Updates from the 91st day of the invasion
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Severodonetsk continues under attack in the east, according to Ukrainian officials.
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Zelenksy addresses the Davos meeting and reiterates his willingness to negotiate with Russia.
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Russia wants to ease sanctions in exchange for access to food supply corridors.
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Russia removes maximum age limit for military service.
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The US will not extend the exemption that has allowed Russia to keep up with debt payments.
Russian forces launched offensive attacks on cities in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, with constant mortar shelling that destroyed several homes and killed civilians, Ukrainian officials said, as Russia focused its attack on the Donbas industrial region. .
Russia has focused on trying to seize the two Donbass provinces claimed by the separatists, Donetsk and Luhansk, and trap Ukrainian forces in a pocket on the main eastern front, according to Ukrainian officials.
In the easternmost part of the pocket of the Ukraine-controlled Donbas, the city of Severodonetsk on the east bank of the Siverskiy Donets River and its twin Lysychansk on the west bank have become a major battlefield. Russian forces were advancing from three directions to encircle them.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said Russian forces launched an offensive in Severodonetsk early Wednesday and that the city was under constant mortar fire.
Luhansk Regional Governor Serhiy Gaidai said six civilians were killed and at least eight were injured, most near anti-aircraft shelters in Severodonetsk.
Smoke rises above a self-propelled shell manned by pro-Russian troops heading for Severodonetsk on Tuesday in the Lugansk region of Ukraine. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters)
“Right now, with the support of artillery, Russian occupiers are attacking Severodonetsk,” Gaidai said.
The Ukrainian military says it had repulsed nine Russian attacks on the Donbas on Tuesday, in which Moscow troops had killed at least 14 civilians, using planes, rocket launchers, artillery, tanks, mortars and missiles.
TARGET | Russian troops should know that some orders are illegal: expert:
Expect dozens more war crimes trials due to war between Russia and Ukraine, says expert
Aiming at unarmed civilians during the war is “always criminal,” said Michael Newton, a law professor and former U.S. State Department official. There are dozens more war crimes trials coming out of the war between Ukraine and Russia, he said.
Reuters could not immediately verify information about the fighting.
The Donbas fighting follows Russia’s biggest victory in months: the surrender last week of the Ukrainian garrison in the port of Mariupol after a siege in which Kyiv believes tens of thousands of civilians were killed.
Three months after the invasion, Russia still has limited gains to show its worst military loss in decades, while much of Ukraine has been devastated by the largest attack on a European state since 1945.
Zelensky said on Wednesday that Russia should withdraw to its pre-war positions as a first step ahead of diplomatic talks, a line of negotiation with which Moscow is unlikely to accept soon.
In a video link to attendees at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelensky expressed his willingness to negotiate directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but stressed that Moscow must make it clear that it is also willing to “go from bleeding.” war on diplomacy “.
“[Diplomacy is] possible if Russia shows at least something. When I say at least something, I mean withdrawing troops where they were before February 24. “Zelensky said, referring to the day the invasion of Russia began.” I think that would be a good step for Russia. “
Cereal and food exports remain blocked
The war has also led to growing food shortages and rising prices due to sanctions and disruptions in supply chains. Both Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of grain and other commodities.
Russia says it is ready to offer a humanitarian corridor for ships carrying food out of Ukraine in exchange for lifting some sanctions, Interfax news agency told Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei on Wednesday. Rudenko.
Ukraine’s Black Sea ports have been blocked since Russia sent thousands of troops to Ukraine on February 24, and more than 20 million tons of grain are trapped in silos in the country.
TARGET | Recriminations, but few solutions so far to free up food supply routes:
The Ukrainian war is deepening the global food crisis
The impact of the Ukrainian war extends far beyond the country’s borders, as Russian forces have destroyed crops and blocked ports along the Black Sea, affecting the supply of food to Africa and the Middle East. .
Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of the world’s wheat supply, and the lack of significant grain exports from Ukrainian ports is contributing to a growing global food crisis.
Ukraine is also a major exporter of corn and sunflower oil.
Western powers have been discussing the idea of ​​establishing “safe brokers” for grain exports from Ukrainian ports, adding that any such broker would need Russian consent.
“We have repeatedly stated on this point that a solution to the food problem requires a comprehensive approach, including lifting the sanctions that have been imposed on Russian exports and financial transactions,” Rudenko said.
“And it also requires the clearing by Ukraine of all ports where ships are anchored. Russia is ready to provide the necessary humanitarian passage, which it does every day,” he said.
Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of planting mines adrift in the Black Sea.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that Russia was using the food supply as a weapon with global repercussions.
“We are always ready for dialogue with all those who seek … the peaceful resolution of all problems. I leave Ursula von der Leyen’s statement to her conscience,” Rudenko said.
He said that Russia would discuss the possibility of exchanging prisoners with Ukraine once those who surrendered were convicted. Russian and separatist officials have said some of those who surrendered should be tried for war crimes.
British military officials say Ukraine’s land export routes are “very unlikely” to offset the problems caused by the Russian blockade of the port of Odessa on the Black Sea.
The UK Ministry of Defense, in an update released on Wednesday morning, says there has been no “significant” merchant shipment into or out of Odessa since the start of the Russian invasion.
TARGET | Canada sends more military aid to Ukraine:
Canada sends nearly $ 100 million in military aid to Ukraine
Defense Minister Anita Anand announced that the federal government will send the largest donation of Canadian military equipment to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.
The ministry says the blockade, combined with the lack of land routes, means that large supplies of grain are stored and cannot be exported.
“While the threat of a Russian naval blockade continues to impede access to commercial shipping to Ukrainian ports, the resulting shortage of supplies will further increase the price of many commodities,” the ministry said.
Russia could be compressed by the US debt movement
Meanwhile, in a decision that could push Russia to the brink of default, the Biden administration announced it would not extend an exemption that would expire on Wednesday that would allow Russia to pay off U.S. bonds.
The U.S. Treasury Department said on its website on Tuesday afternoon that it would not extend the exemption, which expires on Wednesday, which allowed Russia to pay interest and maturity on its sovereign debt to Americans.
A child plays in front of houses ruined by bombings in Borodyanka, Ukraine, on Tuesday, near Kyiv. Although the Russian army has largely abandoned this region today, the damage from the early days of the invasion is evident. (Natacha Pisarenko / The Associated Press)
This resignation has allowed Russia to maintain government debt payments, but now it seems that its maturity makes default inevitable: the country’s first major in international sovereign bonds in more than a century.
Payments of nearly $ 2 billion in Russian international bonds fall before the end of the year.
Unlike most predetermined situations, Moscow does not lack money. Russia’s debt repayment quotas were palpable compared to its oil and gas revenues, which in April alone stood at $ 28 billion thanks to high energy prices.
Russia amends military service age rules
Russia’s parliament passed a law on Wednesday that removes the age limit for contract service in the military, amid numerous casualties in Ukraine. The bill now only needs Putin’s signature to become law.
Currently, only Russians between the ages of 18 and 40 and foreigners between the ages of 18 and 30 can enlist as professional soldiers in the Russian army.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on March 25 that 1,351 service personnel had been killed and 3,825 wounded since Moscow sent its armed forces to Ukraine on February 24. He has not updated his casualty figures since.
Both Ukrainian and Western intelligence officials have said Russia’s losses in Ukraine were significantly higher at the time and have risen sharply since March.