· The US Presidential Administration has dedicated two commemorative coins from the “Historical Moments” series to Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The White House in a souvenir shop presented a commemorative coin dedicated to the historic address of Vladimir Zelensky to the US Congress on March 7, 2022.
Zelensky’s speech is considered exemplary as a wartime leader, and it is on a par with the legendary speeches of Winston Churchill during World War II.
Proceeds from the sale of the coin will be used entirely for humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people. ” [9:49am 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
· In Russia, the pension savings of Russians will used to recapitalise banks.
The Kremlin says such a measure is being introduced to ensure the financial stability of Russia’s banking system.
The previous time the Russian government resorted to having to use the money from the National Welfare Fund to re-capitalise banks during the financial crisis of 2008-2009.
The National Welfare Fund which is used as part of the mechanism of funding the pensions of Russian, will now be used to fund to help fund the Russian government’s deficit by buying government debt issues. It is estimated that the amount of funds that could be used up for this purpose could total some US$10 billion (one trillion rubles). [9:50am 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
· The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson delivered part of his Easter address in Ukrainian on Sunday.
In his Easter greeting, mostly in English, Johnson said that for Ukrainians, Christ’s message of hope, the triumph of life over death, and the triumph of good over evil applies more this year than ever before.
“Be strong and have courage in your heart, you are all who trust in the Lord,” Boris Johnson said in Ukrainian.
Traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs can also be seen in the video posted on the official Twitter account of the British Prime Minister.
[11:45am 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
· EU sanctions have hampered the supply of equipment for bakeries in Russia
Up to 90% of all bakeries in Russia work on European equipment, the import of which was banned by the EU – stocks of components and consumables for equipment from large manufacturers will be enough for several months.
The dependence of bakery industries in major cities of the country on imported equipment, primarily imported from the EU, reaches 80-90%, in the regions – 50-70%, said the executive director of the National Baking Union Rustam Aidiev.
The EU has banned the import of this equipment under the fifth package of sanctions adopted on April 8. [11:49-17-4-2022 Kyiv]
· The EU is allocating another € 50 million in humanitarian funding to support people affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
· Of this total and amount of 5m euros is designated for Moldova to assist with refugees arriving from Ukraine.
· Durov along with a number of other Russia-related billionaires are reluctant to have FORBES call them Russian citizens, focusing on foreign citizenship: the trend has been growing in recent months. [1:47pm 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
· Bulgaria has banned Russian-flagged vessels from entering their Black Sea ports as part of expanded EU sanctions.
The ban was made effective as from 3:00am 16 April. [1:47pm 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
· Nearly all the team and trainers of the football of the club “Prykarpattya” from Ivano-Frankivsk joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces. [3:34pm 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
· Dozens of foreign architectural firms left Russia after the Russia invaded Ukraine. [3:41pm 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
· European Commission President: “Ukraine can win, and Putin will definitely be punished”.
The head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen went on to state: “Putin is responsible for this war, he ordered the invasion and pulls all the strings”. [5:58pm 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
· Ports of all EU countries have stopped servicing Russian ships as of 17 April 2022. Earlier some countries with coastlines on the Black Sea banned Russian ships from entering their ports, [4:08pm 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
· Production of Russian anti-aircraft missiles have paused, factory workers are stood down or sign up to war.
According to Ukrainian intelligence information the production facilities of the Ulyanovsk Mechanical Plant (JSC UMZ, Ulyanovsk) have been effectively shut down. ZGRK “Tunguska”).
“The reasons for the critical state of production – the lack of a large number of components and electronic components in the manufacture of military products. Until recently, the main supplier of the Russian military-industrial complex was Germany. But with the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, any cooperation was terminated, ” the intelligence stated.
Factory workers are given a choice: go on unpaid leave or sign a contract with the armed forces to take part in the war in Ukraine. [4:15pm 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
·
The Czech city of Ostrava wants to donate to Ukraine serviceable trams, which are put up for sale by Dopravní podnik Ostrava.
Also, according to the city’s mayor Matsura, the city wants to send buses and firefighting equipment to Ukraine as another gift. All necessary documents are currently being prepared.
The transport company is currently offering 20 T3 tram cars and six T6A5 tram cars for sale at a starting price of 2.3 million koruna [~AUD$138,000].
Some trams are still running in the city or have already been taken off the routes, but are in working order, others, for example, after the accident or have minor defects. [4:42pm 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
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Russia’s bankruptcy is just a matter of time: Head of EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen considers Russia’s bankruptcy to be only a matter of time.
The head of the European Commission, who previously was Germany’s Defence Minister, noted that all member states “who can (provide some weapons) must provide them quickly, because only then will Ukraine be able to survive in its fierce defense
struggle against Russia.”
She does not consider the five packages of political sanctions imposed by the EU so far to be lenient, as they are penetrating the Russian economy more and more every week. Von der Leyen cited statistics: exports to Russia fell by 70 percent; 700 Russian aircraft lost their licenses due to lack of spare parts and software updates; hundreds of large companies and thousands of experts refuse to cooperate; and according to current forecasts, Russia’s gross domestic product will fall by 11 percent. [6:57pm 17-4-2022 Kyiv]
· India has changed its mind to buy helicopters in Russia: they will make them themselves’
India has decided to cancel plans to purchase 48 Mi-17 V5 helicopters in Russia which are produced in Kazan, a city in southwestern Russia. Instead the government has decided to support the “do it in India” government initiative.
According to sources, India is actively working on the nationalization of the defense sector and has recently suspended or canceled a large number of import contracts.