Russia says Western countries do not want Ukraine to enter peace talks: the 801st day of war

“We do not see, either in Kiev or in the West, any political will aimed at peace, the aggressive rhetoric continues. Ukraine’s thinking is associated with war”, the director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Business told Lusa Foreigners from Russia, Maria Zakharova. She accuses in particular “France, Germany and others” of “sabotaging the Minsk peace agreements” – an accusation that is returned by Ukraine and Western countries.

Russian conditions for negotiating, the official stressed, include Western countries suspending arms supplies to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and stopping “armed actions” by Kiev, which not only defends itself on its territory but has also attacked Russian territory with drones. ‘.

Furthermore, “Ukraine must return to the sources of its statehood, return to neutrality, to a non-bloc and anti-nuclear status. It must recognize the Russian language, respect the freedoms and rights of citizens and ethnic minorities, move away from neo-Nazi ideology”, he said, using the Kremlin’s characterization of Volodymyr Zelensky’s elected government.

He also argued that Moscow “turned around” Western sanctions, and that they harmed the countries that imposed them more. “Not only were we able to overcome the difficulties imposed from abroad, we are also building a solid foundation for the implementation of strategic plans for economic and social development,” he said.

Russian hackers attack Finnish institution and Moscow denies involvement in computer attack in Germany

Russian hackers, calling themselves “NoName057”, attacked the websites of the Finnish Government, the Chamber of Commerce, the Arbitration Institute and the Ministry of Defense’s image bank, in retaliation for supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia, the group announced on its Telegram messaging channel.

“We remind the Russophobic authorities in Finland of the cost of supporting the criminal regime in Kiev, an agreement they signed exactly a month ago,” they said. At issue is the security agreement signed on April 3 between Finnish President Alexander Stubb and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymir Zelenski, in which Helsinki undertakes to maintain political and military support for Kiev for the next ten years.

The German government has summoned the charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy in Berlin after accusing the Russian secret services of a computer attack. “It is a clear diplomatic signal to summon the charge d’affaires to make it clear to the Russian Government that we do not accept these actions,” said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, quoted by the French agency AFP.

The alleged attack took place in 2023, and targeted members of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), the main party in the government coalition, according to German authorities.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Russia would face consequences for the “absolutely intolerable and unacceptable” cyber attack. She further attributed the attack to the APT28 group, which she said was “run by Russia’s military secret services.”

The Czech Republic also today accused Moscow of frequently targeting Prague with computer attacks orchestrated by a group with links to the Russian military secret services. “Certain Czech institutions were targeted by cyberattacks that exploited an unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook from 2023 onwards,” the ministry said in a statement.

OTHER NEWS THAT MARKED THE DAY:

⇒ The disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant turned 38 on April 26th. To mark the date, Expresso’s correspondent in Ukraine visited the city to understand the consequences of the worst nuclear accident.

⇒ The Kremlin reacted to comments by French President Emmanuel Macron, who this Thursday reaffirmed his controversial position on the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine. “France, in the person of the French head of state, continues to constantly raise the possibility of its direct involvement on the ground in the conflict surrounding Ukraine. This is a very dangerous trend,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

⇒ Around 150,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine, according to estimates released by French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné. The French estimate is slightly lower than the Ukrainian one, which considered that 180,000 Russian soldiers had already lost their lives. Russia does not release any information on the number of deaths and injuries among its troops.

⇒ Russian airstrikes injured seven children and one adult in the city of Dergatchi, in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian Public Prosecutor’s Office, there were two attacks and they hit a sports complex, where children and teenagers were, as well as houses. The injured were aged between nine and 15, with the exception of a 76-year-old man.

⇒ Russian security services announced that they had shot down a man, who had allegedly been recruited by Ukrainian military intelligence and was planning a series of attacks in Russia.

⇒ The number of journalists who have fled Russia abroad since the invasion of Ukraine exceeds 1,500. Since February 2022, the Kremelin has intensified censorship and persecution of independent journalism.

⇒ A factory belonging to the German weapons manufacturer that develops IRIS-T anti-aircraft systems, sent by Germany to Ukraine, caught fire today south of Berlin, causing the building to partially collapse. A total of 170 firefighters and emergency teams are deployed in the Lichterfelde neighborhood to extinguish the flames at the factory, which specializes in metallurgical techniques and contains chemicals.