Ukraine Uncensored NetworkRussia has "intensified preparations" for the forced evacuation of civilians in occupied regions of southern Ukraine to Crimea at the end of the month, Ukraine's military has claimed.
In a Telegram post, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said Russian-installed officials had organised a "survey of the local population" in the cities of Melitopol, in Zaporizhzhia, and Skadovsk in Kherson. It claimed the "presence of a Russian passport, registration and level of education" were checked as part of the survey.
"There is a periodic departure of buses with those wishing to evacuate," the General Staff said."The occupiers are spreading information that the forced evacuation of the civilian population will begin at the end of April."
Yesterday, the Ukrainian military claimed Russia was forcing civilians in occupied areas to obtain Russian passports using violent methods.At present, Russia occupies the area on the east bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson, and the majority of the Zaporizhzhia region.Apr 8, 2023 Ukraine Uncensored Network Russian forces have made further gains in embattled Bakhmut and now Ukraine's supply route is "severely threatened", according to British intelligence. Since late March, Russia's advance had mostly stalled but now it has "likely advanced into the town centre and seized the west bank of the Bakhmuta River", the UK defence ministry said in its latest update. As a result, Ukraine's key supply route to the west of the town is under threat, which could hamper their fighting efforts.
Bakhmut, a city in the east of Ukraine, has become the site of fierce fighting for several months, with both sides losing so many troops it has been described as a "meat grinder".
"Russian regular forces, likely including airborne troops, have probably reinforced the area and Russia is again using artillery more effectively in the sector," the MoD added. One of the reasons for this "regained momentum" is that Wagner mercenary fighters and Russian commanders have "paused their ongoing feud" and started working together, the MoD said. Apr 7, 2023 Ukraine Uncensored Network Ukraine Uncensored Network Ukraine Uncensored Network Ukraine Uncensored Network Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Poland on an official visit to a nation that has provided key military and political support to Kyiv, most recently in the form of MiG fighter jets.Ukraine's presidential office has kept quiet about what the trip will focus on, while Poland has said the frontline, international support, and economic cooperation will be discussed.The meeting comes amid mounting anger in rural areas of Poland over Ukrainian grain imports, which have pushed down prices.Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said: "We will certainly discuss Ukrainian grain and various agricultural products, because we want any trade with Ukraine not to destabilise our market."
This could include the reintroduction of tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural imports, if a letter sent by the premiers of five eastern states to the European Commission president is anything to go by.But aside from the grain issue, the Polish public overwhelmingly supports Ukraine, with 82% wanting to back it until victory, according to an Ipsos poll.
Polish presidential foreign policy adviser Marcin Przydacz indicated yesterday that a request for more support may be on the table."It will not be a surprise to anyone that the Ukrainian side will ask Poland and other foreign partners for more support.
He continued: "But we must be aware that we as Poland have already really done a lot."Zelenskyy will meet President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on the trip, and speak to Ukrainian refugees, a million of have been taken in by Poland.Apr 5, 2023 Ukraine Uncensored Network Ukraine Uncensored Network Sauli Niinistö, the president of Finland, is now speaking at a news conference with NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels."If people can live in secure, stable circumstances - that is the basis of a happy life," he says.Mr Niinistö adds that Swedish membership is also "very important".
"Once again, stability and security, I wish that we could give our share of increasing that in the defence alliance."Asked how he feels, Mr Niinistö says there have been many "historic" moments in the process of joining NATO - but this is the most notable.He adds that he "surely" feels relieved about the result, saying the process hasn't been "that tough".
"It has been very clear that in due time we would be members."He says he has a very "positive outlook" about likelihood of Sweden joining the alliance.Mr Niinistö was then asked about the Russian stance on NATO's expansion - which it very strongly opposes."President Putin took it up very clearly in December 2021," he says, adding this is one of the reasons the discussion in Finland began.
He says he fully believed that NATO would close its doors."I'm sure that Finns feel themselves more secure," he says of now. "Feeling that they live in a stable world."Apr 4, 2023 Ukraine Uncensored Network Tensions will rise" after Finland joins NATO, according to former British chief of the general staff, Lord Dannatt.He has told Sky News he expects NATO to make deterrent deployments along the Finnish 810 mile border with Russia.Western leaders must stress that NATO is purely a defensive pact, he said.
He explained: "Putin may well try and play it to his people that this is NATO expanding - technically that is correct - but why is it expanding? "Because there is a growing concern among countries like Finland and Sweden that Russia represents a threat to them and it is therefore not unreasonable that those two countries are seeking the overall protection of the NATO umbrella."
In response to the move, Russia has said it will strengthen its military capacity in western and northwestern regions, the state-owned RIA news agency reported."There will be tensions and of course those tensions will rise, unsurprisingly but importantly, when at some point in the future other NATO countries make deterrent deployments in Finnish territory along the Russian border," said Lord Dannatt.
