Russian drone attack on Odesa region: Air defense forces shoot down 10 out of 12 drones

"Russian troops attacked the Odesa region with Shahed-136/131 kamikaze drones with
Ukrainian defenders destroying 10 out of 12 UAVs." Ukrin

North Korea touts new spy satellite

"North Korea says it has completed work on its first reconnaissance satellite and is preparing
for its maiden launch, stressing the need to bolster its military capabilities amid continued threats from the US and South Korea." RT

Chinese Agents Arrested for ‘Operating a Police Station in the Middle of New York City’

"The U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of two individuals accused of establishing and operating an illegal Chinese regime police station in New York City.

Dozens of others, mostly Chinese nationals currently believed to be in China, are also facing charges of engaging in “transnational repression” against anti-communist dissidents based in the United States, stemming from accusations that the charged established an online army of fake social media accounts to harass and threaten the dissidents.

The arrests are the first in America since the revelation in September by the NGO Safeguard Defenders that China has established dozens of illegal police stations around the world in America, Canada, Japan, Brazil, and Spain, among other locations. The police stations were reportedly used to intimidate and silence dissidents or threaten Chinese nationals considered to dissent from Communist Party orthodoxy to return to China and face the brutal repressive apparatus there." Breitbart

White House lashes out at Brazil over Ukraine

"Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda” by claiming that the West is not interested in ending the fighting in Ukraine, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has stated. During his visit to China last week, Lula said that “the US needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace. The European Union needs to start talking about peace.” RT

Ukrainian troops stop offensive attempt, forcing Russians to flee in Kupyansk direction

"In Kupyansk direction, the enemy tried to go on the offensive but its units started to flee even
before reaching the boundaries of the transition to the attack thanks to the accurate fire of our artillery." Ukrin

Slovakia Temporarily Bans Grain Import from Ukraine

"Prime Minister of Slovakia, Eduard Heger, said that his country is suspending grain import and several other products from Ukraine. "Slovakia will temporarily stop the grain import and other products from Ukraine," Heger said on Facebook." Pravada

Russia and Belarus not allowed to compete in international hockey until war in Ukraine is over

"Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to participate in tournaments of the International Ice Hockey Federation while the war in Ukraine continues, the organisation's president Luke Tardif said." Pravada

Death toll grows in Sudan clashes

"Hospitals are running out of critical supplies amid the ongoing bloodshed.  The UN World
Food Programme said it was forced to halt its operations in the country after three of its employees were killed and two more injured, and a WFP-operated aircraft was “significantly damaged” during clashes at Khartoum International Airport......clashes broke out in the capital Khartoum and other cities between the SAF and the RSF, an independent security branch with roots in pro-government militias. Each side has accused the other of starting hostilities, while making conflicting claims on their gains. The exact power balance on the ground remains unclear, with the international community in unison calling for a ceasefire and negotiations." RT

EU Condemns 'Unilateral' Ban On Ukrainian Grain By Poland & Hungary

"Poland and Hungary both took the drastic step of banning Ukrainian grain and other food
product imports after cheap goods have flooded both countries.

In the wake of Ukrainian ports being blocked for many months prior to the UN-brokered rain export deal, Ukrainian grain to Africa and the Middle East was largely halted.

The European Union blasted the Polish and Hungarian measures." ZH

Ukraine shells Donetsk during Easter service

"Ukrainian forces targeted central Donetsk with a barrage of rockets with several landing near
the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, forcing an evacuation and disrupting Orthodox Easter celebrations." RT

Prize-Winning Journalist Reveals How Ukraine President, Officials Allegedly Embezzled $400 Million

"Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, fresh off his allegations that
the U.S. was behind the Nord Stream pipeline explosions, has published a report that alleged the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is aware of widespread corruption in Ukraine and the embezzlement of US aid.

Hersh’s report accuses the Ukrainian government of using U.S. taxpayer money to purchase diesel from Russia to fuel its military. He further suggested that Ukrainian officials are “competing” to set up front companies for export contracts to private arms dealers around the world.

The issue of corruption was raised during a meeting between CIA Director William Burns and Zelensky in January, according to the report. An intelligence official with direct knowledge of the meeting reportedly told Hersh that Burns delivered a striking message to Zelensky.

