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kyivindependent | Ukraine receives first $2.7 billion tranche of IMF financial package
On March 31, the IMF first announced that it had reached an agreement with Ukraine to provide a four-year financial aid package worth approximately $15.6 billion. This funding is part of a larger package worth $115 billion.
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parity watch USD:UAH, 1:36.75
The second phase of the EFF Program is set to aid with Ukraine's post-war reconstruction and European integration, the Finance Ministry wrote.
Ukrinform | Zelensk* shows CoE Secretary General 'real concentration camp' in Chernihiv region
"During a working trip to Chernihiv region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensk* held a meeting with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić who is visiting our country for the second time since the beginning of the full-scale aggression," the press service of the Head of State informs. As noted, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Head of State visited the village of Yahidne, where they saw the infrastructure and residential buildings destroyed by Russian troops, as well as the school where the occupiers held the locals.
archived July 2022 "power to the councils", UKRAINE DRAFT LAW, CoE tribute
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They also paid attention to the measures taken to create a register of damages caused by the Russian aggression and a full-fledged compensation mechanism, in particular in the context of preparations for the Summits of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik [16-17 May 2023]. Zelensk* called on the Council of Europe to make all possible efforts to stop Russia's illegal deportation of Ukrainian citizens from temporarily occupied areas and areas of hostilities, and together with other international partners to ensure the return of illegally deported Ukrainians, primarily children.
ICC-CPI | Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants
kyivindependent | Stoltenberg says 'Ukraine will join NATO,' vows support despite Russia's 'reckless nuclear rhetoric'
NATO's long-time leader emphasized that the "main focus" now is to ensure that Ukraine remains a sovereign, independent nation in Europe.

"The first step toward any membership of Ukraine to NATO is to ensure that Ukraine prevails, and that is why the U.S. and its partners have provided unprecedented support for Ukraine," he added. "I cannot give you an exact date, but what I can say is that allies are extremely focused on ensuring that Ukraine prevails," Stoltenberg told the Kyiv Independent.
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'Dangerous and reckless nuclear rhetoric'
As Russian President Vladimir Putin escalated his nuclear threats against the West, NATO vowed that it would not be "intimidated."

In his latest series of nuclear threats against the West and Ukraine, Putin said Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus for training. He claimed the decision was made due to the UK Defense Ministry's [Ben Wallace] recent decision to supply Ukraine with ammunition containing depleted uranium.

archived What's the difference between a tactical and strategic missile? size
"We are not transferring our tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, but we will deploy them and train the military, like the United States in Europe," Putin said in an interview with a Russian state-controlled news outlet on March 25.
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Ukrinform | S&P upgrades Ukrzaliznytsia's rating to highest-possible level amid martial law
The international credit rating agency, S&P Global Ratings, has upgraded the rating of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC to CCC+.
junk bond
"The recent completion of a debt restructuring, totaling USD 894.9 million, has contributed to the upgrade in the rating. Thanks to this agreement and other projects with international partners, the pressure on the company's liquidity has been lifted, and its contractual debt payments in 2023-2024 will be reduced by more than 90%," the report states.
archived income P&L and balance sheet "accountability"
Ukrzaliznytsia JSC also mentioned that S&P Global Ratings noted the successful re[-]profiling with the EBRD to meet the liquidity needs of the credit line worth EUR 150 million and the write-off of Russian banks' debts in accordance with the law that came into force in August 2022.

fog, rumours, and just plain bullshit
tabloid USAToday | Ukraine denies Russian claims of control over Bakhmut

