Russian authorities said they had left the occupied city of Kherson for the eastern bank of the Dnipro River as Kyiv pushed forward with its counteroffensive. The European Union was set to sanction one entity and three Iranian generals for providing military support and drones to Moscow.

US officials were increasing pressure on Turkey to take a harder line against Moscow after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met Putin in Kazakhstan for their fourth in-person get-together in as many months.

Key developments

• Putin orders sweeping security powers in regions near Ukraine
• Israel won’t give arms to Ukraine, offers help on warning system
• Biden seeks power from Congress to expedite Ukraine weapons
• Ukrainians return home by the millions even as war rages on
• Disobedience could save the world from Putin: Andreas Kluth

On the ground

Russian attacks in Ukraine killed 17 civilians and wounded 29 on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said. Ukrainian air defences shot down four of six Russian cruise missiles and 10 Iranian-built drones by early afternoon. An attack on energy infrastructure near Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region left much of the area in a blackout. Ukrainian troops repelled Russian attacks near 11 settlements in the Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk regions, Ukraine’s General Staff said. Ukrainian units downed a Russian Ka-52 helicopter in the Kherson region, the air force said.

EU gas price cap tantamount to ‘embargo’, says Hungary

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he would urge a “rethink” of EU sanctions against Russia at a summit of the bloc’s leaders in Brussels starting on Thursday, adding that the fallout from the penalties had become “unbearable” for Hungarians.

Separately, his government’s spokesperson, Zoltan Kovacs, said Hungary sees the EU’s latest proposal for a price gap on natural gas as tantamount to a “gas embargo”. Orban last week launched a national ad campaign that blames Hungary’s economic woes on EU sanctions.

Mobilisation hit Russian economy, says central bank

Putin’s order last month to call up 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine hit consumer confidence and business activity and is likely to weigh on the economy for months to come, according to economists at the Bank of Russia.

The “partial mobilisation” triggered an exodus of more than 350,000 Russians from the country, which worsened an already-acute labour shortage and “negatively affected consumer and business confidence”, the economists said in a report.

They said the impact of sanctions on the oil and hi-tech sectors had yet to be felt and that the flight of foreign companies from the Russian market since February was creating inflationary pressures as supplies of key consumer products ran short.

Zelensky calls for mobile power points for infrastructure 

The Ukrainian president ordered authorities to quickly create mobile power points for critical infrastructure across the country to be used in cases of power blackouts, his press service said.

In a separate announcement, the utility serving Lviv said it would shut power off to part of the western Ukrainian city to allow for the repair of equipment damaged by Russian missile strikes. In Kyiv, the city council said electricity had been restored to about 40,000 households following an attack.

India advises nationals against Ukraine travel

The Indian embassy in Kyiv cited the escalation of hostilities and a deteriorating security situation in its statement advising against travel to Ukraine. The embassy also asked Indian citizens, including students, already in the country, to leave “at the earliest.”

Khamenei boasts of Iran’s ‘dangerous’ drones 

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lauded the reputation of military drones produced in his country and acknowledged concerns about their export after the EU proposed sanctioning Iranian officials for sending them to Ukraine.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly denied that any of the country’s weapons have been exported for use in the war, but officials in Kyiv have on several occasions identified what they say are Iranian-manufactured Shahed suicide drones.

Russia hits power stations in west Ukraine  

Russia shelled two facilities of the power producer DTEK Energy on Wednesday, taking the total number of its damaged sites to three, the company said.

A missile hit another power station in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region, regional Governor Svitlana Onishchuk said. There were no casualties.

Croatian president bristles at plan to train Ukraine troops

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic rejected an initiative welcomed by the nation’s prime minister to host and train Ukrainian troops inside the Nato and European Union country.

“This is not our war,” said Milanovic, whose mostly ceremonial duties include overseeing Croatia’s armed forces. “I won’t allow Croatia to be involved in this.” Earlier this year, Milanovic clashed with Premier Andrej Plenkovic over the issue of admitting Finland and Sweden to Nato. Milanovic eventually acquiesced.

Putin extends martial law in occupied Ukraine

Citing strikes in recent weeks in border zones and a bombing on his showcase bridge to Crimea, Putin told his Security Council that he’s ordering stepped-up measures across much of Russia. He also extended existing martial-law regimes in the four Ukrainian territories he claims to have annexed last month.

