Moldova extends its state of emergency by 60 days, citing Russian threats
Moldova has said a Russian missile violated its airspace amid a fresh assault on Ukraine.
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Moldova’s Parliament voted to increase its state of emergency by 60 days in response to what the government deemed to be persistent threats from Russia’s “hybrid war.”
“The extension of the state of emergency is a crucial constitutional tool because we’re still facing elements of Russia’s hybrid war against the Republic of Moldova,” Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said in televised comments before the vote.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu warned in February of what her government believed to be Russian plans to perform a coup d’etat and put the country “at Russia’s disposal.”
A small European country on Ukraine’s western border, Moldova has suffered political and economic upheaval amid the war, including inside its separatist, pro-Russian breakaway state of Transnistria. It’s a landlocked country, and one in every of Europe’s poorest.
Moldova has nonetheless strengthened ties with the West in recent years, and received EU candidate status last June, on the same day as Ukraine — something that has angered Moscow, which sees the post-Soviet country as being inside its sphere of influence.
— Natasha Turak
Norway says its sovereign wealth fund remains to be not in a position to divest from Russia
Norway’s massive sovereign wealth fund has not been in a position to divest from Russia greater than a 12 months after the full-scale war in Ukraine began, the Norwegian finance ministry said.
Olso decided it must divest from its Russian holdings shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but says that sanctions impacting the bank it uses have prevented it from doing so.
“The concrete and practical problem is that the custodian bank that we use is under sanctions, and cannot assist us with settlement of transactions, and neither with voting on shares” in Russian firms, the fund’s deputy chief executive officer, Trond Grande, said in late January. “So subsequently the situation is deadlocked. There isn’t any way we will either sell or buy or vote on these shares.”
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, which at $1.3 trillion in assets is one in every of the largest in the world, holds shares in 47 Russian firms and some state bonds, which at the end of 2021 were price a cumulative $2.4 billion, based on Reuters. Bloomberg reported in January 2023 that the value of the holdings had dropped to $292 million.
“The marketplace for trading in Russian financial instruments remains to be subject to comprehensive sanctions and has not been normalized as of March 2023,” Norway’s finance ministry said in a document Friday.
— Natasha Turak
Wimbledon allows Russian and Belarusian players back into tournament in ban reversal
The Wimbledon logo amongst flowers The Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 10, 2019 in London, England.
Visionhaus | Getty Images
In 2022, Russian and Belarusian athletes were barred from competing at the Wimbledon tennis tournament in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and All England Club (AELTC) announced the reversal of the bans on Friday, allowing residents of the two countries to partake in the event that they compete as “neutral” athletes and comply with certain conditions. Those conditions include signing a declaration of neutrality that may forbid them from expressing support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, accepting funding from Russia or Belarus, or receiving sponsorship from organizations linked to those governments.
The LTA had been hit with fines consequently of the previous ban, and said if it stayed in place, there was “an actual prospect of the termination of our membership” which might cancel its events in other parts of the UK.
Ian Hewitt, chairman of AELTC, said: “We proceed to sentence totally Russia’s illegal invasion and our wholehearted support stays with the people of Ukraine. This was an incredibly difficult decision, not taken calmly or without an ideal deal of consideration for individuals who shall be impacted.”
“It’s our view that, considering all aspects, these are the most appropriate arrangements for The Championships for this 12 months,” he said, adding that “if circumstances change materially between now and the commencement of The Championships, we are going to consider and respond accordingly.”
Read the full story here.
— Natasha Turak
NATO’s Stoltenberg hopes to welcome Sweden into the alliance ‘as soon as possible’
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a joint press conference with the Swedish prime minister in Stockholm on March 7, 2023, following a gathering with all Swedish party leaders who’re in favor of a Swedish NATO membership.
Jonathan Nackstrand | AFP | Getty Images
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he looks forward to “also welcoming Sweden as a full member” of the defense alliance “as soon as possible,” following Turkey’s ratification of Finland’s NATO membership on Thursday night.