The Russian flag flew over the Bakhmut city administration building Monday after a Russian mercenary leader claimed to have "technically" captured the eastern Ukraine city that has been a primary focus of the war for several weeks. But the head of the Ukraine presidential office, Andriy Yermak, dismissed the claim on social media: "Don't pay attention on 'victory' fake inventors. Not even close to the reality."
Ukranews | Russian Troops Far From Capturing Bakhmut
"They haven't captured anything in a legal sense," the spokesman for the Eastern Group of Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine added....
The Ukrainian offensive. Wagner controls 80% of Artemovsk [Bakhmut]. Military Summary And Analysis 2023.04.03, A/V sitrep
by Cat on Mon Apr 3rd, 2023 at 08:16:23 PM EST
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newsqueek | Zelensk* Issues Bakhmut Retreat Warning, 6 Apr
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"For me, the most important is not to lose our soldiers and of course if there is a moment of even hotter events and the danger we could lose our personnel because of encirclement—of course the corresponding correct decisions will be taken by generals there," Zelensk* said during a news conference in Poland on Wednesday alongside his Polish counterpart.

But while the Ukrainian president's statement suggested that he might consider a retreat should the situation escalate, he also hinted that it's not yet time for withdrawal, declaring that Kyiv's troops are still holding on to Bakhmut and remain inside the city.
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Washington-based think tank The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that "it remains to be seen whether Ukraine's defense of Bakhmut and its efficacy in fixing Russian forces in the area is worth Ukrainian losses," adding that "we will likely be unable to assess this until observing the Ukrainian spring counteroffensive."
[...]
"There is success in some districts of Bakhmut-- we're going forward. Or there's no (success) and we're again leaving for positions," Zelensk* said on Wednesday to describe the situation.

Ukrinform | Ukraine to return all children abducted by Russia - NSDC secretary, 6 Apr
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The Secretary of the Council also called to remember all the Ukrainian children who were killed on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Danilov expressed indignation at the fact that the Kremlin leader, who is responsible for the killing of 500 children in Ukraine, still "has his hand shaken" and talked to over the phone and in person.
US on blocking the webcast of the Russian Arria Formula meeting, A/V (EN), 00:04:45
The official said he was outraged by the speech delivered by the Russian "Commissioner for Children's Rights" Maria Lvova-Belova during an Arria-Formula Meeting of the UN Security Council, convened by the Russian Federation to discuss what they claim was the "evacuation" of Ukrainian children from the war zone.
archived It's very hard to pin down the exact number
As Ukrinform reported earlier, as of March, a total of 19,514 Ukrainian children are considered illegally deported.
Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, 4 Apr
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Question:  Yes, two questions.  What about the children kidnapped or just moved in Russia, tomorrow, there will be a Security Council Arria formula on the subject.  Today, in Geneva, the Human Rights Council voted a resolution they passed on they ask Russia to give access to these children so that UN and other organization can understand what is the status of this children.  So the question is, it's said actually few weeks ago, maybe a month ago, I think you respond me that you were investigating... The UN was investigating the situation of these children.  So what does Secretary-General at the moment think?  Is it they've been kidnapped or...?
Stéphane Dujarric:  I would refer you to the most recent updates from the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, which spoke about this.  We've expressed our concern and I think it is very important that there'd be clarity on the status of these children, but I think our human rights colleagues and the mission in Ukraine has expressed itself on that.
Question:  So the Secretary-General still doesn't have a...?
Dujarric:  I would refer you to what... [cross-talk]
by Cat on Thu Apr 6th, 2023 at 03:47:05 PM EST
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Ukranews | Occupiers Took Away More Than 100,000 Children From Donbas For "Treatment" - National Resistance Center, 12 Apr abductions
..."The enemy plans to spend RUB 1.4 billion on the program of "medical examination," which is carried out by brought doctors. After the review, the vast majority of children are ordered "treatment" in the Russian Federation, which parents cannot refuse, BECAUSE then they are threatened with taking away parental rights," the report said.

