Good evening. This is your Russia-Ukraine War Report, a nightly guide to the latest news and analysis on the conflict.
The energy war intensifies
Russia has lashed out at rising Western arms shipments and economic sanctions by cutting off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, marking a new phase in the war in which oil and gas supplies are a key part of the field. of battle.
Since the beginning of the conflict, the US and its allies have tried to punish Russia by avoiding doing too much damage to countries like Germany, which are still dependent on Russian oil and gas. As this bulletin pointed out last month, Russia needs revenue from oil and gas sales to finance its invasion of Ukraine, while its opponents are vulnerable to price spikes and energy shortages.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki He called the gas cut “a direct attack.” Poland has been a main conduit for arms shipments to Ukraine and hosts millions of Ukrainian refugees.
Gasoline prices rose after the cut, but the immediate economic impact of the measure was limited. Poland has worked for at least a decade to avoid being held to ransom by Moscow. Bulgaria, which said Russia was using its gas supplies “as a political and economic weapon,” is more dependent on Russian gas but has received a promise of assistance from Greece.
The shutdown serves as a warning of possible more serious gas outages as the war progresses. It came a day after Germany, still heavily reliant on Russian energy supplies, announced it would supply Ukraine with its first heavy weaponry since the war began.
German Economics Minister Robert Habeck said today that a sudden stoppage of Russian gas, which accounts for 35 percent of the country’s supply, would trigger a recession for Europe’s largest economy. He also said that Germany is prepared to take control of a refinery mostly owned by Russian energy company Rosneft, which could set the stage for a European Union embargo on Russian oil.
This month, the EU passed a ban on Russian coal in response to atrocities Russian troops committed in the Ukrainian suburb of Bucha. The United States, Britain and Canada have already stopped importing oil from Russia, the world’s third largest producer after the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Flood a town to keep Russia at bay
Residents of Demydiv, a town north of kyiv, have been dealing with the aftermath of a severe flood. And they couldn’t be happier.
The Ukrainians intentionally flooded the town, along with a large expanse of fields and swamps around it, creating a quagmire that thwarted a Russian tank assault on kyiv and bought the Ukrainian military precious time to prepare defenses, my colleague reports. Andrew E. Kramer, with photographs. and video by David Guttenfelder.
“Everyone understands and no one regrets it for a moment,” said Antonina Kostuchenko, a retiree, whose living room is now a musty space with water lines a foot or so in the walls.
“We saved kyiv!” she said proudly.
Since the early days of the war, Ukraine has been quick and effective in wreaking havoc on its own territory as a way to thwart a superior-numbered and -armed Russian army.
Demydiv was flooded when troops opened a nearby dam and sent water into the camp. Elsewhere in Ukraine, the military unhesitatingly blew up bridges, bombed roads, and disabled rail lines and airports. The goal has been to slow Russian advances, funnel enemy troops into traps, and force tank columns into less favorable terrain.
What else are we following?
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Russia is making slow, measured advances on the ground in eastern Ukraine as its forces grapple with entrenched Ukrainian troops.
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The United States is providing Ukraine with “detailed intelligence on exactly when and where Russian missiles and bombs would strike.” NBC News reporting.
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Russia is using cyberattacks in Ukraine to support military strikes, according to Microsoft researchers.
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A Ukrainian commander in Mariupol said more than 600 civilians and fighters were injured at the Azovstal steelworks, the guardian informs.
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The UN humanitarian mission in Ukraine said it hopes more than 24 million peoplemore than half of the country’s population will need assistance this year.
Thank you for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow — Adam
Reference-www.nytimes.com