Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine “ran out of missiles” to stop a Russian strike destroying a Ukrainian thermal power plant near the capital Kyiv last week.
“I will give you one example, a very simple example, the Trypilska power plant. Electricity in the Kyiv region depends on it. Eleven missiles were headed towards it. The first seven, we took down. Four destroyed Trypilska,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with PBS.
“Why? Because we had zero missiles. We ran out of all missiles,” he said. CNBC was unable to verify Zelenskyy’s account.
The Trypilska thermal power plant, the biggest energy supplier for the Kyiv, Cherkasy and Zhytomyr regions, was completely destroyed last Thursday, marking one of the more impactful strikes for Russian forces, who have significantly increased their attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure recently.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed into law a bill overhauling army mobilization rules, according to the parliamentary website.
Chinese President Xi Jinping laid out four priorities that he said would prevent the “crisis” in Ukraine from deteriorating.
China, a close geopolitical ally and economic partner of Russia, has repeatedly described the war as a “crisis” and has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion.
“First, we must prioritize maintaining peace and stability and refrain from seeking selfish gain,” he said, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported, according to a Google translation.
“Second, we must cool the situation rather than adding fuel to the fire. Third, we must create conditions for restoring peace and refrain from further escalating tensions,” he said.
“Fourth, we must reduce the negative impact on the global economy and refrain from undermining the stability of global industrial and supply chains,” Xi added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that Beijing was promoting a peace plan between Russia and Ukraine, amid criticism that China has not done enough to influence its ally Russia to seek a peaceful solution to the war.
“China is not a party or participant in the Ukraine crisis, but it has been promoting peace talks in its own way,” Xi said, according to news agency CCTV.
“China encourages and supports all efforts that are conducive to the peaceful resolution of the crisis, and supports the timely convening of an international peace conference recognized by Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation by all parties, and fair discussion of all peace options. China is willing to maintain cooperation with all relevant parties, including Germany, in this regard.”
Xi has been holding talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is in China to strengthen trade ties with the Asian powerhouse amid tense relations between the country and the West.
Russian forces continue to pummel eastern Ukraine in a bid to advance farther into the Donetsk region while Ukraine continues to suffer shortages of manpower and materiel.
The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Monday that Russian forces were aiming to capture the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk by May 9, the date on which Russia commemorates Soviet victory in World War II.
Chasiv Yar lies west of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian forces last May. Capturing Chasiv Yar would give Russia another strategic gain in Donetsk and could allow it to advance on industrial hub Kramatorsk. Syrskyi did not present evidence for his claim.
Syrskyi said he had responded to Russian operations to seize Chasiv Yar by strengthening defensive positions and strengthening brigades with ammunition, drones, and electronic warfare devices. On Saturday, Syrskyi warned the situation on the eastern front had “significantly worsened in recent days.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Monday said he plans to move forward with four individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, separating out key components of a foreign aid package that has been shelved in the House for months.
Water levels in rivers in swathes of Russia’s Ural and southwestern Siberian regions continued to rise rapidly, officials said on Tuesday, flooding hundreds of houses, cutting off power and forcing urgent evacuations of residents.
More than 300 houses and nearly 700 residential plots have been flooded in Russia’s Kurgan region straddling the Tobol River near the border with Kazakhstan, Russia’s emergency ministry said on Tuesday.
“The water level in the Tobol River is rising rapidly,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
Photos published via Getty Images on Monday depicted destruction in Ukraine’s city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region, including a water-filled missile crater.
Russian shelling on the city damaged two apartment buildings, an educational institution, a bank and several cars on Monday, Ukraine’s National Police said on Telegram.
Two people were killed and four were injured on Monday in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian village of Lukyantsi in the Kharkiv region, local governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram.
Russia used a guided aerial bomb to carry out the attack, Syniehubov said.
Two men in their sixties died immediately as a result of the attack, Syniehubov said, while four other civilians were being treated for shrapnel wounds and blast injuries in a medical facility. An educational institution was also hit by the strikes, he added.
CNBC could not independently verify the reports.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday expressed “extreme concern over another dangerous escalation” in the Middle East following Iran’s missile and drone strike on Israel.
“We express our extreme concern at yet another dangerous escalation in the region. We have repeatedly warned that the numerous unresolved crises in the Middle East, primarily in the area of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which are often fueled by irresponsible provocative actions, will exacerbate tensions,” the foreign ministry said on Telegram.
“We call on all parties involved in the conflict to exercise restraint. We expect the regional states to resolve the existing problems through political and diplomatic means. We believe it is important for the constructively-minded international players to contribute to this effort,” it added.
Russia continues to advertise and seek to recruit foreign nationals to join its armed forces to fight in Ukraine, the U.K. said Monday.
“The most recent leaflet, written in English, requests foreigners to join a ‘special’ unit in the Russian Army and highlights a monthly salary of $2,200, a signing on payment of $2,000, a Russian passport, free medical treatment and training,” the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update.
Kremlin warns escalation in Middle East is ‘in no one’s interests’ but won’t condemn ally Iran’s attack
