Vladimir Putin’s senior economic advisor Kirill Dmitriev with Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, St. Petersburg, Russia, April 11, 2025

Wednesday’s Coverage: Zelensky — Hungary’s “Banditry” with Seizure of $122 Million in Gold and Cash

UPDATE 1126 GMT:

Ukrainian forces have struck infrastructure at one of the largest oil logistics hubs in southwest Russia, says the Ukraine State security service SBU.

“Today’s strike on the Tikhoretsk oil hub, which is the only supply branch delivering petroleum products to Novorossiysk, delivered a significant blow to the enemy’s oil logistics,” said an SBU official of the strike in Krasnodar Krai.

Videos showed multiple fires, likely including fuel storage tanks.

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UPDATE 1119 GMT:

At least five civilians were murdered, including a 15-year-old girl, and more than 100 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 77 of 94 attack drones.

The girl was killed in the Chernihiv region in the north amid a drone attack on the Mena community in the Koriukivka district. Her parents were injured when the family home was destroyed.

In the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, three people were killed and 16 injured, including a child. Russian forces struck Kharkiv city with drones targeting the Shevchenkivskyi and Kyivskyi districts.

In the Kherson region in the south, one person was slain and 23 injured.

In the Sumy region in the northeast, 40 police officers were injured when a drone hit an administrative building.

Casualities were also reported in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk regions.

UPDATE 1102 GMT:

In an interview interview with Politico Europe, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed:

We wanted to sign a big drone production deal with the United States, but we needed the approval from the White House. It was about different kinds of drones and air defense. They operate as one system and can defend against hundreds or thousands of Iranian “shaheds“ [attack drones] and missiles.

We didn’t have the opportunity to sign this document yet. I hope that maybe American friends will be closer to this decision now, especially after such challenges as we see in the Middle East.

UPDATE 1048 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed the delivery from Germany of PAC-3 missiles, used by Patriot air defense systems.

Before a meeting with Julia Klockner, the President of Germany’s Bundestag, Zelensky said the missiles had been received on Tuesday.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius secured an agreement with European allies to deliver 30 PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine in addition to five PAC-3 missiles which Berlin would provide from its own stockpiles.

Klockner also announced an additional €200 million ($231.5 million) from Germany to bolster air defenses, including expansion of the reconnaissance drone fleet and dedicated attention to civil defense.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Vladimir Putin’s top financial advisor Kirill Dmitriev has again conferred with Donald Trump’s envoys about Russia’s 4-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Dmitriev met real estate developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Florida on Wednesday. Witkoff posted:

Three sets of Ukraine-Russia-US talks since February have failed to curb Moscow’s maximalist demands, including the seizure of all of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that the Trump camp has proposed another session next week.

At the end of October, Dmitriev colluded with Witkoff and Kushner on a 28-point ultimatum to Ukraine, including Kyiv’s abandonment of Donetsk and no effective security guarantees. The initiative was overtaken by a Ukraine-Europe response maintaining defense and security while trying to end the Russian invasion.

Russia’s Oil Revenue Boost from US-Israel War on Iran

Meanwhile, amid the US-Israel War on Iran, the Trump Administration is giving Russia a lifeline for its oil revenues.

Russia has earned an additional €6 billion ($6.9 billion) since the US and Israel started the war on February 28, as the Trump Administration eases sanctions on the Kremlin.

The Administration has given India, Russia’s second-largest customer, a 30-day waiver. Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have said more restrictions may be suspended.

The additional earnings are enough for Russia to purchase 17,000 Shahed attack drones every 24 hours.

Alexander Kirk, Sanctions Campaigner at the German non-profit Urgewald, summarizes:

This is a political choice. Governments can hold the line on sanctions, or they can signal that if energy prices rise high enough, the West will always find a reason to blink.

That choice will not just prolong Ukrainian suffering. It will undermine the security of Europe as a whole.