Economically:

• Medvedev said that Russia will supply food and crops to only friendly countries, both in rubles and their national currency. He says that these food exports are a "quiet but formidable weapon".
• According to the Central Bank of Russia, for the first time since February 24th, the Russian banking system is in structural liquidity surplus.
• Last year, Brazil's central bank quadrupled it foreign reserves in yuan. China represents 28% of Brazil's international trade, more than double that of the US, its next largest trade partner.
• The Eurozone's inflation was 7.5% in March, an all-time high.
• 300,000 Ukrainian refugees arrive in Germany.
• Russia "will not ask Europe to lift sanctions".

Russian Gas:

• Notifications about the new procedure for paying for gas in rubles are sent to counterparties today, says Gazprom.
• Slovakia says it's fine with buying gas from Russia in rubles.
• The CEO of Germany's largest chemical company, BASF, says that he strongly opposed the embargo on Russian energy supplies saying that it would lead Germany to the most serious crisis since the end of WW2.
• Hungary's PM, Orban, says that Europe will not be able to replace Russian gas with expensive American gas. "It is not necessary to count on the volume of LNG transportation across the ocean, so there is no alternative to gas supplies to Hungary." ... "It's not about putting on a sweater in the evening and reducing the heating a little, but about the fact that if there are no energy sources from Russia, then there will be no energy in Hungary at all."
• Japan rejects Russia's demand to pay for gas in rubles.
• Gazprom has terminated its participation in the Germany company GAZPROM Germania GmbH and all its assets. Earlier, the media wrote about possible nationalization of Gazprom and Rosneft subsidiaries in Germany.
• Russia starts pumping more gas to China than previously planned.
• Von Der Leyen apparently left on hold for 6 hours trying to open Russian bank account so EU can make ruble transfers. I feel like this is an April Fool's joke but I don't fucking know anymore tbh. If anything here is like "yeah, that's actually an April Fools joke, why is it here?" then I have been owned; let me know and I'll edit the post.

Diplomatically:

Ukraine/Russia:

• Lavrov says that there's been "much more understanding" of the situation with Crimea and Donbass from Ukraine.
• The President of South Ossetia is going to Donbass.
• The Investigative Committee of Russia charged 22 Ukrainian military officials with genocide of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.
• Russian Foreign Ministry says that political dialogue with NATO is currently "impossible" and "makes no sense".
• The air strike of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the oil depot in Belgorod “does not create comfortable conditions for the continuation of negotiations" says Peskov.
• Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service: "Ukraine has informed Britain that it does not intend to comply with the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Russian Prisoners of War. ... The West is not only aware of Kiev's gross violations of international humanitarian law, but is also trying to help it avoid responsibility."

Elsewhere:

• The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that NATO should have been dissolved after the collapse of the USSR. It also said that the UN should study and give a professional assessment of the material provided by Russia about the US biological laboratories in Ukraine.
• EU's high representative of foreign policy, Josep Borrell, says that he "regrets" the countersanctions on EU leaders by Russia.
• Putin will talk to "several" global leaders today, though only Erdogan and Lukashenko have been named as one of them.
• Georgia says that the recall of Ukraine's diplomat in Georgia due to its "refusal to help Ukraine" is an "insult to the authorities, but also a significant part of society"
• The US says that it will not recognize Russia's attempts to divide Georgia's territory (and therefore, South Ossetia joining Russia).
• "A new reality is taking shape: the unipolar world is irretrievably receding into the past and a multipolar world is being born. Nobody on Earth will be considered a second-rate player. All nations are equal and sovereign." - Lavrov
• US deputy NSA went to India the day before Sergei Lavrov's arrival to tell them to please not "create mechanisms that prop up the rouble and that attempt to undermine the dollar-based financial system", saying that the US is "ready to help India diversify both energy supplies and military hardware" by supplying India with American energy and weapons.
• Pakistan's Prime Minister apparently has proof of foreign funding to overthrow him in a regime change.
• Spanish government calls for an abrupt end to Spain's decades-long position of neutrality over the Western Sahara, by calling for Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed region. This risks ending Spain's commercial relations with its biggest provider of natural gas, Algeria. Algeria is also Italy's second largest supplier of gas after Russia.

Militarily:

Russia:

• Ukraine hits a fuel depot in Belgorod (city), which is relatively close to Kharkov in Ukraine. Two Ukrainian helicopters came in at low altitude and hit the depot. While it is very difficult to detect helicopters at very low altitudes, it is still embarrassing for Russia - but far from a catastrophe. Some cope on Russian Telegram but not as much as I thought there would be.
• A village in Belgorod (oblast) was also hit - this time, a printing house.
• An object - perhaps a drone - was shot down over Belgorod.

Ukraine in general:

• Russia continues to post footage of captured/destroyed Ukrainian equipment.
• A surrendered Ukrainian soldier says that Azov shot not only civilians in Mariupol, but also military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
• Kyiv mayor says that "huge" battles are being fought to the north and east of Ukraine's capital.
• At the same time, Al Jazeera reports that Moscow does appear to be withdrawing units around Kyiv and Chernihiv.

Eastern Ukraine:

• Ukraine continues shelling Donetsk city - this time, a school (but with no casualties - not sure if anybody was inside)
• Ukraine confirms that Izyum is under Russian control and that Russian troops are pushing in the direction of Slovyansk. This was announced by the Russians several days ago.

Southern Ukraine:

• According to Russia, there were three helicopters that flew into Mariupol. They were allowed to enter the city, and then the plan was to shoot them down when they left. One helicopter was hit by a Stinger (two survivors); one was hit and fell into the sea (no survivors); and one, after seeing what happened to the previous two, returned back to the city.
• The civilians of Mariupol wished Azov to feel all the suffering that the neo-Nazis have inflicted on them. "Damn Poroshenko, Zelensky, and all their henchmen" says one resident.

Dipshittery and Cope:

• Fukuyama says that "We could be facing the end of "the end of history""