Explosions and gunshots in Kiev – the main developments of the night

The fighting for Kiev is gaining intensity: At night, fighting broke out on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capitalheavy artillery fire and cannon fire could be heard again and again in the city center.

According to the Ukrainian military, Russian soldiers attacked a base on Victory Street, which is one of the main thoroughfares in Kiev. The attack was repelled, the Ukrainian army’s Facebook page said.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously said in a video message on his Telegram channel that he expected a Russian attack on Kiev that night. “The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now”, he said. “We all need to understand what is in store for us. We have to hold out tonight.”

Russian troops are advancing on Kiev from the north-west and north-east. According to the information, there was heavy fighting near the town of Wassylkiv, about 40 kilometers from Kiev. There is an air force base there that Russian troops apparently wanted to capture with paratroopers.

One of the Ukrainian fighters shot down a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane. Russian paratroopers were on board, wrote the Ukrainian chief of staff Valery Saluschnyj on Twitter on Saturday night. The information was not independently verifiable.

Airstrikes are also being reported from eastern Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian military, areas near the cities of Sumy, Poltava and Mariupol were attacked from the air. Cruise missiles were fired at Ukraine from the Black Sea.

Sanctions against Russia and Putin in force

The new EU sanctions against Russia are in force. This emerges from legal acts that were published in the EU Official Journal on Saturday night. The punitive measures enacted for Russia’s attack on Ukraine aim to causing significant damage to the country and its economy.

For example, the refinancing options of the state and selected private banks and companies will be restricted. In addition, the EU is issuing export restrictions for strategically important goods, which are intended to affect companies in the transport and energy sectors in particular.

In the past few days, EU officials have not wanted to say what kind of loss of income European companies have to expect because of the sanctions. However, they conceded that the total amount should be in the billions.

The US government had already imposed far-reaching sanctions on Thursday, including against the most important Russian banks and state-owned companies as well as export controls for high-tech products.

This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the developments in the Ukraine crisis:

In addition, put the EU and UK also the Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on their sanctions list. Possibly in the EU assets of the two politicians can be frozen.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the reason for the move was the “revanchist mission” of Putin and Lavrov, with which they wanted to destroy the post-Cold War world order by attacking Ukraine.

Johnson warned NATO leaders during their video link that Putin’s intentions could go beyond the invasion of Ukraine. He called for Russia to be immediately excluded from the Swift payment system “to do maximum harm to President Putin and his regime”.

During the night, the US government joined in as announced. In addition to Putin, Foreign Minister Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the head of the domestic intelligence service FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, and other leading government officials are affected, as the US Treasury Department said on Friday evening (local time). The White House had announced the sanctions against Putin and Lavrov a few hours earlier.

“It is exceptionally rare for the Treasury to impose sanctions on a head of state. President Putin joins a very small group that includes despots like Kim Jong Un, Alexander Lukashenko and Bashar al-Assad,” the US Treasury Department said, referring to those in power in North Korea, Belarus and Syria.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US government is holding Russia “accountable for the brutal and unprovoked attack on the Ukrainian people.” If necessary, the US is ready for further sanctions.

As a result of the sanctions, any possible property of the affected individuals in the US will be frozen. US citizens and companies are largely forbidden to do business with them or to support them financially. If those affected have no assets in the US – which seems likely in the case of Putin and Lavrov – the sanctions are still not only of symbolic importance. They make many international transactions difficult for those affected because Western banks and companies do not want to risk violating US sanctions. The financial sanctions are not associated with an entry ban.

The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, wrote in the Telegram news channel in the evening that Putin and Lavrov had no accounts in Great Britain or overseas.

Also the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposes sanctions on Putin and Lavrov. “This goes directly against President Putin’s considerable personal wealth,” he says. Canada will also impose sanctions on Belarus and its leaders for supporting Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia resolution fails in Security Council – China abstains

One directed against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine resolution is failed in the UN Security Council. As expected, Moscow vetoed the text at the vote in the most powerful body of the United Nations on Friday in New York – China However abstained along with two other countries. Eleven states on the 15-member council voted for the text.

Western diplomats saw this as a success in their attempt to diplomatically isolate Russia and drive a wedge between Moscow and Beijing. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote on Twitter: “Russia’s veto is a disgrace to its position in the Security Council, the map of Europe and the world.”

The draft of the resolution, which is available to the German Press Agency, condemns Russia’s aggression ‘strongly’ and affirms sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the Independence and unity of Ukraine. It demands immediate withdrawal from Russia and a return to the Minsk Agreement.

The text, which was drafted under the auspices of the United States, states, among other things, that the Security Council should decide “that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraws its armed forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders”.

Since Russia has veto rights in the Security Council, as does China, the USA, France and Great Britain, acceptance seemed impossible from the outset. The US and its western allies had hoped, however, to be able to diplomatically isolate Moscow to a large extent.

The negotiations for this lasted until the last minutes before the vote – the text was subsequently changed again to prevent China from vetoing and to get the approval of shaky candidates. However, the latter was not achieved due to the abstentions of India and the United Arab Emirates.

Beijing had at least remained cautious and avoided defending its partner Russia. After the failure of the resolution, the text is now to be handed over to the UN General Assembly, according to several diplomats. All 193 member states can vote there. They could adopt the resolution with a simple majority.

Social media excludes advertising from Russian state media

Facebook company Meta is taking further steps in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. be there prevent Russian state media from placing ads on the social network worldwide or earning money there, the head of security at Facebook, Nathaniel Gleicher, announced on Saturday on the short message service Twitter. “We are closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine and will continue to share our steps to protect people on our platform,” said Gleicher.

Also the short message service Twitter blocks ads in the warring countries until further notice Russia and Ukraine. In this way, one wants to ensure that important information on public safety in the two states is highlighted, the group said on its news service on Saturday. Advertising would distract from such information.

Rating agency downgrades Russia

The rating agency S&P has downgraded Russia’s credit rating to junk. The experts justified this with the international sanctions, which could have far-reaching effects on the ability of the banking system to finance international trade.

The rating grade for long-term foreign currency bonds has been lowered to BB+ from BBB- and is therefore in the speculative range. Further downgrades are possible, the analysts wrote, once there is more clarity on the economic impact of the sanctions.

Moody’s is also threatening to downgrade Russia its credible credit rating. Moody’s said there were “serious concerns” about Russia’s ability to cushion the impact of sanctions on its economy, budget and financial system. At present, Russia still has a rating of “Baa3”, which means that the bonds are one notch above the speculative range.

It can take months for a downgrade to follow up on such a threat, but if it does, the response should be quicker. Moody’s wants to include the extent of the conflict in its decision.
With agency material.

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