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The Russian base at Saki in Crimea: The Planet Labs PBC image was taken after the explosions and is said to show at least seven destroyed fighter jets
Photo:
Planet Labs PBC/AP
What has happened in the past few hours
It is still unclear what exactly led to the violent
explosions at a Russian military base on the Crimean peninsula
, the information is sometimes contradictory.
In the meantime, however, there are increasing reports of the damage that has been caused.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, nine Russian warplanes were destroyed in one fell swoop at the Russian air base in Saki.
Russia, on the other hand, claims that no aircraft were damaged.
However, new satellite images from Planet Labs PBC
are said to show that at least seven fighter jets were completely destroyed and others damaged.
The images were taken after the explosions on Saki.
Several intact aircraft can still be seen in photos of the same base that were taken before the detonations.
The US broadcaster CNN also reports on the new footage: Measured by the number of aircraft destroyed, it could be one of the most destructive days for aircraft in the Russian Air Force since World War II, the report says.
In the meantime, according to local authorities,
toxic ammonia has escaped
in the eastern Ukrainian separatist stronghold of
Donetsk
.
The fire in a brewery was caused by Ukrainian artillery fire, the Donetsk Territorial Defense announced on Wednesday.
The gas is distributed within a radius of two kilometers.
The population was asked to stay indoors and keep windows closed.
Ammonia - known for its pungent odor - is used as a coolant in beer brewing.
Since 2014, the front between Ukrainian troops and Moscow-controlled separatist units has been running just a few kilometers northeast of the largest city in Donbass.
There is heavy fighting there these days.
Russian troops try to break through the well-fortified Ukrainian lines.
Ukrainian shelling killed three civilians in Donetsk on Wednesday, the separatists said.
The reports are usually not independently verifiable.
That says Kyiv
President Zelenskyy
called on the residents of the Russian-occupied territories to resist.
They should send information about the enemy or collaborators to the Ukrainian armed forces through secure channels, he said in his nightly video address.
Zelenskyj also expressed the expectation that the Russian occupiers would soon flee.
“You already feel that the time has come to flee from Kherson, and in general from the south of our country.
There will come a time when they will flee Kharkiv region, Donbass and Crimea.”
In addition, the President announced retaliation for Russian air strikes on the Dnipropetrovsk region.
13 civilians were killed during the night on Wednesday.
How long the war will last depends on Russian losses, Zelensky said.
"The higher the occupiers' losses, the faster we can liberate our country." This in turn depends on foreign military aid to Ukraine.
The more decisive it is, the sooner Ukraine and Europe can live in peace again.
The government in Kyiv announced on Wednesday that it would like Switzerland to represent its diplomatic interests in Russia in the future.
Switzerland has "great experience in fulfilling such functions," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko.
According to Ukrainian media, the Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed the agreement.
However, Moscow rejects this solution.
The Russian Foreign Ministry referred to statements by Minister Sergei Lavrov that mediation from a country that has joined sanctions will not be accepted.
According to a statement quoted by the newspaper Kommersant, Switzerland's neutrality has been devalued by its acceptance of EU sanctions.
economic consequences
EU
countries have not been allowed to import coal from Russia since midnight
.
At this point, the transitional period for the coal embargo against Russia, which the EU states had decided in April as part of the fifth sanctions package, ended.
At the time, the countries had agreed on a transitional period of 120 days so that the industry could adapt to the import ban.
The aim of the import ban is to further weaken the Russian economy against the background of the war in Ukraine.
According to the EU Commission in April, the coal embargo could mean a minus of around eight billion euros per year for Russia.
According to
Moldova , it will
not be able to pay the gas bill from the Russian supplier Gazprom in August
.
"I can already tell you that we are unable to pay," Moldovagaz chairman Ion Ceban told Moldovan news site Newsmaker.
“We will cover July but we cannot make the advance payment for August.
That is clear."
The ex-Soviet republic is hoping for a postponement and a new, cheaper contract with Gazprom in the fourth quarter.
The south-eastern European country, which has just been granted EU candidate status, is struggling with inflation at 29 percent and has repeatedly struggled to pay its gas bills over the past year.
At the time, Gazprom repeatedly warned Moldovagaz that it could stop deliveries.
what is happening today
In view of the danger of a nuclear catastrophe in the Ukrainian
nuclear power plant Zaporizhia
, the
UN Security Council
is to meet today at 9 p.m. CEST for an
emergency meeting
, according to diplomatic sources .
Heavy shelling has been reported from the area around the nuclear power plant for days.
Moscow and Kyiv blame each other for the attacks in the region.
Chancellor
Olaf Scholz
(SPD) will answer questions from journalists from 11 a.m.
At the
appearance before the federal press
conference, he wants to comment on current domestic and foreign policy issues.
The focus is likely to be on the consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine and the looming energy crisis.
aar/dpa/AFP