Overview: War enters third phase according to Kiev and Russian energy supplier suspends delivery to Finland
These are the main developments from Friday evening and the night from Friday to Saturday:
- The war that Russia is waging in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian leaders, will be the “third phase”, which is characterized by “prolonged fighting”. The first phase consisted of a failed attempt to take Ukraine within a few days and the second phase consisted of an attempt by Russia to encircle and eliminate Ukrainian forces in several besieged areas. In the new phase, Russia wants to defend the territorial gains it has made since the invasion on February 24, according to an adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior.
- The Russian energy supplier RAO Nordic Oy will suspend from Saturday the electricity supply to Finland. The Helsinki-based energy supplier says it has not received payment for electricity supplied to Finland by Russia since May 6. This week, the Finnish Prime Minister and the Finnish President announced their intention to join NATO.
- The separatist Georgian region South Ossetia will hold a referendum on joining Russia. Outgoing President Anatoli Bibilov has laid down this in decree, the Russian state news agency TASS reported. The referendum will take place on 17 July. Bibilov lost the presidential election to Alan Gagloev earlier this month. The newly elected president also said he was open to such a referendum.
Also read: Russian offensive in Donbas also seems to have stalled