Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov left the G20 summit on Tuesday before the end of the meeting and the official acceptance of the final declaration. The plane with the Russian delegation left the Indonesian island of Bali in the evening (local time). The meeting of the 20 leading economies and emerging markets ends this Wednesday.
While Lavrov’s departure from Bali became known, rockets continued to fall in Kyiv, which was under Russian attack. According to Ukraine, the attacks were probably the most massive shelling of the energy infrastructure since the beginning of the war.
The energy situation is critical, it said. “About 100 rockets were fired at the territory of Ukraine,” Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said on TV. That’s more than the shelling in early October, shortly after the attack on the bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia. At that time, 84 rockets were fired at the country.
Lavrov represented Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bali, who, according to the Kremlin, was unable to come to Bali due to time constraints. The Russian chief diplomat held numerous talks and attended meetings on Tuesday. He also said that the final statement is practically ready. Lavrov said it contained the Western and Russian perspectives on the war in Ukraine.
According to information from Russian state television, the minister’s departure had already been planned for Tuesday evening. A reason was not given. Lavrov caused a stir at the G20 summit with a denied hospital report and a curious glitch. Read more about this here .
Putin wants to tighten control of the flow of funds to equip the army. Trenches in Crimea can be seen on satellite images. According to a US general, more than 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured in Ukraine so far. All current voices and developments on the Ukraine war can be found in the ticker.
After the recapture of Cherson, the question for military expert Mike Martin is not what Russia will do now – it is Ukraine’s turn for him. On Twitter he shows how the war could continue. His guess: Ukraine is targeting the “gravitational center of Putin’s credibility.”
