Moscow has made it clear for the first time that its goals in Ukraine go beyond Donbass: “Not only Donetsk and Lugansk, but also Kherson, Zaporizhia and a number of other areas,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, adding that ” now the geography has changed”. Words that will close any negotiation window based on the platform agreed in Istanbul last March. Kyiv responded by demanding more weapons and more support for the West. All this while Russian bombing and fighting continues in a kind of chess game between the two military commands.
War Ukraine – Russia: What you need to know
07:29
CIA boss: “Putin is not sick, he is far too healthy”
president Wladimir Putin he wants Russia to become “a great power” but “not win the war of attrition in Ukraine.” That’s what the CIA chief said William Burns in a rare public appearance. Former US ambassador to Russia Burns said Putin was “convinced that his destiny as leader is to make Russia a great power again”.
Asked whether the Kremlin chief might be ill, the CIA chief dismissed the speculation, saying: “There are many rumors about President Putin’s health, and as far as we know, he appears to be all too healthy.”
07:00
German media: Gas flow resumed on Nord Stream 1
Gas flow from Russia to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline resumed this morning. The German media report. The pipeline had been closed for maintenance, with restart expected at 6am this morning.
05:13
Kyiv: The Russians want to put their “entire arsenal” into the nuclear power plant
Russian forces have asked for access to the machine rooms of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant where they plan to store their “entire military arsenal”: Energoatom, the state-owned company that oversees nuclear power plants in Ukraine, said Pravda. “The Russian armed forces are requesting the administration of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant to open the machine rooms of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd units in order to be able to store the entire military arsenal. It seems safe for the inmates as they are terrified of receiving ‘gifts’ from the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” comments Energoatom Energoatom continued. Last Saturday, Energoatom President Pedro Kotin said that Russia uses the Zaporizhia power plant – the largest in Europe – as a base for storing weapons, including “missile systems”.
03:47
The mayor of Mykolaiv: strong explosions in the city
“Powerful explosions can be heard in Mykolaiv. The city is again heavily bombed.” This was announced by the mayor of the city in south-western Ukraine, Oleksandr Senkevich, via telegram. Unian reports it.
Ukraine, Russian attacks kill 3 people in Kharkiv
03:02
The EU confirms the fifth tranche of military aid to Kyiv
The EU has confirmed the fifth tranche of military aid to Ukraine worth 500 million euros, High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell announced in a tweet.
00:21
The director of the CIA: “15,000 Russian soldiers killed so far”
According to US estimates, around 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and 45,000 wounded since the beginning of the war. This was announced by CIA director William Burns, who said that the Ukrainian armed forces also suffered “probably less” heavy casualties.
00:10
Zelenskyy: “Gas and war, Moscow is testing for us what it can then do elsewhere in Europe”
Russia “is testing in Ukraine what it can then use against other European countries,” said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his evening video message, referring to gas cuts and the war. “Ukraine has always maintained that Russia cannot be perceived as a reliable gas supplier. If our position had been heard earlier, we would not have had to look for emergency ways to fill the deficit that Russia is artificially creating on the European market,” he added.