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Russia begins importing fuel after persistent Ukraine strikes on energy facilities
Russia has begun importing fuel, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak was quoted by TASS as saying.
Novak did not provide details on the volumes or sources of the imports. He also said the government expects several oil refineries to resume operations in the near future after scheduled maintenance, which should help improve fuel availability.
Typically a net fuel exporter, Russia has been forced to turn to imports after persistent Ukrainian strikes on its energy facilities in the past few months led to lower refining output, causing fuel shortages across the country.
Russia and Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports grind to a virtual halt as Kyiv and Moscow target shipping
Attacks on shipping have shut down more than 97 percent of Russia and Ukraine's grain export capacity in the Azov and Black Sea basin, cutting off a major source of low-cost supplies and helping to drive up global prices.
The two major grain exporters have intensified attacks on ports and shipping over the past month, leaving importers in the Middle East, Africa and Asia facing the prospect of sourcing grain from higher-cost suppliers such as Australia and the United States.
Russia and Ukraine together exported an average 7.2 million metric tons of grain a month from terminals in the Azov and Black Sea region last season, according to Reuters calculations based on official data and analyst estimates.
There are currently no shipments from Ukraine's Black Sea terminals. In Russia, the only grain terminal not officially shut is a small facility in Tuapse with capacity of about 160,000 tons per month, officials and trade sources say.
The shutdowns represent a loss of more than 97 percent of grain export capacity compared with last season, Reuters calculations show.
'It's very difficult to see how Ukraine could organise free and fair elections right now'
FRANCE 24 international affairs editor Philip Turle weighs in on former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov's call for Ukraine to hold fresh presidential elections.
Suspected sabotage attack in Estonia failed to disrupt Milrem deliveries to Ukraine, CEO says
A suspected sabotage attack at a building used by Estonian defence contractor Milrem Robotics has not disrupted the company's deliveries of robotic military vehicles to Ukraine, its chief executive said.
Estonian authorities are investigating whether Russia was behind the suspected arson attack at the Tallinn site, with Prime Minister Kristen Michal saying possible Russian involvement is among the lines of inquiry.
Suspects have been identified, but investigators have not established responsibility.
"Nothing really disturbs our deliveries this year or next year," Milrem Chief Executive Kuldar Väärsi told Reuters.
Milrem is one of only two foreign suppliers with unmanned ground vehicle fleets in active service in Ukraine, according to Väärsi, and expects to have more than 200 robotic systems deployed in the country by the end of this year.
Ukraine's ex-defence minister says changes to military procurements behind his dismissal
Former Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, in an interview published Wednesday, said
his efforts to overhaul the military's procurement system were the main reason behind his dismissal this month in a military and political shake-up.
Fedorov, a technical expert seen by many as an agent for change in the nearly 4-1/2-year-old war against Russia, told the media outlet Ukrainska Pravda that the proposed changes met resistance from officials inside and around the ministry.
"The reason is connected with procurement, tenders, to the fact that we began overhauling the processes in this area," Fedorov, 35, told Ukrainska Pravda.
"This caused significant dissatisfaction among many people, who then started constantly exerting influence and spreading negativity, not just around the president but across the broader media space."
Fedorov, who held office for six months, said his first undertaking in office was to introduce a tender system for procurement.
"Our task was to fix the root of the problem as quickly as possible," he said.
Why did Zelensky drop Fedorov in the first place?
With former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov calling for fresh presidential elections in Ukraine, we look back at the rivalry with the military's top brass that played a crucial role in the popular minister's fall from favour.
Putin says Ukrainian attacks on Russian industry have no critical impact
President Vladimir Putin maintained that Russia had suffered no critical consequences from Ukraine's attacks on its industrial facilities.
Addressing a conference of ministers and business leaders on the economy, he played down the impact of the Ukrainian strikes, whose targets have included oil refineries and commercial warehouses of Russia's top online retailer Wildberries.
