ANALYSTS said Russian troops were observing an “operational pause” in Ukraine today, as Russia’s Defence Ministry said troops there were being given an opportunity to “rest and receive letters and parcels from home.”

Russian artillery continued to bombard the cities of Kharkiv, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, Ukrainian authorities said, but for the first time since the invasion began on February 24 Russia did not report any territorial conquests. At least nine more Ukrainian civilians were killed by Russian shelling.

The pause in troop movements had been earlier hinted at by President Vladimir Putin, who had said Russian units in eastern Ukraine needed to be “beefed up” — possibly indicating Western claims that they have suffered heavy casualties are accurate.

Ukraine said its troops had planted the national flag on Snake Island — a small islet in the Danube river delta.

The island has been at the centre of conflicting narratives since the start of the war, when Western media carried stories of its heroic defenders all being killed by Russian shelling after refusing to surrender with the words “Go f*** yourself Russian warship.” They later emerged alive in Russian custody.

Last week, Russia announced it was withdrawing troops from the island in a “goodwill gesture” seized on by Ukraine as a retreat.

Today was no different, with Ukraine claiming to have “cleared” the island and removed abandoned ammunition before raising the flag. Russia in turn said it had fired on Ukrainian troops trying to raise the flag, “destroyed” some and observed the others flee.

 Australia’s new Foreign Minister Penny Wong appealed to China to use its influence over Russia to press for an end to hostilities, as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Bali, Indonesia, ahead of the weekend’s preparatory G20 meeting.
 
And German lawmakers approved a package of investments in renewable energy aimed at weaning it off Russian gas and oil. 
 
 The International Energy Agency pointed out that renewables infrastructure is currently heavily dependent on Chinese production, with China having “a share of more than 80 per cent in all the key manufacturing stages of solar panels.” 
 
It praised China for having brought the cost of solar tech down, but added that worsening international relations could turn this concentration of supply into a problem.