Russian gas cut in Finland, Biden signs $40 billion aid

This Saturday, on the 87th day of conflict in Ukraine, the Russian army continues to pound the Donbass. A few hours earlier, Moscow announced the fall of Mariupol, a strategic port. The Azovstal steelworks, a symbol of Ukrainian resistance, would have come under Russian control. On the diplomatic side, the supply of natural gas to Finland has been interrupted by Moscow.

The essential

The situation on the military front

Western arms shipment destroyed

This Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that its forces had destroyed a large shipment of weapons supplied by the West in northwestern Ukraine. “High-precision long-range Kalibr missiles, launched from the sea, destroyed a large consignment of arms and military equipment supplied by the United States and European countries, near Malin railway station, in the region of Zhytomyr“, said the ministry during a briefing.

Mariupol fallen according to Moscow

Mariupol’s last pocket of resistance, the Azovstal steelworks, fell under Russian control. In any case, this is what Moscow announced on Friday evening. In the early evening, the spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the plant was “passed under the complete control of the Russian Armed Forces“following the surrender of the last Ukrainian soldiers. Information that has not yet been confirmed by Ukraine.

Footage released by Moscow shows cohorts of men in combat gear emerging from the steelworks, some with crutches or bandages. The long battle of Azovstal had become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion.

For its part, the Red Cross calls on both parties to grant it access to prisoners of war and civilian internees, “wherever they are held“.

Donbass under Russian artillery fire

Russia is now concentrating its military efforts in the east and south of the country. “The enemy is constantly carrying out offensive operations in the eastern operational zone in order to establish full control of the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and to maintain the land corridor with the temporarily occupied Crimea“, said the general staff of the Ukrainian forces on Facebook on Saturday morning.

Ukrainian police said on their Facebook account that they had evacuated around 60 people, including children, from a bombed church in Bogorodychné, a village in the Donetsk region. There were no casualties, according to the same source. Further north, the governor of the Kharkiv region (northeast), Oleg Sinegoubov, said that localities around this city had been targeted by numerous artillery fire in the past 24 hours, which one dead and 20 injured.

Positions and movements of Russian troops on Saturday evening. © Visactu

The diplomatic situation and international reactions

Joe Biden signs the law for $40 billion in aid

US President Joe Biden has signed the law passed by Congress on Thursday providing a gigantic $ 40 billion envelope for the Ukrainian war effort once morest Russia, the White House announced on Saturday. He ratified this text during his official trip to South Korea. The law includes six billion dollars to allow Ukraine to equip itself with armored vehicles and strengthen its anti-aircraft defense, according to the same source.
On Twitter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his American counterpart, saying to himself “grateful”. “The support of the executive branch of the (United States), President Biden and the American people for the fight of (Ukraine) once morest the Russian aggressor is crucial”he added.

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More Russian gas for Finland

Finland will no longer receive natural gas from Russia. “Deliveries of natural gas to Finland under Gasum’s supply contract have been interrupted”, said this Saturday morning this Finnish public energy company. However, it assures that it can obtain gas from other suppliers and continue “normallyits activities. Supplier Gazprom confirmed the suspension.

The Nordic country, which angered Moscow by deciding to join NATO, joins Poland and Bulgaria among the countries to which Gazprom cut gas because they refused to pay in rubles. Finland has already been deprived of Russian electricity exports since mid-May.

Only “diplomacy” will end the war

This Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured in an interview with a television channel that the end of the conflict with Russia would be “diplomatic“. The war “will be bloody, it will be fighting, but it will definitely end via diplomacy“, while talks with Moscow have stalled.”Discussions between Ukraine and Russia will necessarily take place.”, he told Ukrainian television ICTV. He said he was ready once more if necessary for a meeting “at presidential level” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who has so far never followed up.

Last Wednesday, the Kremlin accused Ukraine of “total lack of will“to negotiate with Russia to end the invasion of Ukraine, launched on February 24.

He also considered that any alternative to Ukraine’s candidacy for the European Union would be a “compromise” with Russia, while Emmanuel Macron proposes to create a “European political community”.

Canada bans luxury goods trade with Russia

For its part, Canada has decided to ban trade in luxury goods with Russia. The country has also added 14 other people, including oligarchs, to its list of sanctions imposed in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This prohibition includes, for export, products such as alcohol, tobacco, certain textile products and sportswear, jewellery, luxury clothing and accessories and works of art.

This decision is part of similar measures taken by its allies such as the United States and the European Union, and “will help mitigate the ability of Russian oligarchs to circumvent restrictions in other luxury goods markets“, the Canadian government said in a statement.