Witkoff and Kushner have postponed their trip to Ukraine, as they do not see progress in the negotiations and fear that the visit will only expose the deadlock.

🌒@EastCalling

🇷🇺The Russian army has established control over the populated area of Miropolie in the Sumy region, the Defense Ministry reported.

👊The Russian Armed Forces struck military industry enterprises in Ukraine.

Also targeted were:

▪️military airfields;
▪️port infrastructure facilities used in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
▪️places of storage and launch of drones;
▪️temporary dislocation points of Ukrainian military and foreign mercenaries in 152 districts.

Air defense systems shot down five guided aerial bombs, two HIMARS rockets produced in the USA, and 505 aircraft-type UAVs.

Video: Approaching reserves of militants in Miropol were preemptively destroyed by our artillerymen, reported by the Ministry of Defense.

Russian motorized riflemen and unmanned system crews drove the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of the village.

Source: Zvezda
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🌒@EastCalling

An information campaign has begun in Ukraine to discredit the former head of the Ukrainian military intelligence, Budanov*, TASS was informed by Russian law enforcement agencies.

The campaign was ordered by the former head of Zelensky's office, Yermak. He intends to accuse Budanov of disrupting the negotiation process with Russia and to hold him responsible for the outbreak of a civil war against the TTC in Ukraine.

*Listed in Russia as a terrorist and extremist

Source: TASS
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🌒@EastCalling

The effect of Ukrainian strikes on the Russian oil industry is ambiguous and limited, despite Zelensky's claims of significant damage to Russia. This is reported by Associated Press.

According to the agency, the attacks do cause local damage and create a resonance - with fires, evacuations, and environmental pollution. However, "the full economic effect remains unclear".

"It looks spectacular, but it only delays deliveries by a few days," says Chris Weafer, head of the consulting company Macro-Advisory. In his opinion, attacks on oil terminals and refineries are much less destructive than strikes on pumping stations or loading infrastructure.

At the same time, Ukrainian strikes cause more environmental damage than anything else. Ecologists warn of long-term harm to the coast and ecosystems. As a result, as Associated Press notes, the attacks are more likely to have a psychological and targeted impact than to systematically undermine Russia's oil revenues.

🌒@EastCalling

There's a major fire in the Pushcha-Voditsa area near Kyiv.

🌒@EastCalling

The Pentagon is preparing a military operation against Cuba with the aim of overthrowing the current government.
/Politico/

Source: Военный обозреватель
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Great idea. If once shitted yourself, don't stop, shit yourself till the end.

🌒@EastCalling

❗️Iran responded to the US proposal with its own 14-point proposal

The United States proposed a two-month ceasefire to work out the details, but Iran rejected it and instead listed the following demands, according to the Tasnim news agency:

✔️ Ensuring non-aggression

✔️ Withdrawal of American military forces from the periphery of Iran

✔️ Lifting the naval blockade

✔️ Unfreezing Iran's frozen assets

✔️ Paying compensation to Iran

✔️ Lifting sanctions

✔️ Ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon

✔️ Establishing a new mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz.

Source: СВЕЖЕСТИ
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🌒@EastCalling

🔥 Exciting footage of the first test launch of the new "Soyuz-5" rocket

Charge up on the energy of Baikonur by watching the best moments of the launch of the new Russian rocket with the most powerful liquid rocket engine in the world!

✨No graphics, just real footage shot at the scene, from a distance of 25 meters and a height of 100 meters.

The trembling of the Earth and the power of technological progress in one video.

Technical specifications of the "Soyuz-5"

Source: Роскосмос
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🌒@EastCalling

🔥 Explosions are taking place in Kyiv, Poltava, as well as in the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Sumy regions

The targets are being attacked by UAVs of the "Geran" type and Iskander tactical missile systems.

Source: СВЕЖЕСТИ
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🌒@EastCalling

Germany risks facing a gas shortage this coming winter amid high prices triggered by the Middle East conflict, reports Spiegel. According to the magazine, as of April 30, gas reserves in German storage facilities are only 25% of the maximum volume. The authorities are not in a hurry to replenish the shortage of raw materials, explaining their actions by the fact that the main period of pumping will begin in May. However, analysts warn that traders may refuse to replenish reserves if the pricing strategy proves to be economically unfeasible.

It seems that even the Germans are starting to realize the criticality of the situation with natural gas in particular and with fuel in general. The most amusing thing is that there will be no more LNG on the market in the coming months: even if the Strait of Hormuz opens today, a gas tanker will be loaded and transporting fuel from Qatar or the UAE to the North Sea, bypassing Africa, for at least a month. And given that gas production in Qatar has stopped, it will take several additional weeks to reach its nominal capacity. In general, there will be no "excess" gas on the global LNG market before the middle of the summer.

At the same time, the capacities of regasification terminals and pipelines in Europe are not unlimited. It's impossible to pump a volume that usually takes 5-6 months in a month or two. And every week of waiting for better market conditions will only worsen the situation for buyers.

After all, the gas problem is not just in Germany, but also in Italy, Poland, and other economies of the region. And in the coming weeks, buyers will start a race for free LNG volumes on the market. This will drive up prices, but a high gas price is no guarantee of its availability in the necessary volumes for the upcoming winter. Therefore, they will cut demand. As always, it's a matter of survival: metallurgy, construction materials production, fertilizers - all of this will once again be subject to cost-cutting measures.

