Ukraine predicts collapse of Russian economy, urges people to ‘endure’ power cuts

the government of Ukraine predicted this Saturday, 3rd, that the oil price ceiling will bring down the economy of Russia, who said he did not accept the measure announced by the western powers. At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities asked the population to “endure” the hardships caused by the bombings against the country’s power plants. “We always achieve our goal and Russia’s economy will be destroyed. Russia will have to take responsibility for all its crimes,” said Ukrainian Presidency Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak. The 27 countries of the European Union (EU), the G7 and Australia reached an agreement on Friday to impose a maximum price of US$ 60 per barrel of oil from Russia, the world’s second largest exporter of the fuel. The measure will come into force next Monday, 5, together with an EU embargo on Russian oil, in a new intensification of sanctions applied since the president Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The G7 (United States, Canada, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy and Japan) stated that they intend to “prevent Russia from profiting from its aggressive war against Ukraine and support stability in world energy markets”. Russia, however, vehemently rejected the limitations. “We will not accept this ceiling,” said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, before adding that Moscow was “analyzing” the measure.

The Russian bombings of recent weeks against the infrastructure of the energy sector in Ukraine left millions of families without electricity, water and heating, at a time of low temperatures with the approach of winter (northern hemisphere, summer in Brazil). “We have to hold on,” Mykolaiv (southern) region governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram. Putin considered the bombings “necessary and unavoidable in the face of provocative attacks from Kiev”, the Kremlin said on Friday. According to Putin, Ukraine is responsible for the explosions that partially destroyed Russia’s Crimean bridge in early October, and therefore Moscow would be within the rights to bomb Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Putin again complained, in a conversation with the head of government of Germany, Olaf Scholz, of the financial and military support that allowed Ukraine to inflict humiliating defeats on Russia in the biggest conflict on the European continent since the end of World War II. But the Ukrainian counter-offensive, apparently, ceased to move with the same speed.

The fighting is particularly “tough” in the east of the country because “the Russians have had time to prepare” after the setbacks of recent months, said the governor of the Lugansk region, Serguei Gaidai. The situation is also “difficult” near Bakhmut, in the eastern region of Donetsk, says a statement from the Ukrainian army. The Russians have been trying to conquer this location for several months and taking control would be a victory for Moscow after recent defeats. Donetsk is part of the Donbass basin, which Russia announced it had annexed in early October, although so far it has not been able to completely conquer it. Putin intends to pay a visit to Donetsk “in due course”, Peskov said on Saturday, insisting that for Moscow it is “a region of the Russian Federation”. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, said on Thursday that he was “ready to talk” with Putin, but only if the Russian president sought “a way to end the war” and withdraw his troops from the country. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov stressed that Russia rejects the conditions. “The military operation will continue,” he insisted, using official Russian terminology to refer to the offensive in Ukraine.

*With information from AFP