US President Joe Biden’s aid announcement came as Ukraine celebrated the anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made his third unannounced visit to Kyiv since the war began on Wednesday, as US diplomats have warned that Russia is preparing to intensify attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and government facilities.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Kremlin forces have deliberately slowed their offensive to limit civilian casualties. Meanwhile, police detained the former mayor of the Russian city Yekaterinburg on charges of “discrediting” Moscow’s army after he criticised the war, the state-run Tass news service reported.

Key developments

• Six months of Putin’s war unravels Russia’s superpower image
• India to tell US That Russia oil price cap needs consensus
• Biden’s $2.98bn Ukraine Weapons Package Aimed at Long Term
• UK’s Johnson pledges drones to Ukraine in unannounced Kyiv trip
• Europe natural gas jumps as outages compound Russia supply risk
• Germany to provide Ukraine with more than $500 million in aid
• Russian LNG plant scraps cargo to Asian buyer on payment issues
• Russia’s local debt revival has a place reserved for yuan bonds

On the ground

Air raid alarms were sounding frequently in Ukraine on Wednesday as Russia stepped up missile attacks and shelling with rocket artillery on the country’s Independence Day, military officials said on Facebook. One of Wednesday’s missile attacks killed an 11-year-old child in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The Ukrainian military shot down a Russian drone over Vynnytsia in the country’s interior, deputy head of presidential staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram.

Russian seaborne coal exports halted

Russian coal exports were effectively halted by a European Union ban on entities within the 27-nation bloc servicing shipments of the fuel to anywhere in the world.

Suek JSC, Russia’s largest thermal coal miner, has been unable to ship the fuel since mid-August, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be named because the matter is private. The insurance and reinsurance markets are dominated by EU, UK and Swiss companies, making it hard for shipowners to find coverage, the people said.

Zelensky warns against breaking Ukraine’s momentum

Any effort to seek a pause in the conflict would risk slowing down Ukraine’s momentum and weakening the unity of the nation’s allies, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a joint press conference with Johnson in Kyiv. He was responding to speculation about war fatigue.

“It is impossible to freeze the conflict and say let’s wait a year, two or three — and start talking then,” Zelensky said. “It is impossible to give up the initiative.” Allies should remain steadfast despite difficulties ahead, including the coming winter, a potential nuclear disaster, a Black Sea blockade and the threat of famine, the Ukrainian leader said.

Rosatom discusses IAEA’s visit to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Rosatom chief executive Alexey Likhachev met with International Atomic Energy Agency General Secretary Rafael Mariano Grossi in Istanbul, the Russian state nuclear corporation said. Russia is ready “to provide all kinds of support, including logistical” for the IAEA’s visit to the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

Grossi confirmed the talks in a post on Twitter, citing “important technical discussions” on the United Nations nuclear watchdog’s “imminent” visit to Zaporizhzhia.

Putin orders payments for schoolchildren in occupied areas

Putin ordered a 10,000 rouble payment ($166) to the parents or guardians of school-aged children living in Ukrainian territories that Russia seized during the war.

The Kremlin, which is considering a plan to annex the occupied territories, is already taking steps to integrate them, installing officials, mandating the use of the rouble and rewriting school curricula to reflect its version of history.

Russia detains two nuclear plant workers, Tass reports

Russia’s National Guard detained two employees of the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant over alleged cooperation with Ukraine’s armed forces, Tass news service reported.

The National Guard’s press service was quoted saying the employees transmitted information to Ukrainian forces on the location of personnel and equipment at Europe’s biggest atomic energy station, which Russia seized in March. Ukrainian technicians are still running operations at the plant under the control of Russian personnel. Earlier this month, European intelligence officials said Russia was likely to be using the plant’s protected status as a nuclear site to shield its troops and equipment from attacks.

UK’s Johnson pledges drones, munitions on Kyiv visit

On his third unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital since the invasion began on 24 February, Johnson pledged £54-million ($64-million) worth of drones and anti-tank munitions for Ukraine.

Johnson, who is due to leave office on 6 September, told Ukrainian President Zelensky that Ukraine “can and will win the war” sparked by Russia’s invasion, and pledged that the UK’s support for his country would be unwavering and long-term. The premier also received the Order of Liberty, Ukraine’s highest award that can be bestowed on foreign nationals, the prime minister’s office said.

Lithuanian leaders back regional Russian visa ban

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said he supported a proposal to ban visas for Russian tourists, saying the war in Ukraine was supported by the Russian people and “not just by a handful of evil uncles”.

