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Im trying hard to stay optimistic about Ukraines imminent spring offensive against the Russian invaders. But the recent news flow, though ambiguous, raises concerns.

How strong are the Ukrainians, really, and will the Russians be able to exploit their weaknesses? And how cohesive is the alliance of Kyivs supporters? If the Ukrainians cant break the stalemate soon, will their friends start drifting off?

Only a couple of months ago, the outlook seemed better. Ukraine had scored dramatic tactical victories and dug in for a hard winter. Then Germany, the U.K., Poland, the U.S. and other allies decided to send heavy battle tanks in preparation for spring. Some of those, including the first batch of German-made Leopard 2s, have now arrived at the front. Thus equipped, the Ukrainians should right about now be able to turn a static war of attrition into a kinetic war of reconquest, it was hoped.

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Ukraine's spring offensive just got harder - The Japan Times

Yes, it definitely is quite a weak position. They do express concern, and I am of course grateful for that. But I need to see some actual actions, you know, some real actions because Vladimir is a British citizen, and I believe that the British government has a responsibility to protect his rights and to defend him in this absolutely atrocious situation. And expressions of concern are no longer enough because Vladimirs health is deteriorating Introducing sanctions against his perpetrators would actually be a very practical step that I would very much like to see.

I am, of course, grateful for the presence of UK diplomats at my husbands hearings throughout this year. And Im, of course, very grateful for the FCDO for summoning the Russian ambassador to ask him questions related to the illegal unlawful persecution of my husband. But if we talk about sanctions, I am honestly slightly baffled. Vladimir is a dual Russian British citizen, and I believe it is the duty, the responsibility, of the British government to stand with him and show with any instruments available, show to the Russian authorities that they know who the perpetrators are, and they will not let them get away with committing such atrocious human rights violations as were committed in my husbands case.

Vladimir is not for example, a Canadian citizen. However, Canada was the first country to introduce sanctions against Vladimirs perpetrators. This initiative was then followed by the United States that introduced sanctions in March. Today the Latvian Foreign Office announced that they would be introducing sanctions against 10 people involved in the illegal prosecution of my husband. So far, I have not seen any response from the FCDO on that matter. And I am slightly baffled, to tell the truth.

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Russia-Ukraine war: condemnation grows of Kara-Murzas prison sentence as wife baffled by UKs weak response as it happened - The Guardian

Russia

Officials ready for nuclear threats and cyber-attacks as part of Russian response to predicted counter-offensive

Western leaders are preparing for Vladimir Putin to use whatever tools hes got left including nuclear threats and cyber-attacks in response to an expected Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russia.

British officials at the G7 foreign ministers summit in Japan said they were expecting Russia to retaliate and must be prepared for extreme tactics as it attempted to hold on to Ukrainian territory.

The former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said last month that Moscow was ready for the Ukrainians to hit back, warning that his country would use absolutely any weapon if Kyiv attempted to retake Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

There appeared to be an acknowledgment in Moscow that its forces might soon find themselves on the defensive in Ukraine as Russias own winter offensive appeared to be slowing down.

Russias nuclear rhetoric has united the G7 ministers, who issued a statement after their two-hour meeting on Monday condemning the threats as unacceptable and criticising Putins plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

G7 officials said there was an open exchange of views in the talks on the approach to the Ukrainian conflict, including on future prospects for bringing the war to an end, which Rishi Sunak has said would eventually be around the negotiating table.

However, Foreign Office sources suggested that the only way to finally resolve the conflict would be for Putin to withdraw his troops from Crimea and for the west to give Kyiv the tools to finish the job.

Despite pressure from Ukraine, and others including the former UK prime minister Boris Johnson, to increase military support including more tanks and fighter jets the UK believes it is providing what the country needs. Sources said it was already committing its rainy day fund.

A transatlantic group of former senior diplomats and high-level military advisers said on Monday that the war in Ukraine was on course to become a stalemate unless the west went all in and increased its level of military support.

The group said that declarations of unwavering support were not enough and actions still fail to match the rhetoric in a reflection of military assessments in European capitals and Washington.

At the G7 summit, the ministers reaffirmed their commitment to intensifying, fully coordinating and enforcing sanctions against Russia, agreeing to be more coordinated to prevent evasion of the measures and to target third parties supplying weapons to Moscow.

It came as the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, demanded the release of a British-Russian opposition leader after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in Moscow, paying tribute to Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr for bravely denouncing Putins invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin critic, who has twice survived poisonings, was convicted on charges of treason and denigrating the Russian military in what he denounced as a show trial.

The Russian ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, was summoned to the Foreign Office for a dressing down on Monday over Russias human rights obligations, including the right to a fair trial.

Meanwhile, the US secretary of state Antony Blinkens G7 bilateral talks with his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna, over-ran, prompting speculation her talks with the US had been fraught.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, provoked controversy last week when he said, on a flight back from China, that Europe should not become a vassal to the US on foreign policy.

He had previously been accused of naivety when he said Moscow must not be humiliated and would need security guarantees. G7 officials stressed that all member nations, including France, were united on the need to prevent Putins attempts to divide and conquer.

Eastern European governments, in particular, had accused Macron of failing to learn the lessons of the war. Without US military and financial support for Kyiv, more than 30 times that of France, Ukrainian resistance would have already crumbled, they believe.

