First, links to reports from Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, Reuters, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, TWO MAPS used to illustrate M.K. Bhadrakumar’s article titled “Stalemate in an attritional war?” The first accompanied his writing as it appeared a week ago in India Punchline, and the second was used April 26 by Consortium News. (Ukraine’s unlabeled bordering countries in the second map are, counterclockwise from the north, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova and, again, Romania.) — MCM
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NATO allies send 1,500 combat vehicles, 230 tanks to Ukraine, by David Rising and Lorne Cook | AP KYIV — NATO countries have delivered more than 98% of the combat vehicles promiseD to Ukraine amid its war with Russia, the military alliance’s chief said today, giving Kyiv a bigger punch as it appears poised to launch a counteroffensive. Additionally, member nations have sent Ukraine “vast amounts of ammunition” and also trained and equipped more than . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russia digs in as Ukraine prepares to attack, by Tom Balmforth | Reuters * Satellite images show vast Russian defences in Ukraine * Trenches and obstacles designed to repel counteroffensive * Main thrust of attack expected in Ukraine’s south | Thousands of Ukrainian troops have been training in the West to use different military assets on the battlefield in a combined way ahead of a counteroffensive Ukrainian officials say will come when its forces are ready. Satellite images of thousands of defensive positions inside both Russia and along Ukrainian front lines that show . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russian forces wipe out four Ukrainian S-300 missile launchers in Kherson area. From Tass. GENICHESK — Russian forces destroyed four Ukrainian S-300 missile launchers and a Gepard motorized surface-to-air system in the Kherson area over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, a spokesman for the regional emergency services said today. “Yesterday, the strikes by Lancet loitering munitions . . . READ MORE . . .
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China says it will send peace envoy to Ukraine. From AP. BEIJING — Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call on Wednesday that his government will send a peace envoy to Ukraine and other nations, state media said, after Beijing said it wants to act as mediator in Russia’s war with the country. A government statement . . . READ MORE . . .
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“Russia’s Fortification Line.”
Ukrainian oblasts annexed by Russia since 2014 (Crimea) and 2022 (others). The 2022 annexation creates the equivalent of a strategic land bridge between Crimea and Russia. (SyntaxTerror, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons).
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TO BE CONTINUED