Day 64 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Russia turned the Tap Off on Bulgaria and Poland, Unrest in Moldova

World » UKRAINE | April 28, 2022, Thursday // 10:17
Bulgaria: Day 64 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Russia turned the Tap Off on Bulgaria and Poland, Unrest in Moldova Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened a lightning response in the event of external interference in his so-called special military operation in Ukraine @ruptly.tv

Russia has suspended gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland, Guterres is already in Kyiv, explosions in Moldova. Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Russia stopped the gas for Poland and Bulgaria

Russia's Gazprom has suspended gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria for refusing to pay in rubles. The EU intervened quickly to meet the countries' energy needs. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called Russia's move a "direct attack" on his country and assured that Poland would no longer need Russian gas this fall.

Bulgaria is almost entirely dependent on Russia for gas.

The Kremlin blamed the situation on actions taken by "unfriendly countries" against Russia, citing Western sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine, which left Russia unable to use much of its foreign exchange reserves.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen commented that "the Kremlin has again failed in its attempt to sow division among member states. The era of Russian fossil fuels in Europe is coming to an end."

Zelensky calls on Europe to sever trade dependence on Russia

The Ukrainian president has accused Moscow of taking advantage of trade relations to blackmail Europeans politically or to bolster Russia's military machine, which sees a united Europe as a target.

According to Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia is trying to provoke a global price crisis and chaos in all major markets, especially the food market.

"The sooner everyone in Europe recognizes that they should not have trade dependence on Russia, the sooner the stability of European markets can be guaranteed," Zelensky said in another video address.

He thanked the Ukrainian units, which continue to fight against Russian troops throughout the country, especially around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. He also praised the courage of protesters in Kherson, for the dispersal of which, according to Kyiv, tear gas was used by the Russians.

Earlier this week, Russia said it had established full control of the strategically important Kherson region, which provides part of the land link between the annexed Crimean peninsula and separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.

RIA Novosti reported that Ukraine fired three missiles in the center of Kherson, but Russian forces shot down two of them.

Putin threatened a lightning response in the event of external interference in his so-called special military operation in Ukraine. Putin stressed that Russia has the necessary means to do so:

"We have all the tools for that, no one can brag about. We will not brag, we will use them if necessary. And I want everyone to know that."

According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia is accelerating its offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Rocket fire caused serious damage to a strategic bridge in the Odessa region. The Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol, the last bastion of the defenders of the besieged city, was also shelled again.

EU warns of ruble payments

Von der Layen warned EU members not to succumb to Moscow's demands for payments in rubles unless explicitly mentioned in their treaty. But if not stipulated in the treaty, "it would be a breach of EU sanctions, which is a high risk for companies," she said, adding that "about 97 percent" of all EU treaties explicitly provide for payments in euros or dollars.

"Extremely difficult weeks" ahead

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Rezniko says the country expects "extremely difficult weeks", warning of major "destruction" in Russia's unfolding offensive in the east.

In a Facebook post, he said "Russia has already gathered forces for a large-scale offensive in eastern Ukraine" and Moscow "will try to cause as much pain as possible", warning of "destruction and painful casualties".

Guterres arrived in Kyiv

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has arrived in Kyiv after talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We will continue our work to expand humanitarian support and ensure the evacuation of civilians from conflict zones. The sooner this war is over, the better - in the name of Ukraine, Russia and the world," he tweeted before talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia and the United States exchanged prisoners

Despite tensions over Ukraine, Russia and the United States have announced an exchange of prisoners, with Moscow handing over former Marine Trevor Reed in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot convicted of drug smuggling.

Reed's father told CNN that the exchange took place in Turkey.

Western arms supplies are affected

Russia says its missiles have disabled "much" of Western-supplied weapons and ammunition. The ammunition was stored in an aluminum plant in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

The United States and Britain have called on allies to send more heavy weapons to Ukraine to contain the conflict.

Canada recognized the Russian invasion of Ukraine as "genocide"

The Canadian parliament unanimously described Russia's invasion of Ukraine as "genocide and crimes against humanity."

Members of parliament believe that Vladimir Putin's troops have committed atrocities against the population and that they have forcibly removed children from their homes. The actions of the Russian military have led to "severe suffering", deputies said.

The term genocide is used because of the "deliberate killing of Ukrainian civilians, but also because of the forced eviction of Ukrainian children on Russian territory."

The proposal is not binding on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's liberal government - in other words, it has not been formally accepted - but his party has 159 members in the House and all present voted in favor. The chamber has 119 conservatives, 32 from the Quebec bloc, 25 new Democrats, two members of the Green Party and one independent.

Earlier this month, Trudeau said it was "absolutely right" to describe Russia's actions in Ukraine as "genocide."

Ukraine is renaming streets and squares associated with Russia

A number of Ukrainian cities will rename streets and squares to break away from everything related to Russia. This will happen in the process of "de-Russification" after the invasion of Moscow.

A day after the dismantling of the huge Soviet-era monument in Kyiv, which symbolized friendship between Russia and Ukraine, the Kyiv City Council announced that it had compiled a list of 467 places that could be renamed, Reuters reported.

These include a central square named after 19th-century writer Leo Tolstoy and a street named after Lake Baikal in Russia. A street named after Minsk, the capital of Russia's close ally Belarus, is also on the renaming list.

Since Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the names of some cities have been changed to erase Russia's heritage.

And Igor Terekhov, mayor of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, plans to rename places with names related to Russia.

"Even without this renaming, there will be too many clues that will remind us for a long time what kind of neighbor we have," he wrote on Telegram.

At the suggestion of the governor of the Chernihiv region, streets or squares in the regional capital will be renamed to “The 1st Tank Brigade”.

Unrest in Moldova

Pro-Russian separatists in Moldova say shots were fired across the border from western Ukraine into a village housing a Russian arms depot in the breakaway Transnistrian region.

The Transnistrian Interior Ministry also said drones had flown over the village of Cobasna.

There are growing fears that Moscow-backed Transnistria could be drawn into the war in Ukraine.

The Transnistrian leadership has accused Ukraine of a series of attacks on state infrastructure. Kyiv has accused Russia of organizing the attacks.

TotalEnergies

French energy company TotalEnergies has said it has withdrawn a .1 billion investment from its Arctic LNG 2 gas project, which is being built in northern Russia.

According to experts, this is the first step towards the "beginning of the retreat" of the project.

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