In separate talks in Japan, G7 nations including UK, US, Canada, Japan and France formed an alliance to develop shared supply chains for nuclear fuel, aimed at pushing Russia out of the international nuclear energy market.

The UKs Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the five countries would use their civil nuclear power sectors to undermine Russias grip on supply chains, cutting off another means for Putin to fund his invasion of Ukraine.

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West prepares for Putin to use whatever tools hes got left in Ukraine - The Guardian

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How the Ukraine war has divided the world - Financial Times

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) More than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released as part of a major Easter exchange with Russia, a top official said Sunday, as Orthodox Ukrainians marked the holiday for a second time since Moscow unleashed its full-scale war more than a year ago.

While celebrations were subdued because of security risks, with a curfew barring the faithful from customary all-night services, Ukrainian authorities and ordinary people shared messages of hope, linking the story of Jesus resurrection to their longing for peace and a Ukrainian victory.

Dozens of families had special reasons to rejoice, as presidential adviser Andriy Yermak announced that 130 soldiers, sailors, border guards and others captured by Moscow were on their way back home following a big Easter prisoner exchange.

Yermak said in a Telegram post on Sunday that those released included troops who fought near Bakhmut, the eastern mining city which has for months been the focus of Russias grinding offensive.

The lives of our people are the highest value for us, Yermak said, adding that Kyivs goal was to bring back all remaining POWs.

There was no immediate information on how many Russian prisoners were released, but the press service of the founder of the Wagner Group, the Kremlin-affiliated paramilitary force whose fighters are prominent in eastern Ukraine, also released a video Sunday showing Ukrainian prisoners of war being readied for an exchange.

In his Easter address released on Sunday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the holiday as marking the victory of good, the victory of truth, the victory of life, and he stressed what he said was Ukrainian unity in the face of Russian aggression.

Belief in victory unites all of us always, and especially today. At Easter, which from time immemorial has been a family holiday for Ukrainians, a day of warmth, hope and great unity. We are one big family Ukrainians. We have one big home Ukraine. We have one big goal victory for all, Zelenskyy said.

In central Kyiv, people gathered in the courtyard of the landmark St. Michaels Golden-Domed Monastery on Sunday morning to have their Easter eggs and baskets of food blessed by a priest. A curfew had prevented most from attending the traditional all-night service there hours earlier, with many tuning into a live stream instead.

Ukrainian churches are usually crowded on Orthodox Easter Sunday. But this year, the wide courtyard was barely half full, and the line of people waiting for the priest to sprinkle holy water on their adorned baskets was moving briskly.

For a second year in a row, the war interrupted holiday routines. Ukraines main security service this week issued a statement urging residents not to linger in churches on Sunday, in order to avoid crowding and minimize security risks.

Alla Voronina, one of the people who came to St. Michaels with baskets containing Easter cakes and multi-colored eggs, said that the restrictions were very hard on residents morale.

You constantly recall how it used to be before the war, she told The Associated Press. She said that she and her family would nevertheless follow the security recommendations and go straight home after receiving the blessing.

Another worshipper, Tetiana Voloshyna, said she was praying for Ukrainian troops who defend us and make it possible for us to have this holiday. She added she had come to the monastery with her personal pain and personal requests to God for victory, peace and life.

Russians also observed Easter, including President Vladimir Putin. He attended midnight services in Moscows Christ the Savior Cathedral that were led by Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill, who has firmly supported the war.

In a statement, Putin commended Kirill for tireless, selfless work aimed at preserving enduring historical, spiritual, moral and family values, the upbringing and education of the youth.

Kirill has repeatedly spoken out in support of Russias invasion of Ukraine. In a video message broadcast on Russian state television late Saturday, before the start of the Easter service in Moscow, Kirill lamented grave events taking place on our Russian historical land in reference to the war, echoing the Kremlins claim that an independent Ukraine is essentially a fiction.

Despite the shared Orthodox holiday, Russian shelling and missile attacks continued to sow destruction in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian regional officials. Officials in the countrys south and east said that churches had not been spared. The governor of the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhii Lysak, said Russian forces stationed at Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant shelled a church in a nearby town, wounding two civilians.

The Russians have once again confirmed that they hold nothing sacred, Lysak said in his post.

Earlier on Sunday, the governor of the Zaporizhzhia province reported that Russian shelling overnight hit an Orthodox church in the town of Komyshuvakha. Photos showed local residents rescuing icons from the church, its gutted frame visible in the background.

At least four civilians were killed and eight others were wounded on Saturday and overnight, Ukrainian officials reported on Sunday morning. The national emergencies service said the death toll in a Friday attack on the city of Sloviansk rose to 13 as more bodies were found in the rubble of an apartment building.

Across the front line, in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraines industrial east, the Kremlin-appointed head of the Donetsk region claimed that a Ukrainian strike killed one civilian and wounded six others in the provinces namesake capital. Denis Pushilin wrote in a Telegram post that shelling hit the center of the city, near its Holy Transfiguration cathedral.

The Russian defense ministry on Sunday announced that assault units from the Wagner group have captured two neighborhoods in the embattled city of Bakhmut. Bakhmut, a former mining hub now largely reduced to ruins, has been a key target of Russias monthslong grinding campaign in eastern Ukraine.

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Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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Dozens of POWs freed as Ukraine marks Orthodox Easter - The Associated Press