March 27, 2022
Investors breathed a sigh of relief last week (click here) after the Russian government made a $ 117 million interest payment on its foreign debt. But a much bigger payment comes due April 4 – to the tune of $ 2.2 billion – and creditors are far less optimistic Russia will pony up this time.
“The last payment was a small investment in credibility, but when Russia has to start writing billion dollar checks it’s a different calculation,” Jay Newman, former Elliott Management portfolio manager and author of “Undermoney,” told The Post. “I do not think it’s realistic that Russia comes up with the $ 2.2 billion.
The bond payment last week panicked investors because it was unclear whether Russia’s central bank would be able to use its frozen reserve of US dollars to make the payment – and whether US banks would work with the country to transfer the money. There was also a dispute about whether Russia could pay the debt in its own currency. The Russian Finance Ministry insisted the country could pay in rubles RUBUSD,
but people with knowledge of the contract say it’s required to be paid in dollars....
There is enormous damage to the infrastructure in Ukraine. Among that infrastructure are building collapsed on top of dead Ukrainians. A lesson from September 11, 2001 can be learned how to treat remains that simply can't be examined for forensics to determine an identity. The survivors and families of those that are dead were provided ashes and soil from the site where a chronic fire burned in a container. The containers provided a way for those left behind to bury their loved ones. There are ongoing forensics being conducted even today though as the search for proven identity goes on (click here). Ukriane will need dedicated forensic experts to sort through any remains to discover the dead so loved ones can bury them and the record of the dead at the World Court grows lengthy.
27 March 2022By James Phillipe
The streets of Mariupol (click here) are being turned into cemeteries with makeshift graves appearing across the besieged port city.
Bodies of both civilians and soldiers are becoming buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings or left out on the streets with rescuers unable to retrieve victims and give them a proper burial due to the incessant bombing.
It comes as the UN said on Friday that it had received more information regarding mass graves in the city - one of which is thought to hold up to 200 bodies....
