Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that during a telephone conversation, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a positive signal to the exchange of prisoners, and also wants to allow the movement of goods through the Black Sea.
“Our understanding of an active policy of neutrality is to seize every opportunity for dialogue. Therefore, I called President Putin. He gave a positive signal for the exchange of prisoners. He also wants to allow the movement of goods through the Black Sea,” the chancellor tweeted on Saturday night.
Civilian casualties from February 24, when Russia started the war against Ukraine, to 24:00 on May 26 amounted to 8,766 civilians (a day earlier – 8,691), including 4,031 dead (3,998), reports the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Friday.
“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are much higher as information is delayed from some areas of heavy fighting and many reports are still awaiting confirmation,” the UN data document notes.
According to him, this applies, for example, to Mariupol (Donetsk region), Izyum (Kharkiv region) and Popasna (Luhansk region), where there are reports of numerous civilian casualties. They are subject to further verification and are not included in the above statistics.
“The majority of civilian deaths or injuries were caused by the use of explosive devices with a wide area of effect, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as rocket and air strikes,” the report says.
According to confirmed UN figures, 1,529 men, 995 women, 100 boys and 92 girls died, while the sex of 69 children and 1,246 adults has not yet been determined.
Among the 4,735 injured were 132 boys and 110 girls, as well as 164 children whose gender has not yet been determined.
Compared to the report two days earlier, a child died and two more were injured.
OHCHR indicates that in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as of midnight on May 27, there were 2,145 (2,122) dead and 2,132 (2,124) injured in government-controlled territory, and 129 (129) dead and 541 (537) injured in territory controlled by self-proclaimed “republics”.
In other regions of Ukraine under government control (in Kyiv, as well as in Zhytomyr, Zaporozhye, Kyiv, Sumy, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions), the UN recorded 1757 (1747) dead and 2062 (2032) wounded .
The summary traditionally states that the increase in the figures from the previous summary should not be attributed only to the May 26 cases, since during this period the Office verified a number of cases from previous days.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a telephone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
“Informed about the situation on the frontline. We expect further defense support from our partners. Raised the issue of fuel supply. Ways to prevent the food crisis were discussed. We have to unblock Ukraine’s ports together,” Zelensky said on Twitter on Friday.
The GTS Operator of Ukraine (OGTSU) and NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy have sent an appeal to the German Ministry of Economy and the BNetzA regulator to suspend the previously granted exemptions in the legislation for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, head of the Ukrainian operator Serhiy Makogon said in a statement. TV on Friday.
He noted that the exceptions granted by JS1 were based on the fact that this gas pipeline would contribute to strengthening the security of gas supplies to Europe, the principles of market competition and the energy solidarity of the continent.
“But we see that Russia completely violates such principles. We know that they created an artificial gas deficit last year, that they unilaterally insist on paying for gas in rubles, that Russia unilaterally suspended gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland,” Makogon recalled.
In addition, the Russian Federation seized part of the territories of Ukraine, where gas transportation infrastructure facilities are located.
“Therefore, we see that the grounds on which these exemptions for SP1 were given no longer correspond to reality. We suggest that the German government review these exemptions and actually suspend or significantly limit gas supplies to Europe through SP1,” he said.
According to the head of the OGTSU, if such a decision is made, European consumers will not suffer, since there are enough free capacities for the transit of Russian gas to the EU, incl. through the GTS of Ukraine.
Makogon recalled that it is possible to pump gas through the Sudzha gas measuring station in the amount of 244 million cubic meters. m per day with the current use of this route is about 45 million cubic meters. m.
As reported, in May 2020, the German Federal Grid Agency granted the Nord Stream gas pipeline the opportunity to derogate from the application of the main provisions of the EU Gas Directive. The adopted decision on derogation is valid for 20 years and began its effect retroactively from December 12, 2019.
When reviewing the application, the regulator noted that the gas pipeline contributed to the security of supply and did not harm competition in the European internal gas market.
Trans-Baltic gas pipeline with a length of 1224 km with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters. m per year was introduced in November 2011.
In 2022, the Kyivstar mobile operator built 108 new base stations to improve the quality of communication.
As the company’s press service reported on Friday, in the first quarter of 2022, Kyivstar invested UAH 659 million in construction and development of a mobile communication network in Ukraine, thanks to which the company’s telecom network works stably.
In January-May 2022, the operator built 108 new mobile base stations. In particular, 53 base stations were built in cities in the west of Ukraine, 27 base stations – in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kyiv and Cherkasy regions. In the east of Ukraine, 20 base stations were built, most of them in Kharkiv region. Eight new base stations were installed in the south of Ukraine.
“Thanks to the network expansion, the company can better provide communications in those regions where there is an increase in traffic. For example, almost 5 million subscribers who were in large cities before the war moved to rural areas within their regions. And about 4 million subscribers moved to other regions, mainly to the west of Ukraine,” the report says.
In addition, as noted, during the hostilities, Kyivstar specialists eliminated tens of thousands of emergency situations that arose as a result of damage to the telecommunications infrastructure.
Currently, 95% of the company’s telecom infrastructure is operating normally, providing mobile communications and high-speed Internet for 26 million subscribers.
Ukraine in 2022 can harvest a crop of 66 million tons of grain, leguminous and oilseeds, which is 1.6 times less compared to the record harvest over the years of independence in 2021, when 106 million tons were harvested.
As reported on the website of the association Ukrainian Club of Agrarian Business (UCAB) on Thursday evening, this year it is expected to produce 50.4 million tons of grains and legumes (1.7 times less than in 2021), and 16 million tons of oilseeds ( 41.2% less),
According to her, this year the wheat harvest is expected to be 18 million tons (-44% by 2021), corn – 25.7 million tons (-39%), barley – 5.2 million tons (-55%).
As for oilseeds, in 2022 it is expected to produce 10.6 million tons of sunflower (-35% by 2021), soybeans – 3.0 million tons (-14%), rapeseed – 2.7 million tons (-22% ).
According to the UCAB, soybean and rapeseed show the lowest rates of decline in the expected gross harvest. This is due to the relatively small mass of their crop, combined with a high price for it, which facilitates logistical issues when exporting these oilseeds.
The Association emphasized that the decrease in sown area in 2022 was due to the partial occupation of part of the territory of Ukraine by Russian troops, the inability to sow in fields mined by Russians, and also due to damage to the material and technical base of Ukrainian farmers.
In addition, this year, yields are expected to decrease by about 10% due to the inability of some farms to comply with all technological procedures.
“In any case, the grown grains and oilseeds will be enough to meet the domestic needs of Ukrainians, as well as partial export sales. The main thing is that exports recover to their previous volumes, and farmers have sufficient financial resources to carry out the next sowing season,” summed up the UCAB in forecast
As reported, in 2021 Ukraine harvested a record harvest of grains, legumes and oilseeds in the amount of 106 million tons: grains and legumes – UAH 84 million and oilseeds – 22.6 million tons.
In 2020, the harvest of grains, legumes and oilseeds amounted to 84 million tons, including grains and legumes – 65.5 million tons, oilseeds – 18.5 million tons.
