April 28, 2024
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 03:49 Russian oil refinery apparently stops operations after Ukrainian attacks +++
A Russian oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban in the Krasnodar Region has partially suspended operations following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack, Russian state news agency TASS reports. The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) carried out a drone strike in the Krasnodar region on the night of April 27, targeting the Ilskiy and Slavyansk oil refineries and a military airfield, a source in the Ukrainian security and defense forces told the Kyiv Independent today . “Work at the plant was partially interrupted. Exactly ten drones flew into the plant and caused a strong fire. There could be hidden damage,” Eduard Trudnev, the safety director of the Slavyansk ECO group, told TASS about the Slavyansk refinery .
+++ 02:40 Poland does not expect Russian use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine +++
According to a media report, Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski sees no reason to worry about Russian President Vladimir Putin using nuclear weapons in Ukraine. “We have zero evidence that he is preparing to use nuclear weapons,” Sikorski told the newspaper “Bild am Sonntag” and other Springer media, according to the preliminary report. Putin cannot simply use short-range tactical nuclear weapons at the push of a button; there is a chain of command in the Defense Ministry and the General Staff. Putin would have to persuade the generals to carry out the order. They would then have the choice of following the order or overthrowing Putin. In addition, Russian troops are not prepared to operate in a nuclear contaminated area, which is why Putin would have to withdraw his troops from the front in advance, which would be noticed and used. “It would be a political disaster for Putin; Russia would be completely isolated from China and India,” said the Polish Foreign Minister, according to “Bild am Sonntag”.
+++ 01:02 Politico: Zelensky told Johnson that Ukraine could hold out until March or April without US help +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson last December that without American support, Kiev could only fend off Russian attacks until March or April, Politico reported, citing unnamed sources. U.S. aid to Ukraine had been blocked in the U.S. Congress since October 2023 until Johnson called a vote in April on a foreign aid package that included $61 billion for Ukraine. The Ukraine aid bill was immediately passed by both chambers and signed by US President Joe Biden, allowing American military aid to flow again. Johnson’s refusal to vote on earlier versions of the bill has led many to blame the speaker for the delays that have weighed heavily on Ukrainian defenders.
+++ 23:54 Zelenskyj: Russia attacks gas transit system +++
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy complains about Russian attacks on the country’s gas transit system. Objects through which gas is piped through Ukraine to the European Union were attacked, says Zelensky. Despite the Russian war of aggression that has been going on for more than two years, Russian gas continues to flow through the country – albeit in much smaller quantities. The state gas company Naftogaz no longer wants to send Russian gas to the West from 2025 – the contracts with the Russian state company Gazprom expire at the end of the year. The recipients are primarily countries without access to the sea that cannot switch to liquefied natural gas (LNG). After the air strikes, Zelenskyj is again calling for more support in anti-aircraft defense – in particular from US Patriot anti-aircraft systems.
+++ 22:17 Foreign Office condemns compulsory administration of Bosch subsidiary +++
Germany and Italy are reacting with outrage to Moscow’s decision to place the Bosch subsidiary BSH Household Appliances and the subsidiary of the Italian heating technology company Ariston Thermo Group in Russia under “provisional supervision” of the Gazprom group. “We condemn the compulsory administration that has been ordered and reserve the right to react further in close coordination with Italy,” explains the Foreign Office. The Italian government summoned the Russian ambassador.
+++ 21:36 Ex-NATO boss: Taurus no is met with incomprehension in the USA +++
According to former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, there is a lack of understanding in the USA that the federal government continues to refuse to supply Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. “Neither in the US government nor in Republican circles is there any understanding that Germany continues to refuse to deliver Taurus,” Fogh Rasmussen told “Welt am Sonntag”. The Dane is currently exploring plans for a new security strategy in Washington on behalf of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This should be presented in mid-May. Most recently, the White House ordered that Kiev receive longer-range ATACMS missiles.
You can read all previous developments here.