LIVE UPDATES - Russian Forces Thwart Kiev’s Counteroffensive In Artyomovsk

©Valentin Sprinchak/TASS

Russian assault teams continue fighting Ukrainian troops in the western areas of Artyomovsk and artillery, combat aircraft and paratroopers thwarted Kiev’s attempt to counter-attack on the flanks over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Monday.

"In the Donetsk direction, assault teams continue combat operations in the western districts of the city of Artyomovsk. Operational/tactical and army aviation aircraft and artillery from the southern battlegroup jointly with Airborne Force units rendered support to the assault teams and thwarted the enemy’s attempts to counter-attack on the flanks," the spokesman said.

Russian forces strike Ukrainian army’s reserves advancing to Artyomovsk

Russian forces struck the Ukrainian army’s reserves advancing towards Artyomovsk over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the area of the settlement of Bogdanovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, a strike was delivered against the enemy’s reserves advancing towards the city of Artyomovsk," the spokesman said.

During the last 24-hour period, Russian combat aircraft flew eight sorties and artillery accomplished 76 firing objectives in the Donetsk direction, the general said.

Russian forces neutralize two Ukrainian subversive groups in Kupyansk area

Russian forces neutralized two Ukrainian subversive groups and destroyed over 70 enemy troops in the Kupyansk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kupyansk direction, operational/tactical and army aviation aircraft and artillery from the western battlegroup struck enemy units in areas near the settlements of Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Sinkovka, Artyomovka, Ivanovka and Figolevka in the Kharkov Region. In areas near the settlements of Novosyolovskoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Sinkovka in the Kharkov Region, the activity of two Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups was thwarted," the spokesman said.

The strikes eliminated enemy manpower and equipment, the general said.

"Over 70 Ukrainian personnel, an armored combat vehicle and three pickup trucks were destroyed in the past 24 hours. In addition, in the area of the settlement of Stelmakhovka, an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian army’s 92nd mechanized brigade was obliterated," Konashenkov reported.

Russian forces eliminate over 60 Ukrainian troops in Krasny Liman area

Russian forces eliminated over 60 Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Krasny Liman direction, assault and army aviation aircraft and artillery from the battlegroup Center struck enemy manpower and equipment in areas near the settlements of Chervonaya Dibrova and Chervonopopovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Terny and Serebryanka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

The enemy lost over 60 Ukrainian personnel, two armored combat vehicles, three motor vehicles, a D-20 howitzer and a Gvozdika motorized artillery gun in that area in the past 24 hours, the general specified.

Russian forces destroy over 280 Ukrainian troops in Donetsk advance

Russian forces destroyed over 280 Ukrainian troops and mercenaries in their advance in the Donetsk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"Over 280 Ukrainian personnel and mercenaries, an infantry fighting vehicle, an armored personnel carrier, four armored combat vehicles, 11 motor vehicles, a Grad multiple rocket launcher and a D-30 howitzer were destroyed in that area in the past 24 hours," the spokesman said.

Russian forces eliminate over 20 Ukrainian troops in southern Donetsk, Zaporozhye areas

Russian forces destroyed over 20 Ukrainian troop and two armored combat vehicles in the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

In the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, operational/tactical and army aviation aircraft and artillery from the battlegroup East struck the enemy units in areas near the settlements of Ugledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Kamenskoye and Malaya Tokmachka in the Zaporozhye Region, the spokesman specified.

"The enemy’s losses in those directions in the past 24 hours amounted to over 20 Ukrainian personnel, two armored combat vehicles, three motor vehicles and a D-20 howitzer," the general said.

Russian forces destroy 40 Ukrainian troops, US-made M777 howitzer in Kherson area

Russian forces destroyed roughly 40 Ukrainian troops and a US-made M777 artillery system in the Kherson area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kherson direction, operational/tactical aircraft and artillery destroyed as many as 40 Ukrainian personnel, an armored combat vehicle, two motor vehicles, and also a US-manufactured M777 artillery system in the past 24 hours," the spokesman said.

