A final masive battle coming in the southern part of the Ukraine?
The Ukraine grain moves on ….Will there be more?
The largest nuclear power plant in the Ukraine and Europe is now under Russian control without experts running it….
China and Taiwan echo’s……
The Russian Army appears to be massing forces for an attack along the same southern battlefront where Kyiv’s troops are planning one, the Ukrainian military warned on Wednesday.
The warning, by the Operational Southern Command, raised the prospect of a more pitched, seesaw battle in southern Ukraine than had been expected in the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which has been pushing toward the Russian-occupied city of Kherson.
“The enemy continues to wage hostilities along the occupied defense line,” the command said in a statement. The Russians are assembling troops for an assault, it said.
Overall, the front in Russia’s war in Ukraine stretches for more than 1,500 miles in a continuous arc from the city of Kharkiv in the north to the city of Kherson in the south. But it is effectively two distinct theaters of war.
In the eastern Donbas region, Russia has been slowly advancing, while in the southern Kherson region, Ukraine has been recapturing territory with the help of long-range American-provided rockets striking ammunition depots, command posts and bridges deep behind Russian lines….
Here’s what you need to know:
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Russia is preparing its forces for an attack on the southern battlefront, Ukraine says.
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On China, the normally forceful Zelensky offers a nuanced view.
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Taiwan and Ukraine: Two crises, 5,000 miles apart, are linked in complex ways.
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About a third of Ukraine’s population has been forced from their homes by Russia’s onslaught.
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The U.S. imposes a new round of sanctions on Russians, including a woman close to Putin.
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The first grain ship to leave Ukraine under a new deal is cleared to head to Lebanon.
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Germany to Gazprom: Your turbine is ready, let us deliver it…..
Key developments
- The Razoni will leave Turkish waters with more than 26,000 metric tons of corn and head to Lebanon after a three-hour inspection on Wednesday. The United Nations said the vessel was ready to go after Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and U.N. inspectors examined its cargo — setting the stage for three ports in Ukraine to restart the export of millions of tons of grain.
- Ukraine’s ombudsman is trying to contact his Russian counterpart to visit the Olenivka prison, under separatist control in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv and Moscow traded blame Friday for a blast there that killed at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war from the city of Mariupol. Dmytro Lubinets told the Associated Press that his request for a visit remains unanswered, as have repeated requests from the Red Cross, which has called for “immediate access” to the POWs as required under international law.
- The head of the United Nations’ nuclear agency warned that Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia plant — the largest nuclear power facility in Europe — is “completely out of control” in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Russian forces occupying the plant in the southeastern city of Enerhodar had violated “every principle of nuclear safety,” calling the situation “extremely grave and dangerous.” He implored both Russia and Ukraine to allow the IAEA to inspect the site.
- Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, accused Russian forces of using the Zaporizhzhia plant “as the equivalent of a nuclear shield.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told diplomats gathered at U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday for a conference on nuclear nonproliferation that Russia was firing at Ukrainians from the power plant, “knowing that they can’t and won’t shoot back” out of fear of hitting nuclear reactors or stored waste.
Battlefield updates
- The southern city of Mykolaiv reported shelling overnight. Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said a building and supermarket were damaged in the front-line city.
- As fighting grips the east, Ukrainians arrived west on an emergency evacuation train. Ukrainian authorities said this week that they are ordering evacuations for thousands of civilians in the Donetsk region.
- Far from the front lines, Russian missiles hit military infrastructure in the western Lviv region near the border with Poland, the regional governor said Wednesday. He said no one was hurt in the Tuesday strike….