Zelenskyy Says Ukraine Will Match Russian Halt on Energy Infrastructure Strikes in Current Wars in the World
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is ready to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure if Moscow reciprocates, following US President Donald Trump's announcement of an apparent mutual agreement, amid ongoing Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure including postal services and rail networks in current wars in the world. Zelenskyy pushed back on Trump's claim by saying Kyiv has received no reliable guarantee that Russia will stop its strikes on energy targets. [1] Zelenskyy said Ukraine is prepared to support de-escalation as a first step if Russia stops strikes on critical infrastructure, while noting no genuine Russian desire to end the war has been seen so far. [5]
Zelenskyy Responds to Trump Announcement on Energy Strikes in Current Wars in the World
Zelenskyy pushed back on Trump's claim by saying Kyiv has received no reliable guarantee that Russia will stop its strikes on energy targets. [1] Zelenskyy said Ukraine is prepared to support de-escalation as a first step if Russia stops strikes on critical infrastructure, while noting no genuine Russian desire to end the war has been seen so far. [5] He highlighted a strong proposal from the United States regarding a mutual halt to strikes on critical infrastructure. [5] Zelenskyy added that if this can become the first de-escalatory step then Ukraine is ready to support de-escalation. [5] He noted that so far no one has seen any genuine desire from Russia to move toward ending the war. [5] Zelenskyy said Ukraine will make its own de-escalatory steps if American partners succeed in securing a real readiness from Russia to stop this war of destroying lives. [5]
Russian Pressure on Civilian Services
Russia has intensified drone and other strikes on Ukrposhta postal workers, sorting offices and logistical hubs near front lines, resulting in over 50 staff deaths since 2022, as the service delivers pensions, medicine and food to vulnerable civilians. [2] Every morning Igor Smelyansky looks at a vast map of Ukraine on his office wall and decides where he should put his people in harm's way. [2] His aides provide him with live intelligence about Russian attacks and he deploys his teams, balancing their potential operational success against risk to life or limb. [2] Smelyansky is the head of Ukraine's state postal service, Ukrposhta. [2] Ukrposhta does more than just collect letters and parcels as it pays out pensions in hard cash and takes payment for utility bills. [2] It delivers vital food and medicine to people on the margins of society and offers a lifeline to millions of poor and elderly Ukrainians living in remote villages where shops are rare and trips to the city are expensive and dangerous. [2] In a vast rural nation wracked by war, Ukrposhta is part of the glue that holds the country together. [2] That has made the service a target for Russia which in recent months has stepped up not only its attacks on postmen and women but also sorting offices and logistical hubs. [2] The Kremlin has claimed strikes like this are retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian online retailers like Wildberries. [2] Smelyansky said if they do not go to a village then people will struggle without basic supply of food and medicine. [2]
Ukrainian front-line city residents fear obliteration as Russian forces advance again. — Source: japantimes
Risks Faced by Postal Workers
There are many risks as if a post van turns up unannounced a crowd can form creating a target for an opportunistic Russian drone operator. [2] But if they call ahead information could leak and there are Russian sympathisers who can give them the location of the truck that's coming. [2] If Smelyansky chooses not to send a van in he faces criticism from people in those villages who say he betrayed them. [2] Smelyansky says Russia is deliberately targeting his staff because of the vital role they play shoring up Ukraine's resilience. [2] Since 2022 hundreds of Ukrposhta branches and vehicles have been hit and more than 50 staff have lost their lives either on the frontline or on their rounds according to Ukrposhta. [2] We travelled with Kateryna Marynych a 38-year-old postmistress near Zaporizhzhia a city not too far from the southern frontlines. [2] She lost her home and her husband during the full-scale invasion and came to the area to rebuild her life. [2] She ran the post office in the village of Lukasheve for two years until it was destroyed in March by a Russian drone targeting soldiers working nearby. [2] After her van drew up a steady queue of elderly folk formed and she sat in the front passenger seat window open handing out cash and taking payments. [2] One customer Nadiia said it is a long way for them to travel to Zaporizhzhia especially now at a time when there are attacks all around. [2] Oleksandrivna aged 77 arrived wearing a purple dressing gown walking with a crutch and said without Kateryna they would be stuffed as she is just out of hospital after a stroke. [2] Mykola aged 64 said it is very important as it is one of the few joys of the month to come out have a chat with people collect the pension and go home. [2] Kateryna always travels with her partner Slava who drives and works from the back of the van taking and receiving parcels delivering food and water while carrying a side-arm in a holster. [2] Both wear body armour when close to the front line and they have an antenna in the van that shows them the location of the small first-person-view drones. [2]
Escalating Attacks on Transport Infrastructure
Russian strikes on Ukraine's rail network are worsening each week with a recent hit on a train near the Polish border. [4] Russian strikes on Ukraine's rail network are worsening each week the CEO of the state Ukrainian Railways operator told AFP on Monday after a strike hit a train frequently used by diplomats near the Polish border at the weekend. [5] It is growing exponentially each month each week is generally worse than the previous one said Oleksandr Pertsovsky. [5] NATO-member Poland said on Sunday that Russia hit a train about two kilometres from the Polish-Ukraine border just days after Kyiv officials said road crossing checkpoints on the border with Moldova had been targeted. [5] Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Sunday that Warsaw had obtained information that Moscow might be planning attacks on border crossings. [5] NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Russian drone strikes near the Ukraine-Poland border would drive the military alliance to increase its support for Kyiv. [4]
NATO fighter jets intercept Russian drone over Lithuania. — Source: france24
NATO Incidents on Eastern Flank
NATO fighter jets shot down a Russian drone over Lithuania following an incursion and a Russian warship fired flares at a Danish helicopter in the Baltic Sea. [4] NATO scrambled fighter jets overnight to shoot down a drone over Lithuania after the latest incursion on the alliance's eastern flank. [4] Lithuania Latvia and Estonia NATO members sharing a long border with Russia have regularly reported drone incursions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. [4] In a separate incident Denmark said a Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish helicopter in the Baltic Sea late on Monday adding that the Russian ambassador had been summoned for clarification. [4]
Broader Context of Sanctions and Diplomacy
EU countries on Monday delayed a deadline for prolonging sanctions on Russia after France pushed for billionaire Alisher Usmanov to be removed from a blacklist diplomats said. [5] An EU list of almost 3,000 individuals and entities which needs to be extended every six months was set to expire by Wednesday. [5] However ambassadors from the 27 EU member states pushed back the deadline one week after the late efforts from Paris to remove 73-year-old Uzbek-Russian metals tycoon Usmanov drew opposition the diplomats said. [5] Usmanov a former major shareholder in Arsenal football club was placed on the EU sanctions list in 2022 over what Brussels said were his close ties to the Kremlin. [5] The French move surprised some EU states. [5] A spokesman for Ireland which currently holds the EU presidency said renewal of the listings is essential to continue undermining Russia's war machine. [5] The Financial Times reported quoting people familiar with the issue that France was making the push as part of a prisoner release deal involving French citizens held in Azerbaijan. [5]
What to watch next: Rail strikes get worse as the CEO of Ukrainian Railways noted the attacks are growing exponentially each week and EU ambassadors pushed back the sanctions deadline one week amid internal discussions.