Russian forces strike foreign mercenaries’ site in DPR with Iskander missiles

Russian forces delivered strikes by an Iskander tactical missile system against a Ukrainian arms depot and a foreign mercenaries’ site in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"On April 21, an Iskander tactical missile system delivered a strike against the arms depot and the foreign mercenaries’ temporary deployment site located in the library building in Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The strike eliminated as many as 60 militants of the so-called Georgian legion and 15 items of equipment deployed on the adjacent territory. Another 20 mercenaries received heavy wounds," the spokesman said.

The strike eliminated militants of the Georgian legion who were complicit in brutal tortures and killings of Russian soldiers near Kiev in March last year, the general specified.

"The Russian Defense Ministry has information on each foreign mercenary complicit in the killings of Russian servicemen. All of them will face punishment they deserve," Konashenkov said.

Russian forces neutralize two Ukrainian subversive groups in DPR

Russian forces neutralized two Ukrainian subversive groups in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the area of the settlement of Terny in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the activity of two Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups was thwarted," the spokesman said.

Russian forces strike Ukrainian army’s command post in DPR

Russian forces struck the Ukrainian army’s command post near Torskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the area of the settlement of Torskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the command/observation post of the Ukrainian army’s 23rd separate rifle battalion was struck. In the areas of the settlements of Orekhov and Kamenskoye in the Zaporozhye Region, two signal centers of the Ukrainian army’s 65th mechanized and 128th mountain assault brigades were struck," the spokesman said.

During the last 24-hour period, operational/tactical and army aviation aircraft, missile troops and artillery of the Russian group of forces struck 92 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and equipment in 126 areas, the general reported.

Russian forces wipe out two Ukrainian ammo depots in Zaporozhye area

Russian forces destroyed two ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army in the Zaporozhye area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the areas of the settlements of Ravnopolye and Volnyansk in the Zaporozhye Region, two ammunition depots belonging to the Ukrainian army’s 65th mechanized brigade and 102nd territorial defense brigade were destroyed," the spokesman said.

In areas near the settlements of Novosyolka and Novomikhailovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the activity of two Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups was thwarted, the general added.

Russian forces foil Kiev’s attempt to attack Sevastopol naval base with surface drones

The Kiev regime made another attempt to attack the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s naval base in Sevastopol with three waterborne drones, Konashenkov reported.

"Today, at about 3:30 a.m. Moscow time, the Kiev regime made another attempt to attack the Black Sea Fleet’s base in the city of Sevastopol with three unmanned fast-speed boats," the spokesman said.

Russian submerged anti-saboteur forces destroyed all of the enemy’s three unmanned boats as they approached the Sevastopol Bay. There are no casualties," the general said.

Russian air defenses destroy 38 Ukrainian combat drones in past day

Russian air defense forces shot down 38 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"During the last 24-hour period, air defense capabilities shot down 38 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Liman Vtoroy, Dvurechnoye and Zhovtnevoye in the Kharkov Region, Krasnorechenskoye, Chervonopopovka, Rubezhnoye and Kremennaya in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Opytnoye, Makeyevka, Nikolskoye, Novobakhmutovka, Zavitne Bazhannya and Kirillovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Shevchenko and Ulyanovka in the Zaporozhye Region, Peschanoye, Golaya Pristan and Kairy in the Kherson Region," the spokesman said.

In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 411 Ukrainian warplanes, 228 helicopters, 3,834 unmanned aerial vehicles, 415 surface-to-air missile systems, 8,821 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,094 multiple rocket launchers, 4,647 field artillery guns and mortars and 9,721 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.

German magazine fires editor over AI 'interview' with Michael Schumacher

Mercedes Formula One driver Michael Schumacher of Germany stands inside his team garage during the first practice session of the Japanese F1 Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit October 5, 2012. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

The publishers of a German magazine that ran an 'interview' with Michael Schumacher generated by artificial intelligence have sacked the editor and apologised to the Formula One great's family.

