What has happened in the last hours in Ukraine
On the 87th day of the war initiated by Russia against Ukraine, these are the key data at 8:00 a.m. this Saturday, May 21:
Russia makes good on its threat and cuts off gas to Finland for not paying in rubles. The Finnish energy company Gasum has confirmed this Saturday that the Russian gas giant Gazprom has cut off its supply this morning, as announced on Friday, for not meeting the demand of the Russian state group to pay in rubles. With this decision, Finland loses its largest supplier of natural gas, since Gazprom supplies around 92% of this fuel consumed by the Nordic country. In 2021, Finland imported close to 2,200 million cubic meters of natural gas, at a cost of 927.5 million euros, although this fuel accounts for barely 6% of all the energy consumed by the country. According to Gasum, in the coming months it will supply its customers with natural gas from other suppliers through the Baltic Connector gas pipeline.
Zelensky proposes an agreement with the allies to secure Russian compensation. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed a formal agreement with the country’s allies to secure Russian compensation for the damage his forces have caused during the war. “We invite partner countries to sign a multilateral agreement and create a mechanism that ensures that all those who suffered from Russian actions can receive compensation for all losses suffered,” he said in a video message.
Ukraine assures that the city of Rubiyne (Lugansk) is “as destroyed as Mariupol”. The provincial governor of Lugansk, Sergei Gaidai, has shared on Telegram images showing the ruins of the city of Rubiyne, in eastern Ukraine, after the intense Russian bombing in recent weeks. “The industrial area has been completely destroyed, there are no buildings left standing. Next to the courtyards there are makeshift cemeteries, ”Gaidai’s message reads, in which he compares the city to the devastated Mariupol. Rubiyne, just north of Severodonetsk, is on the front line of Russia’s offensive in the east. Gaidai says there are still some residents hiding in the cellars, but many have fled or been deported to Russia. Before the war, the city’s population was almost 60,000.
Russia assures that the 531 Ukrainian soldiers who remained in Azovstal have “surrendered” and considers the steel plant under its control. The Russian Ministry of Defense has reported that the last group of Ukrainian forces entrenched in the Azovstal (Mariupol) steelworks has “surrendered”. “The territory of the metallurgical plant has been completely liberated,” the Ministry said in a statement, detailing that the group that has surrendered includes 531 people. This figure joins the 1,908 Ukrainian soldiers from Azvostal who had laid down their arms to date, after Ukraine ordered them to withdraw on Monday. “The company’s underground facilities, where the militants were hiding, have come under the full control of the Russian armed forces,” the statement said, adding that a total of 2,439 defenders have surrendered.
Moody’s downgrades Ukraine’s debt rating again. Rating agency Moody’s has downgraded Ukraine’s debt rating for the second time in three months. It has also lowered the outlook to negative due to the increasing risk that the Russian invasion will affect the sustainability of the national debt. The rating has been lowered to Caa3, after downgrading it two points from B3 in early March, because the country could face “a longer military conflict than Moody’s initially expected” following the invasion that began on February 24. .
In the photograph, which is from Alexander Ermochenkofrom Reuters, a wrecked tank in Mariupol on Friday.
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