Russia-Ukraine updates: Donetsk battle ‘heating up’

Ukraine’s main Catholic church says it will move to a new calendar that will see Christmas celebrated on December 25 rather than January 7 as Ukrainian institutions break cultural links to Russia.

The move by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which counts just under one-tenth of Ukrainians as worshippers, was welcomed by Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko.

“This decision is appropriate to the demands of our time and public opinion,” he wrote on Facebook, citing the results of a national online survey conducted by the government.

Until now, all major churches in majority-Orthodox Ukraine followed the Julian calendar, which celebrates Christmas on January 7. That is also the date when Russia celebrates the holiday.

Russia’s Ministry of Finance says budget revenue in January was 35 percent lower compared with the same month in 2022, the last month before Russia sent troops into Ukraine.

The budget deficit for January was 1.77 trillion roubles ($23.9bn), about 60 percent of the shortfall that had been planned for the entire year, the ministry said.

Oil and gas revenue, the backbone of Russia’s economy, was down 46 percent compared with January 2022.

The country has been hit with an array of Western sanctions since the start of the Ukraine war, and many Western companies have stopped doing business in Russia.

Russia’s state Investigative Committee says it is examining the alleged use of chemical weapons by Ukrainian forces near the towns of Soledar and Bakhmut.

The Donetsk People’s Republic, one of Russia’s proxies in the territories it has seized and occupied in eastern Ukraine, reported the use of chemical weapons by Ukrainian drones near the two locations.

“As a result, servicemen of the Russian armed forces are experiencing a deterioration in their health and characteristic symptoms of poisoning,” it said without providing details or naming the alleged substance.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence did not reply to requests for comment on the allegation, which was not accompanied by any publicly released evidence.

Russia has sentenced a famous cookbook author and blogger to nine years in prison after convicting her in absentia of spreading false information about the military.

The charges against Veronika Belotserkovskaya, who lives abroad, were brought over her Instagram posts that the authorities alleged contained “deliberately false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to destroy cities and the civilian population of Ukraine, including children”.

Belotserkovskaya responded by writing that she is “on one hand, perplexed, and on the other hand, of course, proud”.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has adopted a law penalising those who share information seen as disparaging to the Russian military as it cracks down on dissent.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov will not be replaced this week despite intense speculation suggesting otherwise, the leader of Zelenskyy’s party in parliament says.

“There will be no personnel changes in the defence sector this week,” David Arakhamia, leader of the Servant of the People faction, wrote on Telegram.

Reznikov, who has been defence minister since November 2021, has recently become embroiled in a corruption scandal in which his ministry is accused of selling overpriced food to the army.

Arakhamia did not explain why Reznikov will remain in office for the time being.

Major General Kyrylo Budanov is Reznikov’s presumed successor, but he would be forced to resign from the army to take the top military job. According to Ukrainian law, only civilians can hold the position of defence minister.

Zelenskyy will no longer address Italy’s Sanremo Music Festival, its organisers said after criticism from across the political spectrum.

Sanremo, which runs from Tuesday to Saturday, is an event first held more than 70 years ago and was the inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Zelenskyy was expected to speak via video on the closing night, but a manager for Italian state broadcaster RAI said the festival’s presenter, known as Amadeus, would instead read out a statement by the Ukrainian leader.

Politicians from Italy’s right, left and centre had criticised Zelenskyy’s planned appearance at the song festival, saying it would not be appropriate as Ukraine is at war.

The US is preparing to impose a 200 percent tariff on Russian-made aluminium as soon as this week, Bloomberg News reports.

The US is targeting the Russian metal because Moscow has been dumping aluminium on the US market and harming American companies, Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying.

The move has been contemplated for months, the report added.

Founder and head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has published a video of himself in the cockpit of a military aircraft, challenging Zelenskyy to an aerial duel.

The clip was released on Telegram by Prigozhin’s press service, which said it was filmed on an Su-24 bomber operated by Wagner.

“Volodymyr Oleksandrovych [Zelenskyy], we have landed. We have bombed Bakhmut,” Prigozhin said in the short video.

“Tomorrow, I will fly a MiG-29. If you so desire, let’s meet in the skies. If you win, you take Artyomovsk [Bakhmut]. If not, we advance until Dnipro.”

The video was the latest in a series of statements and videos in which Prigozhin has sought to promote himself and his private army as the spearhead of Russian military operations in eastern Ukraine.

Putin has approved the sale of Mercedes-Benz’s local financial services division to Russian car dealer Avtodom.

Mercedes-Benz suspended production at its factory in Russia and halted exports to the country in March. In October, it said it would entirely quit the Russian market and sold stakes in its Russian assets to a local investor.

