What is happening in Ukraine today and how are countries around the world reacting? Read live updates on Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
STOCKHOLM – Sweden is helping Ukraine rebuild its “safe power supply” by sending equipment to repair power grids destroyed during the war.
Sweden’s Energy Minister Khashayar Farmanbar said “a secure power supply is necessary to maintain important social activities in Ukraine.”
Svenska kraftnät, the agency responsible for the Swedish power transmission system, received a request from Ukraine through the European Network of Transmission Operators to contribute equipment for the repair of the power grid. .
The energy ministry said in a statement on Thursday, equipment arriving in Ukraine would be brought from Sweden’s emergency depot for power grid repairs and would not affect Sweden’s emergency readiness requirement.
___
LONDON – Britain’s Ministry of Defense says Russia’s decision to end efforts to build a fortified steel plant in the city of Mariupol is an attempt to free up troops for deployment in other parts of the region. eastern Ukraine.
In an intelligence update posted Friday morning, the ministry said that “an all-out Russian attack on the plant could cause significant Russian casualties, reducing its overall combat effectiveness.” surname”.
The ministry said that shelling and heavy fighting continued in the Donbas area as Russia tried to enter the settlements of Krasny Lyman, Buhayikva, Barvinkove, Lyman and Popsana.
The ministry also said previous losses are still affecting the Russian military, which is now forced to transport damaged equipment back to Russia for repair while trying to re-equip depleted forces. exhausted.
___
UN – Russia and Ukraine debated at the United Nations on Thursday over whether Russia’s war is to blame for rising food prices and worldwide hunger.
Between them, the two countries account for almost a third of global wheat and barley exports, and millions of people in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia depend on them for the pricey bread and noodles. reasonable. Ukraine is also the largest supplier of corn and the largest exporter of sunflower oil.
Ukrainian adviser Natalia Mudrenko spoke on Thursday at the informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss conflict and famine.
Russia’s Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Chumakov said that sanctions, trade wars, the coronavirus pandemic and Western economic policies are shaking the global food, energy and financial markets.
Chumakov said Russia’s critics are trying to deflect focus from sanctions and the “economic selfishness of developed countries during the pandemic.”
__
KYIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the United States for a new $800 million military aid package, which he said was “exactly what we were waiting for.”
The latest military aid, announced by President Joe Biden on Thursday, includes heavy artillery, ammunition and drones for the escalating war in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Zekenskyy has urged Western countries to speed up the supply of weapons to help Ukraine fend off the Russian attack.
“The occupiers continue to do everything they can to give themselves a reason to talk about at least some victory,” Zelenskyy said late Thursday in his nightly address to the nation. “They are building up their forces, bringing in new tactical battalions and even trying to start the so-called ‘mobilization’ in the areas they occupy in Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy also warned Ukrainians in Russian-controlled areas not to provide IDs to their troops, which he said could be used to “fake a referendum on our land” to create a Moscow-friendly government.
___
Contact
Do you have any questions about the attack on Ukraine? Email dotcom@bellmedia.ca.
- Please include your name, location and contact information if you would like to speak to a journalist with CTV News.
- Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story.
