❗Washington is trying to pressure Latin American nations into joining the Russia sanctions using threats, Russian Ambassador to US Anatoly Antonov says.

"The irritation is seen to be growing in the US Department of State over the independent position of the Latin American nations, which refuse to join the sanctions 'crusade' against Russia and have an own vision of the Ukrainian crisis. The aim of such statements is clear: to intimidate its partners via secondary restrictions for non-compliance with the anti-Russian campaign," Antonov wrote on the embassy's Telegram page.

🙄NBC: US intel community confused by Biden's 'genocide' declaration

President Joe Biden has apparently startled US intelligence agencies by claiming that Russia is committing "genocide" in Ukraine.

Two State Department officials tell NBC News that Biden's seemingly off-noscript remark during a domestic policy speech in Iowa made it harder for the agency, which is tasked with making formal determinations of genocide and war crimes through an independent legal process, "to credibly do its job."

Intelligence reports on Ukraine currently do not support a "genocide" designation, officials said.

“Genocide includes a goal of destroying an ethnic group or nation and, so far, that is not what we are seeing,” a US intelligence official told NBC News.

And while some officials were caught off guard, others saw it coming:

“These aren’t gaffes. He’s doing this very purposefully,” said one person close to the White House.

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🤔 Meanwhile, troops from the Special Air Service (SAS) unit of the British Army are said to be training local forces in Ukraine for the first time since the conflict in the country, The Times reports.

Serving British special forces have carried out military training exercises with two battalions stationed in and around Kiev, Ukrainian commanders are cited as saying.

The military trainers arrived to teach Ukraine’s recruits how to use UK-supplied next-generation light anti-tank weapons (NLAWs), among others.

While former British soldiers, marines and special forces commandos have been working as training contractors and volunteers in Ukraine, this is the first report of such instruction being offered by serving UK forces.

The British Defence Ministry has so far refused to confirm Ukrainian commanders’ accounts.

⚡Russian MoD: Ukrainian military factories targeted in high-precision strikes

Russian MoD briefs on the Ukraine military op:

▪During the day, 16 targets were hit by high-precision air-based missiles;

▪Missile troops and artillery destroyed 811 targets overnight;

▪Russian air defences shot down Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft near Izum;

▪Operational and tactical aviation hit 67 areas of concentration of Ukrainian manpower and military equipment overnight;

▪In total, 133 aircraft, 458 unmanned aerial vehicles, 246 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,246 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 252 multiple launch rocket systems, 981 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,146 units of special military vehicles of Ukraine's Armed Forces have been destroyed during the special operation.

❗️Russia remains observer at UN Human Rights Council - Russian Foreign Ministry

⚡️Russia is banning entry to UK Prime Minister Johnson, UK Foreign and Defence ministers - Foreign Ministry

Russian Foreign Ministry: Russia’s personal sanctions against the UK is a response to London's political and information campaign against Russia

Moscow will soon expand its "stop list" by including more British politicians and parliamentarians in it - Russian Foreign Ministry

🎥 Russian MoD video: Russian forces move through settlements in the Kharkov region that have been liberated from Ukrainian neo-Nazis

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❗Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, and Home Secretary Priti Patel are also on the travel black list

"It is in your power to ask the prime minister of your country, Boris Johnson, to influence the Ukrainian leadership": Oksana Marchenko, the wife of Ukrainian opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk who was detained by Kiev this week, pleads with the families of two British mercenaries who surrendered to Russian and Donbass forces in Ukraine to help convince PM Boris Johnson to swap them for her husband

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🎥The Russian Defence Ministry has evacuated the first batch of refugees from Izyum in the Kharkov region: about 100 civilians are heading to Russia's Belgorod region

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💬Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova on Medvedchuk's wife’s address to the relatives of British mercenaries:

"Boris Johnson, who recently visited Kiev, is probably aware of their fate. He won't be slow to respond. And [UK Foreign Secretary] Liz Truss is likely to explain what the British citizens did there".

❗️The head of the Estonian Ministry of Defence: Economic sanctions against Russia have had no "effect" yet

A fake website of Russia's governing United Russia party has appeared on the Internet, with its IP address registered in the United States.

Among the "news" that has been published on the site is a "statement" by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev claiming that "the Russian Aerospace Forces are tasked with destroying Starlink satellites".

The website has already been blocked by Russia’s media watchdog.

Is someone watching a bit too much Star Wars? 🤔

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❗Italian ports will be closed to Russian ships starting 17 April, reports say

💬Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has commented on a purported statement made on his behalf and published on a fake website of the United Russia party:

"Fakes create an alternative universe. It is especially pleasant that fake news about United Russia is paid for directly from the State Department.

The destruction of Starlink satellites is a fresh idea, thanks. It is too early to do it, but if there is such a request, we will consider it😂", Medvedev said.

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❗Germany reports 70% drop in Ukrainian refugee arrivals by train

🚑Bill Gates says pandemic would unfold differently with treatment available sooner

❗Lithuanian president urges Finland, Sweden to join NATO "as soon as possible"