The carmaker joined an exodus of global companies from Russia after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year.

Under Russian law, Putin is required to approve the sale of stakes in Russian finance or energy ventures while approval from a separate government commission is required for deals involving firms from “unfriendly” countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Iraqi counterpart have discussed unpaid bills owed to Russian oil companies because of US sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

“The sanctions should not be imposed on Iraq because its cooperation continues with Russian companies,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told reporters in Baghdad as he stood alongside Lavrov.

Hussein said there would be a meeting “in the coming months” with Russia to discuss the issue.

Since the Ukraine war began nearly a year ago, the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russian officials, banks and financial institutions, raising fears in third countries about any transactions involving Russia.

Ukrainian soldiers have arrived in the United Kingdom for military training on AS90 howitzers, the British Ministry of Defence says.

The ministry said on Twitter: “A warm welcome to Ukrainian personnel who have arrived in the UK this weekend to get to grips with the AS90.

“The AS90 is an armoured self-propelled artillery weapon which the UK is providing to help Ukraine defend its homeland and retake territory.”

Click here for a roundup of the war’s key events from day 348.

KEEP READING

• Ukraine to replace Reznikov amid corruption scandal: Legislator
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• European Union bans Russian diesel, oil products over Ukraine

Here are four maps we update daily, charting the latest war developments.

World Athletics has cleared six more Russians to compete internationally as neutral athletes, but they remain frozen out as Russia is still banned from the sport following the invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago.

The Russian Athletics Federation has been suspended since 2015 due to a widespread doping scandal; however, several athletes have been allowed to compete as neutrals on showing a “clean record”.

But the sport’s governing body has separately banned all athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus, including those authorised as neutrals, from taking part in international events while the war in Ukraine continues.

That means track and field athletes cannot qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games despite the International Olympic Committee’s proposal that Russia and Belarus could earn qualification spots through competitions in Asia.

Turkey’s Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which is currently under construction, was not damaged during Monday morning’s earthquake that struck southwest Turkey and northwest Syria, said an official from the Russian company building the plant.

“Earth tremors of about magnitude 3 were felt here… but our specialists have not revealed any damage to building structures, cranes and equipment,” said Anastasia Zoteeva from Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom.

“Nevertheless, we are carrying out extensive diagnostic measures to make sure that construction and installation operations can continue safely,” the RIA news agency quoted Zoteeva.

Germany expects it will soon have sufficient commitments from other EU countries to send a contingent of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, a government spokesperson said.

“Germany’s commitment stands,” Wolfgang Buechner said, declining to name any specific countries that had so far committed to sending the German-made tanks.

Germany has promised 14 of its tanks and wants to assemble two battle tank battalions in cooperation with other EU countries.

Norway’s prime minister has proposed to provide about 75 billion Norwegian crowns ($7.3bn) in aid to Ukraine over five years.

“We aim to secure a unified agreement on this in parliament,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a news conference after meeting Norwegian opposition leaders.

The Nordic country has seen profits soar to record levels following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the price of gas sold to Europe increased last year.

On Monday, he said half the aid would fund military requirements while the rest would go to humanitarian needs, although this split could change in coming years.

Stoere’s minority government must seek Parliament’s approval for the funds, increasing the annual spending of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest investment fund of nearly $1.4 trillion.

Putin offers Syria and Turkey assistance following a major earthquake that killed hundreds of people and injured thousands in the two countries.

“Please accept my deep condolences on the numerous human casualties and large-scale destruction caused by a powerful earthquake in your country,” Putin said in his message to the Turkish president.

“We are ready to provide the necessary assistance in this regard.”

In a similar message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Putin said Russia shared “the sadness and pain of those who lost their loved ones” and offered help.

Russia said it had two Ilyushin-76 aircraft with rescuers ready to fly to Turkey to help the rescue effort.

The emergency ministry added that 100 rescuers had been put on alert.

The Kremlin says the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Rafael Grossi, will not meet President Putin during his visit to Moscow this week.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Grossi would meet officials from the state nuclear energy firm Rosatom and the foreign ministry.

Peskov added that Moscow expected “a substantive dialogue”.

The nuclear watchdog has repeatedly expressed concerns about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant.

Throughout the conflict, the plant has come under repeated shelling which both sides have blamed each other for.

Ukraine has sent letters to companies that back the International Olympic Committee, urging them to keep Russian athletes out of the Paris Olympic Games, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy has been spearheading a drive to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in the games under a neutral flag. The Ukraine president has said their presence would normalise Russia’s invasion of his country and make “terror” acceptable.

“Ukraine has sent appropriate letters to the companies that provide the biggest support for the International Olympic Committee,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.