+++ News in the Ukraine war +++: Renewed attacks near Odessa

The Russian army attacks Odessa and Mykolaiv in Ukraine. Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for new sanctions against Russia.

Black smoke rises from the burning oil depot in Donetsk Photo: reuters

Renewed attacks on the Odessa region

According to the Ukrainian military, the Russian armed forces the Odessa region shot at again. A rocket has landed, says a spokesman for the military administration in Odessa on Ukrainian television. She had come from the direction of the Black Sea. He does not give details about possible victims. (rtr)

Attacks on port at Mykolaiv

According to the mayor of Mykolaiv, Russian troops have shelled the infrastructure of the port in the region. “A massive missile attack on southern Ukraine was launched from the direction of the Black Sea using the air force,” Mayor Olexandr Senkevich told Ukrainian state television. He did not give details about the aftermath of the attack. (rtr)

Major fire in Donetsk oil storage facility

According to a report by the Russian news agency TASS, a major fire broke out in an oil storage facility in the Budjonnovsky district in the Donetsk region. Previously, Ukrainian troops had fired on the area, reports Tass and refers to a reporter on site. So far there have been no reports of deaths or injuries. (rtr)

Zelensky sees Moscow’s gas throttling as “terror”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sees a form of Moscow’s “terror” against the West in the further throttling of Russian gas supplies to Europe. “And this is an open gas war that Russia is unleashing against a united Europe,” Zelensky said in his evening video message on Monday. Russia is deliberately making it difficult for Europe to prepare for the winter. The country is showing once again that it is not interested in the fate of the people. By blocking Ukrainian grain exports, Russia is making people starve, suffering from cold, poverty and occupation.

“These are just different forms of terror,” said Zelensky, referring to the announcement by the Russian gas company Gazprom that deliveries through the Baltic Sea pipeline will start this Wednesday North Stream 1 throttle to 20 percent of capacity. Gazprom gave the reason that another gas turbine had to be repaired. For this reason, the current 40 percent output will be further reduced to 33 million cubic meters of gas per day, it said. Nord Stream 1 is Germany’s most important supply pipeline for gas from Russia.

According to information from the German Press Agency, representatives of EU countries have meanwhile agreed on an emergency plan to reduce gas consumption. It is to be officially confirmed on Tuesday at a special meeting of energy ministers in Brussels. (dpa)

Zelensky calls for further sanctions against Russia

The cutback in gas supplies is another threat to Europe, said Ukraine’s head of state Volodymyr Zelensky. That is why the West must strike back. Instead of thinking about returning the gas turbine that has already been repaired, the sanctions against Russia should be further tightened. “Do everything possible to reduce Russia’s revenues not only from gas and oil, but also from other exports that remain,” he said. Zelensky warned that any further trade relationship was a “potential means of pressure on Russia”. It has long had a reputation for using its gas as a “geopolitical weapon.” Despite the war, part of the gas from Russia continues to be pumped through Ukraine to Western Europe. (dpa)

Ukrainian troops in Donbass under new command

After major losses of territory since the beginning of the Russian invasion, head of state Selensky appointed a new commander of the armed forces in eastern Ukraine: Viktor Horenko is to command the troops. By decree he dismissed the 44-year-old Major General Hryhorij Halahan, who was transferred to the secret service. He was therefore appointed deputy head of the anti-terrorist center of the secret service SBU.

After Russia’s invasion in February, Ukraine has now completely lost control of the Luhansk region. About half of the neighboring Donetsk region was conquered by Russian troops. Before February 24, just under 30 percent of the areas were controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Selensky recently complained that Kyiv no longer had 20 percent of Ukrainian territory under its control. (dpa)

Struggles for grain deliveries continue

Preparations for export of grain from Black Sea ports are ongoing in Ukraine. “We expect that the first ship could move within the coming days,” said a UN spokesman. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during his visit to the Republic of the Congo that nothing stands in the way of fulfilling the Istanbul agreement reached on Friday.

In the agreement on Friday, Russia had pledged to let ships for export use a sea corridor and not to shoot at them. The ports involved, Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny, must also not be attacked. Among other things, it is about the export of millions of tons of grain. The agreement, signed through mediation by the UN and Turkey, provides for exports to be monitored by a control center in Istanbul.

A memorandum was also signed with Russia in parallel with the Korn Agreement. According to Moscow, it states that the UN wants to work towards easing sanctions that indirectly restrict Russia’s grain and fertilizer exports. Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken of a package solution with regard to the export of Ukrainian grain.

However, the UN has not yet confirmed this. The documents are “not public” and will only be made public if everyone involved agrees, the UN said on Monday. On Friday, the UN merely stated in writing that the agreement was based on the principle “that the measures imposed on the Russian Federation do not apply to these products”.

From the EU perspective, this is already the case. For example, on Thursday an EU decision confirmed that no sanctions would be “in any way directed against trade in agricultural products and foodstuffs, including wheat and fertilizers, between third countries and Russia”. (dpa)

Foreign Minister Baerbock visits the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is visiting the Czech Republic and Slovakia on Tuesday. There she wants to talk, among other things, about the Ukraine war and its consequences. The Czech Republic has held the EU Council Presidency for six months since July 1st. Germany is also cooperating with both NATO and EU partners to supply Ukraine with weapons.

Czech Republic is scheduled for delivery received 15 German Leopard 2 tanks out of 20 T-72 tanks of Soviet design into the Ukraine. Two Patriot anti-aircraft squadrons with about 300 soldiers were sent to Slovakia. The Slovakian government had previously sent its Soviet-designed S-300 air defense systems to Ukraine. In the course of the Ukraine war, around 300 infantry soldiers of the Bundeswehr were also stationed in Slovakia to support the eastern alliance partners. (dpa)