WRAP | Ukraine hopes to evacuate civilians holed up with fighters in Mariupol steel works

April 29 2022 - 13:01

Sweden to strengthen military infrastructure on Gotland

Sweden's government said on Friday it had put aside up to 1.6 billion Swedish crowns ($163.72 million) to strengthen its military infrastructure on the strategically key island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea.

The money will go to expand a barracks and other infrastructure.

"The aim is to be able to house many more conscripts and to effectivize operations and in that way contribute to greater capacity ... on Gotland," Financial Markets Minister Max Elger told reporters. 

Reuters 

April 29 2022 - 12:35

Kremlin says US seizure of Russian assets to support Ukraine would be illegal

The Kremlin on Friday said that a proposal by U.S. President Joe Biden to allow U.S. officials to seize Russian assets and use the funds to support Ukraine would amount to illegal expropriation.

President Joe Biden asked Congress for $33 billion to support Ukraine, a proposal that would also let U.S. officials seize more Russian oligarchs' assets, give the cash from those seizures to Ukraine, and further criminalize sanctions dodging.

Reuters 

April 29 2022 - 12:45

Russia not decided on whether Putin will attend G20 in person, Kremlin says

Russia is preparing for this year's G20 summit in Indonesia but has not yet decided whether President Vladimir Putin will attend in person or virtually, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Indonesia is currently chairing the Group of 20 major economies. It has invited both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to a leaders summit in November, despite pressure from some Western countries to exclude the Russian president. 

Reuters 

April 29 2022 - 09:06

Russian gas flows to Europe through key pipelines steady

Russian gas deliveries to Europe via three main pipeline routes were broadly steady on Friday morning.

Russia stopped gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria this week for their refusal to pay in roubles, though Poland is still getting Russian gas via reverse flows from Germany along the Yamal-Europe pipeline.

Eastbound flows into Poland at the Mallnow metering point on the German border stood at 13,218,381 kilowatt hours per hour (kWh/h) by 0645 GMT, little changed from 13,218,773 kWh at midnight, data from operator Gascade showed.

Nominations for Russian gas for Slovakia through Ukraine via the Velke Kapusany border point stood at 610,672 megawatt hours per day (MWh) per day on Friday, up from 598,282 MWh/day on Thursday, data from Slovakian operator TSO Eustream showed.

Flows to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline across the Baltic Sea were at 70,662,583 kWh/h, down from 72,252,998 kWh/h at midnight. 

Reuters 

April 29 2022 - 08:35

Russian checkpoint in region next to Ukraine was shelled, governor says

A checkpoint at a village in Russia's Kursk region bordering Ukraine was shelled on Friday, the region's governor said.

"Mortars were fired at a checkpoint in the village of Krupets," Kursk governor Roman Starovoyt said.

Starovoyt said Russian border guards and military gave retaliatory fire.

"There were no casualties or damage," Starovoyt said. 

Reuters 

April 29 2022 - 08:09

Ukraine hopes to evacuate civilians holed up with fighters in Mariupol steel works

Ukraine hopes on Friday to evacuate civilians who are holed up in a vast steel works with the last fighters defending the southern city of Mariupol.

"An operation is planned today to get civilians out of the plant," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office said without giving details.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said after meeting Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Thursday that intense discussions were under way to enable the evacuation of the Azovstal steel plant, which has been pounded by Russian forces occupying Mariupol.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed "in principle" to UN and International Committee for the Red Cross involvement in evacuating the Azovstal plant.

The Mariupol city council has said about 100,000 residents across the city are "in mortal danger" because of Russian shelling and unsanitary conditions, and described a "catastrophic" shortage of drinking water and food.

Reuters

April 29 2022 - 06:15

Russia conflict pumps up major oil firms

Russia showed it still has considerable power to disrupt energy markets - cutting off gas to Poland and Bulgaria. Aaron Anderson of Fisher Investments says the fuel price spike is encouraging investment in green energy, but traditional oil firms are the big short-term winners.

April 29 2022 - 06:00

Russia-Ukraine Conflict Live Updates: Missile strikes in Kyiv 

Russia-Ukraine Conflict Live Updates: Missile strikes in Kyiv| Biden seeks $33bn for Ukraine | WION It has been several weeks since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, and scores of civilians have lost their lives in the conflict. In the latest, the capital city of Kyiv has been rocked by missiles during UN chief's visit.