It is noted that 75,000 children have been "inspected" in the Donetsk Region since the beginning of the year, as a result 39,000 children have been taken to Russia. In the Luhansk Region, 94,000 children were "examined," "pathology was found" in 66,000 of them, after which they were taken to Russia....

by Cat on Thu Apr 13th, 2023 at 03:10:57 PM EST
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euractiv AFP | Russia's forced transfer of Ukraine children 'genocide': Council of Europe, 28 Apr nomeclature
The vote was passed with 87 votes to one against, with one abstention. Linda Hofstad Helleland from EPP, Norway voted against, while Harald Weyel from AfD, Germany, abstained (see the vote of all participants). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensk* hailed the resolution as an "important" decision that will help "hold Russia and its leaders to account".
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better dead than red
The deportation of Ukrainian children is one element of "Russia's attempt to erase the identity of our people, to destroy the very essence of the Ukrainian people", he said in his evening address.
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Kyiv said in mid-April that more than 16,000 Ukrainian children had been "abducted" and taken to Russia since the start of the invasion on 24 February last year. It said many of them had been placed in ["]care homes["]. Thursday's resolution at the Council of Europe's parliament said there was "evidence that deported children had faced a process of 'russification' through re-education in Russian language, culture[,] and history".

"These transfers of Ukrainian children were 'clearly being planned and organised in a systematic way' as state policy," said the resolution, with the aim of "annihilating every link to and feature of their Ukrainian identity".

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called on the United Nations and the Red Cross to be granted access so they could gather information on the children concerned.

oversight.house.gov | Hearing Wrap Up: ORR Director Fails to Answer Questions About 85,000 Lost Unaccompanied Alien Children, Flawed Vetting of Sponsors, and More, 18 Apr
"Subcommittee members discussed how unprecedented levels of illegal border crossings, incentivized [sic] by the Biden Administration's policies, have overwhelmed the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and endangered migrant children."

cis.org | Did Joe Biden Lose 85,000 Migrant Kids?, 20 Apr
"Two outrages: ORR director doesn't know, and most of the media doesn't seem to care"

archived the Idea of Cash Payments, Florida migrant child detention camp emptying out, Migrant kids separated at border faced abuse in foster homes, Up to 750 European children trapped

by Cat on Sun Apr 30th, 2023 at 04:29:51 PM EST
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Ukraine Latest: Credit Rating Pushed Further Into Junk by S&P, 7 Apr
Ukraine will resume electricity exports to Europe as it has a surplus [tanks to demand destruction?], the country's Energy Ministry said. Ukraine can export 400 megawatts under an agreement with ENTSO-E, the European grid operators network. Ukraine can export 400 megawatts under an agreement with ENTSO-E, the European grid operators network.
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Ukraine will suspend exports of wheat, corn, sunflower and rapeseed to Poland until the new marketing year [2023/2024], the Ukrainian agriculture ministry said on Telegram, citing minister Mykola Solskyi.
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Ukraine's credit score was cut by S&P Global Ratings on Friday after the government unveiled a plan to restructure its external debt before mid-2024.

The war-torn nation was lowered to CCC from CCC+, with a negative outlook. The ratings firm cited plans for an upcoming [IMF] debt restructuring as part of Ukraine's recent arrangement with the International Monetary Fund for a $15.6 billion bailout.

The downgrade puts Ukraine on par with Ethiopia. In February, Moody's Investors Service cut Ukraine's credit rating to the second-lowest score of Ca, on par with Argentina, citing "long-lasting challenges" to its economy and public finances from the war with Russia.

Meanwhile... the search for ~ $200B-$538B missing CBR "assets" continues.
EU plans to "invest" proceeds from sale of RU cash equivalents.
The EU thinks that around two-thirds of the $300 [or $630] billion of Russian central bank [CBR] reserves frozen in G7 countries—the [US,] EU, and Australia—are currently held in the bloc, including €191 billion [of "blocked transactions" and €58B of CBR reserves] in Belgium and €21 billion in another unnamed EU country....
or $33.8B of CBR reserves plus $58B private property
But it doesn't yet fully know where Russian central bank reserves are held, and included an obligation to report on their whereabouts in its latest sanctions package.
invest in which assets? Rental properties in Ukraine? Gas rigs and refineries? SNPs? $131B equity swap? Maybe USD stablecoins or Lockheed and Raytheon?
by Cat on Sat Apr 8th, 2023 at 02:27:27 AM EST
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by Cat on Sun Apr 9th, 2023 at 08:00:34 PM EST
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