As waves of Russian shelling of Ukrainian infrastructure in major urban centers continued yesterday for the second day in a row, albeit on a smaller scale, Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the leaders of the G7 group to urgently take action to support his country with military air support. protection is a priority.

The leaders of the seven most powerful industrialized countries of the West held an online session, the central topics of which were the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. In the summit’s final communiqué, the G7 warned Russia of “serious consequences” if it used chemical, biological or nuclear weapons and pledged to continue economic and military assistance to Kyiv.

Power outage

At least one person was killed in yesterday’s shelling in Zaporozhye in southern Ukraine, and much of Lviv in the west was left without power due to damage from Russian missiles. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Russian strikes over the past two days have mainly been aimed at energy infrastructure facilities, telecommunications hubs and army headquarters.

Much of the country was plunged into darkness, prompting Kyiv to suspend electricity exports to Europe at a time when the continent was already facing an energy crisis.

Ukraine yesterday announced a 30 percent cut in electricity supplies to neighboring Moldova, which is in imminent danger of destabilization due to the war. Thousands of demonstrators protesting price hikes camp every night outside the parliament and the residence of Prime Minister Maya Sandhu, calling for her resignation. Sandu ordered the police to crack down on the protesters with an iron fist, accusing them of “treason” and saying they “promise Moscow to install a government that will be loyal to Russia.” Pro-Russian separatists seeking secession from Moldova have turned Transnistria into a state within a state since the early 1990s, and Russia maintains a peacekeeping force there.

Another former Soviet republic, Belarus, is close to becoming a direct participant in the Ukrainian crisis after its President Alexander Lukashenko announced yesterday that a joint military force with Russia would be formed near the border with Ukraine. Concern intensified yesterday when Minsk announced that it had begun a military readiness exercise due to signs of possible aggressive actions from Ukraine.

The wave of missile strikes has enthused the most aggressive circles in Russia, who in recent weeks have pressed President Putin for a stronger response to the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said he was “100% satisfied,” while Crimean governor Sergei Aksyonov urged the bombing to continue. However, the head of the British secret service GCHQ has calculated that Russian ammunition is running out and there are no signs of Moscow preparing to use nuclear weapons. He also argued that China poses a serious threat to the entire West due to its enormous economic and technological power.

For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview on state television that his country was ready to negotiate with Turkey or the United States on ways to end the war and that he would not reject a proposal for a Biden-Putin meeting. on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia next month. “If there is an offer, we will consider it,” the head of Russian diplomacy said.

Tomorrow Thursday, the Russian president will meet in Astana, Kazakhstan, with his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan, who is proposing a Russian-Ukrainian summit in Istanbul to conclude a ceasefire agreement.

Schäuble recommendations

The West must not succumb to Putin’s nuclear blackmail, Wolfgang Schäuble said yesterday, assessing that the Russian leader “will eventually make a rational choice.” In an interview with the Bild group, the former speaker of the German parliament said that support for Ukraine must continue despite the “terrible inflation and high energy prices in which we all live” and argued that the Germans are “spoiled” because they make excessive demands from states in difficult times like today. To the journalist’s objection, “But this winter the Germans will thaw out,” the answer reminded one of the old Schäubles: “Well, then put on a sweater. Or two sweaters. Don’t whine, just admit that some things don’t work.” Regarding the possibility of a power outage, an experienced politician recommended: “Sometimes there may be power outages. Therefore, the house should always have candles, matches and a battery-powered flashlight.