To understand the significance of the attack in the Bryansk region: the Slava plant is a storage facility for the strategic state reserve of fuel of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
On its territory there are 48 reservoirs with a capacity of 5 and 2 thousand /1
cubic meters.
Earlier on Wednesday, it was already attacked by unknown UAVs, as a result of which 3 storage facilities for 15,000 tons of aviation kerosene were destroyed.
Judging by reports in Russian public pages, another 10-15 thousand tons of expensive fuel destined /2
🔥Not Kursk alone: Russian media report a drone attack on the Bryansk region
According to the enemy media, UAVs attacked the Slava plant, which is located 80 km from the border, at night. /3 twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
The drones fell and exploded 3 meters from the fuel tanks.
According to Russian media, the plant's storage facilities were empty. But, judging by the video, they are burning like full ... 4/4 #SlavaUkrayini t.me/Pravda_Gerashc…
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1/ Ukraine and the US signed an agreement on minerals: what is known
Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko showed a photo of the signing of the Agreement on the Establishment of the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.
The agreement still needs to be ratified by the Verkhovna Rada - without this, the agreement will not be implemented
It provides for the creation of a joint investment fund, which will be replenished from the development of Ukrainian subsoil.
According to the updated text of the agreement, Ukraine retains ownership of all subsoil and does not have to repay old "debts" .
The agreement complies with the Ukrainian Constitution and does not change the European integration course.
- However, the document still needs to be ratified by the Verkhovna Rada - without this, the agreement will not be implemented
3/ The signing of the historic document was announced by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko.
She signed the document on the Ukrainian side. On the US side, the document was signed by Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.facebook.com/yulia.svyryden…
1/ "Tanks or pensions": The Economist wrote about Putin's dilemma that could change the course of the war
Russia's economy , which until recently showed signs of stability, is rapidly losing ground under the influence of internal and external factors.
- The Goldman Sachs High-Frequency Index shows a sharp slowdown in Russia's annual economic growth from about 5% at the end of last year to almost zero economist.com/finance-and-ec…
2/ The Russian government, despite the caution of official statements, acknowledges the existence of problems . In early April, the central bank stated that recently "a number of sectors have recorded a decline in production due to a sharp drop in demand."
According to the publication, after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, economists predicted a drop in Russia's annual GDP of up to 15%. In fact, that year there was a decrease of 1.4%, and in the following years there was a growth of 4.1% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2024.
Journalists identified three main reasons for the slowdown in annual economic growth in Russia
3/ The first of these is related to the "structural transformation" of the economy, as the Russian Central Bank calls it.
Before the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the Russian economy was oriented towards the West and allowed private entrepreneurship, but after 2022 it acquired the features of a military economy with an eastern orientation.
This restructuring required significant financial investments
The second factor influencing economic growth is monetary policy, experts say .
It is noted that inflation in Russia has exceeded the central bank's target of 4% annually for several months in a row, reaching over 10% in February and March.
One of the reasons for this is significant military spending, as well as a labor shortage caused by mobilization and emigration of qualified specialists
Nominal wages rose by 18% last year, leading companies to raise prices. In response, the central bank tightened monetary policy.
- On April 25, it decided to leave the key interest rate at 21%, the highest level since the early 2000s.
The third reason for the slowdown in economic growth, journalists say, -
- is the deterioration of the external economic situation amid the trade war with the United States , which led to a sharp drop in oil prices.
It is noted that with a decrease in export revenues, the drop in oil prices directly affects the real sector of the economy
2/ Russian dictator Vladimir Putin continues to refuse any ceasefire against Ukraine except on terms that facilitate his military efforts.
So his announcement of yet another unilateral “truce” – this time in honor of the Soviet and Russian military holiday of May 9 – is yet another attempt by the Kremlin obozrevatel.com/entity/kreml/
- to hold legitimate negotiations hostage in order to secure further concessions from Kyiv and Washington.
- It is emphasized that the international war criminal, while allegedly demonstrating a desire to end the war, at the same time continues to reject the American-Ukrainian proposal for a 30-day general ceasefire from March 2025 and uses unilateral agreements to achieve informational and combat advantages.
2/ When President Donald Trump was reminded in an interview with Time magazine
- this week that he had said he would end the Russian war on Ukraine on “day one,” he claimed he hadn’t been speaking literally or seriouslytime.com/7280114/donald…
3/ “Well, I said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration, because to make a point, and you know, it gets, of course, by the fake news [unintelligible].
Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended,” Trump said, according to Time’s transcript. time.com/7280114/donald…
This “in jest” claim is a lie.
On the campaign trail in 2023 and 2024, Trump said on dozens of occasions, in an entirely serious tone, manner and context, that he would end the war in Ukraine either within 24 hours of his return to the White House or even sooner than that.
He said over and over again, including at both presidential debates of 2024, that he would have the war “settled” when he was president-elect, before his inauguration
1/ Russia does not have the military power to seize Ukraine: ISW explained why there is no "big concession" that Trump is talking about
2/ US President Donald Trump recently called Russia's alleged abandonment of plans to occupy all of Ukraine a "very significant concession."
- However,
the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion precisely for this purpose, and subsequent years of bloody war have demonstrated Russia's inability to achieve this goalobozrevatel.com/ukr/person/don…
3/ Therefore, "renouncing" something that Russia is incapable of doing can hardly be considered a "major concession," according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). understandingwar.org/backgrounder/r…
Analysts recalled that in 2022, Russia expected to capture #Kyiv in February-March in order to force Ukraine to completely surrender, overthrow the current Ukrainian government, and disarm the Ukrainian army, which would mean the complete defeat of Ukraine.
Russia failed to achieve this goal.
The Ukrainian military, with limited Western support, stopped the Russian offensive on the Ukrainian capital, as well as the advance of Russian troops in the east and south of the country.
And then,
by early April, they forced the Russians to flee from the Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions, and a few months later liberated most of the Kharkiv region and part of the Kherson region, including Kherson