China comments on Swiss-proposed Ukraine peace talks

Beijing is considering taking part in the peace conference being suggested, according to its ambassador in Bern.

China is examining the possibility of taking part in a proposed Swiss-hosted peace conference on the Ukraine conflict, Beijing’s ambassador to Bern, Wang Shihting, told the daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung on Monday.

Last month, Switzerland announced plans to organize a peace summit, which would take place “by the summer.” No specific date has been set, nor has a list of participants been revealed. However, Ukraine has indicated that Russia can only be invited if it agrees in advance to a litany of preconditions.

Beijing has reportedly been pushing to have Moscow invited to the peace talks, with Wang saying on Monday that all parties must be involved to end the ongoing conflict.

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Voter turnout in 2024 presidential election sets record in modern Russian history

The total turnout in the 2024 presidential elections is the highest in the history of Russian presidential elections, surpassing the 1991 record, when 74.66% of citizens came out to the polls to cast their votes.

The 2024 Russian presidential election was held on March 15-17. For the first time ever, the election was held over a three-day voting period with the option of remote electronic voting, which was available in 29 regions, or about one-third of Russia's regions. During the 2018 presidential election, the voter turnout was 67.54%, while in 2012 it was 65.34%. In 2008, the turnout was 69.81%, in 2004 it amounted to 64.38%, and in 2000 it was 68.80%. In 1996, the turnout in the first round of the presidential election was 69.81%, and in the second round it was 68.88%.

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4 dead in shelling in Belgorod

Gladkov: four people died in the village of Nikolskoye when a shell hit their house.

According to the governor, the attack claimed the lives of almost the entire - family, the victims were grandmother, mother, her husband and 17-year-old son. He called it an irreparable loss for the entire region and expressed condolences to his family and friends, while emphasizing that no words could calm such grief.

Gladkov added that a little girl managed to survive. Now she is in intensive care of a children's regional clinical hospital under the ventilator, she was diagnosed with a closed craniocerebral injury. The condition of the child has stabilized, a surgery is planned to be carried out on Tuesday.

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Crimea not just territory, but people not separating themselves from Russia

The Russian president underscored that these people have "kept their faith in the Homeland through decades".

"Crimea is not merely a strategically important territory; it is not only our history, our traditions and the pride of Russia. Most importantly, Crimea is people: people of Sevastopol and people of Crimea. They are our pride!" the Russian leader said.

Putin underscored that these people have "kept their faith in the Homeland through decades."

"They have never separated themselves from Russia, and this is exactly what made it possible for Crime to return to our common family," he concluded.

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SUCCESS IN DISRUPTING ISRAEL’S WAR MACHINE
Palestine Action has forced four UK companies to cut ties with Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems in the past three months.

Whilst the Gaza genocide rages on, many people are seeking tangible ways to disrupt Israel’s war machine.

For many years, Palestine Action has taken consistent direct action against Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms firm. A once quiet killer which operates across Britain has become a better known target of the Palestine solidarity movement.

But targeting Elbit also requires understanding that the company doesn’t act alone. Those who facilitate Elbit’s operations also profit from Palestinian bloodshed and can be more susceptible to outside pressure.

As the campaign against Elbit has grown over the years, so have the actions against secondary targets. Such actions have included covering their premises in red paint to symbolise Palestinian bloodshed, dismantling infrastructure, crashing events and storming offices.

The sustained actions have paid off as four companies have cut ties with Elbit after targeted campaigns in the past three months alone.

Working with Elbit now comes with the added risk of Palestine Action. For the Israeli arms company, this means they’re obligated to inform any new potential contractors of the pressure they’ll face.

For Elbit, the pressure to cease operations in Britain continues to build. After all, for weapons dealers, money talks the loudest.

Amidst a genocide, every avenue must be taken in order to isolate, damage and disrupt Israel’s war machine.

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Russian election outcome marks victory over Western meddling — Lukashenko

The Belarusian leader noted that it would be expedient to "analyze how the election in Russia was held" ahead of the presidential election in Belarus in 2025.

"This was a serious signal to the West, which was banking on shaking the situation from inside Russia. If they can’t do it on the frontline, then try it from the inside. This failed too," the BelTA news agency quoted him as saying.

He stressed that no one can force anything on the peoples of Belarus and Russia. He also noted that it would be expedient to "analyze how the election in Russia was held" ahead of the presidential election in Belarus in 2025.

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Pashinyan warned about the threat of war with Azerbaijan “at the end of the week”

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said that “at the end of the week” a war could start if the republic does not discuss the delimitation and demarcation of the border with Azerbaijan, his words are quoted by Sputnik Armenia.