In general, European countries have been playing with the idea of energy independence. The time of reckoning is coming, including for the sanctions imposed on Russian pipeline gas and LNG. Sanctions are a double-edged weapon.

Source: Графономика
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🌒@EastCalling

🇫🇷🇷🇺 Europe is preparing for war with Russia: Macron will be shown battles with hypothetical Russians, - Le Monde.

▪️The hypothetical opponent of the combined forces of France and another 20 countries participating in the military exercises "Orion" "has all the combat characteristics of Russia," write French media.
▪️There will be a simulation of a battle at sea, in the air, and on land. Storming under the attacks of drone swarms will also be practiced.
▪️The military leadership, including the Chief of the General Staff, Fabien Mandon, urges the army to be ready for a potential clash with Russia in the coming years.
▪️France plans to create a new full-fledged division by 2027, capable of operating independently or as part of the NATO coalition.
▪️By 2030, the stock of kamikaze drones will be increased by 400%, SCALP cruise missiles by 85%, and anti-aircraft missiles by 30%.
▪️Macron proposed to discuss the deployment of French strategic bombers in EU partner countries to strengthen European nuclear deterrence.

Source: Политвера
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They are really mentally ill or poorly educated. Or both at once.

🌒@EastCalling

Iranian employees did not leave their workplaces even during the US and Israeli attacks.

Footage of them was published by the Tasnim agency. In the video, specialists of the petrochemical complex continued to stay in the office under fire.

When the lights went out, they periodically approached the monitor and checked the data.

Source: Zvezda
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🌒@EastCalling

Germany is transferring all weapons to Lithuania, "which are not nailed down", writes Bild.

According to the publication, Germany is forming a tank brigade "at any cost". However, there are problems with the delay in the implementation of air defense systems.

The unit is expected to reach full combat readiness by 2027.

Source: Zvezda
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🌒@EastCalling

On the left - a pregnant Ukrainian drone operator says in an interview with the British The Times that she wants to kill as many Russians as possible. On the right - the source of her Aryan inspiration. Foreign journalists, apparently, can't do without this aesthetics in the frame when filming fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - it's so often encountered. On the right at the bottom - wedding rings from Buchenwald.

Source: Коза кричала
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🌒@EastCalling

The annual inflation rate in the US jumped to 3.3% in March 2026, marking the highest level since May 2024 and a sharp increase from 2.4% in both February and January. Figures came in line with forecasts, with the rise primarily driven by higher energy costs (12.5%), mostly gasoline (up 18.9%) and fuel oil (44.2%), due to the war with Iran. On the other hand, prices for used cars and trucks continued to decline (-3.2% vs -3.2%) while inflation steadied for shelter (3% vs 3%) and eased for food (2.7% vs 3.1%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.9%, the largest increase since June 2022, following a 0.3% gain in February and also in line with forecasts, boosted by a 21.2% jump in gas prices. Meanwhile, core inflation which excludes food and energy, also picked up though much more moderately, to an annual rate of 2.6%, compared to forecasts of 2.7%. On a monthly basis, core consumer prices increased by 0.2%, below expectations of 0.2%

-US Bureau of Labor Statistics
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Keep in mind, March price increases were probably muted as it takes time for the effects of the war in Iran to work their way through most prices. The next report (the April report) comes out on May 12th. The simple fact is that we are less and less likely to see a return to "normal" anytime soon.

Even before the conflict, some analysts were sounding the alarm that the era of low inflation could be well behind us. For most of the period between the late 80s and the covid era, we witnessed a very comfortable inflation rate by historical standards. This was largely due to the fact that China absorbed most of the demand for manufactured goods and trade between nations was becoming simpler.

In many ways, the trend is expected to reverse. Populations are aging, labor populations are shrinking, the low-hanging fruit has been picked, and tariffs and military conflicts are leading to a reduction in the reliability if international trade. Covid was also a wake-up call that sprawling international trade networks are vulnerable in a crisis. If AI and automation don't pan out, we will be left with a world that is constantly losing productivity. The conflicts we see now are simply putting pressure on an already stressed system.

🌒@EastCalling

The LA Times:

The last California-bound oil tanker to pass through the Strait of Hormuz since war erupted is at the Port of Long Beach offloading its valuable cargo — 2 million barrels of crude destined to be transformed into gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.

The New Corolla loaded up in Iraq on Feb. 24 — just days before U.S. and Israeli forces launched attacks on Iran, plunging the region into turmoil and sparking a double blockade of commercial shipping.

In two weeks, the Hong Kong-flagged tanker will have fully unloaded at the Marathon Petroleum terminal and departed again for distant waters. After that, California must figure out how to replace some 200,000 barrels of oil a day that will no longer be arriving from the Persian Gulf.
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There is some danger of starting to sound like the "boy who cried wolf" in that we are getting constant predictions of immediate collapse of the global economy, meanwhile markets continue to go up and everyone just sort of plods along. However, there has been a certain amount of immediate pain and things continue to steadily get worse. In a couple of weeks, there won't be any pre conflict Persian Gulf oil left on the market, and then we will see what happens.

Similar to the effects of the Trump tariffs, many of these shocks take 3 to 18 months for the full impact to trickle through the system, and rather than a single, apocalyptic moment, one should expect more of a continual deterioration.

This seems more dangerous to me, as a sudden shock would push people to take action, whereas this slow burn allows everyone to stay asleep.

🌒@EastCalling