STRAIGHT AWAY. War in Ukraine: The Kherson region has been bombed 53 times in the last 24 hours

According to French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna in the JDD, “there is no taboo” about a possible delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine. The head of French diplomacy was interviewed the day after the delivery of thirteen Mig-29 fighters from Slovakia and four others from Poland.

According to American Military News, citing the statement by US Space Force Commander General Bradley Chance Saltzman, China and Russia could create space weapons to destroy US satellites.

According to the spokesperson for the Southern Operational Command, nine ships, including two missile carriers, are in the Black Sea. According to her, the Russians keep their warships in a safe zone more than 100 nautical miles from the nearest Ukrainian positions, so as not to be hit.

At least two Indian and Emirati companies are helping Russia evade oil sanctions imposed by Western democracies thanks to a phantom fleet of tankers, according to Bloomberg. According to the news agency, this fleet now supplies millions of barrels of Russian oil around the world.

Following the ICC’s arrest warrant against Putin, German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann promised to arrest him if “his footsteps enter German territory”.

Russian forces shelled the Kherson region 53 times in the past day, firing a total of 269 heavy artillery shells and Grad MLRS, according to local authorities. Civilians were injured. “The Russians launched five attacks on the city of Kherson, 17 shells hit residential areas, private houses and buildings,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the military administration.

According to a study by an international student working group, sanctions against Russia should weigh more heavily on the country’s economy in 2023. Although the sanctions had a delayed start, they are now having significant effects. The balance of payments surplus fell by 60% from the second to the fourth quarter of 2022 and the trend looks set to continue in 2023. The ruble has lost 20% of its value since November, paving the way for a rise in consumer prices by a time when fewer Russians can afford it. In addition, oil and gas receivables are expected to decline by 50% in 2023.

Moscow has removed all European flags flying on Europe Square in the Dorogomilovo district near Kiev’s train station. This square was built in 2001-2002 as part of a Belgian-Russian project, as a symbol of European unity.

After negotiations, the July 2022 international agreement on the export of Ukrainian grains, crucial to avoid a food crisis, was extended in extremis on Saturday, but Kiev and Moscow differ on the length of the extension. Neither the United Nations nor Ankara gave details on the length of the extension. Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the extension was for a period of 120 days. But Moscow quickly contradicted him, assuring that only a 60-day extension had been decided.

After Crimea, Vladimir Putin went to Mariupol, a Ukrainian city destroyed by the bombings. This is the Russian leader’s first trip to this Ukrainian port city that was under siege for months and was taken by the Russian army in May 2022. According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin flew to Mariupol by helicopter and toured the city, himself in a car. He spoke to local residents, visited places of interest and, according to Russian news agencies, was presented with a report on the reconstruction of the devastated city.

Russian strikes continue. Two people were killed and 10 injured in Russian attacks with “cluster munitions” on Saturday afternoon in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, the city’s mayor announced. “Russia continues to rule terror. Consequences of the bombardment of Kramatorsk with cluster munitions: 2 dead and 8 injured, 3 of them seriously,” Mayor Alexander Gontcharenko said on his Facebook page.

Hello everyone and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the latest events of the war in Ukraine.