Russia tries to blame the West for food shortages but attacks the Port of Odesa just hours after signing a grain deal with Ukraine.
In a war that is not going to end soon, Vladimir Putin, President of Russia while blaming Ukraine is continuing the attacks, and just hours after signing a grain deal with Ukraine attacked the Port of Odesa. Vital grain shipments from Ukraine are expected to resume within the next few days, according to the UN, under a deal cast into doubt by Russian strikes on the port of Odesa just a day after it was signed.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Moscow for waging an “overt gas war” against Europe after Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom said it will further reduce the flow through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany to repair another turbine.
Ukrainian officials admit Russian forces have made small advances in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine amid intense shelling along the front line. Russia’s foreign minister blamed the West for global food shortages as he tours Africa in an effort to rally support for Moscow following the blockade of its Ukrainian ports.
Ukrainian forces are fighting back near Pokrovske as Moscow continues to move in the eastern Donetsk region, the Ukrainian General Staff said in a daily update on Tuesday evening,
“In the direction of Bakhmut, the enemy shelled military and civilian infrastructure in the areas of Berestove, Soledar, Pokrovske, Vesela Dolyna, Vershyna, Kodema, Maiorsk and Toretsk. It carried out airstrikes directly on the settlements of Pokrovske and Novoluhanske,” the Ukrainian General Staff said.
“Our defenders successfully repelled enemy assault attempts in the districts of Berestove, Soledar and Semyhiria. Fighting with an assault group continues near Pokrovske,” it added.
According to the General Staff, Russian shelling was reported across most of the frontline. Ukrainian forces also repelled assaults in other parts of the Donetsk region.
“In the Sloviansk direction, the enemy shelled the areas of Nortsivka, Dolyna, Hrushuvakha, Krasnopillia, Mazanivka, and other settlements with artillery and tanks. It tried to advance near Bohorodychne, was unsuccessful, and withdrew,” the Ukrainian military said. “Ukrainian soldiers successfully repelled the occupiers’ attempt to improve the tactical position in the Ivano-Dariivka area and forced the enemy to flee.”
Behind the Scenes
In the West, US President Joe Biden’s administration is working behind the scenes to keep European allies united against Russia as Moscow additionally cuts its energy supplies to the bloc, prompting panic on both sides of the Atlantic over potentially severe gas shortages, especially as the cold bitter winter approaches, US officials said.
On Monday, Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom said it would cut flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany in half, to just 20% of its capacity. A US official said the move was retaliation for Western sanctions, and that it put the West in “unchartered territory” when it comes to whether Europe will have enough gas to get through the winter.
Responding to the tumult, the White House dispatched Amos Hochstein, presidential coordinator for global energy, to Europe on Tuesday, officials said. He will be traveling to Paris and Brussels to discuss contingency planning with the US-EU energy task force created in March, one month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The impact on Europe could boomerang back onto the US, raising the costs of natural gas and electricity prices, the official said. It will also be a major test of European resilience and unity against Russia, as the Kremlin shows no signs of retreating from Ukraine.
The US and Brussels have been pleading with EU members to save gas and store it for winter, and energy ministers agreed in principle on Tuesday to cut gas use by 15% from August to March — with some concessions.
There will also be discussions in the coming days about increasing nuclear power production across Europe to offset gas shortages, officials said. Germany was preparing to completely phase out its use of nuclear power by the end of 2022, but US officials are hoping to persuade Germany to extend the life of its three remaining nuclear power plants amid the energy crisis, an official said.
US officials, who have been in close touch in particular with German and French officials on this topic, are extremely concerned that Europe might face a serious gas shortage going into winter. That is because Europe will struggle to fill its reserves over the next few months with Nord Stream 1 providing only a fraction of its capacity.
Officials said a 15% cut, along with a surge of global liquefied natural gas exports to Europe, including from the US, is unlikely to be enough to offset the shortages.
“This is an open gas war that Russia is waging against a united Europe,” Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said on Tuesday.
The US official said it was clear the Russians are “lashing out” and trying to “destabilize Europe” because they are not achieving their goals in Ukraine.
A National Security Council spokesperson called Russia’s moves just its latest attempts “to use natural gas as a political and economic weapon.”
“Russia’s energy coercion has put pressure on energy markets, raised prices for consumers, and threatened global energy security. These actions only underscore the importance of the work the United States and the European Commission are doing to end our reliance on Russian energy,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue working with our European partners to reduce dependence on Russian energy and support their efforts to prepare for further Russian destabilization of energy markets.”
With the approaching freezing winter months, there is a lot of concern about cutting off gas supplies during the chilly winter season as the war rages on with no signs of abating. It is predicted that the war in Ukraine threatens to unleash global hunger and destitution.