Ukraine needs $7 billion a month to compensate for economic losses, its president Zelensky told the press. And this is in addition to the individual human situations of families who are suffering a war they certainly did not want. And in Europe, too, we are beginning to see the first effects of what will be a war economy. If we take a product made in Ukraine, such as sunflower oil, we can see that it has gone from EUR 0.96 to EUR 3.26 per litre on Italian shelves. We are one step away from economic war. The German Central Bank has warned that the EU embargo on Russian gas purchases will lead to a 5% drop in GDP this year, an energy crisis and a deep recession unprecedented in decades. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported that negotiations with Ukraine have stalled after Kiev decided not to respond to the Russian proposals that came to it. Lavrov to Zelensky’s words that the destruction of the Ukrainian army at the Azovstal plant will put an end to negotiations with Moscow, said, “The Russian Federation will not tolerate any ultimatums.”
At the same time, the second phase of the Russian Federation’s special operation began eight days ago, said an acting commander of the central military district, Rustam Minnekaev. The task of Russian troops in the second phase of the special operation is to establish full control over Donbass and southern Ukraine.
Putin stopped the final attack on Azvostal told his Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu because it is “useless to assault the catacombs”. As seen in other situations, in Syria, one will wait for the surrender that will come by starvation. It is not possible to support the military by sea and it is not possible to help them by land. Very soon they will run out of food and water and this will lead them either to unconditional surrender or to an exasperated gesture. It is known that they have many mortar shells to use that can reach up to 9 km and hit residential areas, so the Russians are remotely monitoring the situation. Putin has asked that not a single fly should fly to or from the plant. Green corridors have been opened for soldiers and civilians who want to evacuate. The Mariupol TV centre is under the control of the DPR. The DPR People’s Militia offered DPR Communications Minister Khalepa the opportunity to visit the Mariupol TV centre. The men of the DPR were able to make a preliminary assessment of the condition of the equipment and according to an initial report the Mariupol tower will begin broadcasting not only in the entire south of the republic, but also in the territory of the Zaporozhye region.
Fighting continues in Popasna, one of the hottest fronts. LPR fighters are gradually moving towards a multi-storey residential building where Ukrainian forces have established themselves. While citizens continue to evacuate the city. Ukrainian armed forces remain in the western part of the city.
From Izyum to Barvenkovo and Slavyansk there is no particular news: the Severodonetsk-Lisichansk group and the Ukrainian Armed Forces group in the area of the Svyatogorsky monastery are currently under the threat of encirclement.
Graziella Giangiulio
