BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF

Posted by BW Actual on Apr 20th 2022

BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF

Ukraine

  • Pres. Zelensky says the battle for the Donbas has begun, but early reports from the UK Defense Ministry suggest Russia is facing some of the same “environmental, logistical, and technical challenges” that held it back in earlier operations.
  • Despite those setbacks, Russia has already captured the first Donbas city, Kreminna—but it killed an estimated 200 civilians in the process.
  • Ukrainian forces have repelled some of the other Russian advances in the Donbas so far, but analysts worry these first Russian movements are just a “prelude” to the big offensive.
  • An EU official estimated that Russia has deployed 10,000 to 20,000 mercenaries to the Donbas as foot soldiers: “These guys are mainly used as a mass against the Ukrainian resistance. It’s infantry. They don’t have any heavy equipment or vehicles.”
  • Meanwhile, Russia gave Ukrainian holdouts in Mariupol a new ultimatum to surrender by this afternoon, but the Ukrainians again refused.
  • The defending Ukrainian commander said he expected defeat within days “if not hours” and pleaded for more weapons against “enemy forces ten times bigger than us.”
  • Russia also rejected a Ukrainian request for a ceasefire during the Eastern Orthodox Holy Week as “insincere,” criticizing it as a stalling tactic to buy Ukrainian forces time to rearm.

International Response

  • The EU is reportedly working out details for an embargo on Russian oil imports, but they’re struggling to find a structure that would minimize the economic damage of an embargo on economies like Germany that are still highly dependent on Russian oil.

Afghanistan

  • Several bombs targeted a school and a training center in the predominantly Shia Kabul neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi, killing at least six—including children. Islamic State often targets Shias, and was likely responsible for these attacks.

Other News

  • The IMF trimmed its forecast for 2022 global growth from 4.4% in January to 3.6% now—in part because of the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The latest figures also estimated 2022 inflation of 5.7% in developed countries and 8.7% in developing ones.
  • Sri Lankan police fired on a crowd protesting high fuel prices, killing one person and injuring 14 more. The government is asking the IMF for an emergency bailout to mitigate the effect of inflation on local prices, but its own economic mismanagement is to blame.