Kiev and Moscow exchange more than 200 prisoners


The US and its allies are planning on the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine comprehensive new sanctions against Russia. “You’re going to see a big new sanctions package from the US and all our G7 partners around the 24th,” Secretary of State said Victoria Nuland on Thursday before journalists in Washington.

Nuland announced that existing sanctions would be expanded in some areas, above all the flow of technology for the Russian defense industry would be restricted. The new sanctions would hit individuals, further restrict access to banks and crack down on ways to circumvent existing sanctions, especially with regard to third countries. “We see the Russians are getting pretty smart,” Nuland said. They would import things like laptops and refrigerators through third countries, sometimes from the US or G7 countries, and loot them. Chips and other things would then be “put into their war machine”.

Nuland, known for her harsh criticism of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, mocked the military Efforts by Russia in the fight for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The war was “stuck”. “Russia has announced a new offensive. Well, if it is, it’s very pathetic,” she said.

The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Thursday that the conquest of Bakhmut could take months. He blamed the “monstrous military bureaucracy” in Moscow for the slow progress.



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