⚡️Destroy. Fix. Repeat: Russia is creating a devastating doom loop inside Ukraine’s energy system.

Read our latest in the Kyiv Independent: kyivindependent.com/destroy-fix-...

'Very cautious decision' — Ukraine's central bank leaves interest rate unchanged at 15.5%.

See more here: kyivindependent.com/very-cautiou...

Ukraine's central bank has held the country's exchange rate relatively stable in the last year after the initial volatility caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion. But that might be about to change.

Read more: kyivindependent.com/will-ukraine...

Number 3: Ukraine’s closer trading relations with the EU.

Over 60% of Ukraine's exports now go to the EU, relative to about 40% before the war.

Reverting to pre-war rules may pose challenges to Ukrainian exporters, who have adapted to trade with fewer tariffs.

Number 2: EU imports from Ukraine of all 290 agricultural products for which tariffs were lifted in June 2022.

In my piece for the Kyiv Independent, I report what today’s return of EU tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural goods means for everyone involved.

Here are a three charts that tell part of the story.

Number 1: the surge of cereal imports from Ukraine into bordering EU countries.

Yesterday, the day after I posted this thread, a high-rise building in Nikopol was hit by a drone.

Here’s a video recorded by a pedestrian.

Source: UNITED24 telegram channel.

As well as targeting people directly, the Russian army is able to deploy mines from the sky.

Known colloquially as ‘butterfly mines’, the PFM-1 antipersonnel device is tiny but lethal. 7/

Nikopol is 4km across from Russian-occupied territories, and under 20km from Enerhodar, home to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The Russians occupied Enerhodar in March 2022 and have since set up military camps in the town and surrounding villages. 2/

"Only 43 vessels are jointly sanctioned by the EU, UK and US, so there’s lots of scope to boost overlap of sanctions, which will maximize their effectiveness.”
from @robin-j-brooks.bsky.social

TraumaZone, Adam Curtis' latest, is so immersive.
Shot from episode 2.

On Starlink's dominance: "In May, Amazon prepared to put its first two satellites into orbit, but the launch was put on hold after a problem was discovered in rocket testing. Since then, Mr. Musk has sent at least 595 more Starlink satellites into space."

territorial and military perspective on Nigeria, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Benin (agreed to possible ECOWAS coalition) vs Niger (plus Mali and Burkina Faso) from warmapper.org