Ukraine Latest: Defense Chiefs Speak Ahead of Ramstein Meeting

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(Bloomberg) — The intensity of Russia’s military actions, both on the ground in eastern Ukraine and via Friday’s massive missile barrage, seems to be rising as the invasion’s one-year mark approaches. 

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Top US and Ukrainian military leaders spoke ahead of Tuesday’s meeting of the Ramstein group of allied nations in Brussels. A NATO defense ministerial will follow, as well as the Munich Security Conference that starts Friday. Ukraine’s military commander Valeriy Zaluzhnyi told Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, that Kyiv’s forces continue to hold the contested town of Bakhmut in Donetsk. 

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Russia on Friday launched its biggest barrage of missile attacks so far this year as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy seeks more weapons to fend off Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Moody’s Investors Service on Friday cut Ukraine’s credit rating to the second-lowest score, citing “long-lasting challenges” to its economy and public finances from the war with Russia.  

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Key Developments

On The Ground

Dozens of settlements in Donetsk, Luhansk, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mykolayiv and Kherson regions were shelled Saturday with rockets, aviation strikes and drones, the Ukrainian General Staff said. Three rockets hit Kharkiv infrastructure late Saturday, injuring a civilian. Civilian infrastructure was also damaged in Kherson with one injury reported. Five drones were shot down, according to General Staff. Russian troops focus its main efforts on offensive actions in the Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut and Avdiyivska directions in eastern Ukraine, using planes to strike the positions of Kyiv’s troops.

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(All times CET)

Russian Casualties Likely at Highest Rate Since February, UK Says (8 a.m.)

The UK defense ministry in a Twitter update said that over the past two weeks, “Russia has likely suffered its highest rate of casualties since the first week of the invasion” as poorly trained and under-resourced troops increasingly take to the battlefield. 

As estimated by Ukraine, which the UK said it can’t verify but “are likely accurate,” the mean average of Russian casualties in the past seven days has climbed to 824. Ukraine is also seeing a high attrition rate, the UK added. 

US, Ukraine Defense Chiefs Speak Ahead of Ramstein (7 a.m.)

Ukraine’s defence minister spoke with his US counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, with the approach of the next gathering of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. 

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The Ramstein meeting, named for a US air base in Germany, will be held Tuesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels. A NATO defense ministerial meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. Austin and Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will attend.

“We discussed the current situation at the front, the urgent needs of the defense forces of Ukraine and priorities” for the meeting, Ukraine’s Oleksii Reznikov said on Twitter. 

Ukraine Pushes for Sanctions on Russian Atomic Industry (7 a.m.)

UN’s nuclear agency, which currency las missions at all Ukrainian nuclear power plants, should help to accelerate the process of imposing sanctions on Russian nuclear industry, Ukraine’s energy minister said on Facebook after meeting with one of acting IAEA experts group.

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“Russia must strictly answer for the seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, for missiles and drones near nuclear power facilities, and for neglect of international principles of nuclear and radiation safety,” Herman Halushchenko added. 

Zaluzhnyi Tells US Joint Chiefs’ Milley That Ukraine Still Holds Bakhmut (5:40 p.m.)

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, spoke Saturday with Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. The previous announced call between the pair was on Jan. 25. 

Milley and Zaluzhnyi discussed Friday’s massive Russian missile barrage, air defense for Ukraine, and Russia’s use of underwater drones that may threaten the Black Sea safe-transit corridor, according to a Twitter post.

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Kremlin forces are attacking Ukrainian positions as many as 50 times a day in the Donetsk region, Zaluzhnyi told Milley. The Ukrainian commander also said his forces “continue to hold Bakhmut under our control.” 

Zelenskiy Looks to Reconstruction at JPMorgan Summit (10:45 a.m.)

Ukraine needs foreign investment to diversify and decentralize its energy system and make it less vulnerable to Russian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told an investment summit organized by JPMorgan. 

Zelenskiy met in Kyiv with three senior officials from the bank and addressed the conference via video link, according to a posting on the presidential website. 

Ukraine’s economy ministry said Thursday it would work with JPMorgan to attract private investments for the nation’s reconstruction. The ministry, JPMorgan and US investment company BlackRock signed a memo of understanding. 

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Ukraine Credit Rating Cut by Moody’s on ‘Likely’ Restructuring (11 p.m.)

Moody’s Investors Service cut Ukraine’s credit rating to the second-lowest score, citing “long-lasting challenges” to its economy and public finances from the war with Russia. 

The agency now rates Ukraine one notch lower at Ca, on par with Argentina. Moody’s also changed the outlook to stable from negative, according to a statement Friday. 

Ukraine has about $23 billion outstanding in international bonds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Read more: Ukraine Credit Rating Cut by Moody’s on ‘Likely’ Restructuring 

Putin Weaponizing Energy With Oil Output Cut: White House (10 p.m.)

Russia’s plan to slash its oil output by 500,000 barrels a day next month shows the extent to which President Vladimir Putin is willing to use resources like energy as a weapon, said John Kirby, spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council. 

Putin’s move isn’t surprising after a decision by G-7 and the European Union to implement price caps on Russian oil and oil products, Kirby said. The US will continue to work with allies and partners, including those in OPEC, he added, saying he had no specific conversations to speak of at this time.  

Oil posted its largest weekly gain in four months after Russia followed through on a threat to cut production in response to Western energy sanctions.