Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that Russian president Vladimir Putin is an “informationally isolated person” who had “lost everything” over the last year of war. “He doesn’t have allies,” Zelenskiy said, adding that it was clear to him that even China was no longer willing to back Russia, despite Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Moscow.
Zelenskiy suggested that Putin’s announcement shortly after Xi’s visit that he would move tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, closer to Nato territory, was meant to deflect from the fact that the Chinese leader’s visit did not go well. Putin said the move was a counter to Britain’s decision to provide more depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine. Belarus has pinned the move as being a response to Nato aggression on its borders.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine needed 20 Patriot batteries to protect against Russian missiles, and even that may not be enough “as no country in the world was attacked with so many ballistic rockets”. He added that a European nation sent another air defence system to Ukraine, but it didn’t work and they “had to change it again and again”. He did not name the country.
Zelenskiy extended an invitation to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to visit his country. “We are ready to see him here. I want to speak with him. I had contact with him before full-scale war. But during all this year, more than one year, I didn’t have,” he said. The Kremlin said it was not up to Moscow to advise the Chinese leader on whether he should visit Ukraine or not.
Ukrainian forces have reportedly shelled the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Melitopol, south of the Zaporizhzhia region, and Russian media reported on Wednesday that as a result, the city’s power supply had been cut. Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, which has been occupied by Russian forces since March last year, said on the Telegram messaging app that several explosions had gone off in the city.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that on 28 March five residents of Donetsk – three in Bakhmut and two in Chasiv Yar – were injured.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s mercenary Wagner group has said the battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut has “practically destroyed” the Ukrainian army but admitted that his forces had also been “badly damaged”.
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, arrived at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on Wednesday. He has described the situation there as very dangerous, and told Russian media outlets during the visit that “the situation is not improving, on the contrary, hostilities around this territory are intensifying. All possible measures must be taken to protect the station from any attack.”
The Danish energy agency says that an object found near the Nord Stream 2 pipeline does not pose a safety risk, and is an empty maritime smoke buoy, which is used for visual marking.
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the security council of the Russian Federation, has restated that Russia intends to achieve all the aims of what it terms its “special military operation”, despite, he said, “the steadily increasing military assistance to Ukraine from the US and other western states.”
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, has urged Russians not to adopt children who she said were “stolen” from her country during the war and deported to Russia. Vereshchuk, posting to Telegram, said orphans had been “stolen in Ukraine” and allegedly given up for adoption in Russia.
Russia has stopped informing the US about its nuclear activities, including missile test launches, after Moscow suspended its participation in the New Start arms control treaty last month, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said on Wednesday. The White House on Tuesday said the US had told Russia it would cease exchanging some data on its nuclear forces after Moscow’s refusal to do so.
Russia began exercises with the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system and several thousand of troops, its defence ministry said on Wednesday, in what is likely to be seen as another attempt by Moscow to show off its nuclear strength.
Russia’s cyberwar on Ukraine largely failed and Moscow is increasingly targeting Kyiv’s European allies, according to US and French analysts. French defence firm Thales said in a report on Wednesday that Russia was hitting Poland, the Nordic and Baltic countries with an arsenal of cyber weapons aiming to sow divisions and promote anti-war messages.
Global commodities trader Cargill has told Russia’s agriculture ministry that it will stop exporting Russian grain from the start of the next exporting season, which begins on 1 July, the ministry said on Wednesday.
Sweden’s foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned Russia’s Stockholm ambassador to complain about a statement on the Russian embassy’s website that said joining Nato made the Nordic nation a “legitimate target”.
Sweden’s admission to Nato faces challenges as Hungary has grievances about criticism it has received from the Nordic state, and bridging this gap will require significant efforts on both sides, the Hungarian government’s spokesperson tweeted on Wednesday. After months of foot-dragging Hungary’s parliament approved a bill on Monday to allow Finland to join Nato but the Swedish bill is still stranded in parliament.
Hungary’s foreign minister held telephone talks with the Russian deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, about gas and oil shipments as well as nuclear cooperation, the Hungarian minister said late on Tuesday. In a statement, Péter Szijjártó said Novak had reassured him that despite international sanctions, the Russian party would be able to do maintenance work on the Turkstream pipeline.
The US has not seen any indications that Vladimir Putin is getting closer to using tactical nuclear weapons in his war on Ukraine, after the Russian leader said he was moving such weapons into Belarus. Belarus confirmed it would host Russian tactical nuclear weapons, saying the decision was a response to years of western pressure. Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said Belarus would face further EU sanctions.
Russia said it shot down a US-supplied GLSDB guided smart bomb fired by Ukrainian forces, the first time Moscow has claimed to have intercepted one of the weapons that could double Ukraine’s battlefield firing range.
Spain will send six Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine after the Easter holiday, according to Spanish defence minister Margarita Robles.
