Four people die in Russian strikes; majority of missiles shot down
At least four people were killed on Monday, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, amid Russian strikes during which 60 of 70 missiles were shot down. The strikes targeted Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, the air force said. Energy workers had already begun work on restoring power, said Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president. Officials said airstrikes destroyed homes in the south, knocked out power in the north and killed at least two people.
Russia’s defence ministry said Ukrainian drones attacked two airbases at Ryazan and Saratov in south-central Russia, killing three servicemen and wounding four, with two aircraft damaged. Ukraine did not directly claim responsibility for what would represent the deepest strikes inside the Russian heartland since Moscow invaded Ukraine on 24 February.
Spanish police intercepted three more envelopes containing animal eyes addressed to Ukraine’s embassy in Madrid and its consulates in Barcelona and Málaga, police sources close to the investigation said. Last week, Ukraine said a series of “bloody packages” were sent to its missions across Europe, soon after a letter bomb detonated at Ukraine’s embassy in Spain and police defused others sent to, among others, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez.
Canadian-made parts were found in “kamikaze” Iranian drones used by Russia to attack Ukraine, according to an investigative project from the NGO Statewatch. It said components from 30 European and American companies, including antenna parts from Tallysman Wireless, a Canadian manufacturer, were used in Shahed 136 drones.
The White House has said the latest Russian strikes against Ukraine are a reminder of Vladimir Putin’s brutality. John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, also told reporters that an oil price cap would not have any long-term impact on global oil prices, Reuters reported.
Moldovan police on Monday found fragments of a missile in a northern region near the border with Ukraine, state information portal Prima Sursa quoted the police as saying after Russia carried out missile strikes.
Russia’s recent mobilisation increased its military threat in Ukraine, with better-trained soldiers arriving at the frontline, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces said. But Russia was using a lot of old equipment because it had no other way of replenishing supplies, and the Russians had made only slow progress around Bakhmut, one of the main battle zones in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Vladimir Putin has driven across the Kerch Bridge linking Russia and the Crimean peninsula that was damaged by a truck bomb in October. The Russian president spoke to workers and a senior government official, Reuters reported.
India gave a list of its products to Moscow for access to Russian markets, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, as his country seeks to narrow a growing trade deficit with Russia at a time when Moscow faces acute shortages of some crucial materials after western sanctions.
The Kremlin has warned the new western price cap on Russian oil will destabilise global energy markets, but claimed it would not affect its invasion of Ukraine. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was preparing its response to the move by the G7 and allies.
The Chinese foreign ministry has said it will continue energy cooperation with Russia after the G7, EU and Australia imposed the price cap. China, which said it would continue on the basis of respect and mutual benefit, has increased its purchases of Russia’s Urals oil blends this year.
Olaf Scholz has warned the west to avoid creating a new cold war by dividing the world into blocs. Writing in an opinion piece for Foreign Affairs magazine, the German chancellor called for every effort to be made to build new partnerships.
