Ukraine News. Sunday 15 April. [Ukrainian sources]

SUNDAY HEADLINES:
West predicted exacerbation between US and Russia.  In the West, told how new US sanctions will affect Putin's relationship with his oligarchs.  In Russia under mysterious circumstances died a journalist who told about the defeat of Putin's mercenaries in Syria.  In Russia, they discovered the secret of the success of Putin's propaganda.  Rocket attacks did not affect the course of the war in Syria, - Johnson. Britain is preparing to respond to a possible attack by Russian hackers.  Russia will not go to curtail the "peacekeeping mission" in Transnistria.  US Ambassador Huntsman sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on the preparation of new sanctions against Russia.  All of our 105 missiles achieved goals, Syrian troops released more than 40 ground-air missiles.  Four people were exposed to chemical burns during a trip to Lviv on a shuttle bus.

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The growing pressure from the US can cause Russia's aggression, however, Moscow does not want a direct conflict with Washington.

This is an American political scientist of Ukrainian descent, senior analyst Stratfor on the subject of post-Soviet space Eugene Chausovsky told in an interview with "Apostrophe".

It is noted that at the moment, despite all the threats, the Kremlin is still responsible for blow to the Syrian air base only words.

"I think Russia will be very careful because they do not want to be in a situation of direct conflict with the United States, because it will have unpredictable consequences," the analyst stressed. "Probably Russia may be shooting drums or UAVs, but I think they will be very cautious, avoiding a significant exacerbation of the United States in Syria. They do not want to escape into a new hot conflict."

At the same time, one can observe how the United States exacerbates pressure on the Kremlin, say packages of sanctions against the encumbrances of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and mass expulsion of diplomats of the Russian Federation.

"I think Moscow clearly made it clear that it would not come out of such a pressure." Pressure is not something that compels Russia to compromise, it usually makes it more aggressive, "Chausovsky concluded.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

US sanctions against businessmen and officials close to the Kremlin have suffered a painful blow, however, will not significantly affect Russian President Vladimir Putin's relationship with his entourage.

Eugene Chausowski, a senior analyst on the post-Soviet space in Stratfor, said in an interview with the "Apostrophe".

"Sanctions are very painful for Putin's immediate surroundings, especially the oligarchs like [Oleg] Deripaska, which is a powerful economic blow to companies such as Rusal, where these oligarchs lost more than $10 billion. But, more generally, the impact on the Russian economy seems to have exhausted. Ruble has lost its value, the stock index is also, but it looks more like a short-term impact than a long-term impact on Russia's economy, "the analyst underlined.

At the same time, in his opinion, sanctions will not significantly affect Putin's relations with the oligarchs.

"Economically, it will be difficult for them, but from a political point of view on Putin's loyalty, nothing will change substantially, he has been in power for many years, and he still managed to maneuver between these economic constraints and hold the oligarchs, so I think we are not we will see significant changes in the loyalty of the oligarchs to Putin", - summed up Chausovsky.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The journalist of the New Day agency, Maxim Borodin, was beaten up in Yekaterinburg, Russia, who was one of those who told about the death of Wagner's PMC under Deir Ez-Zor in Syria.

This is reported by "MBH Media".

According to the edition, April 13, Borodin dropped out of his apartment window on the fifth floor. He suffered heavy trauma and fell into a coma. The man was taken to a city hospital, but died of injuries.



The editor-in-chief of RIA Novy Dvoda, in which Borodin worked, Paulina Rumyantseva admitted that journalist's death could have been no accident or suicide. "To understand what has happened, we need to get access to the apartment, we do it. If at least some kind of hint of crime appears, we will all inform," she said. According to Rumyantsev, there was no reason for Borodin's suicide.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Russia's reaction to the recent bombing of Syria by the coalition of the United States and its allies once again showed that the Kremlin skillfully uses the complexes of the population of Russia for its propaganda and strengthening the power of the Putin regime.

This is on his Facebook page written by Russian sociologist Igor Eidman.

