Russian forces are approaching the capture of the last pocket of resistance in the eastern Luhansk region of Ukraine. Sievierodonetsk and its neighboring city, Lysychansk, continue to be heavily bombed by Russians. The governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, said on Wednesday that Russian forces were moving towards Lysychansk, targeting police, state security and prosecutors’ buildings.
Dramatic shots from Russia appeared with what appears to be a drone flying at an oil refinery and causing an explosion in what could be an attack within Russia’s borders. A video posted on social media shows the drone crashing into the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in the Rostov region in what would have been a shameful breach of Russia’s air defense systems.
At least one person has been killed in a Russian rocket attack on the port of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine., according to its mayor, Oleksandr Senkevych. The attack caused several fires and damaged several buildings, including a school, Senkevych said. Regional Governor Vitaly Kim said seven rockets hit Mykolaiv.
Residents and workers at a nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, a town in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, are being kidnapped by Russian occupiers. according to the mayor of the district. “Where is a stranger? “The rest are in very difficult conditions: they are being electrocuted, physically and morally intimidated,” said Mayor Dmytro Orlov.
A TV tower in the city of Donetsk controlled by Ukrainian separatists has been severely damaged by bombing and broadcasting has been suspended.broadcast the local Donetsk news agency. The Petroovskiy TV station remains standing, but part of its equipment has been damaged and part of its equipment has been moved, the agency said.
The British intelligence services predict that Russia’s dynamics will slow down in the coming months.“Our defense intelligence, however, believes that in the coming months, Russia could reach a point where there is no future impetus because it has depleted its resources,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters.
Leaders at forthcoming G7 summit in Germany to announce new measures to put pressure on Russia as well as new commitments to strengthen European security, a senior US official said. “We will present a specific set of proposals to increase pressure on Russia,” the official said. The G7 is also likely to discuss the fate of a Russian turbine that is blocked in Canada and blamed for reducing gas supplies to Germany, the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources said.
The Kremlin said EU sanctions that led Lithuania to block the passage of certain goods into the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad were “absolutely unacceptable”. Moscow was working in retaliation in response to “illegal sanctions” by the EU, he said. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow’s response to the Lithuanian ban would not be purely diplomatic but practical.
Ukraine has downgraded the chances of reaching an agreement with Russia that could allow stalled grain shipments to begin crossing the Black Sea. Consultations are underway, said Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko. Russia’s Defense Ministry says Moscow and Ankara have agreed to resume talks on safe ship departures and grain exports from Ukrainian ports.
Finland’s commander-in-chief says his country is prepared for a Russian attack and would put up fierce resistance in the event of such a thing happening. The Finns are motivated to fight and the country has built a significant arsenal, said General Timo Kivinen, adding: “The most important line of defense is between someone’s ears.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the emerging economies group Brics to strengthen ties with countries. – Brazil, Russia, India, China South Africa – after Western sanctions on Ukraine. Putin said talks were continuing to “open Indian department stores in Russia, increasing the share of Chinese cars” in the Russian market.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Iran on Wednesday. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov’s visit was aimed at “expanding co-operation with the Eurasian region and the Caucasus.”
Europe must prepare immediately for Russia to cut off all gas exports to the region this winteraccording to the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol. He called on governments to work to reduce demand and maintain open nuclear power plants.
A Ukrainian photojournalist and a soldier accompanying him were “executed in cold blood” when they were killed in the first weeks of the Russian invasion, according to Reporters Without Borders. Maks Levin and Oleksiy Chernyshov are said to have been searching forests in Russian possession for the photographer’s lost drone, the agency said, citing findings from an investigation into their deaths.