Ukraine parliament approves Yevhenii Khmara as new defence minister
Ukraine's parliament approved the appointment of Yevhenii Khmara as new defence minister on Wednesday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky nominated Khmara, whom he had earlier appointed as acting minister, after the ousting of Mykhailo Fedorov in July.
The appointment was backed by 312 lawmakers, with 226 needed for a majority.
Zelensky dismisses deputy head of presidential office amid corruption probe
President Volodmyr Zelensky dismissed deputy head of the presidential office Iryna Mudra on Wednesday, according to the decree published on the presidential website.
There was no reason given for the dismissal.
Ukraine's anti-graft agencies said earlier in the day that they had uncovered a group, including a deputy head of the office, under suspicion of money laundering.
Ukraine parliament approves reappointment of Andrii Sybiha as foreign minister
Ukraine's parliament approved the reappointment of Andrii Sybiha as foreign minister on Wednesday.
The appointment was backed by 266 lawmakers, with 226 needed for a majority.
Russia claims control of another village in eastern Ukraine
Russian forces have captured the settlement of Vodianske in Ukraine's Donetsk region, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.
Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.
Another suspect in Nord Stream case arrested in Croatia, German prosecutors say
Germany's federal prosecutors office said on Wednesday that another suspect had been arrested related to explosions damaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic sea.
In its statement, the office identified the Ukrainian national only as Vladimir Z., adding he was arrested in Pula, Croatia, by local police forces who acted on a European arrest warrant.
Ukraine's anti-graft agencies say they uncovered laundering group including a presidential official
Ukraine's anti-graft agencies said on Wednesday they had uncovered a group including a presidential official that had laundered 150 million hryvnias ($3.35 million) used to pay for bail in an energy corruption scheme.
The NABU and SAPO agencies said in a YouTube video the group comprised a deputy head of the presidential office, a former lawmaker, heads of the management and supervisory boards of a state-owned bank and others.
They did not name the individuals, in accordance with Ukrainian law.
- Ukraine's anti-graft agencies say they uncovered laundering group including a presidential official
- Russia and Ukraine swap 103 prisoners of war each
- Zelensky dismisses deputy head of presidential office amid corruption probe
- Ukraine's ousted defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov calls for wartime elections
Russia and Ukraine swap 103 prisoners of war each
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 103 prisoners of war each, Russia's Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Russian Ministry of Defence.
The two sides have traded thousands of POWs at intervals throughout the four and a half year conflict, while remaining far apart on terms for any peace deal.
Russian drone attack on Ukraine's Kherson bus kills four, governor says
A Russian drone attack on a bus in Ukraine's southern city of Kherson killed four people on Wednesday morning, the regional governor said.
A further four women were wounded in the attack and have been taken to hospital, Oleksandr Prokudin said on the Telegram messaging app. He posted blurred photos of a yellow bus with bloodied steps and shattered windows.
Ukraine anti-graft agencies investigate group involving presidential officials
Ukraine's anti-graft agencies said on Wednesday they were carrying out an operation to uncover a "criminal organisation" which was run by current and former lawmakers, and involving high officials from the presidential office.
The agencies did not give the details of the investigation, but said more information would come soon.
Ukraine's ousted defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov calls for wartime elections
Ukraine's recently dismissed defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections in a bombshell address on Tuesday evening, stating that the wartime nation faced a crisis of governance and lashing out at wartime corruption.
The law in Ukraine prohibits the holding of elections during wartime.
Fedorov's call, delivered in a video address posted on Youtube, is the first such demand by a major Ukrainian political figure since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Russia says it downs 453 Ukrainian drones overnight
Russia's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that it had downed 453 Ukrainian drones overnight over various regions.
Drone causes fire in industrial area in Russia's Ufa, official says
Authorities were trying to put out a small fire after a drone fell in an industrial area in the city of Ufa in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, the republic's head Radiy Khabirov said on the messaging app Telegram.
Khabirov added that one of the drones hit an apartment building and a few cars in Ufa, an oil refining hub, leaving one person injured.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP and AP)
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