Hersh remarkably claimed: “The senior generals and government officials in Kiev were angry at what they saw as Zelensky’s greed, so Burns told the Ukrainian president, because ‘he was taking a larger share of the skim money than was going to the generals.’”

The investigative journalist lays out the scheme that is reportedly being used to profit Zelensky and Ukrainian officials: Embezzlement of U.S. aid for energy funds.

“What also is unknown is that Zelensky has been buying the fuel from Russia, the country with which it, and Washington, are at war, and the Ukrainian president and many in his entourage have been skimming untold millions from the American dollars earmarked for diesel fuel payments,” Hersh reported. “One estimate by analysts from the Central Intelligence Agency put the embezzled funds at $400 million last year, at least; another expert compared the level of corruption in Kiev as approaching that of the Afghan war, ‘although there will be no professional audit reports emerging from the Ukraine’.”

“Zelensky’s been buying discount diesel from the Russians,” one knowledgeable American intelligence official told Hersh. “And who’s paying for the gas and oil? We are. Putin and his oligarchs are making millions” on it.

While much of Hersh’s report is difficult to independently corroborate, there are details that match verifiable reporting.

As Hersh reported, “Burns also presented Zelensky with a list of thirty-five generals and senior officials whose corruption was known to the CIA and others in the American government. Zelensky responded to the American pressure ten days later by publicly dismissing ten of the most ostentatious officials on the list and doing little else.”

In January, Zelensky had undertaken a purge in the Ukrainian government and military to root out endemic public corruption.

“A major effort to root out corruption is sweeping Ukraine,” Time reported. “In recent weeks, leaders have announced the results of several major investigations, as well as firings and resignations across its government.”

“On January 24, following several prominent corruption scandals, including two major investigations involving the embezzlement of funds, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced ‘personnel decisions’ across different government ministries and within Ukrainian law enforcement,” the report continued. “Zelensky also announced that state officials would be banned from traveling internationally for non-government purposes following a report that a now-former top prosecutor vacationed in Spain despite a martial law that bans Ukrainian men ages 18 to 60 from leaving the country without permission.”

“Most recently, the effort swept up Ihor Kolomoisky, a former owner of the largest Ukrainian bank, PrivatBank, and a powerful oligarch,” the report added. “As Reuters reported, Ukrainian security services (SBU), conducted a search at Kolomoisky’s home in connection to an embezzlement investigation of Ukraine’s largest oil company and refiner, Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta, of which Kolomoisky owned a major stake in before the companies were seized by the Ukrainian government in November.”

The anti-corruption effort came in response to “various reports of embezzlement,” the report noted, including “accusations of stolen money intended for troops.”

Ukraine has long struggled to fight public corruption. A 2016 report by the watchdog group Transparency International found that between 38 per cent to 42 per cent of Ukrainian households said they paid bribes to access basic public services such as education or healthcare, reported Time.

Al Jazeera noted that year Ukraine was the second most corrupt nation in Europe, with Russia being the most corrupt." TP

Russians advance on 4 fronts, fierce battles for Bakhmut and Mariinka continue

"Russian

troops are focusing their main efforts on conducting offensive operations on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mariinka fronts; the cities of Bakhmut and Mariinka remain in the epicentre of hostilities." Pravada

Russia strikes border area of Chernihiv Oblast with guided aerial bombs

"Russian aircraft launched an attack on an enterprise in the border area of Chernihiv

Oblast...Reportedly, at about 16:00, the Russians launched guided aerial bombs on the industrial enterprise in the Semenivka district." Pravada

21-Year-Old Suspect Jack Teixeira Arrested In Pentagon Leak

"21-year-old National Guardsman Jack Teixeira has been arrested in connection with the
leak of hundreds of classified documents....Teixeira was identified by the NY Times ahead of his arrest at his home in Dighton, Mass Thursday afternoon. Television footage appeared to show armed personnel leading a male wearing red shorts and a green short with his hands cuffed behind his back." ZH

Not enough weapons being received despite higher delivery pace

"Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, has
noted that, although Ukraine is increasingly receiving weapons from international partners, it is still not enough for the Ukrainian forces to fully cover their demand." Ukrin