Ukraine’s defence minister warns of ‘destruction and painful casualties’ within the weeks forward | Top developments

Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov says the nation has “extremely difficult weeks” forward, warning of main “destruction” in a growing Russian offensive within the east of the nation.

In a press release on Facebook he says “Russia has already gathered forces for a large-scale offensive in eastern Ukraine,” and Moscow “will try to inflict as much pain as possible”, warning of “destruction and painful casualties”.

Here are among the newest developments within the Russia-Ukraine battle | Guterres arrives in Kyiv

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proclaims his arrival in Kyiv following talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We will continue our work to expand humanitarian support and secure the evacuation of civilians from conflict zones. The sooner this war ends, the better — for the sake of Ukraine, Russia, and the world,” he tweets, forward of talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

I’ve arrived in Ukraine after visiting Moscow.

We will proceed our work to develop humanitarian help & safe the evacuation of civilians from battle zones.

The sooner this battle ends, the higher for the sake of Ukraine, Russia, and the world.

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) April 27, 2022

Russia turns off fuel to Poland and Bulgaria

Russia’s Gazprom halts fuel shipments to Poland and Bulgaria for refusing to pay in rubles however the EU steps in rapidly to fulfil their vitality wants.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki calls Russia’s transfer a “direct attack” on his nation and assures that Poland will not want Russian fuel from this autumn.

Bulgaria is sort of utterly depending on Russia for fuel.

The Kremlin blames the state of affairs on actions taken towards Russia by “unfriendly countries”, referring to Western sanctions imposed over the Ukraine invasion which have left Russia unable to make use of a big chunk of its international foreign money reserves.

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Announcing {that a} workaround had been discovered, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says: “Today, the Kremlin failed once again in its attempt to sow division among member states. The era of Russian fossil fuels in Europe is coming to an end.”

EU warns towards rubles funds

Von der Leyen warns EU members towards giving in to Moscow’s calls for for rubles funds, except their contract is denominated in rubles, amid stories some prospects have already achieved so.

“This would be a breach of the (EU) sanctions, so a high risk for the companies,” she says, including that “about 97 percent” of all EU contracts explicitly stipulate funds in euros or {dollars}.

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Russia, US prisoner swap

Despite the tensions over Ukraine, Russia and the United States announce a prisoner swap, with Moscow handing over jailed ex-Marine Trevor Reed in trade for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot convicted of drug smuggling.

Reed’s father tells CNN that the swap came about in Turkey.

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Western arms provides hit

Russia claims its missiles have taken out a “large batch” of Western-supplied weapons and ammunition being saved at an aluminium plant within the southeastern metropolis of Zaporizhzhia.

The US and Britain have been urging allies to ship extra heavy weapons to Ukraine to sway the battle.

Moldova unrest

Pro-Russian separatists in Moldova declare photographs have been fired throughout the border from western Ukraine in direction of a village housing a Russian arms depot within the breakaway Transnistria area.

Transnistria’s inside ministry additionally says drones overflew the village of Kolbasna, often called Cobasna in Romanian.

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There are rising fears that Moscow-backed Transnistria could possibly be drawn into the battle in Ukraine.

Transnistria’s management has accused Ukraine of a sequence of assaults on state infrastructure. Kyiv has accused Russia of staging the assaults.

TotalEnergies takes writedown

French vitality agency TotalEnergies says it has taken a $4.1 billion cost towards first-quarter earnings because of further sanctions complicating improvement of its Arctic LNG 2 fuel undertaking below building in northern Russia.

A spokesman says the writedown indicators “the beginning of a retreat” from the undertaking.

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