Russia

At the Regina Caeli Francis invites people to pray the rosary for peace every day. "Terrible news arrives of children expelled and deported". Marking May 1, he denounces deaths at the workplace and pays homage to journalists who pay in person to serve the right to freedom of information.

It was the members of the nineteenth-century intelligentsia who gave rise to it with the call to "go to the people" after the abolition of serfdom. But today the dictatorship of the "simple man" is destroying Russia even more than the tormented Ukraine, much more than militant Soviet atheism has done in seventy years.

Today's headlines: Chinese authorities ban from social media (and detain) a popular influencer son of Wanda Group owner; Jakarta suspends palm oil exports; the world's longest glass bridge is inaugurated in Vietnam; foreign companies flee Moscow; a new political opposition movement is born in Bishkek; Jerusalem: two more victims in the new wave of violence, an Israeli and a Palestinian.

European companies are buying Sinopec's surpluses. Despite its quasi-ally status with Russia, China is helping the EU reduce its dependence on Russian gas. Surging prices, not politics, are behind this trend. Meanwhile, China-EU trade is up.

The separatist territory has no interest in joining Russia. However, the main political, economic and military decisions are made in Moscow. Transnistria has no facilities to support an attack on Odessa, Ukraine. The Moldovans are not meddling and are aiming for neutrality.

Russian patriarch criticised for his support of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. It would take a council of all the Churches or a decision of the Moscow synod to dismiss him. Kirill increasingly under scrutiny in the Orthodox and Christian world of the West.

Sipri: China and India follow the U.S. in military spending. In 2021 the Chinese arrived at 293 billion dollars (+4.7%). Delhi's defense outlay touches 76.6 billion. Upward trend also for Japan and Australia. After four years, Iran's military budget has increased again. In Qatar, growth of 434% compared to 2010.

Ankara has close relations with both sides of the conflict. The Turkish president seeks diplomatic success while the national economy suffocates The more conflicts arise in the former Soviet territories, the more Turkey benefits, relaunching its neo-Ottoman imperial plans.

Holy Week rituals and traditions are exploited in Russia and Ukraine. The mid-June Jerusalem meeting between the pope and the Moscow patriarch has been cancelled “until better times”. Going against the current, Metropolitan Onufriy's offers hope: “[T]he world lives for the sake of those righteous who have placed in their hearts the Risen Christ, the Strong and Mighty God, who made them strong and powerful. Such people sacrificially love the whole world”.

They do not want to live under Putin's regime, especially after the invasion of Ukraine. They mostly go to Armenia, Georgia and Turkey, and then move to Europe or the USA. With the flight of hi-tech giants, Russia risks technological paralysis.

Exports from Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and Vietnam are way down. Western sanctions against Russia weigh heavily. Conversely, imports from Russia are up, mainly because of higher gas, oil and grain prices. The same goes for China.

Putin relies on Chinese support to save Moscow's economy from Western sanctions against the invasion of Ukraine. China and Russia united by opposition to the US and the West. However, theirs remains a tactical partnership, not a strategic alliance.