KYIV –
European leaders on Sunday sought to cushion the impact of high energy prices across the continent, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of a difficult winter, even as he reported progress. in the counterattack against the Russian army.
Zelenskyy thanked his forces in his Sunday nightly speech for capturing two settlements to the south and a third to the east, as well as additional territory to the east, saying he had received received “well-reported” from his military commanders and intelligence chiefs.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the president’s deputy, earlier on Sunday posted pictures of soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over a village he believes is located in the southern region, the main focus of the counter-offensive.
“Vysokopillya. Kherson region. Ukraine. Today,” Tymoshenko wrote in a Facebook post of a photo of three soldiers on rooftops, one of them fixing a Ukrainian flag in a post.
Ukraine began a counteroffensive last week targeting the south, particularly the Kherson region, which Russia seized early in the conflict.
Zelenskyy’s comments came a day after he warned Europeans that Russia was preparing “a decisive energy blow” in the coming frigid months.
Moscow has cited Western sanctions and technical problems for the energy outage. European countries that support Kyiv diplomatically and militarily have accused Russia of weaponizing energy supplies.
Some analysts say shortages and rising costs of living as winter approaches threaten to undermine Western support for Kyiv as governments try to deal with disgruntled residents. satisfied.
The US embassy in Moscow alone said that John Sullivan, the ambassador since being appointed by former president Donald Trump in 2019, has left office and will retire from the diplomatic service. A State Department official said Sullivan served a routine tour.
Last week, Moscow said it would close the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, its main gas channel to Germany, and the G7 countries announced a tentative price ceiling on Russian oil exports.
The Kremlin has said it will stop selling oil to any country that applies the cap.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday said his government planned to completely shut down gas supplies by December, promising measures to lower prices and tie social benefits to inflation.
“Russia is no longer a reliable energy partner,” Scholz told a news conference in Berlin.
In response, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused Germany of being an enemy of Russia. “In other words, it declared a mixed war with Russia,” he said.
On Sunday, Finland and Sweden announced plans to provide billions of dollars to power companies to stave off default amid the crisis.
EYES ON ZAPORIZHZHIA NUTS
Russian authorities said the situation around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine was calm on Sunday, after United Nations inspectors said on Saturday that the plant was lost external power.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the main external power line was eventually cut, although a reserve line continues to supply electricity to the grid, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. IAEA) said.
Only one of its six reactors is operational, it said.
The Russian military seized the plant shortly after President Vladimir Putin sent his troops across the border on February 24. It has become the focal point of the conflict. Each side blamed the other for the shelling that raised fears of a nuclear disaster.
Speaking to Komsomolskaya Pravda radio, Russian official Vladimir Rogov said there had been no shelling or infiltration. IAEA experts are expected to continue working at the plant until at least Monday, Rogov was quoted as saying.
An IAEA mission toured the plant, which is still operated by Ukrainian staff, last week, and some experts are still there pending the publication of the IAEA report.
Russia has resisted international calls to demilitarize the region.
On other fronts, Ukraine’s Telegram channels have reported explosions at Antonivsky Bridge near the southern city of Kherson, which is occupied by Russian forces.
The bridge has been severely damaged by Ukrainian missiles in recent weeks, but the Russian military is trying to repair it or set up a pontoon or barge flyover to maintain supplies for Russian units in the area. bank of the river Dnipro.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth in Kyiv; Additional reporting by Michael Shields, Ron Popeski, Elaine Monaghan and the Reuters office; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Angus MacSwan and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by William Mallard, Philippa Fletcher and Lisa) Shumaker)
