Zelensky Thanks U.S. For “Unprecedented” Support

“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Kyiv on Monday .

Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have been in Ukraine since Sunday, in the highest-level visit of U.S. officials to the country since the Russian invasion began, more than two months ago.

Austin and Blinken committed a total of $713 million in foreign military aid for Ukraine and 15 allied and partner countries, of which $322 million are meant for Ukraine alone. The rest will be shared between NATO members and other countries that have provided Ukraine with important military supplies, officials said .

Such funding differs from previous U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, as it does not consist of a donation from the U.S. Department of Defense: Instead, it is cash that countries can use to buy the supplies they need.

According to officials, the new aid, along with the sale of $165 million-worth of non-U.S. and Soviet-era munitions, increases total U.S. military aid to Ukraine to $3.7 billion since the invasion.

In response, Zelensky said , "We appreciate the unprecedented assistance of the United States to Ukraine. I would like to thank President Biden personally and on behalf of the entire Ukrainian people for his leadership in supporting Ukraine, for his personal clear position."

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that the supply of weapons to Ukraine by the United States does not contribute to the search for a "diplomatic solution" in the war. “We stressed the unacceptability of the situation when the United States is stuffing Ukraine with weapons, we demanded an end to this practice," Antonov said in an interview with Russia-24, as quoted by TASS .

Pseudo-Referendum In Kherson

Pseudo-referendums are a well-known practice of the Kremlin to entrench itself in occupied territories. British intelligence says Russia aims to hold one such referendum in Kherson, which is key for the invaders to justify its occupation. The city, an important port on the Black Sea, is key to Russia's goal of establishing a land connection with Crimea and dominating southern Ukraine.

Mariupol Testimonies

Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, in an interview with Die Welt , told about the evidence of mass graves, and the dangerous search for evidence. “The situation on site at these graves is dangerous. At any moment, a Russian soldier may ask people to hand over their cellphones to check their photos. So it's a big risk for our people. We understand that it is very difficult to verify the information. And we try everything to find out as much as possible,” Andriushchenko said.

Mutilated bodies are also found in the plastic bags around the city, as locals report. “We found two massive graves near Mariupol. They are more than 300 meters tall. We had information about this before, but it's difficult to research given the current situation. We have now spoken to people who have seen what is in the graves: large plastic bags containing the bodies of our compatriots. In the worst cases, it is only parts of the body”, confirms mayor’s adviser.

The last defenders of the Mariupol — Azov battalion — continue their resistance in the Azovstal plant, where hundreds of civilians found shelter. They continue to publish videos of people trapped deep underground of Azovstal, showing mainly children.

Not all who escaped Mariupol are safe, many locals were taken by force to the filtration camps in Russia. The BBC published a story of a couple who managed to flee from one of such camps. "If a person was suspected of being a 'Ukrainian Nazi', they took them to Donetsk for further investigation or murder," says one man named Oleksandr, although the BBC has not been able to verify this claim. "It was very dangerous and risky. Any small doubt, any small resistance - and they could take you to the basements for interrogation and torture. Everybody was afraid to be taken to Donetsk."

The centers have been compared by Ukrainian officials to those used during Russia's war in Chechnya, when thousands of Chechens were brutally interrogated and many disappeared.

UN Secretary General's Controversial Moscow Visit

Against the backdrop of high-ranking U.S. officials' visits to Kyiv, President Zelensky advised UN Secretary General to first visit places of torture of Ukrainians before finding time for "honorable people from Moscow" — in reaction to the announcement that António Guterres would arrive in Moscow on April 26 to meet with Putin and Lavrov.

"We are not a country for tragic selfies. You can't come to us empty-handed," Zelensky added.

Arab Emirates Oil To Replace Russian Oil In Europe

A shipping unit of France's TotalEnergies has provisionally chartered a tanker to load Abu Dhabi crude oil in early May for Europe — the first such shipment in two years, Reuters report . More cargoes are expected to head to Europe in the cmoing months to replace the Russian shortfall as the European Union prepares more sanctions on Russian oil imports, traders said, possibly diverting some supplies away from Asia.

The global trade flow is readjusting to reflect changes in Russian oil supplies, while it is Europe's biggest oil supplier, providing 26% of EU imported oil in 2020.

Before-and-after Ukraine

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, since Feb. 24, Russia has launched 2,000 missiles at the Ukrainian territory. Beyond the dramatic human costs, shelling and airstrikes, have left infrastructural damages estimated to reach $100 billion, according to Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.

Under continuous heavy bombardment, many of the Ukrainian cities and their trademark locations can be barely recognized now, as shown in these before-and-after photos in the Kyiv Independent .