Seven-times world champion Schumacher, now 54, has not been seen in public since he suffered a serious brain injury in a skiing accident on a family holiday in the French Alps in December 2013.

His family said this week that they were planning legal action against weekly magazine Die Aktuelle, owned by the Essen-based Funke media group.

Funke apologised in a statement on their website www.funkemedien.de.

"This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we – and our readers – expect from a publisher like Funke," said Funke magazines managing director Bianca Pohlmann.

"As a result of the publication of this article, immediate personnel consequences will be drawn.

"Die Aktuelle editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann, who has held journalistic responsibility for the paper since 2009, will be relieved of her duties as of today."

The latest edition of Die Aktuelle ran a front cover with a picture of a smiling Schumacher and the headline promising 'Michael Schumacher, the first interview'.

The strapline added: "it sounded deceptively real".

Inside, it emerged that the 'quotes' had been produced by AI.

Schumacher's family maintains strict privacy about the former driver's condition, with access limited to those closest to him.

"We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he's comfortable, and to simply make him feel our family, our bond," Corinna Schumacher said in a 2021 Netflix documentary.

"We're trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives."

Revolts erupt among Ukrainian troops in Chasov Yar, Konstantinovka

Yevgeny Prigozhin ©Sergey Bobylev/TASS

Rebellions have begun among Ukrainian servicemen in Chasov Yar and Konstantinovka, as they are dropping their arms and walking out, Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the PMC Wagner, said on Saturday.

"Revolts have begun among the servicemen of the Ukrainian armed forces in Chasov Yar and Konstantinovka. They are dropping their arms, rising and leaving," said Prigozhin, cited on his press service’s Telegram channel.

Russian forces destroy up to 25 servicemen, a D-20 howitzer in Kherson area

Russian troops destroyed up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen and a D-20 howitzer in the Kherson area, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

"More than 25 Ukrainian servicemen, two vehicles, as well as a D-20 howitzer were destroyed in the Kherson area as a result of the shelling," Konashenkov said.

Special operation, 21 April. Main:

▪️Ukraine lost up to 90 soldiers in the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, about 105 in the Kupyansk and Krasnolymansk directions, and up to 310 in the Donetsk direction, the RF Ministry of Defense reported;

▪️The situation in Artemivsk remains tense, the Russian forces are advancing, but it is premature to talk about a "cauldron" for Ukrainian troops, Pushilin said;

▪️More than 16,000 Ukrainian servicemen received military training as part of EU assistance to Ukraine, Borrell said;

▪️The head of the German Ministry of Defense announced the start of a training program for over 100 Ukrainian servicemen to control German Leopard A5 tanks from Saturday;

▪️Conducting military operations of Ukraine on the territory of the Russian Federation is a normal phenomenon, as long as there are no attacks on cities and civilians, Pistorius said. Medvedev responded to these words by stating that "any German who wants an attack on Russia must be ready for the parade in Berlin."

Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️During the day, up to 255 Ukrainian troops and mercenaries were destroyed in the DPR;

▪️An ammunition depot of the 95th Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was destroyed near the village of Serebryanka in the DPR. The warehouse of rocket and artillery weapons of the Ukrainian group was also destroyed;

▪️The Russian Armed Forces destroyed two groups of Ukrainian saboteurs in the Kharkov region and the LPR;

▪️The Russian Armed Forces destroyed 60 Ukrainian soldiers and counter-battery combat radars manufactured by the USA AN / TPQ-50 in the LPR in a day;

▪️An ammunition depot of the 67th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was destroyed near the village of Staritsa, Kharkov region;

▪️Russian air defenses destroyed five Ukrainian drones;

▪️The Russian Armed Forces destroyed more than 65 military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a D-30 howitzer in the DPR;

▪️In the area of the settlement of Chervonaya Dibrova, the LPR stopped the actions of two Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups.

