Russia Expels German Diplomats

New developments:   Russian billionaires’ wealth rises to more than half a trillion dollars, despite Western sanctions, Forbes reports. Russia is struggling to justify the war in Ukraine to its citizens. Russia claims to have captured three more districts in Bakhmut. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to meet Monday with United Nations chief regarding uncertainty around Black Sea Grain Initiative renewal as May 18 deadline nears. Russia announced Saturday it is expelling more than 20 German diplomats. According to Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency, the Kremlin’s decision was made in response to Germany’s expulsion of more than 20 Russian diplomats. A German Foreign Ministry official said the two countries had been looking to reduce their staffing, with Germany interested in reducing Russia’s intelligence presence, according to Reuters. "Today's departure of Russian embassy staff is related to this," the official told Reuters. The German ministry declined to say how many Russian diplomats had left. "The German authorities have decided on another mass expulsion of employees of Russian diplomatic missions in Germany," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "We strongly condemn these actions by Berlin, which continues to demonstratively destroy the entire array of Russian-German relations," it said. Relations between the two countries have been frosty since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Before the invasion, Germany was Russia’s biggest oil and gas importer. Elsewhere in Russia, more than 3,000 evacuees returned to their homes Saturday in the city of Belgorod, near the Ukraine border. They had evacuated while military experts disposed of a bomb. Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram that “operational headquarters decided to evacuate 17 apartment buildings within a radius of 200 meters” before explosive experts began their work. Belgorod civilians started to return to their homes after the shell was removed from the area, he said. On Thursday, a Russian Sukhoi-34 supersonic warplane accidentally fired on Belgorod, and the blast injured three people, Russian officials said. Russian billionaires The wealth of Russian billionaires rose to almost half a trillion dollars in 2023 despite Western sanctions against Russia’s invasion. According to Forbes list of billionaires, the overall wealth of Russian billionaires jumped from $353 billion in 2022 to $505 billion in 2023, and 22 people were added to the number of super-rich Russians, bringing the total to 110. This number does not include ultra-wealthy Russians who have renounced their Russian citizenship. According to Forbes, the data “fly in the face of significant Western sanctions and a troubled Russian economy that shrank 2.1% last year.” Russia’s war justification falters In its daily intelligence update on Ukraine, the British Defense Ministry said Saturday that Russia is “struggling to maintain consistency in a core narrative it uses to justify the war in Ukraine.” The narrative is that the invasion of Ukraine is similar to the Soviet experience in World War II. Earlier this month, Russia cited safety issues as the reason for canceling the annual observance of the Immortal Regiment “Great Patriotic War” remembrance marches. “In reality,” the ministry said,” the authorities were highly likely concerned that participants would highlight the scope of recent Russian losses.” Another part of the Russian narrative is the rallying cry that there are Nazis in Ukraine. Even Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner Group and a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has publicly questioned the existence of Nazis in Ukraine, contradicting Russia’s justification for the invasion, the British ministry said. On the front line Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday that Russian assault troops had captured three more districts in the western part of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, according to Reuters. Russia's regular forces and fighters from the Wagner Group mercenaries are launching nonstop assaults on the ravaged city, Ukrainian commanders on the front lines told CNN. Kyiv said Friday that while Russian forces had made some advances in the eastern city, the situation was still in play. "The situation is tense, but under control," Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on Telegram. Malyar made the comments after Russia's Defense Ministry said in a briefing Friday that assault troops were fighting in western parts of Bakhmut, the last part of the embattled Ukrainian city still held by Kyiv's forces.? Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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