Should the European Union fail to achieve a united response on a visa ban, a regional solution could be devised that would include the Baltic states and other countries geographically closer to Russia.

“We’re deceiving ourselves today that this is Putin’s war and that the Russian nation has nothing to do with it,” Nauseda told reporters in Vilnius. “Alas, this is not the case, the Russian people support the war.”

Russia floating oil discounts amid price-cap push

Russia has approached several Asian countries to discuss possible long-term oil contracts at steep discounts as US officials continue to push a plan that would cap the price of the country’s oil, according to a Western official.

The tentative conversations to offer some Asian buyers discounts of up to 30% may be a sign that Russia is trying to head off discussions by Group of Seven nations about carving out an exception for pending European Union sanctions on Russian oil, said the official, who asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive talks. That plan would allow third parties to more easily purchase Russian crude oil at a low price set by Western nations.

Biden announces $3bn package on Ukraine’s Independence Day

The White House said the latest package will allow Ukraine to purchase air defence and artillery systems, as well as munitions, anti-drone systems and radars, over the long term.

“I know this independence day is bittersweet for many Ukrainians as thousands have been killed or wounded, millions have been displaced from their homes, and so many others have fallen victim to Russian atrocities and attacks,” Biden said in a statement. “But six months of relentless attacks have only strengthened Ukrainians’ pride in themselves, in their country, and in their 31 years of independence.”

Europe natural gas jumps as outages compound supply risk

European natural gas prices increased, with outages in Norway and the US adding to supply curbs from Russia, further tightening the market.

Benchmark futures jumped as much as 7.4%. Prices are about 14 times higher than the five-year seasonal average as a historic energy crisis destabilises European economies, heaping pressure on politicians to blunt the impact of the worst inflation in decades.

Russia eyes yuan bonds amid plans to resume debt sales

Russia will resurrect local bond sales as soon as next month and it wants yuan-denominated debt to eventually play a role as it retools its sanctions-hit markets with a view to its ally, China.

Sales of rouble bonds, known as OFZs, could resume with small offerings in the second half of September after a six-month hiatus, according to a person familiar with the matter. At the same time, a plan to debut Chinese currency notes locally is being dusted off after sanctions shut Russia out of its traditional markets in the US and Europe, the person said.

The government froze weekly auctions in early February, just two weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fulfilling less than a fifth of its first-quarter borrowing plan.

Russia detains anti-war opposition leader

Police detained the former mayor of Yekaterinburg, Yevgeny Roizman, on charges of “discrediting” the Russian army, state-run Tass news service reported. Roizman, who has already been fined three times for criticising the invasion under the country’s “fake news” law, was one of the last prominent opposition activists remaining in Russia not in detention as part of a sweeping Kremlin crackdown on dissent.

Video posted on social media showed masked officers swooping on his apartment and leading Roizman away. He’s heard telling a journalist that he was being detained for “one phrase — the invasion of Ukraine”. Roizman, a Putin critic who was mayor of Russia’s fourth-largest city from 2013 to 2018, faces as many as five years in prison if convicted.

Shoigu says Russia deliberately slowed offensive

Russia has slowed the pace of its offensive in Ukraine intentionally to minimise civilian casualties, Shoigu said at a meeting of defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Russia’s attempt to quickly capture Kyiv at the outset of the invasion failed in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance, and the Kremlin has regrouped its forces in the country’s east and south. Ukraine says long-range weapons it received from allies, including US-made multiple rocket systems, have allowed it to strike ammunition storage and logistics centres deeper in Russian-occupied territory, helping turn the tide of the war.

Scholz pledges continued support for Kyiv

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz marked Ukraine’s Independence Day with a pledge to stand with the government in Kyiv for as long as it needs support.

“We will continue to supply weapons ranging from self-propelled howitzers to air-defence systems, month after month,” Scholz said in a video message published on Twitter. “We continue to train Ukrainian troops so they can use Europe’s most up-to-date military equipment,” he said. “And we will support Ukraine financially and help to rebuild destroyed towns and villages.”

Russian LNG plant scraps cargo to Asian buyer

Sakhalin Energy LLC, the new operator set up by Moscow to shore up control over the liquefied natural gas facility in Russia’s Far East, scrapped a shipment to at least one North Asian customer due to payment issues as well as delays signing revised contracts, according to traders with knowledge of the matter.

Moscow transferred ownership of the plant to Russia-based Sakhalin Energy from a Bermuda-based entity on 19 August and customers were asked to commit to new deals and send payments to Russian banks from that date. The cancelled cargo was the first tangible example that Moscow’s move to nationalise the plant was affecting shipments to the region. DM