Ukraine updates: Russia's Belgorod declares emergency
Published August 14, 2024last updated August 14, 2024
What you need to know
- Belgorod's governor called the situation 'extremely difficult' for residents in the border region
- US President Joe Biden said Kyiv's military success in Kursk was a 'real dilemma' for Russian President Vladimir Putin
Here are the latest headlines from Russia's war in Ukraine on Wednesday, August 14:
Germany issues arrest warrant for Nord Stream pipeline sabotage: report
A German court has issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national over the September 2022 attack on the Russian-European Nord Stream gas pipelines, according to media reports.
The pipelines had long been controversial for their role in European reliance on Russian gas for energy.
German news outlets ARD, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit published an investigation saying that the suspect, named only as Volodymyr Z. for legal reasons, had hired a German yacht to sail to the Baltic Sea.
It's believed that he and two alleged accomplices, also Ukrainians, then placed explosives on the pipelines which led to a subsequent gas leak.
The report alleged that Poland, where Z. was last known to be residing, had declined to honor the warrant issued in June despite being required to do so by EU law. Polish authorities have been accused by Germany of supporting the attack in principle after it was carried out.
Biden: Kursk offensive is a major problem for the Kremlin
After Kyiv announced it had taken control of 74 towns and villages in Kursk, US President Joe Biden said the offensive was a "real dilemma" for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine hit Kursk with drone attacks and missiles on Wednesday. Western powers recently changed their minds about allowing Ukranian forces to use their weapons inside Russian territory, allowing them to push further into Kursk.
Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrsky said late on Tuesday that "control over 40 square kilometers of territory has been taken" over the past day.
Kyiv has not confirmed the point of the offensive other than to say the goal is not to permanently control Russian territory.
The Kremlin believes Ukraine wants leverage during a possible cease-fire deal, while officials in Washington have speculated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is trying to force the Kremlin to pull troops out of Ukraine and move them to Kursk.
Belgorod governor declares state of emergency amid Ukrainian bombardment
Belgorod regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on the messaging app Telegram that "the situation in our Belgorod region remains extremely difficult and tense due to shellings from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Houses are destroyed, civilians died and were injured."
He added that "a state of emergency will be introduced on the regional level, followed by a request to the governmental commission to declare a federal state of emergency."
Last week, Russia's Kursk region on the border with Ukraine also declared a state of emergency amid the largest land incursion into Russian territory since World War II.
Gladkov said that on Tuesday, two more Russian settlements were attacked by Ukrainian forces.
es/nm (AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa)