Russia-Ukraine War Updates: Sanctions, Attacks, and Economic Resilience

Russia’s oil exports decreased last year but the country is still exporting higher volumes than before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, researchers have said, calling for stricter sanctions enforcement. The volume of Russian crude oil exports remained 6% above pre-invasion levels in the fourth year of the war, despite western sanctions aimed at curbing Russia’s “shadow fleet” used to circumvent western sanctions, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea), a Finnish thinktank. But oil revenues – which are fuelling Moscow’s war chest – have dropped below pre-invasion levels, as Russia has been forced to adopt price discounts, the report on Tuesday said. “We’ve seen a significant drop in Russian fossil fuel export earnings as a result of new measures and greater enforcement,” said Isaac Levi, a Crea analyst and co-author of the report. But he added that “there are still significant loopholes and areas that have been unaddressed by sanctioning countries”, allowing volumes to remain high. The report said 93% of Russian crude was exported to China, India and Turkey.

Vladimir Putin sought to take over Ukraine when he invaded four years ago but he failed to achieve this and other war goals, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday. In a video address marking the four-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian president also said Ukraine was ready to do “everything” it could to secure a strong, lasting peace. “Putin has not achieved his goals. He did not break the Ukrainians. He did not win this war,” Zelenskyy said of the Russian president. “We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to achieve peace – and to ensure there is justice.”

European leaders accused Hungary of sabotaging support for Ukraine on the eve of war’s fourth anniversary, after a defiant Budapest blocked fresh economic measures against Moscow. Germany, France and other EU states failed to persuade Viktor Orbán’s government on Monday to approve the latest EU sanctions package and a loan meant to help Kyiv meet its military and financial needs. Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, described Hungary’s actions as “political sabotage”. The row threatens to overshadow a carefully choreographed display of solidarity between Zelenskyy and his key European partners. Several EU leaders are expected to visit Kyiv on Tuesday, including the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.

A man detonated an explosive device beside a police patrol car in central Moscow early on Tuesday, killing an officer and wounding two others, the Russian interior ministry said. The blast occurred about 12.05am (2105 GMT Monday) on Savyolovsky railway station square, the ministry’s said on Telegram. Savyolovsky station, in northern Moscow, is one of the capital’s main railway hubs. The attacker approached traffic police officers sitting in their patrol vehicle and then an explosive device detonated, the statement said, adding that the attacker died at the scene. Authorities gave no immediate details about the explosive or a motive.

Britain has announced a new package of military, humanitarian and reconstruction support for Ukraine, including £20m ($27m) for emergency energy support and £30m to help Ukrainian societal resilience and drive accountability efforts for victims and survivors of alleged Russian war crimes.

Ukrainian national power company Ukrenergo has said any refusal by Slovakia to extend emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine on demand would have no effect on the country’s power system. The Slovak prime minister, Robert Fico, said on Monday his country’s power grid operator would refuse any Ukrainian requests for emergency supplies until oil flows resumed via the Druzhba pipeline, which runs from Russia through Ukraine to central Europe.

Russian drone strikes on the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia overnight wounded five people including a child, authorities said on Tuesday. The attacks targeted multiple sites, officials said. At one location, a drone slammed into a factory building next to a nine-storey residential block, sparking a fire that spread over 200 sq metres.

When the first Ukrainian-designed drone to be made in a German factory was finished last month, Zelenskyy knew it marked a turning point for the economy. With drone-making joint ventures also well advanced in Finland and Denmark, Ukraine has shown how its businesses can adapt and break out of their bomb-threatened domestic confines, becoming more integrated into the EU’s industrial network. At the war’s fourth anniversary, the Ukrainian economy continues to show resilience under great strain.

An explosion on Monday evening in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv wounded seven Ukrainian police officers, authorities said. Two of the victims were in a critical condition after the blast, which came two days after a similar incident in the western city of Lviv denounced by Kyiv as a “terrorist attack” by Russia.