April 28th, 2022

1. Putin promises that all goals of the operation will be attained, and response to strategic threats to Russia will be ‘lightning-fast’

On the Day of Russian Parliamentarism (April 27^th), the President met with members of the Council of Lawmakers at the Federation Council of the Russian Federation. The meeting was held in the Tauride Palace, Saint Petersburg.

President warned that Russia won’t hesitate to use unspecified “tools” that no other country’ possesses to defend itself. He has warned outside forces against interfering in the Ukrainian conflict, promising a “lightning-speed” response to such actions.

“If someone decides to intervene in the ongoing events from the outside and create unacceptable strategic threats to us, they should know that our response to those oncoming blows will be swift, lightning-fast,” Putin said in an address to lawmakers.

“We have all the tools to do this. Tools that no one except us can brag about. But we’re not going to brag. We’ll use them if such a need arises,” the president said, without specifying which tools could be deployed.

Russian authorities have already made all necessary decisions to prepare for such a response, he added.

Putin emphasized again: all the goals of the special military operation launched on February 24 will definitely be attained in order to guarantee peace and security for the residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, of Russian Crimea, and the entire country [Russia] in a historical perspective.

He reminded that Russian soldiers and officers have averted a real danger posed to the Motherland: “Their courage, determination, and heroism have prevented a larger conflict that would have unfolded on our territory, but following someone else's scenarios. The outside forces that have always pursued a policy of containing Russia – historically indeed, they did so in ancient times, and you know very well why they did this – they do not want such a huge and independent country that is too big for their ideas. They believe it endangers them simply by the fact of its existence. Although this is far from reality; it is they who endanger the world, Putin underscored.

“We have not forgotten the barbarous plans of the Nazis for the Soviet people – to drive them out”, he continued. “You remember, don’t you? They wanted to force those who could work to work like slaves, do slave labour in bondage. Those who were not wanted were supposed to be sent beyond the Urals or to the North to extinction. All this was recorded in documents, in historical documents. We remember this.

We also remember how the Western states encouraged terrorists and criminals in the North Caucasus in the early 1990s and 2000s, how they exploited the problems of our past, real problems, injustices of the past as regards entire peoples, including the peoples of the Caucasus. But they did all this not to make us better, not at all. They did all this to bring the problems of the past to us today, to encourage separatist attitudes in our country and eventually to split and destroy it. This is why they did all this. They wanted to drive us into the backwoods. Many have tried to do the same to Russia throughout all eras.

They did not reach their goal but could not accept their failure, that we managed to hold out against this onslaught at the time. This is why they later launched large-scale preparations for an economic war against Russia, using any excuse, and sometimes without any excuse at all, to impose more and more sanctions on us; but today’s plans to strangle us economically have also fallen through.

In addition, our enemies have been expediting the development of new “geopolitical weapons.” These weapons are basically nothing new, but they obviously gave them new motivation and a new impetus. They placed their bets on Russophobia and neo-Nazis and were impudently, unceremoniously turning our neighbor Ukraine into an “anti-Russia” year after year.

I would like to recall that when Russia had a benevolent, I would say, a friendly, comradely, fraternal attitude to the creation of an independent Ukrainian state, we thought, of course, that it would be a friendly state, that we could go further together, strengthening and developing each other and creating the most competitive conditions for progress – yes, in new and historical conditions. No one could imagine the creation of an “anti-Russia” on historical Russian territory. We simply cannot allow this to happen, and so it all comes down to a conflict, a direct conflict. Ukraine was pushed into direct confrontation with Russia, our country. Let me remind you that this was, unfortunately, all laid out, including an armed attack on Crimea and Donbass, in Ukraine’s doctrinal documents of today, while at the same time, the Ukrainian people were allotted the destiny of “expendable material.” I believe a large part of the Ukrainian people are coming to realise this.

The entire course of recent events, including the Kiev regime’s claims to possess nuclear weapons, the deployment of a network of Western biolabs on Ukrainian territory, the seamless supplies of cutting-edge weapons to Ukraine, has confirmed that our reaction to those cynical plans was correct and timely.”

[note: the full text is on the Kremlin website: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/68297]

 2. Humanitarian issues

During the special military operation, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the formations of the DPR and LPR liberated significant territories of the Donetsk, Lugansk people's republics, the entire Kherson region, part of the Kharkov, Zaporozhye and Nikolaev regions. Peaceful life is being established in these territories, life support facilities for the population, social infrastructure and housing and communal services are being actively restored. The sowing campaign has begun. The local population, who had previously left these areas for the central and western regions of Ukraine, currently cannot return back. The Kiev regime and the fighters of nationalist armed formations in every way prevent their citizens from returning home. All humanitarian corridors opened by the Russian side are blocked.

