Alarm from the IAEA about the Zaporizhia plant. Lavrov will receive the Iranian foreign minister today. Germany, too, is now “directly involved in the Ukraine conflict,” accuses Russia after sending the leopards to Kiev. The US is helping the EU create a special court to try Moscow for the “crime of aggression”. Russia is conducting a test of Moskit anti-ship missiles in the Sea of Japan
ISW, the Wagner Group, controls 65% of Bakhmut
The Wagner Group mercenaries have captured around 65 percent of the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk: This is what the Institute for War Research (ISW) says in its daily report on the course of the conflict, as reported by Kiev Independent. In the past seven days, the group’s forces have captured another 5% of the city, the US research center points out, stressing that they are also likely to have seized control of the Azom industrial complex in the northern part of Bakhmut.
Russian media, Ukrainian drone against gas pipeline in Belgorod
A gas pipeline in the Russian city of Belgorod was attacked this week by a drone launched from Ukrainian territory, Russian news site Baza reported on Telegram, as reported by RBC-Ukraine. There were no injuries.
Experts, Moscow’s hacking attacks in Europe are increasing
Russia’s cyber war against Ukraine has largely failed and Moscow is increasingly targeting Kiev’s European allies: Experts from the French company Thales (defense) and Microsoft are convinced of this. In a study published today, the Guardian writes, Thales reports that Russia is beating Poland, the Nordic and Baltic countries with an arsenal of cyberweapons aimed at sowing divisions and spreading anti-war messages. For its part, Microsoft said earlier this month in an assessment of current threats that Russian operators launched attacks in at least 17 European countries in the first six weeks of this year. Both companies believe the invasion of Ukraine was accompanied by widespread cyberattacks in the country, but they were repelled. And both believe that late last year Moscow shifted its focus to other European countries. “In the third quarter of 2022, Europe was drawn into high-intensity hybrid cyber warfare at a conflict inflection point,” said Pierre-Yves Jolivet, Thales vice president of cyber solutions. Poland, Latvia and Sweden were among the hardest hit countries, the French group points out, after which the attacks were increasingly carried out by hacker groups allied with the Kremlin rather than official groups. And they aimed to wreak havoc rather than destroy infrastructure. Microsoft believes this year’s attacks in Europe were primarily aimed at government agencies for espionage purposes.
Explosions this morning in Melitopol
Explosions were heard this morning in Melitopol, in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine, the city’s mayor Ivan Fedorov said via telegram, Ukrinform reports. “Several explosions can be heard in all parts of the city. The inmates get busy. We are awaiting details from the General Staff,” the message said. The mayor later stated that one of the explosions occurred “near the locomotive depot substation.” There have been power outages in the northern and western areas of the city, as well as in Semenivka, Tambovka and some surrounding villages, he added. So far there have been no reports of injuries or casualties.
Grossi (Aiea) seeks a breakthrough in protecting Zaporizhia
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi is still trying to negotiate a deal with Moscow to protect the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, and he’s changing the proposals in order to achieve a breakthrough in the negotiations. Grossi himself said so in an interview with Portal on the eve of his factory visit announced today. The press agency, which publishes the interview on its website, recalls that Grossi asked for a security zone to be created in the area of the plant to prevent a possible nuclear catastrophe. “We are making some changes to the proposals that we are presenting,” the senior official said. “I am confident that it is possible to establish some form of protection, perhaps not so much on the idea of an area as on the protection itself: what people should or should not do to protect (the plant), instead of having a territorial concept”.
Kiev, since the beginning of the war 465 children have been killed
At least 465 children have been killed in Ukraine by Russian forces since the invasion began, according to data provided by the juvenile prosecutor’s office, according to the Kyiv Independent reports. At the same time, the number of injured children has risen to at least 943.
Kyiv, Bakhmut’s situation remains under control
The situation in the Donbass town of Bakhmut, besieged by the Russians, remains “under control”. This is what the Kiev army said, saying that the heaviest fighting is now concentrated in different areas in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukrainian units have repelled recent advance attempts by Russian forces, and in particular, 24 Russian attacks have been repelled in the last 24 hours.
Grossi (Aiea) in the direction of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi is on his way to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, in southern Ukraine. Here the situation is “very dangerous”, as Grossi himself said, who denounced an “increase in military action” around the nuclear power plant to CNN. For the plant in Zaporizhia, the situation “is not improving at the moment” and there is “a growing increase in troops, military vehicles and heavy artillery”.
Kiev, almost 20,000 children deported to Russia
19,514 Ukrainian children are illegally deported to Russia, according to the latest update published by the Ministry of Resettlement of Ukraine on the state-run Children of War website: National media reported it. To this number must be added the 4,390 orphans with only one parent or without parental care who, according to the same ministry – as announced yesterday – are in the occupied territories or in Russia. So far, only 327 children have been repatriated to Ukraine.
Zelensky, if the US stops helping us, we won’t win
“The United States really understands that if they stop helping us, we won’t win,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an exclusive interview with the Associated Press aboard a train that transported the president across Ukraine. The Associated Press is the first news organization to have traveled extensively with Zelenskyy since the beginning of the war. A team of AP reporters spent two days on a train with Zelenskyy as the Ukrainian president visited the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, which is still regularly shelled by Russian forces, and northern cities in the Sumy region that were liberated shortly after the war began before a year.
Zelensky invites Xi Jinping in, ready to speak to him
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an exclusive interview with the Associated Press, invited Chinese President Xi Jinping, long-time ally with Russia, to visit him in Ukraine aboard a train that transported him from Sumy to Kiev. “We’re ready to see it here,” Zelensky told AP. “I want to talk to him. I had contact with him before the great war. But this year, for more than a year, I haven’t had any,” he added. Zelenskyy’s remarks in the AP interview are almost entirely in English after Xi visited Moscow last week and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Missile troops exercise begins in Russia
A large-scale exercise of the Strategic Missile Forces began in Russia today. This was announced by the Moscow Ministry of Defense, which was quoted by local media, and specified that more than 3,000 soldiers were involved in the maneuvers. In particular, the exercise will involve the Omsk and Novosibirsk missile formations, which are equipped with mobile Yars launchers. The maneuvers are taking place on the territory of three unspecified Russian regions.
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