"The Soviet people were told that they live in the most magnificent and advanced country, and the US is the main rival and the enemy, but we are still steeper. As the population grew, the inhabitants of the USSR faced with the poverty and idiocy of Russian life and learned that in other countries (and that the United States), people live much better.This collision caused a cognitive dissonance: if we are so big, why we live so poorly, hence the painful split of consciousness, the deep complex of inferiority compensated by the periodic attacks of the mania of greatness and the delusion of superiority over the whole world", - writes Eidman.

According to him, the Kremlin has always been able to provoke these attacks, using them to consolidate the population around their power. It is in this reliance on the Soviet tradition that the reasons for the effectiveness of Putin's propaganda are partly hidden.

"Whatever happens, the authorities announce their next brilliant victory, periodically changing the testimony right in the course of the play. The population, having a little respect, believes in new lies, because it, like miraculous psychotropic medicine, deprives complexes of depression." We now have a missile super-weapon. Americans are in panic, they are afraid of us. Trump does not dare to bomb Syria, otherwise we will hit him... Oh, he seems to still bombard. But this is not our area of ​​responsibility, and the bombing itself was unsuccessful, we did not even kill anyone... In general, we still won. "All this was already in the Soviet past," the sociologist concludes.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The rocket attacks of the United States, Britain and France in Syria were not intended to alter the course of a military conflict or change the political regime.

As the Cenzor.NET referring to the "League", it said the head of British diplomacy, Boris Johnson.

The meaning of the strikes was to prevent further chemical attacks.

The head of the British Foreign Ministry added that he does not know what conclusions the events will make Syrian President Bashar Assad. If chemical attacks continue, the UK, together with its allies, will study the options for a response.

Earlier today, it was reported that Britain is preparing for a cyberattack on Russia if Moscow tries to intervene in the work of British infrastructure.

Recall that on Saturday night, April 14, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom struck at Assad's sites in Syria.

The Pentagon said that strikes in Syria have hit three goals related to the Syrian chemical weapons program. The goals were a research center, a chemical storage facility and a command post. All of them are located in Damascus and Homs.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Britain will consider the possibility of a cyber attack in response to the Russian Federation, if the hackers of the latter try to intervene in the British infrastructure.

According to Censor.NET, referring to UNIAN, this is stated in the material of Sunday Times, which received relevant information from sources in the security sector.

It is noted that, according to security sector officials, the British Government Communication Center (GCHQ, the special service responsible for protecting state information and electronic intelligence, Ed.) "Will continue to expose Russia's inappropriate behavior in cyberspace."

It is reported that British intelligence services are also preparing for possible promulgation of pro-Russian hackers of compromise by officials of the British government.

It should be noted that relations between Russia and Great Britain intensified after London accused Moscow of poisoning the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, expelling from the country Russian diplomats.

The crisis in relations between the countries also deepened after Britain participated in the operation against the forces of Assad in Syria, which supported the Russian Federation. In February, the British Foreign Ministry officially pledged Russian authorities responsibility for a massive cyberattack using the worm-worm virus NotPetya, which infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide in June last year.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The Russian Federation is not going to withdraw its troops from Transnistria, considering them a "peacekeeping mission" to protect their compatriots.

This was stated on the page on Facebook by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, reports Censor.NET.

"We will not tolerate degradation of the status of Transnistria, where our compatriots and fellow citizens live, and we will not go to the collapse of our peacekeeping mission," Rogozin wrote.

The Russian official noted that the RF is in constant contact with the unrecognized authorities of Transnistria.

"We are in constant contact with the President, the Government and the Verkhovna Rada of Transnistria, we are looking for and finding solutions to all the complex problems that Chisinau and the West are facing in order to strengthen the blockade of this unrecognized republic," the deputy prime minister said.

