Ukraine’s gas pipeline operator has stopped Russian shipments through a key hub in the country’s east.
Wednesday’s move was the first time natural gas supplies had been affected by the war that began in February. It can force Russia to switch the flows of its gas through Ukrainian-controlled territory to reach its customers in Europe.
Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom initially said it could not divert the gas, although preliminary flow data suggested higher rates moving through a second station in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The pipeline operator said Russian shipments through its Novopskov hub, in an area controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, would be disrupted due to interference by “occupation forces,” including the apparent diversion of gas.
the Ukrainian gas pipeline operator said the hub handles about a third of the Russian gas that passes through Ukraine to Western Europe. Gazprom, Russia’s state natural gas giant, put the figure at around a quarter.
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
— Ukrainians make advances in the east, stop Russian gas in a central
— Wartime birth amid air raid sirens on Ukrainian hospital
— The United States and Western Europe worry about the uncertain end of the war in Ukraine
— Fighters call for evacuation of wounded from Mariupol windmill
– House approves $40 billion in aid to Ukraine, bolstering Biden’s request
—Leonid KravchukThe first president of independent Ukraine dies
— Ambassador Ukraine candidate seeks quick reopening of embassy
— Follow all AP stories on Russia’s war against Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
The British military says Ukraine’s attacks on Russian forces on Snake Island in the Black Sea are helping to disrupt Moscow’s attempts to expand its influence in the Black Sea.
In a daily intelligence briefing posted on Twitter on Wednesday, the British Ministry of Defense said that “Russia (is) trying repeatedly to reinforce its exposed garrison located there.”
He added: “Ukraine has successfully attacked Russian air defenses and resupply ships with Bayraktar drones. Russia’s resupply ships have minimal protection in the western Black Sea, following the Russian Navy’s withdrawal to Crimea after the loss of the Moskva.”
This corresponds to satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press this weekend showing the fighting there.
The British military warned: “If Russia consolidates its position on the (Snake) island with strategic air defense and coastal defense cruise missiles, they could dominate the northwestern Black Sea.”
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives emphatically approved a new $40 billion aid package to Ukraine on Tuesday, as lawmakers bolstered President Joe Biden’s initial request, signaling a magnified bipartisan compromise to thwart the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion three months ago.
The measure passed by a lopsided 368-57 margin, providing $7 billion more than Biden’s request from April and splitting the increase evenly between defense and humanitarian programs.
The bill would provide military and economic assistance to Ukraine, help regional allies, resupply weapons the Pentagon has shipped abroad, and provide $5 billion to address global food shortages caused by the halt of normally robust production. of many Ukrainian crops because of the war.
The new legislation would bring US support for the effort to nearly $54 billion, including the $13.6 billion in support that Congress enacted in March.
That’s about $6 billion more than the United States spent on all its foreign and military aid in 2019, according to a January report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, which studies issues for lawmakers.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited some good news Tuesday from the front, where he said the Ukrainian military was gradually driving Russian troops away from Kharkiv.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces expelled Russians from four villages northeast of Kharkiv as it tried to push them toward the Russian border.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials say Russian missiles shelled the vital port of Odessa, apparently as part of efforts to disrupt supply lines and arms shipments critical to kyiv’s defense.
Ukraine’s ability to thwart a larger and better-armed Russian army has surprised many who had anticipated a much quicker conflict.
With the war now in its 11th week and Kyiv bogging down Russian forces in many places and even staging a counteroffensive in others, Ukraine’s foreign minister appeared to express confidence that the country could expand its goals beyond simply pushing to Russia back to areas where he or his allies held the day of the invasion of February 24.
Reference-apnews.com