Ukraine Bans All Imports From Russia
Ukraine has banned all imports from Russia, one of its key trading partners before the war with annual imports valued at about $6 billion, and called on other countries to follow and impose harsher economic sanctions on Moscow.“Today we officially announced a complete termination of trade in goods with the aggressor state,” Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on her Facebook page on Saturday.
“From now on, no Russian Federation’s products will be able to be imported into the territory of our state.”
Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, exchange of goods and services between the two neighboring countries has been virtually non-existent, but Saturday’s move makes the termination of imports a law.
“The enemy’s budget will not receive these funds, which will reduce its potential to finance the war,” Svyrydenko said.
“Such a step of Ukraine can serve as an example for our Western partners and stimulate them to strengthen sanctions against Russia, including the implementation of the energy embargo and isolation of all Russian banks.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on the West to boycott Russian oil and other exports and halt exports to Russia over its military assault.
Zelenskyy Thanks Leaders of UK, Austria for Visits
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the leaders of Britain and Austria for their visits to Kyiv on Saturday and pledges of further support.In his daily late-night video address to the nation, Zelenskyy also thanked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a global fundraising event that raised more than 10 billion euros ($11 billion) for Ukrainians who have had to flee their homes.
Zelenskyy said democratic countries were united in working to stop the war. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer became the latest of several European rulers to meet Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy repeated his call for a complete embargo on Russian oil and gas, calling them the sources of Russia’s “self-confidence and impunity.”
Leader of EU Nation Asked Ukraine for Evidence Bucha Massacre Wasn’t Staged: Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has revealed that an EU member state’s leader called into question Kyiv’s version of events surrounding the Bucha killings, asking for proof that the atrocities were not staged.Ukraine claims Russian troops committed atrocities against civilians in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, before retreating last week. Russia has rejected the accusations, and claims Kyiv manipulated evidence in what it calls a “provocation.”
Commenting on Berlin’s support for Kyiv, the Ukrainian president lamented Germany’s apparent lack of enthusiasm for tougher sanctions against Russia.
Asked if he was prepared to sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin and talk, Zelenskyy said, “Today Ukraine has no way out other than to sit down at the negotiating table.” He added that “no one else in Russia has the power to stop this war,” as Putin is the only one who “decides when this war will end.”
British Prime Minister Meets Ukraine’s Zelenskyy in Kyiv
Britain’s Boris Johnson, one of Ukraine’s staunchest backers, flew to Kyiv on Saturday to pledge tighter sanctions on Russia and offer President Volodymyr Zelenskyy more defensive arms, a move the Ukrainian leader said others should follow.At a meeting shrouded in secrecy until Johnson appeared in the Ukrainian capital, the two leaders cemented the close ties they have nurtured since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The move caps weeks of lobbying by Johnson to meet Zelenskyy.
With both men standing at podiums in front of cameras, they praised each other for their cooperation since the Russian invasion, which Moscow calls a “special operation” to demilitarize and “denazify” its neighbor. Zelenskyy rejects the description, saying Russia is bent on destroying his country.
“We must put more and more pressure on the Russian Federation, work harder to help the people of Ukraine defend it against the Russian Federation, and step up sanctions,” Zelenskyy said.
“Other democratic Western states should follow the example of Great Britain. It’s time to impose a complete ban on Russian energy supplies, and increase the delivery of weapons to us.”
Johnson replied: “Together with our partners, we are going to ratchet up the economic pressure and we will continue to intensify, week by week, the sanctions on Russia.”
He added that the measures would include moving away from the use of Russian hydrocarbons.
Two EU States May End Cooperation Over Ukraine
Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, one of the top politicians of the Eastern European nation, said on Friday that cooperation with Hungary would not be possible unless Prime Minister Viktor Orban aligns himself with Kyiv. Prior to the conflict in Ukraine, Poland and Hungary were staunch allies.Kaczynski said in a radio interview that he has an “unequivocally negative” opinion of Orban’s refusal to take a harder stance on Russia following the latter’s military offensive on Ukraine.
“When Orban says that he cannot see what happened in Bucha, he must be advised to see an eye doctor,” Kaczynski said, referring to Orban’s refusal to blame Russia for the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. Russia has strongly rejected the allegations, claiming Ukrainian forces staged a “crude and cynical provocation,” and has demanded a U.N. investigation into the incident.
No More Bundeswehr Weapons for Ukraine: Defense Minister
The German military can no longer supply Ukraine with weapons from its stockpiles, Germany’s Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has said.In an interview with Die Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung published on Saturday, Lambrecht said that while “we all have an obligation to support Ukraine in its courageous fight,” in terms of “supplies from the Bundeswehr’s stockpiles” Germany has “in the meantime reached a limit.” She explained that the German military had to “be able to ensure” the country’s own defense.
“But that doesn’t mean we can’t do more for Ukraine,” Lambrecht stressed, suggesting that Kyiv could buy equipment it needed from German manufacturers directly. The minister pointed out that the German government “was constantly coordinating” with the authorities in Kyiv to facilitate such purchases.