As reported, the Operational Group of Russian troops (about 1,400 servicemen) was stationed on the territory of the Transnistrian region of Moldova, and over 20 thousand tons of ammunition were stored in the military warehouses of the Kolbasa village of Rybnitsky district.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Recently, US ambassador John Huntsman sent a letter to the Russian Foreign Ministry saying that the US authorities are preparing new sanctions against Russia. This time, thanks to the support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

As informs Censor.NET, this is reported by "Kommersant"

In the first part of the letter, sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, according to the information of the publication, it is about the motives of the military operation carried out on Syria by the Americans and their allies. According to the United States, the Syrian authorities are blamed for using chemical weapons against their own people and the international community is obliged to take measures to stop Bashar al-Assad.

In the second part of his message, John Huntsman reports to Moscow that Washington intends to impose new sanctions on her "through the support of the Syrian regime."

Earlier, the United States intends to impose additional sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow's support for Bashar Assad's regime, on Saturday said the Atlantic Council expert, former adviser to the US Treasury Department, Brian O'Toole, in his Twitter account. According to him, such a statement is in materials for the press, prepared for a briefing in the White House.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

US Army Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie reported details of the strikes on sites in Syria on April 14.

According to Censor.NET, referring to UNIAN, he described the details of the operation at a briefing.

"By demonstrating the powerful unity of allies, we launched 105 rockets for three purposes, which will significantly affect the Syrian regime's ability to develop, store and use chemical weapons in the future," McKenzie said.

In particular, 76 missiles were launched at the Barge Research Center near Damascus, of which 57 were Tamahawk ground-based cruise missiles, and 19-JASSM air-ground wing missiles. According to McKenzie, according to preliminary data, this object was destroyed. Also in Damascus three more buildings were destroyed.

In addition, another 22 rockets were released from the chemical weapons storage facility in Kim Shinshara, west of the city of Homs. McKenzie has specified that the troops of all three countries - the United States, Great Britain and France - have been attacked on this object.

Another 7 Rocket missiles were launched by chemical weapons bunker in Khim Shinshara. According to preliminary estimates, the missiles destroyed this bunker.

Also, the lieutenant-general said that the missiles were launched from the British, French, and US air forces and naval platforms in the Red Sea, the northern Gulf and the eastern Mediterranean, as well as bombers.

"We are convinced that all our missiles have achieved their goals. At the end of our mission, after the blows were completed, all our planes returned to their base," he said.

McKenzie said that Syrian troops released more than 40 ground-air missiles, but most of them were launched after the last blow to the Allies.

Recall that on Saturday night, April 14, the United States, France and Great Britain struck at objects of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

The Pentagon said that the strikes in Syria were based on three goals related to the Syrian Chemical Weapons Program. A research center, a chemical storage facility and a command post have become targets. They are all located in Damascus and Homs.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

On the road Gorodok-Komarno four bus passengers were exposed to chemical burns during the trip.
As informs Censor.NET, this is reported by the press service of the DSSU in the Lviv region.

"On April 13 at 19:24 a message was sent to the rescuers that on the road Gorodok-Komarno in the town of Gorodok (Komarnyanskaya street) on the bus Bogdan, which traveled along the route" Lviv-Ugry", there was a leak of disinfectant" Blanidas", which is used for the sterilization of medical instruments," the statement said.

It is noted that the bus at the time of the event was 22 passengers. As a result of leakage of the substance were exposed to chemical burns of 4 people. They were taken to the Gorodok Central District Hospital.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

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https://www.ft.com/content/1d98157c-411f-11e8-803a-295c97e6fd0b

Russian aluminium producer Rusal tumbled as much as 21 per cent on Monday morning in Hong Kong after the US promised further sanctions against Moscow for supporting the Syrian government.

The Trump administration vowed on Sunday to impose more sanctions against Russia for supporting the Assad regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons in the wake of US-led military strikes on Syria on Saturday.

Oleg Deripaska - the Russian billionaire behind Hong Kong-listed Rusal - and his companies were targeted by US sanctions announced on April 6. The US Treasury said the sanctions against seven high-profile Russian businessmen, a dozen of their companies and 17 senior government officials were linked to Russia’s actions in Crimea, Syria and Ukraine.

That announcement saw the company’s shares drop 50.4 per cent last Monday...............

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