UAH bond rates resumes.

The NBU's decision to cut its interest rates by 100bp caused increased competition at yesterday's primary auction and led to a decrease in bond interest rates by 55‒70bp.

Realizing that this is likely the last placement of this issue of 12-month bills (as the MoF stops placing all new bonds when they reach UAH20bn outstanding), investors submitted bids three times above the cap set by the MoF (UAH9bn vs UAH3bn). Of course, where the competition was the greatest, the rate reduction was the smallest. The maximum rate in bids was 15.6%, which was only 40bp below last week's cut-off rate. The minimum rate was 15.35% or 50bp lower than last week.

Armenia and Georgia - moving in different directions.

Remarkable times in the South Caucasus, with evidence of shifting strategic allegiances.

Armenia, which had been long deemed to be in Russia’s strategic orbit - itself a reflection of Yerevan’s desire to shelter under Russia’s strategic umbrella as a defence against Azeri threats to Armenia’s prior control over Nagorni Karabakh, seems set to break from Moscow.

The AI model was created in the likeness of Rosalie Nombre, a Ukrainian singer and media personality of presumably mixed heritage from the Donetsk region.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has introduced a virtual artificial intelligence (AI) spokesperson to announce consular updates on behalf of the ministry.

The virtual consular representative called Victoriya Shi was created based on the likeness of Rosalie Nombre, a Ukrainian singer and media personality of presumably mixed heritage born in Donetsk who garnered popularity among Ukrainians as a participant in Holostyak, the Ukrainian version of The Bachelor reality show in Western countries.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

A Russian missile attack on an educational institution in a popular seafront park in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, known locally as ‘Harry Potter castle’, on Monday killed at least five people and injured 32, local officials said. The previous death toll was four. The building is reportedly the residence of prominent former MP Serhiy Kivalov, who was among those said to have been injured in the strike. Regional governor Oleh Kiper said that in addition to those killed in the attack, one man died after suffering a stroke attributed to the strike. Kiper said eight of the injured were in serious condition, including a four-year-old child. Among the injured were another child and a pregnant woman. “Our doctors are trying to do their best,” he added - The Guardian

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says it's critical for allies to speed up deliveries of weaponry so Ukrainian forces can put those supplies to use in their fight against the Russian invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that his country needed "a significant acceleration" in deliveries of weaponry from its partners to enable its troops to face advancing Russian troops in several sectors of the front line. Zelensky, looking stern, made his comments in his nightly video address amid an acknowledgement from his top commander that Ukraine's forces have pulled back from villages in some of the most hotly contested sectors in the two-year-old war. "We need a significant acceleration of supplies to enhance tangibly the capabilities of our soldiers," Zelensky said. - CBC

However, the spokesperson provided no further details on the long-awaited deliveries and said the supplies of F-16s “is a question for the highest military-political leadership.”

The first batch of F-16 multirole fighters might arrive after Orthodox Easter on Sunday, May 5, as per the current plan according to Ukrainian Air Force Spokesperson Ilya Yevlash.

However, Yevlash provided no details on the dates since the Air Force “does not think about these dates,” given that the dates have already been changed multiple times.

The Russian troops struck the village of Zolochiv, Kharkiv region, with guided aerial bombs, resulting in the deaths of two civilians and injuring six others, including an 11-year-old boy.

As officials reported, an explosion rang out in Kharkiv, and later it became known about the Russian hit on Wednesday, May 1. Russian troops also attacked the village of Zolochiv, resulting in casualties and injuries.

“An explosion was heard in the city,” Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote via Telegram.

The Caucasus nation has been gripped by anti-government protests since April 9, after the ruling Georgian Dream party reintroduced plans to pass notorious “foreign agents” law.

Georgian security forces used water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades against protesters outside parliament late on Tuesday (30 April), sharply escalating a crackdown after lawmakers debated a “foreign agents” bill which is viewed by the opposition and Western nations as authoritarian and Russian-inspired.

Reuters eyewitnesses saw some police officers physically attack protesters, who threw eggs and bottles at them, before using tear gas, water cannon and stun grenades to force demonstrators from the area outside the Soviet-built parliament building.

Finland's relations with its powerful neighbour have soured since Russia's 2022 invasion. The war prompted Helsinki to reverse its decades-long policy of military non-alignment and join NATO in 2023.

Two Finnish towns near the Russian border plan to close schools offering Russian language and culture classes, upsetting parents and students who say cross-cultural understanding is needed more than ever.

