WAR IN UKRAINE: April 27, 2022
Residential building in the city center bombed around 11 a.m. by the Russian armed forces in Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 14, 2022. (Photo by Andrea Carrubba/Anadolu Agency)
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 62
Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed “in principle” to United Nations and International Committee for the Red Cross involvement in the evacuation of citizens from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, according to a readout of the UN secretary-general’s Tuesday meeting with Putin in Moscow - CNN. However how the UN, and particularly the ICRC, which never arms it’s staff, are expected to protect their personnel on the ground in an active war zone is unclear. Furthermore, the credibility of an agreement signed by someone who’s been described by western leaders as a war criminal and who’s violated several past ceasefire agreements needs to be called into question.
Russian security services are planning political operations to destabilise Moldova and undermine the pro-EU government, officials warn, amid a series of attacks on country's Russian-backed separatist enclave bordering Ukraine, reports the Financial Times. The destabilisation operation could peak around May 9, when Russia commemorates the Soviet Union’s victory over Germany in the second world war
Russian energy firm Gazprom says it has cut gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria over their refusal to pay in roubles. Ukraine says the action is the start of Russian "gas blackmail" aimed at its allies. Poland says it can manage the situation, and can access gas from other sources - BBC. In any event, the move signifies a major step-up in the weaponization of energy by Moscow and the broadening of the war to include neighboring allies of Ukraine.
U.S. intel helped Ukraine protect air defenses, and shoot down a Russian plane carrying hundreds of troops. Ukrainian forces have used specific coordinates shared by the U.S. to direct fire on Russian positions and aircraft, current and former officials tell NBC News. The intel has also helped to protect Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his inner circle. Full story here.
The Russian side on Tuesday launched a missile attack on Odesa Oblast, damaging a crucial bridge across the Dniester estuary. Ukrainian media reported that the bridge from the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi District to Odesa was closed due to the damage. The blockage means that people traveling towards Romania need to take a lengthy detour through Moldova. The strike could also point to part of a Russian strategy to annex that part of Ukraine, further isolating the country from the Black Sea.