Inner Genius

 There are several significant takeaways from the leaked US documents about the course of the conflict in Ukraine. Russian ground forces in the country are approaching exhaustion and there are few reinforcements available. Ukrainian air defenses are depleted, making any counteroffensive vulnerable to Russian air superiority. And the United States does not expect the war to end this year. The 53 documents reviewed by CNN provide a snapshot of capabilities and vulnerabilities as perceived by the US Defense Department in the first quarter of this year. Snapshots are inherently risky: Circumstances change, as do resources and intentions. But the documents tend to confirm that Ukrainian forces are preparing for an offensive and that Russia is putting extensive effort into holding what it already has, while looking to aviation to blunt any Ukrainian attacks. And if the Russians were unaware of the way the Ukrainian military would design its counteroffensive, the documents may have given ...

 Germany’s nuclear exit was delayed to this year after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine wreaked havoc in energy markets. Germany nuclear power plant A general view shows the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant, as Germany shuts down its last nuclear power plants [Heiko Becker/Reuters] Published On 15 Apr 2023 15 Apr 2023 Germany will switch off its last three nuclear reactors on Saturday, exiting atomic power even as it seeks to wean itself off fossil fuels and manage an energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. While many Western countries are upping their investments in atomic energy to reduce their emissions, Germany is bringing an early end to its nuclear age. KEEP READING The presidents of Brazil and China have pledged to bolster cooperation between their two countries, as Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Xi Jinping held in the Chinese capital. The meeting on Friday in Beijing came on the second day of Lula’s visit to China, the South American nation’s most important trading pa...

 How Ukraine is looking to drones, used for reconnaissance and guided-missile attacks, to win the war. Warning: Some readers may find some of the scenes described in this article disturbing. Kyiv, Ukraine – Ivan Ukraintsev, a stern-faced insurance broker turned director of a wartime charity providing crucial aid to Ukraine’s military forces, is on a mission: to help Ukraine win the drone war. KEEP READING   “If we [Ukraine] had enough drones, we could end this war in two months,” he says firmly. Ivan, who heads up the charity Starlife, had recently returned from overseeing a drone delivery to Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that has become the focal point for months of bloody battles between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Trench warfare, pockmarked and corpse-ridden swathes of no man’s land, and constant artillery bombardments have drawn comparisons to battlefield conditions during World War I. There is, however, one key difference: the countless drones hovering in the skies...

 Ukraine reports ‘unprecedented bloody battles’ in Bakhmut Kyiv says its forces are continuing to hold on to Bakhmut as Russia claims advances in the embattled eastern city. Ukraine’s military has reported “bloody battles unprecedented in recent decades” in the eastern city of Bakhmut as the death toll from a Russian attack on residential buildings in nearby Sloviansk climbed to 11. The reported battles on Saturday came as the Russian defence ministry said fighters from its Wagner mercenary group had captured two more areas of Bakhmut. KEEP READING list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Poland suspends food imports from Ukraine to assist its farmers list 2 of 4 US intel leaks and the war in Ukraine list 3 of 4 Hungary’s loyalties tested as Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on list 4 of 4 US intel leaks: Russian special forces decimated by Ukraine war end of list Wagner has spearheaded Russia’s attempt to take the city – the main target of Russia’s offensive in eastern Ukraine – since last summer...