Author’s articles
Speaking to journalists, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined the key challenges facing Ukraine in the areas of defence, diplomacy and financing. He discussed US military aid, the threat of further Russian attacks, the negotiation process, security guarantees and cooperation with countries in the Middle East.
British strongman Eddie Hall has assessed the prospects of a bout between Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven. He believes the Ukrainian is in for a tough test.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, nearly 200,000 hectares of land have been cleared of mines in Ukraine. Explosive ordnance disposal experts have defused hundreds of thousands of explosive devices.
During the night of 3 April and in the morning, Russian troops attacked the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kherson, Chernihiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The shelling has resulted in deaths and injuries, as well as damage to residential buildings, infrastructure and civilian facilities.
Beijing believes that the war against Iran has not shifted the balance of power in the US’s favour and regards it as a strategic mistake. The Chinese authorities are deliberately refraining from intervening in the conflict.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to halt arms supplies to Ukraine in an attempt to force European countries to join a coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This is one of the key routes for global oil supplies, which has effectively been blocked following US and Israeli strikes against Iran.
During the night at the end of March, units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Unmanned Systems Forces disabled two Russian air defence systems. Among them was a rare ‘Imbir’ radar station in the Luhansk region.
The Swiss government has suspended payments for the Patriot air defence system and has not ruled out terminating the contract. This is due to uncertainty regarding the delivery schedule.
The parties are preparing for a new phase of hostilities, whilst the world’s attention is shifting to events in the Middle East. Negotiations to end the war have so far proved fruitless.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has stated that Tehran has the resolve needed to bring the war with Israel and the US to an end. At the same time, Iran is insisting on guarantees that such aggression will not be repeated.
It is not yet known who is responsible for the kidnapping, but media sources say she had been warned of a possible abduction by the Iranian proxy group Kata’ib Hezbollah.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has urged US partners not to pressure Ukraine into making concessions on Donbas – citing the tragedy in Bucha as her reason.
