"An arrogant person considers himself perfect. This is the chief harm of arrogance. It interferes with a person's main task in life - becoming a better person."

- Leo Tolstoy

"When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor."

- Elon Musk

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."

- Buddha

• A Ukrainian counteroffensive out of Kharkiv City will likely alleviate pressure on parts of the city that have suffered the most from Russian shelling and may force Russian troops from Izyum to re-deploy northward to support forces maintaining the partial encirclement of Kharkiv.
• Additional Russian forces are deploying to the Izyum front but are unlikely to enable any major advances.
• Russian troops did not make any confirmed advances to the southwest or southeast of Izyum or to the west of the Donetsk-Luhansk frontline.
• Russian forces in Kherson are pausing major offensive operations to improve their tactical positions and regroup to prepare for a renewed offensive to capture the administrative borders of Kherson.
• Russian occupation forces in Mariupol announced plans to consolidate their control over the city and intend to return Ukrainian citizens forcibly deported into Russia at some point in the future.

• Main effort—Eastern Ukraine (comprised of two subordinate supporting efforts);
• Supporting effort 1—Kharkiv and Izyum;
• Supporting effort 2—Southern axis;
• Supporting effort 3—Sumy and northeastern Ukraine.

• Russian forces attacking southeast from Izyum, west from Kreminna and Popasna, and north from Donetsk City will likely make steady but tactical gains against Ukrainian defenders.
• Russian forces will likely attempt to starve out the remaining defenders of the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol and will not allow trapped civilians to evacuate but may conduct costly assaults on remaining Ukrainian defenders to claim a propaganda victory.
• Russian forces are likely preparing to conduct renewed offensive operations to capture the entirety of Kherson Oblast in the coming days.
• Russia may continue false-flag attacks in and around Transnistria or might move to generate a more serious crisis in Transnistria and Moldova more generally.

• Russian leader set for surgery, which officials insist is 'of no particular urgency'
• Power over Ukraine war will transfer to ally and Security Council chief Patrushev
• Putin has cancer, Parkinson's and 'schizophrenic symptoms': Telegram channel
• Patrushev claimed NATO support for Kyiv will cause 'disintegration of Ukraine'
• News comes as Putin expected to launch all-out assault and mobilise nation

After decades of neglect, there’s a lot of diplomatic work the West needs to do in the Pacific. Let’s use the remains of Putin’s diplomatic Navy to do some of it.

• Former US Marine Colonel Andy Milburn said that the Russian military's actions in Ukraine are worse than ISIS.
• The Marine said the Russians had "a very, very deliberate approach to killing civilians," he wrote in Newsweek.
• Milburn heads up a group of veterans that are helping to train forces in Ukraine.

Taken overall, Kishida’s trip will therefore burnish Japan’s international leadership credentials. In the context of the growing uncertainty about the future of the rules-based order and liberal democracy itself, these talks will help set the agenda for Germany’s presidency of the G7 this year, as well as Indonesia’s presidency of the G20, both of which will promote agendas based around a commitment to multilateralism.

• Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.

The impulse to rewrite history and appeal to glorious myths to rally popular support is not limited to autocrats. But the real danger arises when the official account becomes the only permitted version of history, as is now the case in Russia, China, and North Korea. Though the leaders of these regimes differ in their approach to the past, all three claim that it is their nation that is under threat, and that they must strengthen their military capabilities and ramp up their political control to defend their citizens.

“Whatever the Party holds to be truth is truth,” Winston is told in Orwell’s novel. The leaders of Russia, China, and North Korea take a similar view, and that has consequences for all of us.

• It comes less than a week after Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III visited Ukraine.

• During the meeting, Zelensky conveyed the clear need for continued security, economic and humanitarian assistance from the U.S. and the congressional delegation assured him that additional American support is on its way, according to Pelosi's office.

• 'The United States is a leader in Ukraine’s strong support in the fight against Russian aggression. Thank you for helping to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state!" Zelenksy said.

It is worth mentioning Japan has been mulling changing its national defence policy ever since North Korea started bolstering its nuclear arsenal despite continuous warnings from the US defence ministry. Recently, Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile toward the sea on March 25. According to South Korean military officials, the firing was apparently meant to extend its barrage of weapons trials that may culminate with a flight of its biggest-yet intercontinental ballistic missile.

• What does Putin want from Russia's war in Ukraine?
• Why has 'Z' become a Russian pro-war symbol?

• Russia-Ukraine war
• Russia
• Ukraine

• The Scythian empire gold dated from the fourth century B.C. and was extracted by a man in a white coat with "long tweezers and special gloves," who raided boxes stored in the cellar of a Melitopol museum, accompanied by a squad of armed Russian soldiers, the NYT reports.

• "Mariupol City Council is preparing materials for law enforcement agencies to initiate criminal proceedings and appeal to Interpol," per the post.

• "This a crime," Symonenko added.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted at the time that the ruling marked a "long-awaited victory," adding: "After the 'Scythian gold,' we'll [get back] Crimea," according to a Radio Free Europe translation.