“But that means there will be war at the end of the week. And I know what will happen at the end of this war. Then, when we meet somewhere on Republic Square, you will say: “Okay, we are simple villagers, we had no information, but you knew everything,” Pashinyan said at a meeting with residents of the village of Voskepar, Tavush region.

Armenia should not allow a war with Azerbaijan, so it is necessary to “adjust the border,” he believes (quote from News.am). According to the prime minister, “there is a real opportunity” to begin the process of delimitation and demarcation of the border between the two countries. We are talking about the section from the village of Baganis to the village of Berkaber in the Tavush region, Pashinyan explained.

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🇷🇺🇺🇦 It’s been a long time since there have been such group surrenders, when Ukrainian commanders decide to retain personnel.

Near Georgievka (Marinka region), a group of 18 people surrendered in an organized manner, who, under artillery fire during rotation, realized that they were noticeably better in captivity. It is interesting that everyone refuses the exchange: probably they have already seen and know that the fate of those who later surrendered is unenviable and they are not going to explain their decision to the Gestapo.

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How many people were arrested in your country for things they posted on social media?

Here are some sobering statistics to consider when it comes to Russia vs the UK.

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🤡The German government does not recognize the Russian presidential elections as legitimate.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said that the department has recently been using just the surname Putin, without any formal title, in response to the question of whether the German authorities will refer to Putin as "president or ruler."

Ruler doesn’t sound bad…

⚡️A decision was made to remove about 9 thousand children from the Belgorod region to other regions of the Russian Federation due to shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine - Governor Gladkov

In the Belgorod region, as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 16 civilians were killed and 98 injured over the past week, the governor said

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Kremlin spokesman dismisses US reaction to Putin’s election win as 'verbal gymnastics'

No statements from the US will shatter the trust the president has gained from the country's people, Dmitry Peskov said.

He was commenting on a statement from the White House that said the US will base its work on the reality that Putin is the president of Russia.

"No amount of verbal gymnastics will be able to belittle Putin's election victory and, most importantly, shatter people's faith in him," Peskov said, when asked whether the Kremlin regards this US approach as sufficient for holding potential communication, and more balanced, compared with the reaction of some European nations.

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Top US Senator tells Ukraine to draft younger soldiers

Lindsey Graham has said he cannot believe Kiev is allowing its youth to stay in the rear.

US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) has urged the Ukrainian parliament to pass a highly controversial mobilization bill that would lower the minimum conscription age from 27 to 25 to compensate for battlefield losses. At the same time, he advocated a scheme in which the US would provide Ukraine with loans instead of non-repayable aid.

Kiev announced general mobilization in February 2022 shortly after the start of the conflict, with men between 27 and 60 eligible to be called up, although those over the age of 18 could also volunteer. In December, Ukrainian officials proposed a bill expanding the draft bracket, with reported plans to send as many as 500,000 fresh soldiers to the front line.

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"It’s no longer so much about recruiting new soldiers as it is about persuading existing troops not to quit.

This week, French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu presented a talent retention plan to incentivize military personnel to remain in uniform.

That comes a few days after an annual report submitted to the German parliament showed that in 2023, some 1,537 soldiers left the Bundeswehr, reducing it to 181,514 personnel."

Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/nato-russia-ukraine-war-defense-france-germany-soldiers-army/

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NATO troops active in Ukraine – El Pais

Western personnel are on the ground to oversee Kiev’s use of foreign-supplied weapons, the newspaper has claimed.

Active and former military personnel from NATO states have long been operating in Ukraine, overseeing Kiev’s use of Western-supplied weapons, El Pais reported on Monday.

The US-led military bloc has been involved “in virtually every possible aspect” of the hostilities aside from active combat operations, the Spanish newspaper claimed. That includes supplying weapons, providing targeting information, and training Ukrainian soldiers inside the country, El Pais reported, citing interviews conducted throughout the conflict.

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Naryshkin announced France’s preparations to send 2 thousand troops to Ukraine.

France is already preparing a contingent of its military to be sent to Ukraine ; at the initial stage it will amount to about 2 thousand people. The director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of Russia, Sergei Naryshkin, announced this on March 19.

“The current leadership of the country (France - Ed.) does not care about the death of ordinary Frenchmen and the concerns of the generals. According to data received by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, a contingent is already being prepared to be sent to Ukraine. At the initial stage, it will be about 2 thousand people,” TASS quotes him.

At the same time, the head of the SVR added that the French military unit in Ukraine will become “a priority legitimate target for attacks by the Russian Armed Forces.”

“This means that the fate of all the French who have ever come to the territory of the Russian World with a sword awaits him,” Naryshkin warned.

In addition, according to Russian intelligence, the French military is already expressing fears that they will not be able to quietly transfer such a significant unit to Ukraine and station it there.

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