Finland brings "moral support" to NATO, rather than military capacity, he added.He said the alliance itself is taking on additional liability, but it is the right thing to do and he is "personally pleased" it has happened.Apr 4, 2023 Ukraine Uncensored Network Russia's military is likely seeking to oust the paramilitary Wagner Group from its combat role, according to British military intelligence.
A "high profile feud" between its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the Russian ministry of defence has prompted the traditional army to sponsor alternative private military companies, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.It said the Kremlin sees heavy casualties in those companies as more acceptable to its domestic audience than regular military losses.
"Russia is likely seeking to sponsor and develop alternative private military companies to eventually replace the Wagner Group PMC in its significant combat role in Ukraine," the UK MOD wrote in a statement."This takes place in the context of the high-profile feud between the Russian Ministry of Defence and Wagner Group."Mr Prigozhin has consistently criticised traditional Russian military leadership since the beginning of the war, culminating in the military withholding ammunition from his group, he claimed.Despite the desire to oust him among top military brass, no other Russian PMC approaches Wagner's combat power at present, the UK MOD added.
As well as their losses being more tolerable to Russian society, PMC's are less constrained by the limited pay levels and inefficiency which hamper the effectiveness of the regular army.Russia will therefore likely seek to replace Wagner with a group it has more control over, rather than rid the battlefield of private companies altogether, the UK MOD said.Apr 4, 2023 Ukraine Uncensored Network Ukraine Uncensored Network Ukraine Uncensored Network The US government is "pushing hard" for the release of a Wall Street Journal reporter being held in Russia, the White House has said. Evan Gershkovich has been accused of gathering information about a Russian defence company, Russia's FSB security service said on Thursday.Earlier (14.09 post) we reported that Mr Gershkovich is apparently planning to appeal.
"We have been pushing hard since the moment we found out the reporter was detained," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. "We have no illusions that it's going to take a lot of hard work. That doesn't mean we're going to shy away from it."
The US is "keenly, strongly, closely" tracking his detention, Mr Kirby added. "We will do everything we can to get Evan home and Paul Whelan," Mr Kirby said, referring to the former US Marine serving a 16-year jail sentence in Russia on charges of espionage, which he and the United States deny.Apr 3, 2023 Ukraine Uncensored Network Ukraine Uncensored Network Ukraine Uncensored Network Ukraine Uncensored Network The killing of a Russian military blogger may be "sending a message" to Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and could even have been carried out by Russia itself, a former senior military intelligence officer suggests.Speaking to Sky News, Philip Ingram said pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was seen as "a part of Prigozhin's inner team" and was more supportive of his private military group than Vladimir Putin's operation.The cafe targeted in St Petersburg yesterday was reportedly once owned by Mr Prigozhin, who has previously accused Moscow of failing to provide his troops with enough ammo, hampering its offensives.
Mr Ingram says there's speculation to suggest the "assassination" of Mr Tatarsky - also known as Maxim Fomin - "could have been sending a message to Prigozhin".He added that Mr Prigozhin did not believe claims by anti-terrorism officials in Russia that Ukrainians were behind the attack.
"That translates into real tensions on the ground," Mr Ingram said.Asked who could have been behind the blast if it was not Ukraine, he said "it could have been the Russians"."It could have been the FSB [Russia's security service], it could have been someone in the centre, trying to send a message to Prigozhin."
Referring to reports that the explosion came after Mr Tatarsky was given a bust thought to contain explosives, Mr Ingram said it looks like "something spectacular that we've seen in the past".He says Russia "like[s] to do something spectacular because it's all about sending the message."
The former intelligence officer said Mr Tatarsky was "openly critical" of the Russian foreign ministry in some of his blogs."People who've been critical have fallen out of windows have fallen down the stairs... expanding on that is a possibility."Apr 3, 2023 Ukraine Uncensored Network Germany's vice chancellor has made a surprise visit to Ukraine, marking his first time in the country since Russia's invasion began, the German energy and economy ministry has said. Robert Habeck arrived in Kyiv earlier this morning, and was planning to discuss the reconstruction of the war-torn country, the German news magazine Spiegel reported.Ukraine's energy sector has repeatedly come under Russian attacks during the conflict, at times leaving millions of people without power.
A ministry spokesperson confirmed Mr Habeck, who also serves as the country's energy and economy minister, has travelled to the country but did not reveal any other details due to security precautions.
Earlier in the war, Germany was criticised for its hesitancy to supply heavy weaponry to Ukraine, but it is now one of the country's key military backers. Most recently, it provided Kyiv's troops with 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks - some of the most potent weapons in the West's arsenal. Apr 3, 2023 Ukraine Uncensored Network Ukraine Uncensored Network 
