Russia attacks Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with drones and cruise missiles. Ukraine claims to have attacked a Russian aircraft factory. More information in the news blog.
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Putin justifies shelling of Ukrainian energy facilities
9:09 p.m.: Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has described the ongoing shelling of Ukrainian energy facilities by the Russian military as a necessary response to attacks by Kiev. “Unfortunately, we have observed a number of strikes against our energy objects recently and were forced to respond to them,” he said, according to the Interfax news agency, during a meeting with Belarus’ leader Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow. According to Putin, the Russian shelling of Ukrainian power plants serves to “demilitarize the neighboring country” because it influences the output of arms production.
Lukashenko, who is heavily dependent on the Kremlin economically, politically and militarily, agrees with his host and claims that Ukraine provoked the shelling of the energy facilities.
IAEA chief sees increasing risk of nuclear accident at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
7:42 p.m.: From the perspective of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the danger situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has recently become significantly worse. The recent drone attacks on the facility “have significantly increased the risk of a nuclear accident,” warns IAEA boss Grossi. At a special meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, he urgently calls on military decision-makers and the international community to ensure de-escalation.
Representatives from Kiev and Moscow again blame each other for the incidents at the IAEA meeting. Ukrainian diplomat Natalija Kostenko rejects as “lies” Russian allegations that the Ukrainian military attacked the nuclear power plant near the front. The opposite is the case: “The evidence is clear: Russia is intentionally causing nuclear threats,” she says. Ukraine will now hopefully “stop these dangerous actions,” said Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov after the meeting.
Eastern Ukrainian Kharkiv Region orders forced evacuation of children
7.30 p.m.: The eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, which is particularly suffering from Russian shelling, has ordered the forced evacuation of families with children from 47 towns near the border. These are communities in the three districts of Bohodukhiv, Izjum and Kharkiv, the military governor of the region, Oleh Synjehubov, said in a Telegram message. However, the regional capital is not affected. The reason is the almost daily shelling of the towns by the Russian army. All those affected received the appropriate humanitarian and legal assistance, he promises.
Russia: British special forces active in Ukraine
3:13 p.m.: Russia accuses Great Britain of being active in Ukraine with maritime special operations forces. The Russian domestic intelligence service FSB says it has foiled a plan by British special forces to land Ukrainian sabotage soldiers on a sandbank in the Black Sea. A Ukrainian special unit was “supervised by a unit of the Special Boat Service (SBS), which suggests that Britain was directly involved in the conflict.” A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense was not immediately available for comment.
Klingbeil wants to use Russian assets to support Ukraine
2:51 p.m.: SPD leader Lars Klingbeil calls for access to Russian funds to be used to support Ukraine. “It should also be possible to use frozen Russian assets to procure weapons for Ukraine,” said Klingbeil in an interview with “Spiegel”. He is going further than Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), who has so far only shown himself open to confiscating interest profits from Russian assets.
In general, Klingbeil is in favor of increasing aid to Ukraine despite the strained budget situation and orienting it on a long-term basis. “In the ongoing budget discussions we have to check whether we can expand aid for Kiev,” said the SPD leader in an interview. In addition, Ukraine must be assured that the country will continue to receive weapons and ammunition from us “in the next ten years or even longer.”
Klingbeil warns that Russian President Vladimir Putin has massively increased his country’s armaments capacity and is counting on his staying power. “We have to take this illusion away from him.”
