Attacks by Russian troops were concentrated overnight in eastern Ukraine. Numerous explosions have been reported in the Lugansk region, where fighting for control of two localities is taking place. Ukrainian troops withdrew from Popansa, which is now under Russian control. In the Donetsk region, the mayor of Sloviansk announced that the city center had been bombed. Shootings also continued in Nikolaev, one of the cities targeted since the early days of the war. A spokesman for the Pentagon said in Washington that the United States had signs that Ukrainians had been forcibly taken to Russia. The Kyiv government is talking about more than a million people who have been deported and imprisoned in camps. “I don’t know how many camps there are or what they look like. But we have information that Ukrainians are being sent against their will to Russia,” the US official said.
Live The text of Digi24.ro that covered the events in Ukraine can be watched HERE.
The United States will provide additional $ 40 billion in aid to Ukraine
UPDATE 7.50 Democrats in the U.S. Congress have agreed to provide an additional $ 39.8 billion in aid for Ukrainereports Reuters, citing sources close to the talks.
On April 28, Joe Biden asked Congress for $ 33 billion to support Ukraine, including more than $ 20 billion in military assistance.
The new proposal includes an additional $ 3.4 billion in military aid and $ 3.4 billion in humanitarian aid, sources said.
On Monday, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass Ukraine’s aid law “immediately”, warning for the first time that existing aid would run out in “about ten days”.
Democrats and Republicans have said they support more aid for Ukraine and will quickly approve emergency funding, but it has been delayed by disputes between the parties over whether additional funding should be included to improve Covid-19 or stricter controls on Covid-19. immigration.
A hotel and a shopping mall in Odessa were bombed
UPDATE 7.30 Ukraine’s main port on the Black Sea, Odessa, is the target of heavy bombing. Last night several missiles allegedly hit a hotel and a shopping mall.
Russian projectiles hit tourist areas yesterday, according to local officials. Five buildings were destroyed.
Ukrainian emergency services have released images of the destruction in the city. The attack took place during a visit by European Council President Charles Michel to Odessa. He had to enter a shelter. Ukrainian officials say the bombings were launched from the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula.
Drone swarms could become more dangerous weapons than classic ones
UPDATE 7.10 Drones are becoming more efficient and can be used in more and more fields. A recent project features a swarm of drones that correlate perfectly in motion. They could even be used in war.
Scientists at Zhejiang University in China have unveiled a swarm of drones capable of navigating a dense bamboo forest without human guidance.
The group of 10 drones, the size of the palm, communicate with each other to stay in formation, sharing the data collected by the on-board cameras with depth sensor, to map the surroundings. This method means that if the drone has blocked its way forward, it can use the information collected by its neighbors to trace a new route. Researchers note that this technique can be used by the swarm of drones to track, for example, a man walking through the same environment. If a drone loses sight of the target, others are able to follow the route.
In the future, scientists will write in a paper published in the journal Science Robotics, such swarms of drones could be used for disaster relief and environmental studies. In natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, a swarm of drones can search, guide and deliver emergency supplies to trapped people, say researchers.
However, experts say the work also has clear military potential. A number of nations – the most prominent USA, China, Russia, Israel and Great Britain – is currently developing swarms of drones that could be used in war. Armies tend to invoke surveillance and reconnaissance as the most common applications for this activity, but the same technology could no doubt be used to track down and attack both combatants and civilians.
Read the rest HERE
How big is the nuclear threat? Aurescu: The Russian Federation must be aware that it can have extremely harsh consequences
UPDATE 7.00 The Russian Federation must be aware that any “materialized” intention to use weapons of mass destruction can have “extremely, extremely severe” consequences for the international community, and this warning was conveyed to Moscow in the final statement of the NATO summit in March 24 in Brussels, says Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu. The head of the Romanian diplomacy considers that despite the aggressive rhetoric used by the Moscow propaganda, there is no risk, in the next period, that Russia will use the nuclear weapon.
“In the decisions of the March 24 summit, we warn – NATO as a whole – of Russia about the possible use of weapons of mass destruction and say that this is unacceptable and can have extremely severe consequences. This is the mention in the final declaration of the March 24 summit in Brussels “, Bogdan Aurescu pointed out, on Monday evening, at Digi24.
He was asked how big the Russian nuclear threat was, according to the information and assessments he had.
“All the information we have so far does not indicate the intention, at least not in the immediate future, of the Russian Federation to use the nuclear weapon,” said Bogdan Aurescu.
Read the rest HERE
Pentagon: We have information that Ukrainians are being sent to Russia against their will
UPDATE 00.00 Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says Ukrainian citizens have been “sent to Russia against their will”, confirming information previously provided by the Ukrainian authorities.
“We have no data, but we have seen signs that Ukrainians are being taken from Ukraine to Russia,” John Kirby said in a press briefing about the Ukrainian government’s claims that 1.2 million people had been deported to Ukraine. Russia and placed in camps.
“I don’t know how many camps there are or what they look like,” he said. “But we have information that Ukrainians are being sent against their will to Russia,” he was quoted as saying by Agerpres.
Russia’s behavior is “unacceptable” and “not that of a responsible power,” John Kirby added, adding that Putin “simply does not accept and does not respect Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
According to Ukrainian government official Liudmila Denisova, quoted by the official Spravdi communications center, “more than 1.19 million of our citizens, including more than 200,000 children, have been deported to the Russian Federation.”
Refraining from calling these deportations ethnic cleansing, he spoke, however, of the “brutality of the Russians” in the current conflict.
“It has been 75 days since Russia brutalized Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” he said. “And every time you think I can’t fall, they’re wrong,” the Pentagon spokesman added.
Editor : G.M.
