🇷🇺 🇺🇦 Rybar | "Bakhmut is released, and this victory will go down in history as one of the largest battles. And it is his fall that can become a catalyst for the start of the long-awaited offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

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🇷🇺 🇸🇩 The Wagner mercenary group is reported to be pulling its most experienced members out of Ukraine and sending them to Sudan.

🔴 The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports that according to a source (presumably within Wagner), Wagner's boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has begun "to withdraw the most proven and experienced cadres of the Wagner PMC to Sudan", which may become a future base for Wagner in Africa.

🔴 "In Sudan, the PMC has a big new contract with the Rapid Support Force [which has been fighting Sudanese government forces], and redeployment of mercenaries to that country has begun. Including those who took part in the fighting in Bakhmut."

🔴 While this is unconfirmed, it does make a certain amount of sense – Wagner has made a great deal of money in Africa and media reports have spoken of Wagner members and weapons being sent to Sudan from its base in the Central African Republic.

🔴 Wagner's future after the battle of Bakhmut is also unclear. 

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1659630335393513473.html

🇯🇵🇺🇦 Zelenskiy arrives in Japan

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Japan on Saturday to attend the Group of Seven (G7) summit.

Footage from Japanese broadcasters showed the Ukrainian president stepping down to the tarmac moving quickly to a waiting car.

#Japan #Ukraine

@asianomics

🇯🇵🇰🇷🇺🇸 Japan, US, South Korea discuss sharing of North Korea missile data

Japan, the United States and South Korea are negotiating an agreement on sharing real-time data on North Korean missile launches amid growing nuclear and missile threats from the North.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said there has been no agreement yet, but “I understand that defense authorities are vigorously proceeding to set up an arrangement.”

Japan and South Korea are both key US allies and their cooperation is key to Washington’s security strategy in the Indo-Pacific as tensions in the region grow.

#Japan #SouthKorea #USA

@asianomics

🇰🇷🇯🇵 Japan, South Korea partnership funds to go to chips, energy

Top business leaders from Japan and South Korea announced they will use a fund meant to underscore the two countries’ burgeoning ties to strengthen their cooperation in energy, industry and other sectors.

Japan Business Federation and the Federation of Korean Industry announced a fund of $1.5 million in March. The money comes from an initial installment of $750 000 from each side to complement efforts initiated by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s government to resolve a historical dispute over Japanese brutality.

The two groups selected specific areas of joint projects for the Future Partnership funds, focusing on youth exchanges and industrial cooperation. Areas of focus include semiconductor supply chain resiliency, energy security, maintaining the free and open international order, and climate change, among others.

#SouthKorea #Japan

@asianomics

🇰🇷🇯🇵🇺🇸 South Korea-US-Japan to hold summit in Hiroshima

President Yoon Suk-yeol will hold a meeting with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the upcoming Group of Seven summit to be held in Hiroshima, Japan, to discuss ways to cooperate on North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

The summit is anticipated to be hold on May 21, the last day of the G7 meetings.

The trilateral summit comes six months since the three leaders' meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in November last year. It marks the third such meeting since Yoon took office in May last year.

#SouthKorea #Japan #USA

@asianomics

🇺🇸🇪🇺🇬🇧🛩🇺🇦 — 🇺🇦 Ukrainian channel TRUKHA ⚡️Ukraina on Telegram:

"❗️Western countries have already decided to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, Reuters.

The Aviation Coalition previously included:
🇵🇹Portugal.
🇬🇧Britain.
🇫🇷France.
🇺🇸USA.
🇳🇱 Netherlands.
🇩🇰Denmark.
🇧🇪Belgium.

Another important detail: Defense Express estimates that [Ukraine] could get up to 70 F-16🔥"

🔗 Source: