400,000 Russians allegedly fled mobilization – the nightly update without photos US pharmacy chains accept billions in opioid comparison

Zelenskyj: Russian blackmail failed

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sees the resumption of the grain deal as a partial success in the war with Russia. “The Russian blackmail has come to nothing,” Zelenskyj said in his evening video address on Wednesday. In particular, he praised UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other key partners as mediators. “Again, everyone has seen that there is only one threat to global food security in our region, and that is the Russian Federation and no one else,” he said after more than eight months of war.

Putin does not rule out new exit from grain agreements

However, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin did not rule out a new exit from the grain deal with Ukraine, should there be violations from a Russian point of view. “Russia reserves the right to withdraw from these agreements in the event that the guarantees are breached by Ukraine,” Putin said during a video conference with the National Security Council on Wednesday. Even if the agreement is revoked, Russia is willing to allow grain deliveries destined for poorer countries to pass through the agreed corridor. Russia had previously informed about the resumption of the grain agreement.

Russia fails UN Security Council

As expected, Russia failed the UN Security Council with a resolution on bioweapons targeting the US and Ukraine. The text, which is based on unsubstantiated Russian allegations that the US produces biological weapons in Ukraine, received only two votes on Wednesday — from Russia itself and from China. The United States, Great Britain and France voted against the draft resolution. The remaining 10 countries in the 15-member Council abstained. At least nine votes would have been required for acceptance. The resolution was seen as a renewed attempt by Moscow to enforce its baseless claims.

The current developments around the Ukraine war in the live ticker:

Ukrainians: Fierce fighting in Donbass

Meanwhile, Ukraine reported intense fighting with Russian units in the Donbass around the towns of Bakhmut and Soledar. “Dozens of attacks in one day” were repulsed, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar said on Ukrainian television on Wednesday. If the Russian army advances, Ukraine will immediately respond with a counterattack. According to the general staff in Kiev, Russia continued to attack infrastructure in several regions with missiles and Iranian drones. The information from the combat area could not be independently confirmed.

Russia Underlines Defensive Nuclear Doctrine

After speculation about a possible nuclear escalation in the Ukraine war, Russia has underlined the purely defensive nature of its nuclear doctrine. In the current turbulent situation, the main task is “to avoid a military confrontation between nuclear powers,” the foreign ministry in Moscow said on Wednesday. In its deterrence policy, Russia insists that nuclear war is not allowed. There are no winners in such a war and it must never be unleashed. The Russian doctrine is very defensive.

An estimated 400,000 Russians have fled the country because of mobilization

According to Western government officials, an estimated 400,000 Russians have fled their homeland as a result of the partial mobilization. The number does not include those who had already left the country because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Many Russians have not only fled abroad but have gone underground in their own country to avoid being drafted into the armed forces, Western government representatives said in an interview with journalists on Wednesday. If you add that to the number of people actually called up, the decline in the workforce is “a significant additional burden on Russia’s economy and public finances,” they said.

UN: Ukraine war has led to biggest displacement in decades

According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to the largest internal displacement in decades. “About 14 million people have been displaced from their homes since Feb. 24,” UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said in New York City on Wednesday. The situation is not improving for a presumably harsh winter. Humanitarian aid must be further expanded, the “senseless” war must be ended.

Due to wartime damage to electricity and heat supplies, the Ukrainian government recently asked those who had fled abroad not to return until next spring. More than seven million people from Ukraine have sought protection abroad, according to the UNHCR, including about one million in Germany.

That will be important on Thursday

The foreign ministers of the G7 countries meet in Münster to discuss the consequences of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. At the same time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will pay a three-day visit to Turkey. The topics of the meetings planned there are likely to be the war in Ukraine and Turkey’s position on NATO’s northern expansion to include Sweden and Finland. (sda/dpa)