The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
"This is a historic decision, as weapons for Ukraine will be purchased at the expense of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets through the European Peace Fund," Denys Shmyhal said.
The approval marks a key step in international efforts to hold Moscow accountable for what is considered the gravest violation of international law committed against Ukraine.
Although Moscow declared on April 28 that it would halt all military actions from May 8 to midnight on May 11 to mark Victory Day, strikes on civilian areas have continued.
The Russian oil tanker Crius waits for a cargo of oil in Ceuta, Spain, on March 5, 2023. (Antonio Sempere/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Russia's oil trade is starting to feel the pressure of Western sanctions as Indian refineries no longer accept tankers of Moscow's state-owned Sovcomflot shipping company, Bloomberg reported on March 23.
Following the sanctions imposed against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has been seeking new markets for its fossil fuels. India has become a key buyer of Russian oil, second only to China.
Multiple tankers carrying Russian crude have been unable to land in Indian ports in recent months in connection to sanctions. According to Bloomberg, dozens of sanctioned vessels are now idling by in numbers not seen since 2017.
The U.S. has been tightening its restrictions against Russian oil since last October, sanctioning around 40 oil tankers involved in the trade. Russia's largest shipping company, Sovcomflot, came under fresh sanctions in February for violating the $60-per-barrel price cap.
Towards the end of 2023, Group of Seven (G7) countries vowed to step up enforcement of the price cap, first implemented in December 2022, after reports emerged that Russia has continued to ship out much of its crude above $60 per barrel by using a "ghost fleet" of mostly uninsured tankers.
Sovcomflot transported around one-fifth of all Russian crude deliveries to India in 2023, Bloomberg noted.
Rising challenges to Russia's oil industry, one of Moscow's key revenue sources, are compounded by Ukraine's drone attacks against the country's refineries. The U.K. Defense Ministry said that the drone strikes may have disrupted at least 10% of the country's refinery capacity.
Igor Kossov
