Gas distributors in Germany and Austria tell CNN they are working on ways to accept Moscow’s ultimatum, while complying with EU sanctions

It’s now nine weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine. Russian forces are currently “exerting intense fire,” as a multi-pronged offensive takes shape across three regions, according to Ukraine’s military leadership.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Thursday that the Russians are focusing on trying to make a breakthrough in the Izium area of eastern Ukraine. 

Here are today’s latest developments:

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova condemned unexplained explosions in Transnistria as “acts of terrorism” on Thursday. Speaking at a regular briefing in Moscow, Zakharova expressed Russia’s concern about “escalating tensions” in the breakaway territory within Moldova.

Ukraine has previously described the blasts as a planned provocation by Russian security services. 

A series of incidents occurred in parts of Russian-backed Transnistria, which has housed Russian troops for decades, sparking fears that Moscow’s war could soon stretch beyond Ukraine and create a new theatre of conflict in eastern Europe.

Two radio towers in the territory were damaged in blasts on Tuesday, the Transnistrian Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement. On Monday, explosions were heard in Transnistria’s capital Tiraspol, near the Ministry of State Security building.

“We consider these acts of terrorism aimed at destabilising the situation in the region and we expect a thorough and objective investigation into all circumstances around what happened,” Zakharova said Thursday.

The spokeswoman dismissed “sensational” claims about Russia preparing an offensive using its troops stationed in the region, as well conscripts from Transnistria. She accused Kyiv of “dragging” Transnistria into the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and attempting to “use the situation to strengthen a “blockade pressure” on the region.

Ukraine blamed Russia for firing cruise missiles Tuesday at a bridge across the estuary of the Dniester River, suggesting Moscow is attempting to cut off the southwestern corner of Ukraine that borders Moldova.

Transnistria is unrecognized by the international community, which considers it a part of Moldova. But the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, essentially has no control over the territory, which declared itself a republic more than three decades ago.

Local authorities in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol have warned that it’s vulnerable to epidemics given the appalling sanitary conditions in much of the city and the fact that maybe thousands of bodies remain uncollected.

An estimated 100,000 people still live in the city, despite weeks of heavy fighting, and the absence of a centralized water supply.

On Thursday, the city council said there was a risk of cholera, dysentery and Escherichia coli — a bacterial infection that can cause severe stomach pain, bloody diarrhea and kidney failure.

The council said there were intolerable living conditions that would worsen as temperatures warmed.

Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko said: “The occupiers cannot provide the existing population with food, water and medicine. Or [are] just not interested in it. They block all evacuation attempts. And without that, people will die. After all, now in the ruined Mariupol medieval living conditions. Immediate and complete evacuation is needed.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has warned against “pumping up” Ukraine and other countries, such as Georgia and Moldova, with weapons, saying this threatens security of the European continent and provokes instability in the region.

“The tendency to pump up Ukraine and other countries with weapons is the type of actions that threaten the security of the continent and provoke instability,” Peskov told reporters on Thursday’s regular conference call when asked to comment on remarks about supporting Ukraine and other countries in the region with arms made by British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Wednesday.

Truss suggested Wednesday it is essential to arm not just Ukraine with heavy weapons, but also Moldova, Georgia and the Western Balkans.

“Some argue we shouldn’t provide heavy weapons for fear of provoking something worse. But my view, is that inaction would be the greatest provocation,” Truss said.

“And we must ensure that, alongside Ukraine, the Western Balkans and countries like Moldova and Georgia have the resilience and the capabilities to maintain their sovereignty and freedom,” she added.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that should Finland and Sweden apply to join the alliance it would be able to “find arrangements” to help the two countries during the interim period before they became formal members.

When asked at a news conference about what kind of guarantees and help the alliance could give the countries before they officially joined, Stoltenberg replied: “The reality is that Finland and Sweden are already close to NATO and we work together, we operate together, we exercise together.”

“I am confident that there are ways to bridge that interim period in a way which is good enough and works for both Finland and Sweden.”

Although previously non-aligned with NATO, Finland and Sweden are edging ever closer toward joining the US-led military alliance.

Russia has previously warned that such moves could lead to a more aggressive stance with regard to its hypersonic or nuclear weapons.

Speaking at a visit to the European Parliament in Brussels alongside President Roberta Metsola, Stoltenberg stressed should Finland and Sweden decide to apply to NATO, the accession process would “go quickly.”

“We are in dialogue with Finland and Sweden, and it’s their decision. But if they decide to apply, Finland and Sweden will be warmly welcomed, and I expect the process to go quickly,” he told the press.