Ranks of Russian billionaires grow – Forbes

©Getty Images / Malte Mueller

Many Russian businessmen saw their profits soar last year despite the pressure of Western sanctions and the volatile state of the global economy, Forbes reported on Friday.

The latest Forbes Russian billionaire list now includes 110 names compared to 88 a year earlier. The businessmen who managed to pass the threshold to become billionaires did so thanks to the recovery of the country’s stock market, the outlet noted. Domestic stocks initially collapsed shortly after the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, but later rebounded as the economy gradually adjusted to Western sanctions.

The combined fortune of Russians in the new Forbes ranking grew from $353 billion to $505 billion since last March. The ten most successful billionaires increased their fortunes by a combined $77.4 billion. Out of those present in both last year’s and this year’s rankings, 58 people saw their fortunes grow – by a total of $140.3 billion.

Andrey Melnichenko, whose businesses include the fertilizer producer EuroChem and the coal producer SUEK, was the biggest winner, topping the Russian Forbes list for the first time. His fortune more than doubled since last March, soaring to $25.2 billion from $11.1 billion.

However, there were also those whose wealth shrunk throughout the year. Thirteen businessmen lost a total of $8.5 billion in 2022. While sanctions affected some of them, many of those whose major assets are located abroad also saw their fortunes dwindle on the drop in the S&P and the Nasdaq indexes. The US Federal Reserve's rate hikes and the deflating big-tech bubble also had an impact, Forbes notes.

The biggest loser among Russia’s billionaires was Pavel Durov, the owner of the Telegram messaging app, who was considered the third-richest Russian businessman in March 2022. He saw his fortune shrink by $3.6 billion compared with 2021, to $11.5 billion.

Russia's richest people added $152 billion to their wealth over the past year, buoyed by high prices for natural resources and rebounding from the huge loss of fortunes they experienced just after the Ukraine war began, Forbes Russia said.

Russia has 110 official billionaires in the list, up 22 from last year, according to Forbes' Russian edition, which said their total wealth increased to $505 billion from $353 billion when the 2022 list was announced.

The list would have been longer had not five billionaires - DST Global founder Yuri Milner, Revolut founder Nikolay Storonsky, Freedom Finance founder Timur Turlov, and JetBrains co-founders Sergei Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov - renounced their Russian citizenship, Forbes said.

"Last year's rating results were also influenced by apocalyptic predictions about the Russian economy," Forbes said, adding that the total wealth of Russia's billionaires was $606 billion in 2021, before the war began.

After President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, the West imposed what it casts as the most severe sanctions in modern history on Russia's economy - and some of its richest people - in an attempt to punish Putin for the war.

Putin said the West was trying to destroy Russia and has repeatedly touted the failure of Western sanctions to destroy the Russian economy, or even stop Western luxury goods - let alone basic parts - from ending up in Russia.

Russia's economy shrank 2.1% in 2022 under the pressure of Western sanctions, but it was able to sell oil, metals and other natural resources to global markets, in particular to China, India and the Middle East.

The International Monetary Fund this month raised its forecast for Russian growth in 2023 to 0.7% from 0.3%, but lowered its 2024 forecast to 1.3% from 2.1%, saying it also expected labour shortages and the exodus of Western companies to harm the country's economy.

The price of Urals oil, the lifeblood of the Russian economy, averaged $76.09 per barrel in 2022, up from $69 in 2021. Fertiliser prices were also high last year.

Andrei Melnichenko, who made a fortune in fertilisers, was listed as Russia's richest man by Forbes with an estimated worth of $25.2 billion, more than double what he was estimated to be worth last year. Melnichenko could not be reached for immediate comment on the Forbes ranking.

