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Vladimir Putin wants to respond "quickly, quickly" should the West create an unacceptable strategic threat
Photo: ALEXANDR DEMYANCHUK / AFP
On the 63rd day of the illegal attack on Ukraine, Russia imposed a gas embargo on Poland and Bulgaria.
The EU sharply criticizes the step and assures the two members of support.
While the Azov steelworks in Mariupol appears to be continuing to be attacked despite Moscow's announcement to the contrary, Vladimir Putin is threatening supporters of Ukraine with "lightning quick" strikes.
According to the authorities, there was a Ukrainian attack on the largest ammunition dump in Europe in the de facto regime of Transnistria, which is controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
The developments at a glance.
The military situation
Despite a previous announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that from now on he would only besiege the Azovstal steelworks in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, the Russian armed forces are apparently continuing their attacks on the industrial complex.
As the Reuters news agency reports, citing an adviser to the city's mayor, the attacks continue.
The information cannot be independently verified.
Russia also says it destroyed weapons supplied by the United States and European countries to Ukraine in a strike on an arms depot in the Zaporizhia region.
The weapons are said to have been in warehouses at an aluminum plant in the city.
In order to accelerate the offensive in eastern Ukraine, the Russian armed forces have moved military forces from Russia to the attack zone, according to Kiev.
This was announced by the Ukrainian General Staff on its Facebook page.
According to the situation report, the Russian troops were able to gain some ground in the Kharkiv region.
However, from the point of view of the British Ministry of Defence, Ukraine again controls the majority of its airspace.
According to a new security briefing from London, Russia did not manage to destroy the Ukrainian air force.
Russia continues to focus on attacks in the south and east of the country - using mostly non-targeted bombs.
Such inaccurate airstrikes would greatly increase the risk of civilian deaths.
According to the authorities, a village near the border with Ukraine in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria in the Republic of Moldova, which houses a large Russian ammunition dump, has been shelled.
Around 20,000 tons of ammunition from Soviet times are stored in the village of Kolbasna.
The camp is guarded by Russian troops.
According to the Interior Ministry, which blames Kyiv for the attack, it is considered the largest ammunition depot in Europe.
It is not known who carried out the attacks.
The Ukrainian secret service suspects Russia to be the mastermind and immediately blamed the Russian secret service FSB.
Kyiv and the western community of states fear that Moscow could use the territory that belongs to Moldova under international law as a deployment area for an attack against the Republic of Moldova, just as it is carrying out the invasion of Ukraine from Belarus.
Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maljar warned that Russia wants to use Transnistria as a bridge for further military advances.
"We must make financial and logistical efforts to build a modern and well-equipped professional army," said Moldovan President Maia Sandu.
On Tuesday, after reports of attacks in Transnistria, Russia threatened to intervene in the region.
Moscow says so
Vladimir Putin has threatened Ukraine's supporters with quick retaliation.
Anyone who wants to intervene from outside and create a strategic threat that is unacceptable to Russia must know that the answer will be "quick, quick," Putin said in St. Petersburg.
"We have all the tools for this," the Kremlin chief said at a meeting of top officials.
“And we won't brag.
We will use them when necessary.
And I want everyone to know that.” The necessary decisions have already been made.
That's what the international community says
The halt to Russian gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland has caused a lack of understanding internationally.
"Unilateral blackmail" is unacceptable, the Reuters news agency quoted Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov as saying.
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has described the cessation of deliveries as a "direct attack" on his country.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also accused Moscow of "blackmail".
However, the EU is prepared for this scenario and will give a "coordinated answer".
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, has offered support to Poland and Bulgaria.
"The EU will not allow itself to be blackmailed," Metsola wrote on Twitter: "We are not afraid of Putin." Poland, Bulgaria and other affected states would find support.
EU Council President Charles Michel also condemned Russia's delivery freeze.
The German Federal Ministry of Economics is concerned about the stop to Russian gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria.
A spokeswoman for Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said that security of supply in Germany is currently guaranteed.
"All in all, the gas flows are currently at a stable level." However, the situation is being monitored very closely.
The EU Commission intends to provide Ukraine with economic support.
Import duties on all Ukrainian goods are to be suspended for a year.
In addition, all anti-dumping and protective measures of the European Union against Ukrainian steel exports are to be lifted, as the Brussels authority announced.
According to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Putin can still come out of the war face-saving.
He has the "political leeway" to end his invasion of Ukraine thanks to censorship in Russia without having to concede defeat.
This is due to "the massive Russian support for his actions and the apparent forgetfulness of the Russian media," Johnson told TalkTV.
As a result, Putin could tell the Russian people that the operation launched in Ukraine was "complete" and "technically a success" - even if that might not be factual.
Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer has denied reports that Vienna had agreed to pay for gas imports from energy group OMV in rubles.
Such an agreement would be a breach of the common EU line.
"Austria adheres to the jointly agreed EU sanctions to the point and comma," wrote Nehammer on Twitter.
He spoke of "fake news of Russian propaganda".
The Austrian energy group OMV will continue to pay for deliveries from Russia "in euros, of course."
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svs/dpa/Reuters/AFP
