Day 386 since the beginning of the war: The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin. Luftwaffe intercepts Russian planes over the Baltic Sea. All information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
Mercenary chief Prigozhin wants to recruit 30,000 new fighters
1:14 p.m.: The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, wants to sign around 30,000 new fighters by mid-May. In an audio message in the short message service Telegram, he explains that 500 to 800 men are recruited every day in the recruitment centers in 42 Russian cities.
Condition for grain deal: Moscow calls for the end of export barriers
1:11 p.m.: Russia is tying its agreement to an extension of the grain deal with Ukraine to calls for Western restrictions on the export of its own agricultural goods to be removed. “If Washington, Brussels and London are really interested in continuing the export of food from Ukraine by sea, they have two months, with the help of the UN, to remove the whole chain of operations related to Russian agricultural exports from the scope of sanctions take,” said Moscow’s UN representative Vasily Nebensja in New York. Otherwise he doubted a new extension of the agreement.
Food is not on the sanctions list. However, the sanctions restrict the options for loading and insuring ships in general and thus indirectly affect the agricultural sector.
Putin ratifies controversial fake news law on ‘volunteers’
1:04 p.m.: Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has signed the tightening of the controversial law punishing “slander” or “discrediting” of war volunteers. This not only severely punishes criticism of the regular army, but also of “volunteers” fighting in the neighboring country. The law “On the Registration of Amendments to the Criminal Code” was published on the official law portal of the Russian government on Saturday. A conviction under the new law carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
The tightening of the law is mainly due to a demand from the head of the notorious Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. He had recruited rows of serious criminals for the war against Ukraine. The 61-year-old asked politicians to protect the mercenaries – who are officially considered volunteers – from defamation.
Russia is apparently expanding conscription
11:56 am: According to British intelligence services, Russia’s authorities are probably preparing for an expansion of military service in order to strengthen the armed forces. On March 13, a bill was introduced in the Russian House of Commons, according to which in future men between the ages of 21 and 30 should be called up instead of men between the ages of 18 and 27, the British Ministry of Defense announced. “The law is expected to be passed and would then come into force in January 2024,” it said in London.
According to the intelligence services, many 18- to 27-year-olds are currently applying for exemption from military service by citing that they are in college education. Authorities are now likely changing the age range to increase troop levels, sources said.
“Even if Russia continues to refrain from using conscripts in war, additional conscripts will make a larger number of professional soldiers available for combat operations.”
Luftwaffe intercepts four Russian planes
8:10 a.m.: British and German fighter jets intercepted four Russian planes over the Baltic Sea near Estonia on Friday. The Bundeswehr writes this on Twitter on its official account “Team Luftwaffe”. It says: “There’s a lot going on over the Baltic Sea. Today, the alarm squad intercepted four Russian planes.”
