Kyiv is still hard fought. Although ground attacks have decreased, Russia is expanding its airstrikes to the capital. In Chernihiv, Russian troops are said to have fired on a humanitarian aid convoy. President Putin announces that gas payments will only be accepted in rubles. Meanwhile, a delegation led by Wladimir Klitschko made a surprise visit to Berlin. The 36th day of the war at a glance.
Heavy fighting is still going on around Kyiv
The West’s distrust of Russia’s announcement that it will withdraw troops from around Kyiv is apparently justified. Even if the ground presence around Kyiv is reduced, the Russian military continues to put pressure on the city with airstrikes. The Pentagon sees an extension of the airstrikes to the capital and the northern city of Chernihiv. In the past 24 hours alone, there are said to have been 300, Pentagon reporter Caitlin Doornbos wrote on Twitter. In the north of Kyiv there is heavy fighting, Russian artillery fire can be observed.
NATO also sees no troop withdrawal around Kyiv, but, like the USA before it, is talking about a repositioning. Russia keeps the pressure on Kyiv and other cities. “Further offensive actions” are to be expected, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Ukraine reported military successes in the battles for Kyiv. Since Wednesday, units of the National Guard have destroyed artillery, missile systems and several dozen armored vehicles belonging to Russian troops, the Interior Ministry said. The information cannot be independently verified.
Russia does not seem to be withdrawing from Chernihiv either. A humanitarian convoy that was supposed to bring civilians from the besieged northern Ukrainian city to safety was shot at during the day, according to Ukrainian sources. One person was killed and four others were seriously injured, said the human rights commissioner of the Ukrainian parliament, Lyudmyla Denisova. She accused the Russian troops of preventing any evacuation attempts.
Offensive in eastern Ukraine
According to NATO, Russian troops are stepping up attacks in the Donbass region. There, Russia reported territorial gains. The village of Solota Nywa, southwest of Donetsk, is now under Russian control, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. Russian units had advanced six kilometers there since yesterday. Up to 60 opponents were killed. According to their own statements, the pro-Russian separatists also took over areas. More than 90 percent of the Luhansk district was “liberated”. More than half of Donetsk district is controlled by pro-Russian forces.
According to local governor Waltentyn Resnichenko, a military facility and a fuel depot were hit by Russian missiles in the eastern Ukrainian region of Dnipro. Two people were killed in the attack. Five other people were injured. This information is also difficult to verify.
NATO chief Stoltenberg expects “offensive actions that will cause even more suffering” in Donbass. According to a high-ranking Pentagon official, the intensification of the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine is also the result of the failure in Kyiv. “The reprioritization in Donbass clearly shows that they know they failed to take the capital,” it said.
Nuclear regulator to control Chernobyl
According to Ukrainian information, the UN nuclear regulatory agency IAEA will in future control the occupied Chernbobyl nuclear power plant and another one in Zaporizhia. Online monitoring operations would be organized for this purpose, said the head of the state nuclear power plant operator Energoatom, Pertro Kotin. The International Atomic Energy Agency should use its influence to ensure that the Russian nuclear authorities do not interfere with nuclear power plant operations.
Many Russian troops have already withdrawn from the Chernobyl reactor. The state operator Energoatom announced that they had set off towards the border with Belarus. There are now only a few soldiers on the site.
Meanwhile, Ukraine announced that almost its entire defense industry had been destroyed by Russian attacks. So said Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Putin demands gas payments in rubles
On the question of gas supplies, President Vladimir Putin made his announcement official, ordering that western states must open accounts with Gazprombank in order to continue receiving Russian gas. This applies from tomorrow. Otherwise, deliveries to the “unfriendly” countries would be stopped, the Kremlin chief said.
According to the decree signed by Putin, payments can still be made in euros or dollars to the Russian account. Gazprombank converts the money into rubles and transfers the amount in Russian currency to Gazprom. In the absence of payments, deliveries would be stopped, Putin said. According to experts, however, the changeover will have little de facto impact.
Wladimir Klitschko meets Habeck in Berlin
Meanwhile, Berlin received a surprise diplomatic visit from Kyiv. Former boxing world champion Wladimir Klitschko reached the German capital with his delegation in the morning. At a meeting with Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck, he campaigned for support for Ukraine.
Klitschko became clear on the Bild TV station. His country needs financial help because the economy is down, it needs humanitarian aid because some cities have neither food nor water nor medical care. And: “We need weapons,” said Klitschko. Decisions about this would have to be made quickly. To be passive and look the other way means to participate.
Moscow: West does not understand what is happening in the Kremlin
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has rejected Western intelligence reports that Putin was misinformed about the situation in Ukraine. “It turns out that neither the (US) State Department nor the (US Department of Defense) Pentagon have any real information about what is happening in the Kremlin,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“They just don’t understand what’s happening in the Kremlin. They don’t understand President Putin. They don’t understand the mechanism of decisions. They don’t understand the style of our work.” Peskow added: “It’s not just a pity. That worries us. Because such a complete misunderstanding only leads to wrong decisions, to reckless decisions that have very bad consequences.”
Zelenskyi dismisses ambassador
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy today took personal action and recalled his country’s ambassadors to Georgia and Morocco. He criticized that Ambassadors Igor Dolgov in Tbilisi and Oksana Vasilieva in Rabat had not been “effective” in securing arms supplies to Ukraine for defense against the Russian invasion, as well as sanctions against Russia. “With all due respect, there are no weapons, no sanctions, no restrictions on Russian companies. Please find another job,” said Zelenskyy.
Britain wants to counteract Kremlin “lies”.
Great Britain, meanwhile, is taking further measures against Russia. The operating structures behind RT and Sputnik would be sanctioned in order to counteract the “stream of lies” from the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin, explained British Foreign Minister Liz Truss. The package of 14 sanctions “is aimed at the outrageous propagandists who spread Putin’s fake news and narratives.”
New sanctions are also coming from Russia. The Kremlin announced an entry ban for EU politicians. “The restrictions apply to the highest EU officials, including a number of EU commissioners and heads of EU military structures, as well as the vast majority of MEPs who support anti-Russian policies,” the Foreign Ministry said in Moscow.
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