Russian troops continued their attacks on the Donetsk region on Saturday, in eastern Ukraine with little progress due to the fierce resistance presented by the Ukrainian forces, who are trying to counterattack in some sectors of the front.
“The enemy tried to launch counterattacks near the towns of Sladkoe, Shevchenko and Novomaiorke of the Donetsk People’s Republic, south of the city of Donetsk,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman General Igor Konashenkov said.
In his usual daily report, the military man stressed that the Ukrainian attacks were repulsed with artillery fire and assault aircraft. Only in that sector, added KonashenkovUkrainian forces suffered more than 40 casualties between killed and wounded.
bakhmut in sight
According to British Military Intelligence (DI), Russian troops are concentrating their efforts on the capture of Bakhmut, an important communication hub north of Donetsk, which would allow them to advance towards Kramatorsk and Slovianks, the main strongholds of the Ukrainian Army in the Donetsk region.
“However, the campaign has been disproportionately expensive in relation to the possible gains,” the DI said in a tweet today, in which it pointed out the possibility that the capture of Bakhmut is a “political, symbolic objective” for Russia. In any case, in the opinion of British analysts, the logistical problems and the shortage of supplies are a brake on the offensive plans of the Russian Army.
Military alliance with Belarus
With the situation relatively stabilized on the battlefronts, the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigumet this Saturday in Minsk with his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin, with who signed a protocol of amendments to the bilateral agreement to guarantee regional military security signed in December 1997.
“Belarus has been and is a reliable partner. This is extremely important today, when the collective West exerts unprecedented pressure and wages an undeclared war against our country“Shoigú said at the meeting, quoted by the Interfax agency.
Neither Moscow nor Minsk reported the scope of the protocol, while kyiv declared that it is prepared to react adequately to the increase in Russian troops in Belarus, from whose territory they entered Ukraine at the beginning of the military campaign launched by the Kremlin more than nine months ago.
“The situation in the northern operational zone (the border with Belarus) is under control,” said the commander of the Ukrainian Joint Forces, Lieutenant General Serhiy Nayev. The Ukrainian military indicated that although the Russian-Belarusian joint military grouping continues to strengthen itself in the territory of the neighboring country, it “does not yet represent a threat.”
The kyiv government, which has accused the regime of the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenkoof being complicit in the Russian aggression, has repeatedly warned that in the event that Belarusian soldiers break into the country, the Ukrainian Army will use all its firepower against them.
The Russians support the military campaign
Though support for the war campaign in Ukraine remains high among Russians – 75% support it one way or another of the participants in a survey published this Saturday by the Levada Center – those who advocate peace negotiations have increased considerably.
According to the Levada Center survey, 52% of those surveyed last November -44% in August- spoke in favor of the start of peace negotiations with Ukraine, with the particularity that more than half of them indicated that they must start as soon as possible.
Among Russians between the ages of 18 and 24 who participated in the poll, 68% were in favor of starting peace talks with Ukraine. On the other hand, those over 55 years of age are more in favor of continuing military actions than of negotiating peace. 48% of those surveyed in that age range favored the first option and 44% favored the second.
The economic war
Meanwhile, Ukraine said on Saturday that Russia’s oil price cap, announced on Friday by the European Union (EU), the G7 countries and Australia, will “destroy” the economy of the world’s second-largest crude exporter, while the Kremlin has indicated it does not accept the ceiling. and discuss how to respond to the measure.
“We always achieve our goal and Russia’s economy will be destroyed and Russia will have to take responsibility for all its crimes,” the presidential chief of staff in kyiv said on the Telegram messaging network.Andriy Yermak.
Anyway, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyconsidered that the maximum price of 60 dollars set for a barrel of Russian oil was not “a serious decision” and defended a lower value.
“It is not a serious decision to set this limit for the Russian (crude) price, since it is comfortable for the budget of the terrorist state,” Zelensky’s press office said, adding that a maximum price twice as low should be set. .
The 27 countries of the European block, the G7 that make up the most advanced economies and Australia agreed on Friday to impose a maximum price of 60 dollars a barrel of Russian oil, an unprecedented initiative that aims to erode a key source for Moscow to finance its offensive in Ukraine.
The move, which follows a G7 agreement to cap Russian crude between $65 and $70, will take effect Monday, along with an EU ban on buying Russian oil by sea in October.
This price cap on Russian oil is a new escalation of the sanctions imposed by Western countries on Moscow since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Russia’s response
In its first reaction to the measure, Russia stated this Saturday that it “will not accept” the imposition of a maximum price on its oil. “We will not accept such a cap,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said. quoted by Russian agencies, adding that the government was “analyzing” how to respond to the move. “We are analyzing (the situation). Certain preparations have been made for this limit,” Peskov was quoted as saying by the Sputnik news agency.
The Russian embassy in the United States called the cap “dangerous and illegitimate” and was confident that Russian oil will continue to be in demand. “We are witnessing a reshaping of the basic principles of the free market. This type of measure will inevitably translate into increased uncertainty and the imposition of higher costs for consumers of raw materials,” he said in a statement posted to his social networks.
“From this year Europe will live without Russian oil. Moscow has already made it clear that it will not supply oil to countries that support price caps against the market”the Russian ambassador to international organizations in Vienna wrote on his Twitter account, Mikhail Ulyanov. “Very soon the EU will blame Russia for using oil as a weapon,” predicted the Kremlin representative.