10/14/2022

Ukraine war in live broadcast
+++ 03:42 Russia: the effects of the ruble appreciation on prices diminish +++

According to the Central Bank of Russia, the impact of the appreciation of the ruble on consumer prices will decrease. The bank wrote in a report that good harvests in Russia and limited opportunities to expand exports kept inflation in check. Markets are watching the central bank’s comments closely after it signaled the end of the rate-cutting cycle in September. The next interest rate meeting of the Central Bank of Russia is scheduled for October 28. The Russian Central Bank cut its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage point to 7.5 percent in mid-September. This is the fifth downward move in monetary policy this year.

+++ 03:00 Opposition politicians: Russia wants to deploy 120,000 soldiers in Belarus +++
Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latushka, who lives in exile in Warsaw, is convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus Governor Alexander Lukashenko are planning to invade Ukraine from Belarus next spring. „Our sources say that the Russians want to deploy 120,000 soldiers in Belarus by then,” Latushka told the German Liberation Network. The current number of Russian soldiers in his country was estimated at about 5,000 soldiers, distributed over four Russian military bases.

+++ 02:20 Moscow considers not extending the grain deal +++
The Russian leadership is considering not renewing the Ukrainian grain export agreement. „I don’t know, because the second part of the agreement was not complied with,” Interfax news agency quoted Yury Ushakov, an adviser to the President of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, in response to a question by reporters on whether the grain deal would continue. in its current form. In the decade, Russia committed itself to ending the blockade of Ukrainian seaports for grain exports, but in return it wants easier exports of fertilizers and foodstuffs. Now Ushakov complains that about 300,000 tons of Russian fertilizers are stored in European ports that no one can pick up.

+++ 01:37 Selenskyj: Russia sends reservists as „cannon fodder” to the front +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of sending reservists to Ukraine as „cannon fodder” as part of the partial mobilization. In his evening video address, Zelensky says that the Russian army is currently sending „thousands of conscripts to the front.” The Ukrainian leader added: „The use of these people as cannon fodder by the Russian generals allows them to increase the pressure on our defenders.” Zelensky said the increase in troops was creating „concrete pressure” on the Ukrainian army.

+++ 00:53 Report: The Federal Police has stopped searching for traces of the Nord Stream pipeline +++
According to a media report, the Federal Police has completed its mission to investigate the sabotage attack on the Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea. SPIEGEL reports that the multi-purpose boat Mittelground is already on its way to its home port. After an underwater inspection near the pipeline leak, the „Dillingen” miner was to mark the course for Germany. The Federal Police is conducting an investigation and last week asked the German army for administrative assistance for military boats. An underwater SeaCat drone equipped with cameras and other sensors has been launched near the leaks northeast of Bornholm Island. The drone was able to take several pictures of the damaged pipeline. This will now be evaluated.

+++ 00:11 Ukrainian authorities: Kharkiv under fire +++
According to regional authorities, the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was bombed by Russian missiles in the evening. Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported at least two effects. There were blackouts in some parts of the city. There is no immediate information about the dead or injured. The region’s governor, Oleh Senehubov, said that rockets also landed in the Kharkiv region. There is also a power outage there. Ukrainian media blamed the attack on the town on the border with Russia in response to missile pieces that hit an apartment building in the Russian city of Belgorod earlier on Thursday.

+++ 23:24 IAEA chief sees „progress” in talks on Zaporizhia nuclear power plant +++
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, spoke positively about the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant after talks with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine. „Work is ongoing, and I think we’re making good progress,” Grossi said in Kyiv that evening about his plans to create a security zone around the disputed Ukrainian nuclear power plant. However, there are no concrete indications of Moscow and Kiev’s approval.

+++ 22:50 Investigations after the destruction of the world’s largest Antonov An-225 aircraft +++
The destruction of the largest aircraft in the world, the Ukrainian An-225 Mriya, at the beginning of the Russian invasion had criminal consequences for the previous management of the Antonov concern. The only viable example of this huge carrier was burned down on February 27 when Russian paratroopers attacked Hostomil Airport near Kyiv. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the intelligence of the SBU are now investigating why the plane was not brought to safety in time despite the warnings. This was reported by the Ukrainian media in Kyiv. Legally, this is a violation of official duties or even cooperation with a foreign military power.

+++ 22:01 The grief of the first dead conscripts in Moscow +++
The first bodies of untrained conscripts return to Russia from Ukraine – including in major cities such as Moscow. „Even Z advocates are upset,” Wall Street Journal reporter Yaroslav Trofimov wrote on Twitter. It refers to a 28-year-old former Moscow city government department chief who was drafted on September 23 and murdered on October 10.

+++ 21:30 well ahead of schedule: German gas storage tanks are over 95 percent full +++
On average, gas storage facilities in Germany are 95 percent full ahead of the November 1 target date. Storage tanks have reached a filling level of 95.14 percent, according to data from European gas storage platform AGSI in the evening. In Germany, a law was passed in the spring with clear specifications for storage levels in order to secure supply. Read more about this here.

+++ 21:01 Explosion of a Russian ammunition depot in Belgorod +++
Russian sources reported that an ammunition depot exploded during Ukrainian air strikes on a village in the Russian Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine. Local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Thursday in the Telegram online service that, according to preliminary results, there were no casualties or injuries. Earlier on Thursday, the Russian authorities accused Ukraine of bombing an apartment building in the city of Belgorod. Gladko wrote in Telegram that there were no casualties. The damage to the building is not serious. Kyiv denied the bombing and said the Russians hit the building themselves when they wanted to bomb Kharkiv.

Read previous developments related to the Ukraine war over here.