“This morning, the Portuguese Ambassador in Moscow was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, who was informed of the expulsion of five embassy employees who will have to leave Russia within 14 days,” the Portuguese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the report said.

It was a quick change. On Monday, Mikhail Kodaryonok, a retired colonel and television commentator, criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military strategy. This Wednesday afternoon, also on Russian state television, the army has completely changed speech, anticipating a “very unpleasant surprise” for Ukraine.

Mikhail Kodarenok mentioned Russian attacks on American howitzers in Ukraine, suggesting that they would remain a target for Russian forces “in the near future.” “They will be searched for, discovered and hit,” the colonel in the reserve assured, adding that soon only “memories” would remain of them.

Retired colonel Mikhail Khodarenok reappeared on Russian state television today, just two days after he gave a damning assessment of Russia’s war in Ukraine and its growing international isolation.

Seems like someone gave him a little to talk to

(With subtitles) pic.twitter.com/M1u2q8L2Tn

— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) May 18, 2022

Assuring that this goal would be “achieved,” the colonel turned to the news of the victories that Ukraine would win over Russian troops.“There are only rumors Indeed, there are even rumors that [a Ucrânia] allegedly has great success in counterattacks, ”said Mikhail Khodarenok, describing these rumors as “inaccurate.”

To demonstrate the failure of the Ukrainian forces, a retired colonel recalled the Snake Islands plan. Mikhail Khodarenok noted that Ukraine needed to achieve “air supremacy”, and that “in the coming months” it would be “impossible” for the Ukrainian armed forces to accomplish such a feat.

In addition, in the naval sphere, the official also devalued Ukraine: “They need to achieve superiority at sea,” especially in the Black Sea, which “is out of the question.” “At best, it will take years, if not decades.”

“And therefore, when they talk about the ability of Ukraine to counterattack, this is a big exaggeration,” Mikhail Khodarenok hinted, believing in the success of the Russian offensive. He predicted that “a very unpleasant surprise” awaits Ukraine in the near future.

“As much as we hate to admit it, the whole world is against us.” Retired colonel denounces Putin’s strategy on state television

These statements contrast with those that Mikhail Kodarenok made on Monday: “They [os ucranianos] determined to fight to the last man. Ultimately, victory on the battlefield is determined by the high morale of the personnel.who sheds blood for ideas for which he is ready to fight.

Also on Monday, the retired colonel acknowledged that “the main drawback of the Russian military-political position is that we are, in a sense, in complete geopolitical isolation and that, as much as we hate to admit it, practically the whole world is against us.” . “The situation will frankly worsen,” spoke on Monday, anticipating a scenario with “a million armed Ukrainian soldiers.”

The Spanish government has rejected Russia’s decision to expel 27 employees of the Spanish embassy in Moscow, arguing that reciprocity in this case is not justifiedbecause they did not violate the Vienna Convention.

Spain rejects the decision taken today by the Russian Federation to expel a total of 27 employees of the Spanish Embassy in Russia,” the Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Madrid then explains that Russian authorities justify this decision with the principle of “reciprocity” after the expulsion of 27 employees of the Russian embassy in Madrid, notified last April, adding, however, that “the expulsion then accepted by the Spanish authorities was based on duly substantiated security reasons, which do not exist in this case.”

The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs guarantees that the employees of the embassy in Moscow “always” fully complied with the obligations set forth Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

Russia announced this Wednesday that it was expelling 27 Spanish and 24 Italian diplomats in response to similar measures taken by those countries after invading Ukraine.

The announcement of the expulsion of Italians and Spaniards was made by the Russian Foreign Ministry a few minutes after the announcement of the expulsion of 34 French diplomats and a day after the decision to expel two Finnish diplomats was made.

The number of Spanish and Italian diplomats now considered persona non grata it is identical to the Russian diplomats whom the governments of two European countries decided to expel from their countries in April.

According to Spanish Ambassador to Moscow Marcos Gomez Martinez, who was summoned to the Russian ministry on Wednesday morning, diplomats from the embassy in Moscow and the consulate general in St. Petersburg were sent to Moscow. will have to leave Russia within seven days.

On April 5, the Spanish government decided to expel 27 diplomats and officials from the Russian embassy in Spain as a sign of rejection of the “horrible actions” of the Russian troops, the “escalation of war crimes” and in “protection of security interests.” » Spain.

The Spanish performer did not directly mention the massacre organized by Russian soldiers in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, Kyiv region.