Problems with Russian trucks and new sanctions against Russia: what the world wrote about the war in Ukraine on April 14

During the day on April 14, foreign media continued to write a lot about the war in Ukraine. In particular, they mentioned what sanctions the West should impose on Russia if they do not want to ban the import of energy resources, and also identified an important problem of the Russian army — the state of wheeled vehicles.

The Washington Post writes about Polish policy towards refugees and the differences in response the country has been giving to people crossing the Polish border from Belarus and now Ukraine. While Poland has been very responsive to Ukrainian refugeesʼ needs as it supports people starting from the border, the same country has been building a fortress to stop “illegal” immigrants from coming through the Belarus border. The whole plan is orchestrated by self-proclaimed Belarus president Aliaksandr Lukashenka, who weaponized migration and who organizes the systemic transfer of foreign migrants and asylum seekers to the borders with Poland and Lithuania. There are even multiple cases recorded by humanitarian groups, when Polish border guards track people in the woods and drive them back to the Belarusian border, a practice that Poland’s parliament has effectively legalized. Moreover, Poland is in the middle of building a 116-mile metal wall to protect its border with Belarus.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden are reviewing their neutral status and are considering applying to NATO, writes Foreign Policy. The Finnish Prime Minister announced that the country would decide whether to apply within weeks. As Finland has highly capable armed forces, which would make Finland not a consumer of NATO security but rather a contributor, the article cites a former Finland chief of defense. Finland not only has a big number of trained men but also strong military intelligence, including aerial surveillance, excellent combat aircraft, and national defense course. Sweden, if it too decides to join NATO, would bring strengths including a navy that is playing a crucial role in the Baltic Sea.

While a full embargo of Russian gas and oil is still unlikely, there are other ideas on how the West might further pressure Russia through sanctions. One is to impose tariffs on Russian hydrocarbons, The Economist states. Another is to implement the “Iranian scenario” allowing countries to buy oil under the commitment of reducing reliance on it over time, moreover, the money for it would be on the escrow accounts, which would only allow to use them for non-sensitive goods. Russia would almost certainly reject such an arrangement, but it might be modified, for example by allowing Russia to use some of the cash in escrow to buy high-tech items that have been hit with Western export controls. US Congress seems also to be supporting the idea of imposing secondary sanctions [sanctions imposed on third parties doing business with countries subjected to primary sanctions]. The big question with secondary sanctions is how China would react, and if it will be able to circumvent sanctions as it previously did with Iran and North Korea.

CNN illustrates the problems of the Russian army with the "key element of military equipment" ― trucks. Although they are less popular with the general public, trucks are necessary for the transportation of personnel, ammunition, spare parts, and everything else, without which the functioning of the army is impossible. CNN experts recall cases from the war where a Russian truck failed due to a punctured wheel or when a damaged truck had to be towed to a repair station a hundred kilometers away. The first shows that the wheels of army cars were not taken care of properly ― and itʼs true even for the Pantsyr top anti-aircraft missile system, which moves on the chassis of KamAZ. What condition can be of minor models then? The second fact indicates a lack of repair crews. Unlike airplanes or ships, trucks are not what people applaud dictators for in military parades. So such regimes do not invest much in this type of weaponry. Russia already has to replace destroyed military trucks in Ukraine with civilian ones. And this is a bad sign for the occupiers: such cars can not withstand military conditions, even offroad mode is not for them.