Ukrainian servicemen unload a plane with US Javelin anti-tank missiles at Kyiv’s Boryspil Airport, February 11, 2022 (Sergey Supinsky/AP/Getty)

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Ukraine — Frustrated Trump “Talks the Talk”…But Will He “Walk the Walk” Over Russia’s Invasion?

EA on TVP World: Will Trump Get Tough With Putin Over Ukraine?

Monday’s Coverage: Kyiv Hits Railway Network in Southwest Russia

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1827 GMT:

Russia’s oil and gas revenues fell by 28% year-on-year in July, in the third consecutive month of declines, to 787.3 billion rubles ($9.8 billion).

Between January and July, revenues fell by 19% to 5.52 trillion rubles ($68 billion) from 6.78 trillion rubles collected ($84 billion) in the same period last year.

Amid tightening European Union sanctions, Russian State company Gazprom has seen exports to Europe fall to levels of the 1970s.

Russia’s Finance Ministry initially projected 10.94 trillion rubles ($136 billion) in oil and gas revenue for 2025. The estimate has been revised downward by almost 25% to 8.32 trillion rubles ($103 billion).

UPDATE 1736 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted about a call with Donald Trump.

Topics included the increasing “brutality” of Russian attacks, sanctions on Moscow, “joint European decisions that can help our defense”, and “bilateral defense cooperation with America”.

Zelensky also had a “very good conversation” with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte: “In two days, we have over one billion dollars from our European NATO partners for the purchase of American weapons (see 1245 GMT and Original Entry).”

Zelensky also spoke of the situation in Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities shelled by Russia, the situation on the frontline, the “needs of our defenders”, and “diplomatic efforts with partners to expand cooperation and support”.

UPDATE 1245 GMT:

Norway, Sweden and Denmark have joined the Netherlands in a commitment to purchase and transfer US arms to Ukraine.

The Norwegian government said the three Scandinavian countries will supply around €430 million ($496 million), including support for “Ukraine’s air defense, ammunition and other essential equipment”.

Swedish ministers presented the outline of the deal at a press conference in Stockholm. Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said “Ukraine’s cause is our cause.

Defense Minister Pål Jonson added that continued Russian strikes showed there was little appetite from Moscow to end its invasion.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte responded:

UPDATE 1238 GMT:

Officials “close to the Kremlin” have maintained Russia’s ultimata for Ukraine to give up four regions as well as Crimea.

The officials said Vladimir Putin is unlikely to cease fire or limit his invasion in response to a vague “deadline” set by Donald Trump.

They said Putin is determined to continue the attacks, despite Trump’s disquiet at the killing of Ukraine’s civilians, because of his belief that Russia is winning and his scepticism that toughened US sanctions will have an impact.

While the Russian leader does not want to anger Trump, his goals for the invasion — including the annexation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east of Ukraine and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south — take precedence.

UPDATE 0932 GMT:

At least 10 civilians have been killed and at least 17 injured by Russia’s attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

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Air defenses downed 29 of 46 drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile.

In the town of Lozova in the Kharkiv region in the northeast, one person was murdered and ten injured or treated for shock, including two teenagers, amid Russian attacks on a railway station (see 0654 GMT).

A man and a woman, both aged 49, were killed near Vovchansk.

In the Zaporizhzhia region in the south, four people were slain in the village of Stepnohirsk and the town of Huliaipole. In the neighboring Kherson region, two civilians were slain and seven injured in attacks on 37 settlements including Kherson city.

Casualties were also reported in the Donetsk region in the east.

UPDATE 0756 GMT:

Amid threats from the Trump Administration of secondary sanctions, India’s External Affairs Ministry has defended purchases of oil from Russia.

Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted the statement, which claims that India began the purchases only after regular suppliers redirected their oil to Europe. The US “actively encouraged” India’s imports of Russian oil “for strengthening global energy markets’ stability”, the Ministry argued.

It asserted that the US and Europe have continued purchases from Russia during Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine:

It is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion.

India State-owned refineries have reportedly suspended deliveries of Russian oil because of the threat of 100% tariffs by Donald Trump. Four Russian tankers, each with up to 700,000 barrels, are waiting off the Indian coast.

EA on India’s News 9: Trump Trash Talks “Dead Economy” India

Ukraine Presidential Chief of Staff Andrii Yermak pressed Delhi with the claim that Ukrainian armed forces have seen Indian components in Russian drones striking civilians across Ukraine.

It is necessary to deprive the Russians of the opportunity to receive components from other countries and stop the killing of Ukrainians. Also, buying Russian energy resources is financing war, which does not contribute to peace.

UPDATE 0654 GMT:

Four civilians have been killed and three injured by Russian drone and artillery strikes on the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine on Monday.

Governor Ivan Fedorov said there were 431 strikes on 16 settlements. Residential buildings, homes, commercial buildings, and warehouses were damaged.

A railway mechanic was murdered overnight by drone strikes on Lozova in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine. Four rail workers and two teenagers are among 10 people wounded or suffering from shock.

“Critical infrastructure, multi-story buildings, and the private sector were damaged,” said Kharkiv Mayor Serhii Zelensky. Water and electricity supplies were interrupted in the area.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted about the latest Russian attacks:

The world now sees that sanctions against Russia, and secondary sanctions against all those who help it profiteer from oil, can work if they are strong enough. Therefore, pressure must be increased, and this will undoubtedly contribute to peace.

Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andrii Yermak added:

UPDATE 0625 GMT:

Amid Ukraine’s drone attacks on facilities supporting Vladimir Putin’s invasion, two major Russian oil refineries have halted or cut production.

After strikes on Saturday, the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in the Samara region, more than 1,000 km (621 miles) east of Moscow, has shut down. Two sources said drones damaged the main primary oil refining unit.

The complex has a production capacity of 8.3 million metric tons of oil per year.

The Ryazan refinery, 210 km (130 miles) southeast of the capital, has halved output. Two primary oil refining units have ceased operations.

The refinery is the fourth-largest in Russia, processing around 13.1 million metric tons of crude oil last year.

See also Ukraine War, Day 1,256: Kyiv Strikes Deep Inside Russia

Russian gasoline prices hit a record high on the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange on Monday.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: The Netherlands is the first country to purchase US arms under a new supply line for Ukraine, saying it will contribute €500 million ($578 million).

The arrangement was established last month, reversing the Trump Administration’s ban on military assistance for Kyiv against Russia’s 41-month invasion. Frustrated with Vladimir Putin’s refusal of a ceasefire and angered at Russian killing of Ukrainian civilians, Donald Trump agreed to the sales to NATO members, who will then transfer the arms to the Ukrainians.

Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans posted on Monday that the first tranche will include parts and missiles for US-made Patriot air defense systems:

Zelensky wrote of his gratitude to the Netherlands after a discussion with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, “Ukraine, and thus the whole of Europe, will be better protected from Russian terror.”

NATO Secretary Mark Rutte encouraged other members to participate in the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List initiative, “This is about getting Ukraine the equipment it urgently needs now to defend itself against Russian aggression.”

He said he expects “further significant announcements from other allies soon.”

The US Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Wheeler, echoed the expectation of more participants over coming weeks:

We’re moving as fast as possible….I think we’ll see it moving very quickly, certainly in the coming weeks, but some even sooner than that. The Dutch are just the first of many.