Finland's relations with its powerful eastern neighbour have soured since Russia's 2022 invasion.

Some of the key takeaways from the recent Kyiv Security Forum.

“If you have sacrificed my nation to preserve the peace of the world, I will be the first to applaud you. But if not, gentlemen, God help your souls." – Czechoslovakian foreign minister Jan Masaryk to Lord Halifax, in response to announcement of allies' decision in Munich in 1938 to cede Sudetenland to Hitler.

Agile, accurate and robust, the Bohdana is not only an effective machine for the battlefield, but a shining example of Ukraine’s domestic arms production success.

On April 18, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced an increase in domestic arms production, including that Ukraine’s defense industry would put out 10 Bohdana self-propelled artillery systems that month alone. This figure is expected to increase going forward, alongside a rise in production of different types of ammunition.

The news makes it timely to look at the Bohdana system in more detail – its origins, characteristics and potential.

On 1 May 2004, the European Union gained ten new member states when Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Cyprus joined. What are the results?

On 1 May 2004, the European Union gained ten new member states when Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Cyprus joined. What are the results?

Today we are the West

Local reports indicated that the attack on the refinery occurred around 3 a.m. Residents first heard a humming noise, followed by two explosions.

Early Wednesday morning, May 1, Ukraine’s attack drones struck another oil refinery in Russia’s Ryazan region, Kyiv Post’s intelligence sources say. 

“This is a special operation of the HUR,” the source said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told NATO members earlier this month that his country needed a minimum of seven additional Patriot or other high-end air defense systems

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday he has been encouraging countries with Patriot missile systems to donate them to Ukraine, which has appealed for more of the air defense batteries.

"There are countries that have Patriots, and so what we're doing is continuing to engage those countries," Austin told a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

Last week Ukraine said it would stop issuing new passports abroad to some military-aged men and suspended consular services for men aged 18 to 60 living abroad, sparking fury among expatriates.

Poland will not "protect" Ukrainian draft dodgers on its soil, a deputy foreign minister said Tuesday, as authorities in Warsaw called for EU action on the matter.

Ukraine is scrambling to recruit troops after more than two years of war against Russia and has recently passed a mobilisation law, lowering the fighting age and toughening penalties for draft dodgers.

Special Ops Forces drone team found and destroyed one Buk in the launch position. When another system arrived to replace it, SSO operators eliminated that one too.

The Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SSO) reported on Telegram the targeting of two Russian Buk anti-aircraft missile complexes with the attack drones.

“SSO hits two Russian Buk air defense systems in the Sumy region,” the caption to the released video said.

This attack follows another Russian missile strike in Odesa on Monday, which killed five people and a dog.

Odesa, a southwestern Ukrainian port city, faced a deadly Russian missile attack early on Wednesday, according to the city's mayor.

"The enemy attacked Odesa with ballistic missiles. As a consequence of the attack, three people were killed and three more wounded," said Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov on Telegram.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian forces did not make any confirmed advances in the Avdiivka area on April 30 for the first time in several days, while Ukrainian sources reported that Russian forces conducted several more attacks in the Bakhmut-Chasiv Yar direction than near Avdiivka.
• Russian forces may decide to push from their salient north of Avdiivka towards the Toretsk area to complement Russian offensive operations near Chasiv Yar, which would likely require Russian forces to conduct a tactical pause to concentrate forces for such a drive.
• Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted a short-range MGM-140 ATACMS strike against targets in occupied Crimea on the night of April 29 to 30.
• Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin expressed outrage over Russian authorities’ treatment of Central Asian migrants, particularly Tajik citizens, indicating that increased Russian efforts to control migrants living in and entering Russia following the March 22 Crocus City Hall attack are continuing to strain Tajik-Russian relations.
• Former Georgian Prime Minister and founder of the Georgian Dream political party Bidzina Ivanishvili reiterated a series of standard Kremlin information operations during his first public speech since announcing his return to Georgian public politics in December 2023.
• Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Kreminna, Chasiv Yar, and Robotyne.
• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) reported on April 30 that Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov and First Deputy Defense Minister Ruslan Tsalikov inspected a drone testing ground in an unspecified area of occupied Ukraine.
• An investigation by Russian opposition outlet Vazhnye Istorii implicates Kremlin-appointed Russian Commissioner on Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova and her sister in the deportation of special needs Ukrainian adults to Russia.