Kyiv Post Morning Memo – Everything You Need to Know on Friday, April 7

Good morning from unexpectedly sunny Kyiv, where the sun has come out of the grey clouds first time in almost two grim and cold weeks. However, according to the weather forecast, such pleasant weather won't last long, with a wet and rainy one to replace it soon.

 Here’s a rundown of the last 24 hours to 6 am Kyiv time today:

·      Pavlo Lebid, the former head of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the UNESCO heritage site of the Monastery of the Caves, filed an appeal over his court imposed 60-day house arrest on charges of inciting inter-religious enmity and justifying Russian aggression.

·      During a three-day visit to China, French President Emmanuel Macron asked his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to use his sway with Russia to help find a solution to ending Moscow’s unprovoked war against Ukraine already in its ninth year. Xi was urged his special relationship with Kremlin autocrat Vladimir Putin to put an end to the bloodiest war on the European continent since World War II. You can read more about it here.

·      Ukraine’s secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), Oleksiy Danilov, told the Ukrainian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that a handful of people now about Ukraine’s plans to liberate more land this spring. "I can say that today there is a very limited number of people who have information on where, when, and how certain actions will be initiated on the territory of our planet. No more than 3-5 people,” he said.

Other Topics of Interest

Ukrainian Drone Reportedly Strikes Russian-Seized Ship in Crimea

This vessel, built in 2010, was seized by Russia from Ukraine during the 2014 annexation of Crimea but has remained largely unused in recent years.

 What was in President Zelenskyy’s latest message?

 During his daily address on Thursday evening, April 6, Zelensky expressed gratitude to everybody involved in organizing and hosting the meeting in Warsaw and reported on its main tangible outcomes.

 "It is very important that the content of the visit to Poland, the work of our delegation in Warsaw and in constant communication with Polish partners should be tangible for our front. Defense and protection of our people, maintenance of our resilience, primarily the resilience of warriors, is the number one issue at all negotiations and meetings,"  he said.

 "And I thank Poland, I thank our partners for making this visit truly meaningful."

 What’s the latest military situation?

 The Institute for the Study of War’s April 6 daily assessment reports that China continues to rhetorically downplay its support for Russia and demonstrate that there are limits to the declared “no limits” Russian–Chinese partnership. Still, it will not be a true neutral arbiter in the war. 

 French President Emmanuel Macron met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on April 6 and urged Xi to “bring Russia to its senses” and “bring everyone back to the negotiating table.”Xi stated that China “advocates for peace talks and seeks a political solution” without going into significant detail or assigning blame, America thinktank writes.

 China’s maintained neutral status and ongoing talks with Western leaders, refusal to blatantly condemn the West, and minimization of relations with and withholding of concrete support to Russia are likely a source of ongoing frustration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as ISW has previously assessed.

 ISW also notes that: 

·      Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow on April 5 and 6 to discuss further Union State integration, with Putin likely focused on strengthening Russian economic control over Belarus.

·      Lukashenko delivered boilerplate rhetoric that continues to indicate that he has no intention of involving Belarus further in Russia’s war effort.

·      Russian commanders are reportedly constructing specialized company-size units within key frontline formations engaged in urban combat to reinforce the diminished combat effectiveness of most Russian units.

·      Russian forces will likely deploy these “Storm Z” units along the Avdiivka–Donetsk City frontline.

·      Russian forces may have withdrawn equipment from occupied Crimea for redeployment elsewhere in southern Ukraine out of fear of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

·      Russian President Vladimir Putin held one-on-one meetings with Russian occupation authorities