Conflict Update: Fourth Day of War
The day started with a gas pipeline and oil terminal in Vasylkiv being struck by a missile, causing it to erupt into flames. Clashes with Russian saboteurs continued through the night in Kyiv, with fighting intensifying in Kharkiv. Russian troops in Kharkiv met heavy resistance, with the Governor claiming Ukrainian victory, successfully repelling Russian advances.
The International Response continued with the European Union and Canada joining other countries in banning airspace to Russian flights. The European Union is also preparing a new package of sanctions, which includes excluding selected Russian banks from the SWIFT system and blocking more than half of the central bank reserves of Russia. European Commission President Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen said that the European Union will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons to Ukraine, for the first time in the EU’s history. According to Reuters’ “Commission source”, the EU aims to spend 450 million euros on weapons and 50 million euros on items such as medical supplies for Ukraine. Turkey also shifted from neutrality, calling for an immediate halt and start of ceasefire negotiations. Turkey went one step further to signal that it intends to invoke the Montreux convention that would block Russian warships from passing through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits leading to the Black Sea. Germany also saw a u-turn in defence policy, with German Chancellor Olof Scholz committing 2% of economic output to defence output.
Ukraine and Russia have agreed to meet on the Belarus border to start negotiations. This has been made possible after all preconditions were put aside. Ukraine has also lodged a lawsuit against Russia at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. The ongoing conflict has seen Ukrainian Refugee numbers estimated at 368,000 by the UN agency. Additionally, according to the Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, Russia has lost around 4,300 troops. Finally, Putin continues to maintain nuclear deterrent forces on high alert.