The situation on Wednesday, January 15th is as follows.
finding
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that if it is confirmed that Russian forces killed Australian Oscar Jenkins, who was captured alive while fighting for Ukraine, he would use the “strongest possible force” against Russia. He promised to take appropriate action. Ukraine’s military says it has carried out the largest missile and drone attack on Russian territory since the start of the war, hitting the Russian towns of Saratov and Engels, causing some damage to a factory. Russia’s Ministry of Defense accused Ukraine of again using missiles supplied by the United States and Britain against Russia and announced it would retaliate with a major airstrike. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that its forces had captured two Ukrainian settlements in the Donetsk region, Terni near the town of Siversk and Neskutine further south. Steelmaker Metinvest has announced it will close its coal mine near the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk as Russian troops advance just a few kilometers away. “We cannot risk the lives of thousands of our employees and their families,” Metinvest CEO Yuri Ryzhenkov said in a statement.
Russian oil and gas
Russia has accused the United States of trying to sabotage TurkStream, the last pipeline exporting Russian gas to Europe. Leaders of Moldova’s Transnistrian breakaway region visited Moscow for talks to resolve the energy crisis caused by the cutoff of Russian gas supplies to the region. Transnistria has suffered widespread power outages since January 1, when Russia’s Gazprom halted gas exports to the region due to Moldova’s $709 million in unpaid debts, which Moldova does not recognize as valid. are. The Director-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has said that an increasing number of ships are joining Russia’s “shadow fleet” and avoiding meeting IMO requirements, leading to “risks regarding environmental impact and seafarer safety.” It’s increasing,” he said. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that by doubling the capacity of Italy’s TAL pipeline, the Czech Republic will soon no longer need to import oil from Russia as it will be able to “get all its oil supplies from the West”. said.
politics and diplomacy
At his annual press conference in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised recent comments by US President-elect Donald Trump that the US push for Ukraine to join NATO is contributing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. . “NATO has done exactly what it promised not to do, and Mr. Trump said so,” Lavrov said. At a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that European countries will step up efforts to strengthen European national defense in light of the inauguration of the next Trump administration in the United States. President Zelensky said he had further discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron about the possibility of Western forces deploying to Ukraine to protect a peace deal ending nearly three years of war with Russia. NATO chief Mark Rutte has announced a new mission for the US-led military alliance to protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region following deliberate damage to underwater infrastructure in the region amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Said to start.