To date, the hotline of the Russian Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response has already received 2,753,477 requests for evacuation to the territories controlled by the Russian army and to Russia itself.

Russia will continue to appeal to the relevant structures of the United Nations, the OSCE, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international organizations to assist Ukrainian citizens to return to their homes through all available information resources.

The Joint Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response, in cooperation with the authorized federal executive authorities, continues to record numerous facts of the inhumane attitude of the Kiev authorities to civilians:

in the city of Liman, Donetsk People's Republic, in a nursing home, Ukrainian nationalist fighters have set up a stronghold in a nursing home and placed heavy weapons, while the staff and elderly citizens are forcibly held as "human shields;

in the city of Nikolaev, territorial defence fighters have prepared another sophisticated provocation with numerous victims. For this purpose, in the Korabelny district near the enterprise Nikolaev aircraft repair plant on Znamenskaya street, neo-Nazis installed radio-controlled explosive devices with projectile elements, which they plan to activate in case of a mass gathering of civilians and blame Russian servicemen for this. We warn the so-called civilized West in advance that this and other similar bloody fakes from the Kiev authorities about the alleged "Russian atrocities" are planned to be widely spread through the Western media in the near future.

Such actions of the Ukrainian authorities, once again, demonstrate their inhumane attitude to the fate of the people of Ukraine and indicate complete disregard for all norms of morality and international humanitarian law.

Despite the obstacles created by Kiev, over the past day, without the participation of the Ukrainian authorities, 10,715 people were evacuated from dangerous areas of Ukraine, Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics to the territory of the Russian Federation, 1,723 of them children, and in total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 985,949 people have already been evacuated, of which 178,814 children.

The state border of the Russian Federation was crossed by 129,025 units of personal motor transport, per day – 1,539.

Ukrainian nationalists continue to hold 90 foreign citizens from five countries hostage as a "human shield". So, this figure radically went down.

3. Distribution of humanitarian aid

The Russian federal executive authorities, together with the subjects of the Russian Federation, various public organizations and patriotic movements, continue to accumulate humanitarian aid.

More than 22 thousand tons of basic necessities and food packages, including infant food and vital medicines, have been prepared at the collection points.

Since March 2^nd, the Russian Federation has already delivered 15,526.5 tons of basic necessities, food, medicines and medical products to Ukraine, 906 humanitarian actions have been carried out, including 11 humanitarian actions in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Kharkov and Kherson regions over the past day, during which civilians 502.2 tons of humanitarian aid were transferred. Just to compare: so far the UN arranged only five convoys to Ukraine.

On April 26th, 2022, 14 humanitarian actions are being held in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Kharkov and Kherson regions, during which 414.6 tons of basic necessities and food are being transferred to the population.

4.  Transnistria: one more area of tension?

On April 26^th, unidentified assailants blew up two antennae of the regional radio center in the community of Mayak of the Grigoriopol district in Transnistria. On Monday, the building of the Transnistrian State Security Ministry in Tiraspol was shelled from hand-held grenade launchers and a military unit in the village of Parkany was attacked. The Transnistrian authorities qualified the blasts and the shelling as terror attacks. There have been no reports about victims so far.

The authorities of the Transnistrian Republic sandwiched between Ukraine and Moldova will set up checkpoints in cities after a series of terrorist attacks, Transnistria’s President Vadim Krasnoselsky said after a meeting of the republic’s Security Council on April 26^th. "Checkpoints will be established at the entry to the republic’s cities. Auto transport and citizens will be inspected selectively in the daytime while control measures in the nighttime will apply to every person arriving at a populated area. Security agencies have switched to heightened alert," the presidential press office quoted Krasnoselsky as saying. Members of the Transnistrian Security Council said earlier on April 26th that the level of danger had turned critical in the republic and declared heightened terror alert for 15 days and bolstered security measures.

In 1992 Moldova attacked the republic, but failed to capture it. The republic has very close ties with Russia, its own currency. The security it in is maintained by its own Armed Forces and Russian peacekeepers staying there under special international arrangement.

5. The situation at the Black Sea

The situation remains the same as before, reflected in Report # 51.

6. Situation on the battlefront

Ukrainian Armed Forces continue shelling the DPR and LPR. In Donetsk 3 personas have been killed and 20 injured when the UAF shelled market place.

Late evening on April 27^th the UAF shelled Kherson having Ukrainian citizens by three Tochka-U cluster missiles, two of them being intercepted.

