The intensity of Russia’s military actions, both on the ground in eastern Ukraine and via Friday’s massive missile barrage, seems to be rising as the invasion’s one-year mark approaches.
(Bloomberg) — The intensity of Russia’s military actions, both on the ground in eastern Ukraine and via Friday’s massive missile barrage, seems to be rising as the invasion’s one-year mark approaches.
Top US and Ukrainian military leaders spoke ahead of Tuesday’s meeting of the Ramstein group of allied nations in Brussels. A NATO defense ministerial will follow, as well as the Munich Security Conference that starts Friday. Ukraine’s military commander Valeriy Zaluzhnyi told Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, that Kyiv’s forces continue to hold the contested town of Bakhmut in Donetsk.
Russia on Friday launched its biggest barrage of missile attacks so far this year as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy seeks more weapons to fend off Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Moody’s Investors Service on Friday cut Ukraine’s credit rating to the second-lowest score, citing “long-lasting challenges” to its economy and public finances from the war with Russia.
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Key Developments
- Macron’s Meloni Snub Shows the Draghi Legacy Starting to Unravel
- Ukraine Credit Rating Cut by Moody’s on ‘Likely’ Restructuring
- Russian Moms-to-Be Flock to Argentina Seeking Safety, Passports
On The Ground
Dozens of settlements in Donetsk, Luhansk, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mykolayiv and Kherson regions were shelled Saturday with rockets, aviation strikes and drones, the Ukrainian General Staff said. Three rockets hit Kharkiv infrastructure late Saturday, injuring a civilian. Civilian infrastructure was also damaged in Kherson with one injury reported. Five drones were shot down, according to General Staff. Russian troops focus its main efforts on offensive actions in the Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut and Avdiyivska directions in eastern Ukraine, using planes to strike the positions of Kyiv’s troops.
(All times CET)
No Electricity Usage Limits On Sunday, Grid Operator Says (11 a.m.)
Ukraine started the day with no household electricity shortages, grid operator Ukrenergo said on Telegram, after round-the-clock repair work and the resumption of operations at two atomic power plants.
Restoration work continues at thermal power plants damaged during recent Russian missile and drone attacks. The company warned that should consumption increase too much, emergency shutdowns are still possible in the Odesa, Kyiv, Khmelnitskiy and Zhytomyr regions.
Reznikov Sees No Chance of Russia Storming Odesa By Sea or Land (10:30 a.m.)
Ukraine’s defense chief discounted the possibility of Russia storming Odesa by sea or land, according to a Ukrainian Navy post on Facebook.
In order to threaten the key Black Sea port city, Russia “needs to have dominance on the Black Sea,” which Kyiv undermined with its sinking of the warship Moskva in the spring, Oleksii Resnikov said.
“Russia failed to approach to the city by land and now they are thrown back to the left bank of the Dnipro, which together with destroyed bridges and crossings is a powerful natural protective barrier,” he said.
Russian Casualties Likely at Highest Rate Since February, UK Says (8 a.m.)
The UK defense ministry in a Twitter update said that over the past two weeks, “Russia has likely suffered its highest rate of casualties since the first week of the invasion” as poorly trained and under-resourced troops increasingly take to the battlefield.
As estimated by Ukraine, which the UK said it can’t verify but “are likely accurate,” the mean average of Russian casualties in the past seven days has climbed to 824. Ukraine is also seeing a high attrition rate, the UK added.
US, Ukraine Defense Chiefs Speak Ahead of Ramstein (7 a.m.)
Ukraine’s defence minister spoke with his US counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, with the approach of the next gathering of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
The Ramstein meeting, named for a US air base in Germany, will be held Tuesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels. A NATO defense ministerial meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. Austin and Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will attend.
“We discussed the current situation at the front, the urgent needs of the defense forces of Ukraine and priorities” for the meeting, Ukraine’s Oleksii Reznikov said on Twitter.
Ukraine Pushes for Sanctions on Russian Atomic Industry (7 a.m.)
UN’s nuclear agency, which currency las missions at all Ukrainian nuclear power plants, should help to accelerate the process of imposing sanctions on Russian nuclear industry, Ukraine’s energy minister said on Facebook after meeting with one of acting IAEA experts group.
“Russia must strictly answer for the seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, for missiles and drones near nuclear power facilities, and for neglect of international principles of nuclear and radiation safety,” Herman Halushchenko added.
Zaluzhnyi Tells US Joint Chiefs’ Milley That Ukraine Still Holds Bakhmut (5:40 p.m.)
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, spoke Saturday with Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. The previous announced call between the pair was on Jan. 25.
Milley and Zaluzhnyi discussed Friday’s massive Russian missile barrage, air defense for Ukraine, and Russia’s use of underwater drones that may threaten the Black Sea safe-transit corridor, according to a Twitter post.
Kremlin forces are attacking Ukrainian positions as many as 50 times a day in the Donetsk region, Zaluzhnyi told Milley. The Ukrainian commander also said his forces “continue to hold Bakhmut under our control.”
Ukraine Credit Rating Cut by Moody’s on ‘Likely’ Restructuring (11 p.m.)
Moody’s Investors Service cut Ukraine’s credit rating to the second-lowest score, citing “long-lasting challenges” to its economy and public finances from the war with Russia.
The agency now rates Ukraine one notch lower at Ca, on par with Argentina. Moody’s also changed the outlook to stable from negative, according to a statement Friday.
Ukraine has about $23 billion outstanding in international bonds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Read more: Ukraine Credit Rating Cut by Moody’s on ‘Likely’ Restructuring
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