A man walks past an office of Ukraine’s State oil and gas company Naftogaz in Kyiv (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA/LightRocket/Getty)

Wednesday’s Coverage: Russia Breaches Defenses in Donetsk in East

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1150 GMT:

The toll has risen to three killed and at least 35 injured from a Russian bombing of a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv city late Wednesday (see 0630 GMT), as victims are recovered from rubble.

A man and two boys aged 12 and 15 were slain.

At least nine people were killed and at least 47 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Four civilians were slain in the Donetsk region in the east, one in Sumy in the north, and one in Kherson in the south.

Air defenses downed 17 of at least 50 attack drones. The Ukraine Air Force did not say how many were lost to electronic counter-measures.

Two X-59/69 missiles were also downed.

UPDATE 1048 GMT:

A Russian court has fined Google $2.5 decillion after the US company allegedly blocked pro-Kremlin propaganda on YouTube.

Written in full, $2.5 decillion is $2,500,000,000,000,000,​000,000,000,000,000,000,000 — $2.5 trillion trillion trillion.

Global GDP is only $110 trillion, or $110,000,000,000,000.

The original fine of 100,000 rubles ($1,000) was imposed on Google in 2020. Under Russian law, it doubles every week.

Russian State media said that if the fine is not paid within nine months, it will begin to double every day.

Google responded in its quarterly results, “We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect.”

Russia fined Google 7.2 billion rubles ($78.2 million) in December 2021 for failing to take down content. The company was fined 21.1 billion rubles ($227 million) in August 2022 and 3 million rubles ($32,000) in May 2023 over the same issue.

UPDATE 1008 GMT:

Police in Russian-occupied Crimea have charged a woman with child neglect after her 10-year-old daughter posted a video online that supposedly “discredited” the Russian army.

The video, shared on Russian Telegram channels, showed a girl choosing between Russian and Ukrainian flags. There was an angry-face emoji next to the Russian flag and a heart emoji next to that of Ukraine.

Police charged the mother with “failure to fulfil obligations for the maintenance and upbringing” of a child and will hand materials related to the case to child protection services. The allegation carries an initial fine of up to 500 rubles ($5) or a warning.

The court in Saky in western Crimea ruled, “Taking into account the age of the schoolgirl, her 38-year-old mother will be held administratively liable.”

UPDATE 0850 GMT:

Skydio, the US’s largest drone maker and a supplier to Ukraine’s military, is battling Chinese sanctions that threaten its supply chains.

The company is seeking alternative suppliers after Beijing blocked provision of critical components and batteries. It is also looking for help from the Biden Administration, with chief executive Adam Bry meeting senior officials at the White House and State Department.

China’s sanctions, imposed on October 11, are retaliation for US approval of the sale of attack drones to Taiwan.

Skydio told customers on Wednesday that it is rationing the number of batteries supplied with drones, and that it does not expect to have new suppliers until spring.

The company has sent more than 1,000 drones to Ukraine for intelligence gathering and reconnaissance purposes. Kyiv has requested thousands of its latest model, the X10, the first drone to pass Ukrainian electronic warfare and jamming tests.

UPDATE 0630 GMT:

A 12-year-old boy has been killed and at least 34 people injured in Russia’s latest attack on a residential neighborhood in Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv.

A 15-year-old boy is still trapped under the rubble.

A high-explosive FAB-500 bomb hit a 9-story building, destroying the entryway from the first through fifth floors.

Russia has stepped up guided bomb attacks on Kharkiv, in the northeast of the country, causing scores of casualties and seriously damaging the UNESCO-listed Derzhprom Building in the past week.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted, “Partners see what happens every day. In these circumstances, every delayed decision on their part means dozens or even hundreds more Russian bombs used against Ukraine.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Finland has begun confiscating Russian State-owned properties under a court order.

Helsinki is implementing a ruling by the Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague ordering Russia to pay around €4.6 billion ($5 billion) to Ukraine State oil and gas company Naftogaz. The money is compensation for Moscow’s theft of Naftogaz assets during the seizure of Crimea in 2014.

The Finns took control of 44 Russian properties worth a total of more than €35 million. They include the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Helsinki, four buildings in the Åland Islands, and a property in a seaside site in Kirkkonummi, where many Russian diplomats go for recreation.

Naftogaz hailed the first “publicly known successful asset freeze outside Ukraine” linked to lawsuits over Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory. CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov said in a statement:

Since Russia refuses to voluntarily pay Naftogaz the funds stipulated by The Hague ruling, we continue to use all available mechanisms to recover them. Today, we are one step closer to restoring justice. At the same time, we are taking active steps to enforce the arbitration award in other target jurisdictions involving Russian assets.

Naftogaz also noted that any remaining interest on Russia’s outstanding obligations will continue to accrue until full payment is received.

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Finland’s Ambassador. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “Of course, we will dispute this in court. Naturally, the Russian Federation will defend its property interests, so we will use all legal mechanisms to protect our interests.”

US Sanctions Almost 400 Companies and Individuals

The US blackliste
 d almost 400 entities and individuals from more than a dozen countries on Wednesday, in the widest action so against third-country evasion of sanctions against Russia.

The sanctions cover dozens of Chinese, Hong Kong, and Indian companies, and firms in Russia, the UAE, Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia, and Switzerland.

The US says the companies are supplying items, such as advanced components and microelectronics, aiding Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. An American official said:

This should send a serious message to both the governments and the private sectors of these countries that the US Government is committed to countering the evasion of our sanctions against Russia and to continue putting pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine.

A “senior administration official” noted the signal that the US will take action against companies in India, whose Government has claimed to be neutral over the Russian invasion.

“With India, we have been very direct and blunt with them about the concerns we have about what we see as sort of emerging trends in that country that we want to stop before they get too far down the road,” said the official.

A “senior State Department official” noted that more than 70% of the high-priority goods for Russia are from China, with an estimated worth of more than $22 billion since the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“That’s over 13 times the next largest supplier,” the official noted.

The spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, condemned “illegal and unjustifiable unilateral sanctions”: “The U.S. makes false accusations against China’s normal trade with Russia, just as it continues to pour unprecedented military aid into Ukraine. This is a typical double standard, and extremely hypocritical and irresponsible.”

Swiss Sanctions on Belarus

The Swiss Government approved more sanctions against Russia’s ally Belarus on Wednesday.

The sanctions bring Bern into line with the EU. They include a ban on investment in companies operating in the Belarusian energy sector; prohibition of the purchase and import of gold, diamonds, coal, and crude oil from Belarus or of Belarusian origin; and a ban the sale and export to Belarus of luxury goods, goods for oil refining and the liquefaction of natural gas, aviation fuel and fuel additives, maritime goods, and goods that strengthen Belarusian industrial capacity.