UKRAINE: Recent updates

- COMMISSIONE EUROPEA

Ucraina: l’UE mobilita riserve di emergenza per far fronte alle minacce chimiche, biologiche, radiologiche e nucleari

A seguito di una richiesta del governo ucraino riguardante attrezzature mediche, dispositivi di protezione e attrezzature specializzate contro rischi per la salute pubblica quali minacce chimiche, biologiche, radiologiche e nucleari (CBRN), la Commissione europea ha mobilitato le nuove riserve di emergenza rescEU.

Le attrezzature fornite dall’UE comprendono 300 000 tute protettive specializzate, 5 600 litri di decontaminanti e 850 dotazioni per le operazioni di decontaminazione. Poiché gli ospedali ucraini hanno urgente bisogno di attrezzature mediche, l’UE dona anche monitor per pazienti, pompe per infusione e ventilatori, nonché dispositivi di protezione per il personale medico, come mascherine e camici. L’assistenza, del valore totale di 11,3 milioni di €, sarà fornita all’Ucraina attingendo alle scorte d’emergenza dell’UE ospitate da Romania, Ungheria, Svezia, Germania, Grecia e Danimarca.

Il Commissario per la Gestione delle crisi, Janez Lenarčič, ha dichiarato: "La guerra ingiustificata della Russia e gli attacchi contro le strutture sanitarie hanno messo sotto forte pressione i sistemi sanitari ucraini. Negli ultimi quattro mesi abbiamo lavorato 24 ore su 24 per far sì che l’UE risponda prontamente alle richieste di attrezzature specifiche e forniture umanitarie provenienti dall’Ucraina: 30 paesi hanno già donato merci mediante il meccanismo unionale di protezione civile, ma, date le enormi esigenze mediche causate dalla guerra in corso, abbiamo mobilitato le riserve strategiche di rescEU. Stiamo inviando all’Ucraina attrezzature mediche e attrezzature apposite per le emergenze chimiche, biologiche o nucleari. Gli ospedali e gli operatori sanitari in Ucraina lavorano sotto le bombe, e noi dobbiamo fare tutto il possibile per fornire loro le attrezzature necessarie per salvare vite umane."

- TRANSITIONS

THE BIG STORY: WORLD LEADERS ACCUSE RUSSIA OF WAR CRIME AFTER MALL BOMBING KILLS 18

What happened: Leaders of the Group of Seven reacted with horror and outrage at their summit in Germany after Russia bombed a crowded shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk yesterday, killing least 18, injuring dozens, and leaving dozens more missing, AP reports. “Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime,” the G7 leaders said in a joint statement today, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called it “one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the war could stop “before the end of the day” if Kyiv surrendered to Moscow.

More context: Rescue workers in Kremenchuk today are searching the charred rubble for more survivors or victims of the mall bombing. Russia has stepped up its bombardments across Ukraine in the last few days, firing over 65 missiles over the weekend, The New York Times reported. A strike in the northeastern city of Kharkiv killed at least four people and wounded 19 yesterday, according to the local authorities, and the city is under attack again today, CNN reports.

Worth noting: NATO plans to massively increase the size of its rapid reaction force from 40,000 troops to over 300,000, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said yesterday, the BBC reports. A NATO summit will be held this week in Madrid following the G7 meeting.

NEWS FROM THE REGIONS

Central Europe and the Baltics

• The mayor of Riga said the Latvian capital will stop accepting Ukrainian refugees as of 1 July due to a lack of financial support from national authorities, LETA reports. Mayor Martins Stakis said today that the city can only continue to assist refugees already in the city. About 1,800 Ukrainian civilians are living in Riga’s hotels and other tourist accommodation, LETA notes, and Stakis said city officials will be contacting the establishments in order to arrange payments and to request that the refugees be allowed to stay.

• The Lithuanian government has proposed a new property tax despite the economic shakeup resulting from steepling inflation, the war in Ukraine, and Russian threats concerning trade shipments to Kaliningrad, BNN reports. Vilnius claims the new rules would be more equitable and would not hurt the real estate market, which central bank chief Gediminas Simkus described as “bubbly,” while critics say the move is simply a way for the government to increase its budget.

Eastern Europe and Russia

• The American financial services company Moody’s has confirmed an earlier report that Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time since 1918, The Moscow Times reports. “The default marks a victory for the West’s strategy of expanding its economic war against the Kremlin,” according to foreign policy analyst Maximilian Hess.