Vladimir Potanin, president and biggest shareholder of Nornickel (GMKN.MM), the world's largest producer of palladium and refined nickel, was ranked as second richest in Russia with a fortune of $23.7 billion. Potanin could not immediately be reached for comment on the Forbes ranking.

Vladimir Lisin, who controls steelmaker NLMK (NLMK.MM) and was ranked last year as Russia's richest man, was placed third in the Forbes Russia list with a fortune of $22.1 billion. Lisin could not be immediately reached for comment on the Forbes ranking.

Many Russian billionaires cast Western sanctions as a clumsy, and even racist, tool.

Building fortunes as the Soviet Union crumbled, a small group of tycoons known as the oligarchs persuaded the Kremlin under late President Boris Yeltsin to give them control over some of the biggest oil and metals companies in the world.

The privatisation deals often propelled the tycoons into the league of the world’s super rich, earning them the enduring dislike of millions of impoverished Russians.

But under Putin, some of the original oligarchs, such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Boris Berezovsky, were stripped of their assets, which eventually ended up under the sway of state companies often run by former spies.

New Russian names in the Forbes list include billionaires who made their money in snacks, supermarkets, chemicals, building and pharmaceuticals, indicating that Russian domestic demand has remained strong despite the sanctions.

Lavrov’s Latin American Tour: Challenging US Hegemony in America’s ‘Backyard’

©Photo : Russian Foreign Ministry

Russia’s foreign minister wrapped up a four-day, four-country visit to South and Central America on Thursday, visiting Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. What was the significance of the trip for Russia’s relations with its Latin American partners, and what signal does it send Washington and its allies? Sputnik explores.

Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba resulted in a number of agreements in various areas of cooperation, but above all served to solidify the political consensus on the need to recalibrate the balance of power in Latin America, which historically has been on the side of Washington.

“The four countries [visited by the Russian foreign minister, ed.] at least in the political sense, are increasingly seeking to distance themselves from US pressure and hegemony in the region,” says Carlos Manuel Lopez Alvarado, a researcher of international affairs from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

“Lavrov’s visit is part of these regional efforts to become a counterbalance to US policy and hegemony on a global scale,” Lopez Alvarado explained in an interview with Sputnik.

Brazilian Gateway

According to the Mexican academic, although some ideological distance remains between Brasilia and Moscow in their relations, these are not insurmountable, and the election of Lula da Silva should help narrow the gap. “With Lula back in power, he is naturally again in favor of distancing his country [from the US], in favor of autonomy, in favor of Latin American and, of course, Brazilian sovereignty.”

Lopez Alvarado found it significant that Lavrov made Brazil the first destination of his Latin American tour, saying it indicates the need to ‘balance the scales’ in the region, as well as Moscow’s desire to find common ground with a large number of Latin American countries that are looking to bet on the construction of a multipolar world. “For this, forces are needed, and one of these forces is Brazil, which is also a member of the BRICS group of nations.”

Old Friends From Managua

As for Nicaragua, the country has not only been a faithful ally to Moscow for decades under the presidency of Daniel Ortega, but has also been a major source of investment from China – Russia’s strategic partner. “It’s a commercial enclave, a political enclave, a cultural enclave,” Lopez Alvarado explained.

During his visit to Managua on April 19, Lavrov and Ortega discussed a range of economic cooperation initiatives, with the Russian foreign minister congratulating Nicaragua on surviving a 2018 US-backed coup attempt. Ortega reciprocated by blasting the American “gringos” and their NATO allies for surrounding Russia with military bases and weapons, and “directing an orchestra of international terrorists” against Moscow.

Special Bond With Cuban Comrades

Russia’s long-time ally and partner Cuba was the final destination of Lavrov’s Latin American tour. There, in addition to meeting with his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez, the Russian foreign minister met with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canal and former president Raul Castro. Trade, including the delivery of Russian energy and wheat, were central topics of discussion.

