Zelenskyi visits Warsaw. A fire breaks out at a building belonging to Russia’s defense ministry in Moscow. Ukraine carrying out deep strikes and stockpiling ammunition.
Zelenskyi visits Poland
On Wednesday, April 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is visiting Poland on the invitation of his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda. The visit is his third trip abroad since the invasion. While it follows visits to the United States and Europe, it stands out from the others because it was announced in advance.
This is Zelenskyi’s first official trip to Poland since Russia invaded. He has been in Poland before, usually in transit to other destinations. This is a one-day visit. The Ukrainian President is joined by the first lady, Olena Zelenska, making it the first visit of its kind since the full-scale invasion began.
After a welcoming ceremony at the presidential palace in Warsaw, Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Andrzej Duda held talks, followed by a meeting between the delegations.
On the evening, Duda and Zelenskyi addressed the Poles and Ukrainians living in Poland, at Warsaw’s Royal Castle.
Fire breaks out at building of defense ministry in Moscow
A fire briefly broke out at a building belonging to Russia’s defense ministry.
An intense fire broke out on the third floor of a building on Znamenka street in central Moscow, Russian state news agency TASS reported. It later said that the fire that covered an area of 60 square meters was put out.
The fire erupted in what appears to be a former building of the Russian General Staff, RBC said. In 2016, a fire caused the building’s roof to collapse.
Ukraine carrying out deep strikes and stockpiling ammunition, Western officials tell CNN
Western officials believe Ukraine has been carrying out deep strikes and stockpiling some ammunition ahead of an expected counteroffensive in the coming months, CNN says.
“Some of those deep strikes against Russian [positions in southern Ukraine] are a preparation for any kind of future offensive,” the officials said. “We have seen consistently throughout the campaign is the Ukrainians have been very adept at targeting those accurate HIMARS systems against specific Russian targets.”
The officials also said Ukraine would be stockpiling ammunition ahead of a counteroffensive, but they hadn’t noted any shortages that would have limited day-to-day operations.
Can frozen russian assets be used to rebuild Ukraine? Ukraine in Flames #391
The European Union is stepping up work to confiscate the russian-owned assets that have been frozen under EU sanctions and use them to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine. The plan of re-investing the reserves of the russian Central Bank represents a challenge with legal risks and obstacles, but the EU Commission intends to establish a legal framework to ensure confiscation becomes a solid solution to make russia pay. Watch Ukraine in flames #391 to find out about a legal, economical and political possibility of this scenario happening.
Guests:
- Zahar Tropin, Associate Professor of the Department of International Law of Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
- Alina Pavliuk, Lawyer at Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group
- Viacheslav Butko, Managing Partner of Thomson & French Investment Project