Live Blog | Ukraine Bans Clergy, US Expects Less Fighting

This is the 284th day of the war in Ukraine. Follow the latest news about the war and its aftermath in this live blog.

Oil giant OPEC and Russia meet on oil production

10:33 | Oil producing nations OPEC and allies like Russia are holding a key meeting today. There, countries will decide that they do not want to cut their production in January. If they decide to do so, it will be good news for Dutch motorists who fill up with petrol. Additional production cuts could push up oil prices, leading to higher prices at the pump.

‘Putin’s Foreign Legion Won’t Make a Dit in Butter’

10:00 | Not so much the infamous Wagner group, Prigozhin’s mercenaries, Putin’s confidant fighting in the Donbass. This is what retired Lieutenant General and former Army Chief of Staff Mart de Groof says in PNR’s Big Five. According to de Groof, the Wagner Group didn’t really make a dent in the bagmot’s butter packaging.

Ukraine bans clergy

07:54 | According to Reuters, Ukraine has imposed sanctions against ten senior members of a pro-Russian church community. This would have been done, according to the Ukrainian security services, because they would have cooperated with the Russian aggressors or approved the Russian invasion.

Yesterday’s announcement was the latest in a series of decisions against the Ukrainian branch of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has historically been loyal to Moscow. In Russia, too, the Church supports the war.

The group of clerics – all of whom are members of the church or very closely involved – live in areas under Russian control or abroad, according to information from the security services.

U.S. Expects Ukraine’s Serious Struggle

07:20 | Despite Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy supplies and other civilian infrastructure, the US intelligence chief does not think Ukraine will ease its resistance and thus maintain a “slow rate” of war in the coming months.

“The intensity of the war has already subsided somewhat, and we expect that to continue in the coming months,” intelligence chief Avril Haynes told the annual Reagan National Security Forum in California.

During the same speech, he said both the Ukrainian and Russian armies were resupplying and preparing for a post-winter counteroffensive. What that will look like, she said, is still unclear. “We are very skeptical about Russia’s ability to actually launch a counterattack. The Ukrainians have a better chance.’

The US defense secretary accused the Russians of deliberate bullying

03-12-2022 – 21:53 | US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has accused the Russians of inhumane conduct in the war in Ukraine. The former four-star general said Moscow was deliberately targeting Ukrainian civilians.

“With deliberate brutality, Russia is deliberately targeting civilians and civilian targets,” Austin said at a military forum in California on Saturday. “Russian attacks kill children, destroy schools and destroy hospitals.”