War in Ukraine: Recent Developments

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

Russia resumes key gas supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany after 10 days of maintenance.

But with the pipeline operating at a fraction of capacity and Russia already cutting back or suspending supplies to a dozen EU members in retaliation for Western sanctions, Europe is still bracing for energy shortages.

The EU on Wednesday called on member states to reduce their gas consumption by 15 percent in the coming months in order to secure their winter supplies.

Russian gas giant Gazprom has cut gas flow to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by around 40 percent in recent weeks, blaming the lack of a Siemens gas turbine being repaired in Canada, a statement Germany denies.

Ukraine’s central bank on Thursday devalued the national currency, the hryvnia, against the dollar in a bid to shore up its foreign exchange reserves and improve the competitiveness of Ukraine’s exports amid a collapsing economy.

The National Bank corrected the official exchange rate from 29.25 hryvnia to the dollar to 36.57 hryvnia to the dollar.

“The new hryvnia rate will become an anchor for the economy and will increase its resilience in uncertain conditions,” the bank says.

The United States is promising to send four more advanced HIMARS missile systems to Ukraine to help its forces fight Russia’s advance in the eastern Donbass region.

“Ukraine needs the firepower and ammunition to withstand this barrage and fight back,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters.

In an emotional speech to the US Congress, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska commemorates the high-profile death of Liza, a four-year-old who was killed in a strike in downtown Vinnytsia last week while pleading with Washington for air. defense systems.

“Help us to stop this terror against the Ukrainians,” says Selenska.

Two people are killed and 19 injured in Russian shelling of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, as Moscow ramps up its bombing two months after driving it out of the city’s northern outskirts.

Regional governor Oleg Synegubov announces the deaths, which come a day after three people died when a bus stop in the city was shelled, including a 13-year-old boy.

CIA chief Bill Burns says China is likely looking to Ukraine for lessons on how to regain control of Taiwan.

Burns told a security forum in Aspen, Colorado that Russia’s war experience could influence “how and when” Beijing would decide to use force against Taiwan.

Russia’s failure to overthrow Ukraine’s leadership in Kyiv showed that “you don’t win quick, decisive victories with overwhelming force,” he says.

“I guess the lesson the Chinese leadership and military are taking from this is that if you’re going to consider that in the future, you have to accumulate overwhelming power,” he added.