Russia Stages War Games in Kaliningrad Enclave, Ifax Says
Russia staged war games on Saturday in Kaliningrad—an enclave on the Baltic Sea sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania—Interfax news agency cited the Baltic Fleet Command as saying, days after a senior official warned European countries against any potential action against Kaliningrad.“Up to 1,000 military personnel ... and more than 60 military equipment units were involved in the control checks,” Interfax news quoted the Russian Baltic Fleet Command’s press service as saying.
Separately, 20 Su-27 fighters and Su-24 front-line naval aviation bombers conducted planned combat training overnight, simulating attacks on low-speed air and ground targets, command posts and military equipment in Kaliningrad, Interfax said.
It did not give a reason for the exercises or say when they had been planned.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko warned European countries on Wednesday against any potential action against the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, saying “this would be playing with fire.”
Boris Johnson in Kyiv Pledging More Weapons
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has traveled to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in show of solidarity.The two leaders meeting Saturday will discuss the “UK’s long term support to Ukraine’’ including a new package of financial and military aid, the prime minister’s office said. The visit was not announced in advance. An image of the two leaders at a conference table was posted online by the Ukrainian Embassy in London. The deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andrij Sybiha, said they were meeting in Kyiv.
The visit comes a day after Johnson pledged another 100 million pounds ($130 million) in high grade military equipment to Ukraine, saying Britain wants to help Ukraine defend itself from continuing Russian assaults.
Speaking Friday at a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Johnson said he would give Ukraine’s military more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, another 800 anti-tank missiles and precision munitions capable of lingering in the sky until directed to their target.
He also promised more helmets, night vision and body armor. The items were in addition to some 200,000 pieces of non-lethal military equipment from the UK that had already been promised.
Captured Russian Sailors Freed in Ukraine: Moscow
Fourteen Russian sailors seized by Ukrainians on a cargo vessel in February have now been rescued, according to Tatyana Moskalkova, Russia’s top human rights official.The crew of the cargo ship Azov Concord “has been freed and is being evacuated to safety by our troops,” Moskalkova wrote on social media on Saturday.
She said that the sailors were captured by the Ukrainians in the Azov Sea port of Mariupol on February 24, the day Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine. The ship could not leave the port due to naval mines, she added.
YouTube Bans Russian Parliament Channel
YouTube has banned the channel of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, prompting government officials to renew longtime threats against the platform.The Duma TV channel reported the ban on the messaging app Telegram, noting that it had 145,000 subscribers. In comments to the Russian news agency Interfax, Google didn’t give an exact reason for the move, but said the company follows “all applicable sanction and trade compliance laws.”
Russia’s state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor demanded that YouTube unblock the channel. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Saturday that the service “has handed itself a sentence” and urged its users to “download content, transfer it onto Russian platforms. And fast.”
State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin called the move against the parliament’s YouTube channel “another proof of violations of the rights and freedoms of citizens by Washington.”
Russian People Face Drastically Inflated Food Prices
Food prices have surged in Russia to levels exceeding the rate of food price inflation throughout the Western bloc, forcing Russians to spend an unusually high portion of their personal income on food as the country continues its war in Ukraine.In remarks to reporters from Reuters, the director of the United Nations food agency’s Russian liaison said that Russian citizens were spending an average of 40 percent of their disposable income on food, which constitutes twice as high a share of proportional spending on food as prior to the invasion.
According to data from the Russian government, food price inflation reached 18.75 percent by the beginning of April (compared to 7.5 percent for the European Union), as international sanctions have reduced the supply of familiar foodstuffs in the Russian Federation.
Russian Shares Footage of Evacuation in Mariupol
The Russian Defence Ministry released video on Saturday showing the evacuation of civilians in the southern port city of Mariupol, which has been subjected to a monthlong blockade and intense fighting.Over 80 local residents, including 14 children, who were hiding in basements close to the contact line, were taken to a safe place by the Russian military and Donetsk People’s Republic separatists, the ministry reported.
This information could not be independently verified.
UK: Russian Naval Forces Firing Into Ukraine
Britain’s Ministry of Defense says Russian naval forces are launching cruise missiles into Ukraine to support military operations in the eastern Donbass region and around the cities of Mariupol and Mykolaiv.In its Saturday morning briefing, the ministry said Russia’s air forces are expected to increase activity in the south and east of Ukraine to further support these operations.
The ministry said these actions come as attempts to establish a land corridor between Crimea and Russian-controlled parts of the Donbass region “continue to be thwarted by Ukrainian resistance.”
Russia–US ’military Confrontation' Possible: Moscow
Western countries, by “pumping” weapons into Ukraine, risk leading the United States and Russia “onto the path of direct military confrontation,” Moscow’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said earlier this week.Since the launch of Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, NATO countries and their allies have refrained from direct military involvement in the conflict, but have been actively providing Kyiv with weapons and ammunition. By doing so, the ambassador said in an interview with Newsweek, Western states are “directly involved in the current events” and are inciting “further bloodshed.” Antonov called these actions “dangerous” and “provocative.”
