Russia Watch

CAIRO — Ukrainian forces are operating in western Libya under a covert deal endorsed by the West, and they used the Northern African country’s territory to strike a Russian tanker in the Mediterranean last month, two Libyan officials said Tuesday.

The Russian-flagged Arctic Metagaz, carrying 61,000 tons of liquefied natural gas, was badly damaged in a suspected sea drone attack near Maltese waters early in March. It has since drifted off Libya. All 30 crew members were rescued and put on another vessel heading to the Libyan city of Benghazi, the Libyan Maritime Authority said.

Nearly half a ⁠million people were left without electricity in Russia’s Belgorod region, while 150,000 consumers ‌in the city of Chernihiv and surrounding areas were without power on Wednesday.

After a few rounds of trilateral talks between the US, Ukraine and Russia, the diplomatic process aimed at putting an end to Moscow’s full-scale invasion has largely stalled with no clear progress in sight.

Kyiv’s delegation returned from two days of meetings in Miami with few tangible results, following what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as a discussion over “the key points, opportunities and challenges”.

“The most important thing is to work out security guarantees in such a way that they bring us closer to ending the war. Security is the key to peace.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a ruthless attack order in the face of peace efforts(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia launched a mass overnight onslaught of almost 500 bombs on Ukraine injuring at least 26 people – as the Kremlin dampened peace talk hopes.

At least 420 deadly drones and dozens of missiles were used in the attack, plus anti-ship , ballistic and cruise weapons , many of which were aimed at Kyiv and seven other regions.