The U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines has reportedly lifted more restrictions on intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, sources told Bloomberg on Wednesday, adding that the expanded access is aimed at helping Kiev seize the breakaway republics in Donbass. The source claimed Haines told Congress about the expanded intel-sharing after Congressman Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the chief Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, insisted in a classified letter that the Biden administration remove any restrictions on sharing intelligence.

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continued a special military operation in Ukraine.

Tactical and army aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit 59 military facilities of Ukraine overnight. Among them: 50 areas of concentration of Ukrainian manpower and military equipment, four weapons and ammunition depots near the settlements of Chervonye, Dolgenkoe, Pashkoe and Veseloe, and a Buk-M1 antiaircraft missile system near Slavyansk.As a result of the strikes, over 120 nationalists and 35 armored vehicles and vehicles were destroyed.

Missile troops and artillery performed 573 firing tasks during the night. Hit: 432 areas of concentration of enemy manpower and military equipment, 67 artillery positions, two batteries of multiple rocket launchers, as well as seven ammunition depots.

Russian air defence means shot down 18 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the areas of the settlements of Alexandrovka, Balakleya, Bryanka, Zaporozhskoe, Izium, Kapitolovka, Peremoga, Petrovka, Popasnoye, Proletarskoye, Trudolyubovka, including two Bayraktar-TB2 UAVs in the area of the settlements of Kalesnikovka and Krasny Liman.

In addition, a Ukrainian tactical missile Tochka-U was shot down over the settlement of Ilyichevka.

7. Destruction of NATO foreign military aid to Kiev

Moscow has repeatedly slammed the deliveries of lethal aid to Ukraine, saying they only destabilize the situation and hamper the prospects of peace. On April 26th Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused NATO of “essentially going to war with Russia through a proxy and arming that proxy.”

A large batch of weapons and ammunition shipped to Kiev by Western countries was destroyed in southeastern Ukraine on April 27th, Russia's Defense Ministry has said. A military warehouse set up on the territory of the Zaporozhye industrial aluminum plant was struck by Kalibr missiles, fired from Russian Navy vessels in the Black Sea.

The facility hosted "a large batch of foreign weapons and ammunition, supplied by the US and European countries to the Ukrainian army," the ministry said.

On April 25th, Moscow announced the destruction of six railway hubs in western Ukraine, saying they were used to deliver "foreign weapons and military hardware to the Ukrainian forces."

“These weapons will be a legitimate target for the Russian Armed Forces,” Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated on Tuesday. “Warehouses, including in the west of Ukraine, have become such a target more than once. How else could it be? NATO is essentially going to war with Russia through a proxy and arming that proxy. War means war.”

But NATO members, who have already armed Kiev with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems, armored vehicles, howitzers, and other weapons, are showing no sign of backing down.

Russia has repeatedly warned the US and its allies in the UK and EU against sending lethal aid to Ukraine, saying it only destabilizes the situation and hampers the prospects of peace.

8. Russia has not placed its nuclear forces on high alert

Some unprofessional Western experts continue to circulate rumors immediately after “invading Ukraine” on February 24, President Putin elevated the threat of nuclear war by placing the Russian nuclear forces on high alert.

However, the vivid and undeniable truth is that NOBODY IN RUSSIA HAS PLACED RUSSIAN NUCLEAR FORCES ON HIGH ALERT. Neither Mr Putin, not the Russian Senate. Urging operators of the Russian deterrence forces to be more attentive and vigilant during their shifts does not mean elevation of the NW on high alert. The same practice exists in all 9 NW states.

It is very strange that somebody not having any official document or statement to prove that, actually disseminates via Internet a false information. As well as the AP, obviously biased news agency, highly motivated to prolong the third Ukrainian aggression versus Donbass from 2014 till today. It is not a sirendipity that the report on that "faked fact" has been forged by an AP correspondent accredited in Kiev. A quote: "KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated East-West tensions by ordering ...".  Another quotation from the AP statement: "The Russian leader is “potentially putting in play forces that, if there’s a miscalculation, could make things much, much more dangerous,” said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss rapidly unfolding military operations"  cannot be interpreted as "elevation of the NW on high alert". Any person speaking "on condition of anonymity" can invent any ghost-story without any punishment and subsequent responsibility for that.

The Russian State Duma, the Lower House of th Russian Parliament, has stated that after February 24th Kiev has invented and circulated 5 mln (five million} around the world different fakes concerning the Operation "Z” (unofficial name-tag for the military operation).

So, the latest one dealt with the alleged "placing the Russian nuclear forces on high alert " is de facto five million and first (5.000.001) faked piece of news.