The unanimous vote of approval from Turkey’s parliament follows a months-long saga that saw Turkey demand certain concessions from Finland and its neighbor Sweden, each of whom applied to NATO in May 2022 in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Joining NATO requires unanimous approval from all member states.
Turkey and Hungary remained the final holdouts standing in the way of the Nordic states’ accession to the 74-year-old alliance. Ankara and Budapest this week gave Finland the green light, but have yet to approve Sweden’s membership bid.
Turkey’s animosity toward Sweden centers mainly on Sweden’s support for Kurdish groups that Ankara considers to be terrorists or affiliated with militants.
“Turkey each confirms that we’ve done what we said we might do, but in addition they say that they need things that we cannot or are not looking for to provide them,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in early January. Nonetheless, he expressed confidence that Turkey would approve his country’s NATO bid.
— Natasha Turak
Belarusian leader Lukashenko says Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons will protect it from western invasion
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko meet at the Palace of Independence in Minsk, Belarus on December 19, 2022.
Kremlin Press Office | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko praised Russia’s announcement last week that it could position tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying it could protect his country from a Western invasion.
Lukashenko claimed that NATO’s troops and activities in Poland are in preparation for an invasion of his country.
“Take my word for it, I even have never deceived you. They’re preparing to invade Belarus, to destroy our country,” he told lawmakers in an annual address.
If Russian President Vladimir Putin follows through along with his announced plan, it could mark the first time that Russia deploys nuclear weapons outside of its borders since the Soviet Union fell in 1991.
Lukashenko has been in power for 28 years and usually crushes dissent, arresting and killing political opponents, based on Belarusian activists and rights groups. Russia has in the past helped the Belarusian leader in quelling dissent, supplying manpower and equipment.
Lukashenko has to date been a staunch supporter of Putin, allowing Belarus for use as a staging ground for the Ukraine invasion and hosting tens of 1000’s of Russian troops. Belarus has avoided joining Russia in combat operations in Ukraine to date.
— Natasha Turak
Japan imposes latest export bans on steel, aluminum and aircraft going to Russia
Fumio Kishida at a Tokyo press conference in February. The prime minister is making a surprise trip to Ukraine while Chinese President Xi Jinping is in the middle of a state visit to Russia.
Stanislav Kogiku | AFP | Getty Images
Japan’s trade ministry announced export bans on aluminum, steel and aircraft to Russia, including drones.
The bans may also prevent Japanese businesses and entities from exporting a spread of business equipment to Russia, including ship engines, optical devices and construction machinery, the ministry said in a press release. They may go into effect on April 7.
Japan has been a consistent supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Russia, and in February announced a $5.5 billion aid package for the country. It has also provided Ukraine $520 million in loans for emergency economic assistance, and earlier in March Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit to Kyiv to fulfill with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
— Natasha Turak
Ukraine and Russia are consistently targeting one another’s counter-battery radars: UK MoD
Ukrainian and Russian forces are each working to take out one another’s counter-battery radars, Britain’s Ministry of Defense wrote in its every day intelligence update on Twitter. Counter-battery radars, also called Cobra, are the radar systems that detect artillery fire from mortars, howitzers, rocket launchers and other guns and use those trajectories to find out the locations of the weapons that fired them.
“Efforts by either side to neutralise their opponent’s counter-battery radars have been a relentless element of the conflict. These systems are relatively few in number but are a big force multiplier,” the ministry wrote. “They permit commanders to rapidly locate and strike enemy artillery.”
The radars are vital in combat but in addition more vulnerable to being targeted due to their electromagnetic signature.
“Russia has lost at the very least six ZOOPARK-1M [counter-battery radars] and likely only has a really limited number left in Ukraine,” the ministry said.
“Regenerating counter-battery radar fleets is probably going a key priority for either side, but Russia will likely struggle because the systems rely on supplies of high-tech electronics which have been disrupted by sanctions.”
