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Natural gas has started flowing through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Germany after a 10-day shutdown for maintenance, the operator says,
but the gas flow is expected to fall well short of full capacity.
CIA chief Bill Burns says the United States estimates Russian casualties in Ukraine so far have reached about 15,000 killed and perhaps 45,000 wounded.
Burns says Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is convinced his destiny is to restore Russia to a “great power”, and that his character contains a mix of “grievance, insecurity and ambition”.
The United Nations warns that funding to meet key development goals like ending extreme poverty and hunger by 2030 might be neglected by Western donor nations supporting Ukraine militarily and financially. - Aljazeera
In an interview with Russian state media, he implied Moscow's strategy had changed after the West supplied Ukraine with longer-range weapons.
Russia would now have to push Ukrainian forces further from the front line to ensure its own security, he explained.
His comments came as the US announced it would provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons.
Ukraine will receive another four Himars advanced rocket systems to hold the advance of Russian troops, bringing the total number to 16, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said.
Meanwhile Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska addressed US Congress on Wednesday, asking for more air-defence systems to "help us to stop this terror against Ukrainians".
The US has accused Russia of preparing to annex parts of Ukraine.
Since February, the West has supplied Ukraine with increasingly powerful weapons to use in its defence against Russian forces. - BBC
Top US general Mark Milley says the Russian invasion of Ukraine is failing, despite some recent advances in the east of the country.
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, says Moscow’s “operation” in Ukraine is no longer limited to the Donbas.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen calls on member states to slash their gas use by 15 percent until the end of March amid fears over supplies from Russia.
Ukraine calls for more arms from Western allies and accuses Moscow of wanting “blood, not talks” in response to Lavrov’s remarks.
EU diplomats agree to impose a seventh round of sanctions on Russia, including a ban on importing gold.- Aljazeera
Russian forces are likely closing in on Ukraine’s second biggest power plant at Vuhlehirska, 50 kilometres north-east of Donetsk, British military intelligence said on Thursday.
“Russia is prioritising the capture of critical national infrastructure, such as power plants,” Britain’s defence ministry said in a regular bulletin.
Meanwhile, Russia on Thursday is set to resume supplies of gas via Nord Stream 1 pipeline after a 10-day maintenance break.
The pipeline runs through Ukraine to Europe. The restart comes after comments from Russia’s foreign minister showed the Kremlin’s goals had expanded during the five-month war.
However, this does not mean that Moscow is closing the door on talks with Kyiv, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
The United States estimates that Russian casualties in Ukraine so far have reached around 15,000 killed and perhaps 45,000 wounded, said Reuters quoting CIA Director William Burns.
Russia classifies military deaths as state secrets even in times of peace and has not updated its official casualty figures frequently during the war. - Indian Express
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Iran later on Tuesday with the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports one of the main talking points.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s top military commander has said that the “timely arrival of M142 Himars” from the U.S. is helping Ukrainian forces to withstand Russian attacks on the frontline in the Donbas.
Himars are long-range multiple launch rocket systems and are seen as a potential game-changer in Ukraine’s resistance,
and fightback, against Russia’s near-constant artillery, battering cities and towns in Donetsk, a region of the Donbas.
The White House is preparing its next military aid package for Ukraine, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. - CNBC
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