Russia said Tuesday that its troops had controlled a settlement in the Kharkov Region and attacked Ukraine's logistics centers and ports over the past day, while Ukraine said on the same day that it had struck Russia's oil refinery and drone production facility over the past 24 hours.
During the past 24 hours, Russian forces took control of the settlement of Olkhovatka in the Kharkov Region, and carried out coordinated drone strikes on logistics centers and ports in Ukraine, as well as naval vessels operating on behalf of the Ukrainian military, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
Russian Armed Forces also struck railway infrastructure in western Ukraine used to transport military cargo from Europe, the ministry said.
On Tuesday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Ukrainian forces reported 262 combat engagements on the frontline during the past day, and Ukrainian troops repelled Russian offensives in multiple directions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukrainian troops attacked the Syzran Oil Refinery in Russia's Samara Oblast and a drone production facility in the Russian city of Taganrog, as well as targets in the Black Sea overnight Tuesday.
Russia claims controlling Kharkov settlement, Ukraine strikes Russia's oil refinery, drone production facility
China's first major river-to-sea canal officially opened to navigation on Wednesday, a development that will lower logistics costs for Taiwan-funded enterprises and create new opportunities for them to tap the ASEAN market, a mainland spokeswoman said at a regular press conference in Beijing.
The 134.2-km Pinglu Canal in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is expected to shorten the shipping distance between China's southwestern hinterland and ASEAN countries by 560 km, reducing logistics costs by 18 to 30 percent.
The canal is part of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a logistics network linking western China with Southeast Asia through railways, roads, waterways and ports. It adds a water connection to the corridor, linking China's inland river system with the ports and shipping routes of the Beibu Gulf.
"It is widely agreed among businesspeople from Taiwan that the Pinglu Canal will facilitate Taiwan-funded enterprises in connecting with resources in western mainland cities, effectively reduce import and export logistics costs through rail-river-sea multimodal transport, and create new opportunities for Taiwan-funded enterprises to explore the ASEAN market after an industrial chain is created, spanning raw material processing in the west, river-to-sea transshipment in Guangxi, and sales in ASEAN markets. We welcome the vast number of businesspeople and enterprises from Taiwan to share in the opportunities of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in the west, take root in the mainland, and achieve a greater development," said Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, on Wednesday.
Pinglu Canal creates new opportunities for Taiwan-funded enterprises: spokeswoman