Putin’s new measures impose higher security in six regions near the Ukrainian border, as well as Crimea. The new rules impose limits on movement in and out of the regions, allow local authorities to relocate civilians away from combat zones, boost military production and give increased powers to military officials.

Areas further back from the front lines, including Moscow, also will see unspecified restrictions on movement, according to the text of Putin’s decree.

US officials raise pressure on Turkey over Russia

US officials have raised pressure on their Turkish counterparts regarding compliance with financial sanctions against Russia to force Ankara into taking a harder line against Moscow.

A delegation led by Elizabeth Rosenberg, assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at the US Treasury, met the Turkish central bank governor and business groups in Ankara and Istanbul earlier this week, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The visit comes a week after Erdoğan agreed with Putin to boost energy ties and set up an international gas hub in Turkey, potentially positioning the country as a key route for Russian flows to Europe.

Billionaire gets second chance at sanction fight

Russian billionaire Petr Aven’s legal fight over a UK investigation into alleged sanction evasions has been sent back to a lower court for a fresh look, leaving the first major legal case on the newly imposed sanction regime hanging in the balance.

Aven, who said he has never had a British bank account in his name, is suspected of using ones held by his wife and estate management firms to fund his lifestyle. The National Crime Agency’s investigation has focused on around £3.7-million routed to the UK from an Austrian trust in the hours before European sanctions were imposed.

EU set to sanction Iran drone-maker 

The EU was aiming to formally adopt sanctions against three Iranian generals and one entity for providing military support to Russia, several officials said.

The entity, Shahed Aviation Industries, is responsible for the design and development of the Shahed drones that are being used in Ukraine. Iran has repeatedly denied exporting any weapons for use in the war in Ukraine.

Germany sees no urgency to approve more funds for Ukraine  

Germany is dragging its feet to approve €3-billion in loans for Ukraine and complete the release of the €9-billion package promised by the European Union in May.

Berlin told member states early this week that there was no financing gap in the war-torn country until the end of the year. For that reason, it considered it unnecessary to urge EU leaders to complete the approval of the remaining tranche when they meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, according to people familiar with the discussion.

Germany remains at loggerheads with the European Commission over the design of the financial package for Ukraine, and the delay to disburse the funds has irked US and Ukrainian officials.

Ukraine makes progress towards EU accession: German envoy

Germany’s ambassador to Ukraine, Anka Feldhusen, said the country had made progress on reform of the judiciary, as well as on electing a head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau as part of its bid to join the EU. The German government will monitor the authorities’ work in these areas, she said in a video briefing from Kyiv, adding that her country’s mission was working despite recent attacks on the Ukrainian capital.

“The German embassy, like other embassies in Kyiv, operates as before the attacks,” Feldhusen said. “We are shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainian society. I am indeed impressed how calmly people, especially in Kyiv, live through this.”

Russian occupation authorities leave city of Kherson 

Russian occupation authorities left the city of Kherson for the eastern bank of the Dnipro River amid a continuing Ukrainian counteroffensive in the area.

Russia-appointed Governor Vladimir Saldo told state television there were no plans to surrender the city, which was the first regional capital to fall to Russia in the invasion.

The state-run Tass news service reported that Russian occupation officials sent out text messages alerting residents of the southern city early on Wednesday and planned to relocate as many as 60,000 people from areas on the western side of the Dnipro.

Estonia says US will boost its troops, weapons

The US will send additional military personnel and weapons to Estonia as tensions with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine persist, the Baltic nation’s defence minister said.

“We reached an agreement in principle that the US will contribute to Estonia’s security with additional rotating units and capabilities,” Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said in an emailed statement during a three-day trip to the US.

UK defence chief flies to Washington

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace flew to Washington, DC, on Tuesday for talks with his US counterpart as the British government noted a shift in tactics from Russia in Ukraine.

“They’re moving towards more attacks on civilian infrastructure rather than on military targets,” UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told Sky News on Wednesday. “I’m not going to guess or speculate on what was discussed” in Washington.

Naftogaz restructuring blocked by hedge fund

London-based VR Capital is one of the investors involved in a stand-off between NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy and its bondholders, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

VR, which declined to comment to the newspaper, is a big holder of the energy company’s bonds and has taken a lead role in blocking the restructuring plan. DM