Live blog: Russia seizes another Ukraine power plant — Zelenskyy’s adviser

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Russia seizes another Ukraine power plant — Zelenskyy’s adviser

Russian forces have captured Ukraine's second biggest power plant and Moscow is undertaking a "massive redeployment" of troops to Kherson, Melitopol and Zaporizhzhia regions, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Russian-backed forces had earlier announced the capture of the Soviet-era, coal-fired Vuhlehirsk power plant.

"They achieved a tiny tactical advantage - they captured Vuhlehirsk," presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in an interview posted on YouTube.

Moscow lashes out at West 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has lashed out at the West for creating a grains supply chain crisis by slapping unjustified sanctions on Moscow.

Speaking at the Russian Embassy in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, Lavrov said that Western media was presenting the "situation in a totally distorted manner.”

“Of course, the situation in Ukraine has a negative impact on food markets, but not because of Russia’s special military operation,” he said, instead pointing to the coronavirus pandemic and the West's "reckless policy...on so-called green transition"

He added that China, which has developed the world's number one economy will be the next target because it “…defeated the West on their own turf.”

Russia will stick with space station until at least 2028

Russian space officials told their US counterparts that Moscow expects to remain on the International Space Station at least until their own outpost in orbit is built in 2028, NASA's space operations chief said.

Russia's assurance on Tuesday came after the newly appointed head of its space agency, Roscosmos, surprised NASA earlier in the day by announcing that Moscow intended to end more than two decades of partnership on the space station "after 2024."

"We're not getting any indication at any working level that anything's changed," Kathy Lueders, NASA's space operations chief, said on Wednesday, adding the National Aeronautics and Space Administration relations with Roscosmos remained "business as usual."

Police officer killed by Ukrainian 'resistance' in Kherson

A police officer in the Russian-controlled city of Kherson was killed by an explosive device planted by the Ukrainian "resistance movement" and another one was injured, Ukraine's defence ministry said.

The reported killing is the latest in a series of attacks on local officials in regions captured by Russia since it attacked Ukraine in February.

On Saturday, the directorate urged citizens in the Kherson region to reveal where Moscow's troops were living and which locals were collaborating with the occupying authorities.

EU Court upholds broadcast ban on Russia Today

The Court of Justice of the European Union upheld the EU ban on Russia Today (RT) broadcasts that the bloc imposed as part of its sanctions in response to Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.

The EU Court ruling found the sanctions “aimed at suspending the activity of a vehicle for propaganda in support of that military aggression” did not violate the general principle of freedom of expression.

It also stated that the limitations to RT’s right to be heard are “proportionate, inasmuch as they are appropriate and necessary, to the aims pursued” despite “the exceptional context and the extreme urgency in which the contested acts were adopted.”

Russia cuts gas through Nord Stream 1 to 20% of capacity

Russia’s Gazprom has halved the amount of natural gas flowing through a major pipeline from Russia to Europe to 20 percent of capacity.

It’s the latest reduction to Nord Stream 1 that Russia has blamed on technical problems, but European countries call a political move to sow uncertainty and push up prices amid the conflict in Ukraine.

The Russian state-controlled energy giant announced on Monday that it would carry out the reduction citing equipment repairs, further raising fears that Russia could cut off gas completely.

Russia cuts gas supplies to make winter harsh for Europe — Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was deliberately cutting supplies of natural gas to impose “price terror” against Europe, and he called for more sanctions on Moscow.

“Using Gazprom, Moscow is doing all it can to make this coming winter as harsh as possible for the European countries. Terror must be answered — impose sanctions,” he said in a video address.

US Yellen discusses price cap on Russian oil with UK's Zahawi

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has highlighted a proposed price cap on Russian oil on a phone call with British Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi, a move to reduce the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on global energy prices.

Both discussed the need to continue to accelerate budgetary support for Ukraine, and opportunities to build on sanctions imposed on Russia, the US Treasury Department said in a statement.

Bridge closed in Russia-held Kherson after HIMARS shelling 

Authorities in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Kherson have closed the city's only bridge across the Dnieper river after it came under fire from US-supplied high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS).

The Antonovsky bridge has been closed for civilians but its structural integrity has not suffered from the shelling, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-appointed city administration, told Interfax.

Separately, TASS quoted the official saying that HIMARS had targeted the bridge.

For live updates from Tuesday (July 26), click here