NYT - Ukraine-Russia News

 

July 26, 2022

By Carole Landry Editor/Writer, Briefings Team

Hello. This is your Russia-Ukraine War Briefing, a weeknight guide to the latest news and analysis about the conflict.

The first three ships carrying grain out of Ukrainian ports under a deal signed last week are expected to leave in the coming days, Ukrainian officials said. The I.M.F. warned that a global recession could soon be on the horizon as war, inflation and the pandemic inflict economic pain on every continent. Brittney Griner’s lawyers presented evidence to a Russian court that she had no intent to break the law. Follow our live updates. Track the invasion with our maps.

A natural gas storage facility in Bierwang, Germany, last month.Lennart Preiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Europe weans itself off Russian gas

In just a few days, Europeans will start rationing their use of natural gas, hoping to get through the winter without too much pain as Russia restricts the supply of gas to the European Union.

E.U. energy ministers agreed today on a plan to reduce the bloc’s gas consumption by 15 percent by the spring. European leaders say a complete cutoff of Russian gas is likely in the future.

Before the meeting, President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of waging “an overt gas war” against “a united Europe” and urged leaders not to give in to Russian threats. Russian gas accounts for 40 percent of E.U. consumption, and gas is a leading source of energy for homes and businesses.

All of the E.U.’s 27 member states supported the move, except for Hungary, which voted against the agreement but couldn’t veto it. Some exemptions were given to Ireland, Cyprus and Malta, which have little flexibility to seek alternative energy sources, as well as to the Baltic States that have electricity grids connected to Russia’s.

The bloc’s gas storage tanks, usually almost full before winter, are currently at 66 percent capacity, according to the E.U.’s energy commissioner, Kadri Simson.

The stakes are particularly high for Germany, which relied on Russia to supply 55 percent of its natural gas before the invasion. It has cut that share to 30 percent over the past months but is scrambling to ensure that it will have sufficient fuel in storage to last the winter.

The agreement came less than 24 hours after Russia’s state-owned gas monopoly, Gazprom, said that it would further reduce the amount of natural gas it sends to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Less than a week ago, it resumed limited flows after an annual maintenance shutdown.

In France, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne asked government ministers and administrations to lead by example and cut their offices’ use of air conditioning and heat.

More on the energy conflict: President Vladimir Putin has brandished Russia’s natural gas weapon. This winter, he seems likely to launch it, David Frum writes in The Atlantic.

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The International Space Station in 2018.NASA/EPA, via Shutterstock

The war’s fallout in space

Russia said today that it would withdraw from the International Space Station, which has been a symbol of post-Cold War cooperation between Russia and the U.S. since it was launched in 1998.

Yuri Borisov, the head of the Russian space agency, told President Vladimir Putin during a meeting that Russia would leave the space station after its current commitment expired at the end of 2024.

“I think that by this time we will begin to form the Russian orbital station,” Borisov said. “Good,” Putin responded.

NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, said, “I understand that we were taken by surprise by the public statement that went out,” and added that Russia’s announcement was “an unfortunate development.”

Experts say the announcement dims the prospect of keeping the station operational beyond the end of the decade. In the past, NASA said it intended to continue operating the space station through the end of 2030.

With tensions between Washington and Moscow rising after Russia’s invasion, Russian space officials had made declarations in recent months that Russia was planning to leave.

What else we’re following

In Ukraine

Bryan Young, a U.S. Army veteran killed in the Donbas last week, “wanted to be useful,” his partner said. Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, said in an interview with Vogue that the atrocities in Bucha changed the course of the war. “After Bucha, we understood it was a war intended to exterminate us all,” Zelenska said. The BBC reported on widespread abuse and mistreatment in five Ukrainian orphanages.

Around the world

Britain froze the assets of Graham Phillips, a British pro-Russia blogger. The conductor Teodor Currentzis and his ensemble, MusicAeterna, are drawing attention at the Salzburg Festival for their ties to Russia. From Opinion: The invasion of Ukraine is the next act of Vladimir Putin’s empire of humiliation, the author Peter Pomerantsev writes.

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With frenzied raves, bars with free therapy and cuddle parties, Kyiv nightlife is roaring back.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Carole