“Unfortunately for the USA, Cuba – which serves as a key geopolitical enclave in the Caribbean, has never been closely linked to US interests” in its recent history, “and now, with further rapprochement with the Russian government, even more so,” Lopez Alvarado said.

Manuel Espinoza, a researcher with the Regional Center for International Studies, a virtual foreign affairs think tank, says Lavrov’s trip to Havana opens up a whole range of opportunities for both nations. The strategic ties between the two countries has “already shown its worth in the most difficult times, as Russia offers us the strengthening of independence and economic and political sovereignty at the international level,” the observer noted.

Russia “not only challenges the unipolar world order, but symbolizes peace and respect for international law, as well as cooperation in areas such as technology, finance, military affairs and culture,” Espinoza added.

Lavrov’s trip to Cuba coincided with the 62nd anniversary of revolutionary Cuba’s victory over US-backed mercenaries at the Bay of Pigs. Pointing to the symbolic timing of the visit, Mario Antonio Padillas Torres, secretary of the Center for International Policy Research, a Havana-based international affairs think tank, told Sputnik that the warm ties between Havana and Moscow today owe their roots to the creation of the island nation’s first Communist Party in 1925.

“From this moment on, a direct connection was formed with the USSR. And after January 1, 1959 and the victory of the rebel army over the dictator Fulgencio Batista, ties were strengthened in economic, military and political terms. We even joined the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance together with other socialist countries,” the scholar recalled.

Rene Gonzalez Barrios, director of the Fidel Castro Ruz Center and former president of the Institute of History of Cuba, similarly reminded Sputnik of the importance of the support provided by the USSR and other members of the socialist camp to the Cuban Revolution, as the US encouraged a mass exodus of educated Cubans, blocked oil deliveries and canceled the purchase of Cuban sugar. It was Moscow’s support in the difficult early days that sealed the bond of friendship between the Cuban and Soviet people, the scholar said.

“This was an extraordinary, close and brotherly relationship,” Gonzalez Barrios noted. Moscow, he recalled, came to refer to Cuba the ‘Freedom Island’, while Havana, despite joining the Soviet Union’s orbit, “defended its self-determination, made its own decisions, and supported the national liberation movements and the struggle against colonialism.” At the same time, Fidel Castro, Cuba’s late revolutionary leader, recognized that “had it not been for the help of the Soviet people and government, the Cuban Revolution would hardly have survived.”

After a difficult decade of relations after the collapse of the USSR, Russia gradually began to restore pragmatic cooperation and trade with the Caribbean island nation, especially since 2008, Padilla Torres said. According to the scholar, both countries were able to rediscover their common interests, and joint purpose of the formation of a new international order. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Cuba in 2000, referring to the country as an “old and loyal friend.” During another trip in 2014, the two countries signed nearly a dozen major investment and economic cooperation agreements. A year before that, Moscow wrote off 90 percent of Cuba’s $35 billion debt to the USSR.

During his visit to Moscow last November, President Diaz-Canal spoke to Putin about the prospects of further strengthening and expanding cooperation in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres. Russia is now one of Cuba’s 10 largest trade partners, and Havana emphasizes the importance of its ties with Russia in its Socio-Economic Development Plan up to the year 2030.

Venezuelan Oil Power

Venezuela, despite its recent economic difficulties, is also of great importance in the push for regional realignment, Lopez Alvarado says, both due to its energy resources, and the important role it can play in assisting the de-dollarization drive presently gaining momentum around the world.

“If, hypothetically speaking, Venezuela stops supplying energy to the United States and begins sending them to Russia after achieving fundamental, strategic relations, this would be a terrible blow to Washington,” the observer said.

Speaking in Caracas, Lavrov vowed that Moscow would continue to do everything in its power "to make Venezuela's economy less and less dependent on the whims and geopolitical games of the US or any other actors from the Western camp."

South American country calculates losses from US sanctions

Venezuela has lost around $29 billion a year since the US imposed sanctions on the country in 2015, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez told state-run Venezolana de Television channel on Friday.

