Trump Tower in New York City (Picture Alliance/AA)

Monday’s Coverage: Almost 3,000 Russian Violations of Putin’s Easter “Ceasefire”

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UDPATE 1352 GMT:

India’s imports of Russian crude oil have are projected to reach the highest level since May 2023.

Kpler data estimates Indian purchase of 2.15 million barrels per day in April.

India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, has become the leading buyer of Russian products, obtained at a discount amid international sanctions on Moscow.

The Indian market had been rattled earlier this year by US sanctions in January that targeted Russia’s “shadow flee”, major oil companies, financial concerns, and associated entities.

But with the Trump Administration taking office in Washington, Indian imports of Russian crude began climbing again in March.

UPDATE 1342 GMT:

Russia is stepping up hybrid attacks aimed at the Netherlands and its European allies, says the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD.

Those operations are being pursued amid multiple reports of damaged undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, arson, and sabotage attacks across Europe.

“We see that the Russian threat against Europe is increasing, including after a possible end of the war against Ukraine,” MIVD director Peter Reesink said in the agency’s annual report. “In the Netherlands, we saw the first (Russian) cyberattack against a public service, which was designed to take over the system. The attack was thwarted, but it was the first such case.

The Dutch Interior Ministry said it detected a Russian cyber-attack on the public service’s digital operating system last year. The ministry also recorded a Russian cyber-operation against critical infrastructure, possibly in preparation for sabotage.

UPDATE 1216 GMT:

A 69-year-old woman has been killed and at least 22 injured, including three children, by a Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia city in southern Ukraine.

Russian forces attacked at around 11:40 a.m. with two laser-guided KAB bombs. One hit an infrastructure facility and the other a multi-story residential building.

UPDATE 0958 GMT:

The Kremlin has launched another publicity initiative wooing the Trump Administration.

Steve Rosenberg of the BBC reports on Vladimir Putin’s senior advisor Nikolai Petrushev, through the Russian State business outlet Kommersant, trying to split the US from Europe.

Historically, as great powers Russia and the US bear special responsibility for the fate of the world. And the experience of the last few decades, even centuries, shows that at the most difficult moments of crisis, our countries always found a way to overcome their differences.

UPDATE 0706 GMT:

Vladimir Putin has admitted that Russian forces regularly strike civilian sites in Ukraine.

In an interview on State TV, Putin claimed — without providing evidence — that the strikes were targeting Ukrainian soldiers and military infrastructure in residential and commercial areas.

The Russian leader referred to the Palm Sunday missile strikes on Sumy in northeast Ukraine, while killed 35 civilians and wounded more than 125. He insisted that the target was Ukrainian servicemen being honored at a ceremony for their participation in the incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

Putin also mentioned Russian attacks on agricultural infrastructure in Odesa, declaring that Ukrainian authorities “together with their foreign handlers” were developing and testing new missile technology at the site.

He tried to justify a strike on a residential area on Kryvyi Rih on April 4, killing at least 20 civilians, by saying it was against a gathering of “war criminals”.

UPDATE 0637 GMT:

At least three people have been injured by Russia’s mass drone attack on Odesa in southern Ukraine early Tuesday.

The attack targeted a residential building in a densely populated neighborhood. Fires broke out and several apartments were damaged.

In the Kherson region in the south, one person was killed and seven injured by Russian attacks over the past 24 hours.

In the Kharkiv region in the northeast, a 54-year-old woman and two men were slain on Monday evening.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russian officials have discussed the revival of plans for a Trump Tower in Moscow, hoping to ensure Donald Trump’s support for the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and other objectives.

“Sources familiar with the matter” are considering a “big deal” which includes a 150-story skyscraper, with Trump attending the groundbreaking ceremony in Moscow.

After Trump’s electoral victory last November, Russian officials and large companies were tasked with preparing the proposals for resuming cooperation with the US, emphasizing ideas that would interest Trump personally. Rosneft, Rosatom, and Polyus Gold – all of which are sanctioned by the US – and the Russian aluminium giant Rusal are involved.

Trump has pursued a skyscraper in Moscow for decades. In 2013, he brought the Miss Universe pageant to the Russian capital, hoping to advance the plan and to meet Vladimir Putin. During the 2015-2016 Presidential campaign, his fixer Michael Cohen pursued the proposal with Russian contacts, getting in touch with the Kremlin.

A “source close to the Krmelin” said the latest Trump Tower projectd could be launched quickly: “Speed, effect, and spectacle are important here — everything that Trump intuitively values.”

The current status of the plan is not clear, but a Russian official said Moscow’s City Hall would be pleased to pursue the project.

A Package Deal to Attract Trump

Eleven sources — five current Russian government officials, including two diplomats, three people close to the Kremlin and employees of three major state-owned companies — said a package to grab Trump’s attention also includes a possible deal on rare earth minerals and geopolitical leverage in Iran and North Korea.

“The main thing is that they don’t interfere in our affairs and don’t tell us how to live — that they don’t hinder us in doing what we are doing,” said a “senior Russian official familiar with the Kremlin’s negotiating logic”.

Putin could also meet Trump in the White House. “If our boss occasionally comes to Washington to meet with Trump — that would also be nice,” said a current government official.