Ukrainian forces downed 14 out of 15 Shahed-type drones launched by Russian troops overnight, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Facebook. Twelve UAVs were shot down over Kyiv, the city’s military administration said.
(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian forces downed 14 out of 15 Shahed-type drones launched by Russian troops overnight, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Facebook. Twelve UAVs were shot down over Kyiv, the city’s military administration said.
The European Union is targeting a way to let member states have the option to effectively ban Russian shipments of liquefied natural gas without implementing new energy sanctions.
Key Developments
- EU Aims to Give Members Option to Block Russian LNG Imports
- Romania, Poland to Ask EU for System to Track Ukraine Grains
- Why Belarus Is in Lockstep With Russia Over Ukraine: QuickTake
- NATO’s 2% Guideline Is Stupid But Needed: Andreas Kluth
(All times CET)
Romania, Poland to Ask EU for Help on Tracking Ukraine Grain Exports (10:30 a.m.)
Romania and Poland will ask the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, to work on mechanisms to help set up the tracing of grain exports from Ukraine and avoid price dumping that would harm local farmers, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said Tuesday at a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Bucharest.
In the past year, the two nations that border Ukraine jointly facilitated the largest exports of grains from the war-hit nation. The additional supply has put pressure on farmers as it impacted prices and storage capacity, prompting local protests against both governments and increased demands for support ahead of elections later this year in Poland and next year in Romania.
Russia Fires Cruise Missiles in Far East Drills (9:25 a.m.)
Two Russian naval ships fired cruise missiles during a combat exercise in the Sea of Japan, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said in a statement. The missiles struck a target 100 kilometers away during the mock attack on an enemy warship, it said.
Russia’s Pacific Fleet regularly carries out naval drills off the country’s Far East coast. Japan, which has an unresolved territorial dispute with Moscow over four islands seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II, is closely monitoring the exercise, Russia’s state-run Tass news service cited Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi as telling reporters in Tokyo.
Slovakia Eyes Fivefold Increase in 155mm Shells Production (9:10 a.m.)
Slovakia may boost the production of artillery shells from 30,000 to 150,000 per year, Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad told a Foreign and European Policy conference in Bratislava.
Slovakia already invests in capacity expansion that should increase the annual output to 100,000 shells. The 150,000 figure could be achieved with the additional support of the EU, which was discussed during last week’s visit of European commissioner Thierry Breton to Slovak armament facilities.
War and Secretive Spending Is Eating Away at Russia’s Budget (8:10 a.m.)
Russia is keeping an unprecedented one-third of its budget spending out of the public eye, a stark measure of how a year of war against Ukraine has redrawn government finances and economic priorities.
Classified or unspecified expenditure through March 24 has surged to 2.4 trillion rubles ($31 billion), Finance Ministry data show, more than double the level in the same period a year ago, according to Bloomberg Economics’s estimates. Plans set out for 2023 envisaged the budget’s secret share at almost a quarter, Bloomberg calculations show.
Ukraine Downs Almost All Shahed-Type Drones Overnight (8:05 a.m.)
Falling fragments of UAV caused a fire in a non-residential building in the capital, but it was extinguished and there were no casualties. A private company in Dnipro was also hit in a drone attack overnight, with no casualties, the Dnipropetrovsk region authorities said on Telegram.
Over the past day, Russia carried out 24 air attacks and 12 missile strikes, and fired 55 times from multiple rocket launchers, according to Ukraine’s General Staff. The last time Ukraine was under a significant drone and missile attack was March 9.
‘Fiercest’ Fighting in Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Ukraine’s Military Says (8 a.m.)
Russian troops are concentrating their offensive on the Bakhmut axis and continue attempts to surround and capture the city, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander in charge of Ukraine’s ground forces, said on Telegram. Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka, all in the Donetsk region, are the sites of the “fiercest fighting”, Ukraine’s General Staff said in Tuesday morning’s update.
Russia “likely committed limited higher quality Wagner Group elements to the offensive on Avdiivka, potentially to reinforce recent limited tactical successes in the area,” the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.