Two of Europe’s leading energy companies have confirmed they are in talks with Gazprom about how to pay for Russian gas, while complying with EU sanctions and Russia’s new rules demanding that all gas be paid for in rubles.

German firm Uniper said: “We consider a payment conversion compliant with sanctions law and the Russian decree to be possible. Uniper will continue to pay in euros. Uniper is in talks with its contractual partner about the concrete payment modalities and is also in close coordination with the German government.”

And Austrian firm OMV said: “We have analyzed the Gazprom request about payment methods in light of the EU-sanctions and are now working on a sanctions-compliant solution.”

This comes after Russia said it has cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, dramatically escalating its response to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

Russian state energy giant Gazprom said in a statement Wednesday that it had fully halted supplies to Polish gas company PGNiG and Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz after they refused to meet a demand by Moscow to pay in rubles, rather than euros or dollars.

Uniper, which is one of Europe’s leading gas companies, added: “For our company and for Germany as a whole, it is not possible to do without Russian gas in the short term; this would have dramatic consequences for our economy.”

Under the new Russian payment scheme, energy importers have had to open two bank accounts with Gazprombank — a foreign currency account and a ruble account. Buyers are required to deposit foreign currency (dollars or euros) with Russia’s Gazprombank, which then converts it into rubles for onward payment to Moscow.

A European Commission document release last week advised that it “appears possible” to comply with the new Russian rules without getting into conflict with EU law.

On Wednesday, the Hungarian Foreign Minister confirmed to CNN that his country will use the payment scheme put in place by Moscow to pay for its oil and gas. 

Trevor Reed’s mother, Paula Reed, tweeted in the early hours of Thursday that her son is back in the United States.

“It’s been very exciting day for the Reed family,” Paula tweeted. “Trevor is back in the USA.”

Trevor Reed, a US citizen and former Marine who had been detained in Russia since 2019, was released in a prisoner swap Wednesday.

In her tweet, Paula also advocated for the release of Paul Whelan, a US citizen and former Marine who was detained at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 and arrested on espionage charges, which he has consistently and vehemently denied.

“It’s been a day of joy for us, but not for #PaulWhelan and his family. I know this is a hard day for them. Pls keep them (and the MANY others) in your prayers.),” she tweeted.

Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck has said that his government’s goal must be to ensure independence from Russian energy supplies, even if it means pushing for alternative solutions previously considered “unrealistic.”

Following Russia’s decision to stop gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday over their refusal to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand for payment in rubles, Habeck told journalists at a press briefing in Berlin that Germany’s dependence on Russian gas has rapidly decreased in recent weeks. 

While it is “not realistic” for Germany to completely ban Russian gas before next year given the new infrastructure required to diversify gas imports, ”nevertheless, we have to try the unrealistic in some ways now,” Habeck said.

Habeck urged Germany to speed up the building of a liquid natural gas terminal within ten months’ time. Habeck described Russia’s decision to cease supplies of gas to Poland and Bulgaria as an example of ”the reality where energy is used as a weapon” and said that ”Russia is showing that it’s ready to get serious.” 

”It would be cynical if big and powerful Germany thought: ‘Oh well, you can beat up the little guys a bit — that’s a warning for you.’ No this is reality — this is the reality where energy is used as a weapon and we have to see that we are not defenseless when energy is used as a weapon.”  

Germany’s goal is to diversify energy infrastructures accordingly and ”revamp our energy infrastructure based on renewable energy and massive savings so that we are not defenseless,” he added.

On Tuesday during a visit to Poland, Habeck said that Germany could handle an embargo on Russian oil imports, hinting that the country could end its dependence on Russian oil imports shortly. Habeck told journalists that Germany’s share of crude oil imported from Russia has fallen from 35 percent before the war to around 12 percent, adding that a European embargo on Russian oil would be “manageable.”

Habeck stressed Wednesday that Germany would continue to make its energy payments in euros or dollars in line with its European partners.

As Russian shelling intensifies across a wide swathe of eastern Ukraine, officials in Donetsk have posted photographs of one small hamlet in the region in which over two dozen homes have been hit.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, Head of Donetsk regional military administration, said on his Telegram channel that 27 houses just in the village of Lastochkine had been damaged by shelling. He gave no information on casualties. 

The village is near the small town of Ocheretyn, a few miles from the current front lines. Ocheretyn has also seen widespread shelling by Russian forces trying to break through Ukrainian lines.

Since they launched the second phase of their military operation, Russian forces have intensified artillery and rocket fire against towns and villages along the front lines, which run for hundreds of kilometers from Luhansk and Donetsk in the east to Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south.