Russia introduced a new attack on Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure early Saturday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials.
Zelensky said 34 Russian missiles targeted Ukraine in the overnight attack, and that the Ukrainian force operator DTEK 4 of its thermal power plants were hit.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz again rejected sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, saying it would drag Germany into the war.
Scholz also reiterated his position that no German or NATO infantrymen would participate in the war.
Here’s a review of the most recent Ukraine-like developments as of April 27, 2024.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on other European countries to supply Ukraine with more ammunition and air defense systems.
At a meeting with Nordic leaders in Stockholm, Scholz announced that Germany would send a Patriot 3 air defense formula to Ukraine, as it has relatively few in its own arsenal.
“But it is vital to do so and we hope that other European countries will be able to follow,” the German Chancellor said.
He added that Ukraine wants “a lot of ammunition, artillery tanks and air defense, and especially the German Patriot and IRIS-T system, which will be very useful. “
“We will continue with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Scholz said.
Russia’s ambassador to Italy was summoned on Saturday after Moscow announced the strike of a subsidiary of Italian heating company Ariston Thermo under the “temporary management” of Gazprom.
“The government is asking for explanations about the factor of the nationalization of the Ariston Thermo group,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told X.
Tajani said he had spoken to Ariston’s most sensible executives and that Rome “is through the companies, in a position vis-à-vis them in all foreign markets. “
Russian President Vladimir Putin has assigned the Russian subsidiaries of Italian water heater company Ariston and German appliance maker BSH Hausgeraete responsibility for JSC Gazprom Household Systems, according to a decree issued on Friday.
The EU criticized the move on Saturday, saying it demonstrated Moscow’s support for foreign legislation.
“These measures, aimed at valid economic activities, are further proof of Russia’s adherence to foreign laws and regulations,” a spokesman for the EU diplomatic service said in a statement.
“The European Union calls on Russia to oppose such measures and seek appropriate responses with the European corporations targeted by such measures,” he said.
The Latvian government has encouraged citizens to take advantage of Saturday’s “Big Cleanup Day” — a culture that began in 2008 and is now followed in neighboring Baltics Lithuania and Estonia — to turn their basements into bomb shelters.
“We ask everyone for a big clean-up, even afterwards, to ensure that their basements and basements can be used as a shelter in case of emergency,” said Vilnis Kirsis, mayor of the capital, Riga.
Some citizens of the former Soviet republic fear it could be Russia’s next target as it continues its invasion of Ukraine.
The small Baltic state, a NATO member, has a 214-kilometer border with Russia and has supported Kyiv’s defensive efforts.
In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had no interest in invading “Latvia, Poland or anywhere else” and dismissed any claims to the contrary, calling it a “threat. “
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Ukraine carried out a drone strike overnight in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, sources told Reuters and AFP.
Media said Ukrainian drones struck two oil refineries in Krasnodar, as well as an army airfield.
“Ukrainian drones attacked the atmospheric distillation columns of the Illsky and Slovyansky refineries. These are key technological facilities,” a Ukrainian military told AFP.
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Russian state media reported that a fire had broken out at the Slavyansk plant due to the attack and that the refinery had suspended operations.
The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that it had intercepted dozens of Ukrainian drones over Krasnodar, as well as two over the Crimean peninsula.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz once rejected the idea of supplying Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
“The Taurus is a cruise missile that can fly up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) if done right,” Scholz said at a rally of his center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Lüneburg, northern Germany.
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“There are weapons that can only be surrendered if you don’t do everything you do with them,” Scholz said, adding that the Taurus is a precise and effective weapon. The German chancellor warned that Germany deserves to continue exploiting targeting systems. of Taurus missiles, even in case they fail in Ukraine.
“There will be no German infantrymen or NATO soldiers in this war,” Scholz said. “We will not act inside Ukraine with German infantry, or outside the country, with war movements such as target selection, etc. “
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Scholz believes that the delivery of those weapons could lead to an escalation and drag Germany into the conflict.
The conservative opposition Christian Democratic Union has criticised Scholz for not sending weapons to Taurus, arguing that Scholz’s government is not doing everything it can to protect Ukraine from Russia.
A psychiatric hospital in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, was hit by a Russian missile, Ukrainian regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Syniehubov said a 53-year-old woman was wounded in the attack, which broke hospital construction and local force lines. Utility personnel were deployed to clear debris after the attack.
Russia introduced a new missile barrage against Ukraine on Saturday in a bid to target electrical infrastructure, Ukrainian officials said.
“Last night, 34 Russian missiles targeted Ukraine. We managed to intercept some of them,” Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelensky wrote on the social platform X, while reiterating his call for allies to provide more air defense systems.
Ukrainian military company DTEK said four of its thermal power plants were damaged during the attack.
“The enemy has massively shelled Ukrainian electrical facilities,” DTEK said. “At the moment, the staff at the plant are analysing the consequences of the attack. “
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook that power plants had been attacked in at least three regions of Ukraine. Galushchenko added that one employee was wounded in the Russian attack.
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Among the targets are facilities in the western regions of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, Galushchenko said. Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk are far from eastern Ukraine, where fighting is taking over the front line.
Russia says Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is a valid military target. The missile launch comes ahead of May 9, when Russia commemorates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
The moves also come as Ukraine awaits the arrival of U. S. weapons after U. S. President Joe Biden’s $61 billion aid package.
wd/dj (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)