Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of “nuclear terror” and said Russia wanted to cause another Chernobyl level disaster after Russian forces attacked a nuclear plant in Ukraine.
Zelensky begged Western leaders not to let Europe suffer a nuclear disaster and said “no country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power units” in a video address released by his office on Friday.
Russian troops have been battling with Ukrainians outside the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest plant in Europe. A fire has broken out in a building near the facility, but firefighters have struggled to contain the blaze as they cannot get past the intense fighting.
Russian forces have continued to surround key Ukrainian port-cities and are determined to capture more of Ukraine before barrelling down on the capital of Kyiv, which has also faced intense shelling.
Meanwhile, in a 90-minute call held on Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would continue with the war as long as Ukraine refuses to accept Russia’s conditions. Putin said Russia aimed to take full control of Ukraine by diplomatic or military means and repeated his objective with the invasion was the “neutralisation, demilitarisation and de-nazification” of Ukraine.
McKinsey became the latest company to announce it would cut ties with Russia. The consulting firm has faced widespread criticism both from those inside the company and outsiders for its slow response to withdraw from Russia.
Bloomberg has compiled a neat running list of organisations that have already cut ties with Russia.
But Russian firms aren’t backing down from sanctions and disinvestment, Bloomberg reports that the country may look to mining Bitcoin to use the cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services or just to convert it to hard cash. Russia could follow Iran’s example, which mined around 4.5% of the world’s Bitcoin last year, generating $1 billion for the Iranian government.
Russian firms are turning to China for their banking needs with a large influx of enquiries at a Moscow-based Chinese bank to open new accounts. A source told Reuters that between 200 and 300 new enquiries have been made in the last few days and the expectation is that transactions in the Chinese yuan would increase. A Chinese businessman said the logic was simple if you can’t do business in dollars and euros and you’re cut off from the Western world, the only place to turn is China.
In the markets, news of Ukraine’s largest power plant under attack sent the euro on the slide and risk aversion in the markets. The rand is slightly weaker this morning, currently trading at R15.24 but holding onto gains made against the euro and British pound.
On the commodity front, precious metals have opened firmer with gold currently at $1,939, platinum is at $1,089, and palladium is at $2,794.
Brent was approaching the $120 level yesterday before retreating to $110 at the close, it is slightly up this morning trading at $112 a barrel.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
London Stock Exchange suspends trading in Russian firm part-owned by Naspers – Fin24
SA should return loans from IMF and World Bank, says opposition MPs – EWN
Africa’s Biggest Pay-TV Provider Stops Showing Russia State News – Bloomberg
Global Business
American Farmers Are Set to Plant More Corn as War in Ukraine Threatens Supply – Bloomberg
The Sanctions Imposed So Far on Russia From the U.S., EU and U.K. – Bloomberg
Ukraine crisis: How much trade does Russia do with China? – BBC
Markets
Dollar Up, Euro Down as Russian Invasion of Ukraine Intensifies – Investing.com
Ukraine conflict: Asia stocks drop after nuclear plant attack – BBC
Oil Up, Fears of Russian Supply Disruption Outweigh Potential Iranian Supply – Investing.com
Tech
As U.S. and European businesses cut ties with Russia, Chinese tech firms remain silent – CNBC
Telecoms blackout hits northeast Ukraine; large power outages also reported – The Verge
Anonymous-linked group hacks Russian space research site, claims to leak mission files – The Verge
Video
Commodities surge to multi-year highs – Reuters
Japan’s automakers stop Russia output, exports – Reuters
Russia-Ukraine Conflict | Discussion | The human cost of war – eNCA
