New York Fighting continued in Ukraine on Sunday night. In the course of heavy fighting around the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, a gas pipeline burst into flames after an explosion. According to the Ukrainian agency Unian, the line was blown up by Russian troops. This could not be independently verified.
Video of the blast released by the agency said it was “not a nuclear attack, despite what it may appear to be.” It was unclear whether the pipeline was a regional natural gas pipeline or part of the pipelines leading from Russia to Europe.
According to media reports, a refinery was hit by rockets and set on fire in a suburb of Kiev. The firelight in the sky is also visible in Kiev, the Ukrainian newspaper “Pravda” reported in its online edition.
In Kiev itself, according to media reports, a camp with radioactive waste was hit during the course of new fighting on Sunday night. The landfill, a branch of the company Radon Union, had been hit by several Russian shells, among other things, the channel “Channel 24” reported. According to the first measurements, “there is no threat to the population outside the protection zone,” it said. The information could also not be verified by an independent party.
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Russian and Ukrainian units fought bitter battles around Vasilkovo Airport near Kiev early on Sunday morning. According to media reports, the Russian units are still trying to take control of one of the larger airports around Kiev.
Russia withdraws overflight rights – Lufthansa no longer wants to fly to Russia
Russia closed its airspace to aircraft from a number of EU countries on Sunday night. According to a statement from the Russian aviation authority, machines from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia are no longer allowed to fly to Russia, as reported by the Tass agency. The ban also applies to transit flights and overflights through Russian airspace. This is a reaction to corresponding steps by these states.
In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several EU countries have already closed their airspace to aircraft from Russian companies. In addition to the Baltic states and Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic have also decided to take this measure. Great Britain has also blocked Russian flights. For its part, Russia has already imposed an overflight and entry ban on aircraft from these countries. Germany is also preparing to close its airspace to Russian aircraft. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) supports this and has ordered everything to be prepared for it, his ministry announced on Saturday evening.
The EU Commission President expects massive costs for Russia as a result of the new sanctions.
(Foto: imago images/Xinhua)
Lufthansa announced that it would initially no longer fly to or via Russia. This is due to “the current and emerging regulatory situation” and is valid for seven days. Connections to Russia are therefore suspended. “Flights that are in Russian airspace will leave it again shortly,” the statement said. Lufthansa is monitoring the situation closely and is in close contact with national and international authorities. “The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority at all times.”
According to its own statements, the Dutch airline KLM also wants to cancel all its Russia flights for seven days and avoid Russian airspace. The background to this decision was the sanctions agreed by the EU states, according to which no spare parts for aircraft may be delivered to Russia. KLM can no longer guarantee that flights to Russia or via Russian territory can return safely, the company said.
West decides to exclude Russian banks from Swift
Germany and Western allies decided late on Saturday evening to exclude Russian financial institutions from the Swift banking communications network. This was announced by government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit in Berlin. The decision was made by the United States, France, Canada, Italy, Great Britain, the European Commission and Germany.
All Russian banks that have already been sanctioned by the international community are affected. If necessary, other Russian banks should also be added. This should cut off these institutes from international financial flows, which would massively restrict their global activities. “Most likely, most of the world’s banks will stop doing business with the Russian banks that will be locked out of Swift altogether,” a senior White House official said in Washington.
In addition, according to the federal government, the countries decided to further restrict the possibilities of the Russian central bank to support the ruble exchange rate with international financial transactions.
The sanctions adopted were also aimed at individuals and entities in Russia and elsewhere who supported the war against Ukraine. In particular, the possibility for wealthy Russians to obtain a so-called golden passport and thus European citizenship for themselves and their family members should be ended.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the developments in the Ukraine war:
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the new sanctions would impose massive costs on Russia. Work continues to limit Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to finance his war machine. In addition, the financial possibilities of Russian oligarchs would be curtailed. Putin has embarked on a path aimed at destroying Ukraine. In fact, he is also destroying the future of his own country.
A working group with representatives from the USA and the European Union is now to be set up to ensure the speedy implementation of the sanctions and to freeze the assets of sanctioned individuals, their families and companies. The countries therefore emphasized their willingness to take further measures should Russia not end its attack against Ukraine and thus against the European peace order.
protests in Russia
More than 3,000 demonstrators have been arrested in Russia in recent days during nationwide protests against the war in Ukraine. The civil rights group OWD-Info reported on Saturday evening at least 3093 arrests in the past three days. Almost 2,000 people were arrested on the first day alone, immediately after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The horror of their own country’s war against Ukraine has driven many people to protest in Russia. However, the Russian security forces are extremely brutal against demonstrators. The Russian authorities warn against taking part in the unauthorized rallies. Demonstrations are not allowed under the pretext of security against infection in the corona pandemic.
Starlink Internet for Ukrainians
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is now backing Ukraine with his Starlink satellite internet service. “The Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals on the way,” Musk wrote on Twitter on Saturday (local time).
In doing so, he complied with a request from the Ukrainian Minister for Digitization, Deputy Prime Minister Mychajlo Fedorov. The latter had contacted Musk directly via Twitter. In response to Musk’s response, Fedorov thanked the American on Twitter and “everyone” who supports Ukraine.
With agency material
More: “A Swift exclusion that hits the right people” – Europe agrees on next sanctions against Russia