The sanctions were initially imposed by the administration of President Barack Obama, but Rodriguez said the most harmful measure was the oil embargo introduced under Donald Trump in 2019 with the aim of effecting regime change in the country.

©Getty Images / picture alliance

“Since 2015, the loss has been $232 billion… which in some years meant a 99% loss of our income in foreign currency,” she stated, adding that sanctions of that magnitude are “a way of completely annihilating entire nations.”

Rodriguez said this lack of income “translates into the loss of life, food, education and healthcare,” and “halts economic development” of the country.

According to the vice president, the US has imposed more than 20,000 sanctions on 35 countries and is currently “at war, either economic or armed, with the entire world, trying to ensure its future existence.”

In the case of Venezuela alone, Rodriguez said the US and its allies have imposed some 929 sanctions on the country since declaring Caracas to be a “threat to national security” in 2015. Around 60% of these have been imposed by Washington.

“The economic war against Venezuela has meant a systematic violation of human rights… The victim of these sanctions is also the private sector in Venezuela, which has extraordinary financial costs – logistics for a Venezuelan businessman are much more expensive than for a businessman from neighboring Colombia, for example, because financial channels and access to raw materials have been blocked,” she explained.

During the past eight years, Venezuela has suffered one of the largest economic contractions in the history of the Western hemisphere, analysts say. And while the current US administration allowed energy major Chevron to resume limited oil production in the country late last year, the majority of sanctions remain in place and continue to weigh on the country’s economy.

Berlin decides to expel Russian diplomats en masse — Russian MFA

©Sergei Karpukhin/TASS

The German authorities have decided to massively expel Russian diplomats, thus Berlin is pursuing a course to destroy the entire range of Russia-Germany relations, the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS on Saturday.

"The authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany have decided on another mass expulsion of members of the Russian diplomatic missions in Germany. We strongly condemn these actions of Berlin, which continues to demonstratively destroy the entire range of Russia-Germany relations, including in their diplomatic dimension," the ministry pointed out.

Russia to ‘mirror’ mass expulsion of its diplomats from Berlin. "As a response to Berlin's hostile actions, the Russian side has decided to mirror the decision and expel German diplomats from Russia, as well as to significantly limit the maximum number of employees of German diplomatic missions in our country. On April 5, 2023, the Russian Foreign Ministry officially notified German Ambassador to Russia Geza Andreas von Geyr of this decision," the ministry pointed out.

"It is indicative that the German side, despite its repeated assurances of unwillingness to make the story public, violated them by making representatives of the media regularly used to organize 'controlled leaks and information' issues aware of its plot," the ministry said.

In April 2022, Berlin declared 40 Russian diplomats persona non grata.

The Russian side responded to Berlin's move in a mirror image, sending 40 employees of the German diplomatic mission at the end of April.

West's desire to break up Spain, Russia had no definite success — Russian ambassador

The desire of the West to break up Russia with its historical friends, such as Spain, has not been an unequivocal success, Russian ambassador to Madrid Yury Klimenko told a TASS correspondent on Saturday.

He presented his credentials to Felipe Philip VI of Spain on Thursday. "We had a very friendly conversation," the diplomat said, "Before that, I have communicated and interacted with members of the leadership of Spain at various levels, senior officials of the Foreign Ministry of this country, as well as representatives of local political parties and social circles."

"As a result, I have the stable impression that the insistent desire of the collective West to disassociate Russia from our historical friends has not been an unequivocal success," Klimenko added. At the same time, he recalled that Spain is a member of the EU and "diligently follows the Western mainstream, in particular, by supporting the Kiev regime in every way, supplying it with weapons."

"In this, our views differ diametrically from those of official Madrid," the diplomat specified, "It is worth mentioning that the embassy has been receiving more and more letters and phone calls from Spanish citizens expressing support to our country and demonstrating a deep understanding of international processes. This is encouraging.".