— Natasha Turak
Ukraine marks one 12 months since Bucha massacre
A person walks amongst graves of unidentified local individuals who were killled in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv on March 30, 2023, a day before the celebration of the first anniversary of the Bucha liberation from Russian troops on March 31.
Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images
Ukraine is commemorating one 12 months since the Bucha massacre, which saw tons of of civilians killed by invading Russian forces and left in streets and basements or buried in mass graves in a suburb outside of Kyiv.
“For a lot of residents of the Kyiv region, the past 12 months has turn out to be the most horrific in their entire lives,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app. “And the liberation of the Kyiv region has turn out to be a logo of the undeniable fact that Ukraine will have the opportunity to win this war.”
Russian troops gave up on their attempted assault of Kyiv and retreated roughly a month after the initial full-scale invasion on Ukraine began, leaving death and destruction in their wake.
International experts and investigators have spent months gathering evidence in Bucha and other areas where Ukraine says Russian forces carried out atrocities. Moscow denies the accusations.
Now, “Bucha is filled with life,” Reuters reported Friday. “Young families crisscross central streets and the sounds of construction clatter in the crisp spring air.” Still, some buildings remain war-scarred, with bullet-ridden fences and destroyed military vehicles a visual a part of the town’s features.
— Natasha Turak
Turkey formally approves Finland’s NATO membership, in setback for Russia
Turkey’s parliament voted unanimously to formally approve Finland’s membership to NATO on Thursday, marking a historic step for the traditionally nonaligned Nordic country that shares an 830-mile border with Russia.
The vote follows a months-long saga that saw Turkey demand certain concessions from Finland and its neighbor Sweden, each of whom applied to NATO in May 2022 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Joining NATO requires unanimous approval from all member states. Ankara’s vote late on Thursday marked Finland’s clearing of its final hurdle in the accession process.
Turkey and Hungary remained the final holdouts standing in the way of the Nordic states’ accession to the 74-year old alliance. Ankara has yet to approve of Sweden’s membership bid, while Hungary — whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been on friendly terms with Russian leader Vladimir Putin — has approved Finland’s accession, but not Sweden’s.
— Natasha Turak
Zelenskyy addresses Ukraine on four-hundredth day of war
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits a site of residential buildings recently damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine March 27, 2023.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | via Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country was preparing to take back more of the territory seized by Russia during its full-scale invasion.
“This can be a colossal path that we’ve walked all together,” Zelenskyy said in a nightly address, marking 400 days of the war.
“We won’t leave a single trace of Russia on our land. And we won’t leave any enemy unpunished either. We’re preparing news about this,” he said, without offering other details.
“Today, on the 4 hundredth day of resistance, full-scale resistance, I need to thank everyone in the world who stands with Ukraine. Who shares our interpretation of freedom. Who supports our pursuit of justice. Who has the same strong conviction that we, Ukrainians, have… the conviction that the world ought to be based on rules, on civilized rules – on the rules of humanity, respect and peace. That’s the reason Ukraine will win,” he added.
— Amanda Macias
Russia seeks arms-for-food cope with North Korea, White House says
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin speaks during a gathering of the Russian interior ministry board in Moscow, Russia, March 20, 2023.
Alexei Nikolskyi | Sputnik | Reuters
The White House said it has latest evidence that Russia is looking again to North Korea for weapons to fuel the war in Ukraine, this time in a deal that may provide Pyongyang with needed food and other commodities in return.
It’s the latest accusation that Russia, desperate for weaponry and restricted by sanctions and export controls, is popping to “rogue” nations to assist it proceed to prosecute the 13-month-old war.
“As a part of this proposed deal, Russia would receive over two dozen sorts of weapons and munitions from Pyongyang,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “We also understand that Russia is searching for to send a delegation to North Korea and that Russia is offering North Korea food in exchange for munitions.”
The administration has previously declassified intelligence to present evidence that Iran sold tons of of attack drones to Russia over the summer and that the Wagner Group, a personal Russian military company, has taken delivery of arms from North Korea to assist bolster its forces as they fight side-by-side with Russian troops in Ukraine.
— Associated Press