“They can lead the U.S. and the Russian Federation onto the path of direct military confrontation. Any supply of weapons and military equipment from the West, performed by transport convoys through the territory of Ukraine, is a legitimate military target for our Armed Forces.”
Antonov also said that “a military exploration” of Ukraine by NATO began long before the start of the Russian campaign in the neighboring country. In Antonov’s words, Ukraine “was flooded with Western weaponry while President Vladimir Zelenskyy announced Kyiv’s plans to acquire nuclear weapons.”
Russia Accuses Ukraine of ‘Barbarism’
The Russian Foreign Ministry has requested that the international community “make an unbiased assessment” of the actions of the Ukrainian forces and “stop supplying them with weapons, as well as urge Kyiv to abandon unacceptable fighting methods.”Earlier, Moscow accused the Ukrainians of being behind the attack that has claimed the lives of 50 people, including five children, according to the latest assessments provided by both sides. Western leaders have accepted Kyiv’s position that Russia is to blame.
The Foreign Ministry has denounced the attack as a “barbaric act of aggression” and said that it only proves Russia had been right to launch its military operation to protect the two Donbass republics it had earlier recognized. The attack on Kramatorsk also closely resembles another missile strike that killed 17 people in the city of Donetsk in mid-March, it has added.
Austrian Leader Sees More Sanctions on Russia
Austria’s leader says he expects more European Union sanctions against Russia but is defending his country’s opposition so far to cutting off deliveries of Russian gas.Chancellor Karl Nehammer spoke Saturday after becoming the latest of several European leaders to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
Nehammer said at a news conference that “we will continue to ratchet up sanctions inside the European Union until the war stops” and that a package of sanctions imposed this week “won’t be the last one.” He acknowledged that “as long as people are dying, every sanction is still insufficient.”
Austria, which gets most of its gas from Russia, is one of the countries that have been resisting a halt to deliveries. Questioned about that Saturday, Nehammer said that E.U. sanctions are becoming increasingly “accurate” but that “sanctions are effective when they hit those they are directed against, and don’t weaken those imposing sanctions against the one who is conducting war.”
Austria is militarily neutral and not a member of NATO.
Russia Bans Western NGOs
Russia has ordered shut more than a dozen local branches of nonprofits, foundations, and other NGOs based in the West, saying they have violated Russian law.Among the organizations affected are Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace, and several German and Polish NGOs.
The Justice Ministry in Moscow announced on Friday that it will be removing from the registry fifteen Russian branches of organizations based in the United States, UK, Germany, and Poland, citing “identified violations of Russian law.”
Russia’s ban applies to branches of the UK-based Amnesty International Ltd, the U.S.-based Carnegie Foundation for International Peace, Human Rights Watch Inc., and the Institute for International Education. Russian branches of the Swiss-based Aga Khan Foundation and the Polish NGO Wspólnota Polska were likewise shuttered.
Most of the banned NGOs are German, however, including the foundations named after Friedrich Naumann, Friedrich Ebert, Konrad Adenauer, Hanns Seidel, Heinrich Boell, and Rosa Luxemburg—as well as the German Research Foundation offices in Russia.
Ukraine Urges Civilians to Flee as Rail Attack Toll Rises
Ukraine on Saturday called on civilians in the eastern Luhansk region to flee after officials said more than 50 civilians trying to evacuate by rail from a neighboring region were killed in a missile attack.Air raid sirens rang out across much of the east of Ukraine on Saturday morning, officials said, as Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai urged people in a televised address to leave as Russia was amassing forces for an offensive.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a “firm global response” to Friday’s missile attack on a train station crowded with women, children, and the elderly in Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region.
Russia’s defense ministry denied responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement the missiles that struck the station were used only by Ukraine’s military and that Russia’s armed forces had no targets assigned in Kramatorsk on Friday.
All statements by the Ukrainian authorities on the attack were “provocations,” it said.
The Kremlin said on Friday that what it calls a “special operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” Russia’s southern neighbor could end in the foreseeable future with its aims being achieved through work by the Russian military and peace negotiators.
But NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, whose organization like Ukraine has dismissed Russia’s arguments as a pretext for an unprovoked invasion, claimed the war could last months or even years.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Moscow was preparing for a thrust to try to gain full control of the eastern Donbass regions of Donetsk and Luhansk partly held by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014, after withdrawing forces from the Kyiv region.
Russia Says Coal Earmarked for Europe Can Be Redirected to Other Markets
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that coal was in high demand, and that Russian coal earmarked for Europe would be redirected to other markets if the E.U. refused it.The European Union on Friday formally adopted its fifth package of sanctions against Russia since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, including bans on the import of coal, wood, chemicals, and other products.
“Coal is still a highly sought-after commodity. As consumption in Europe is abandoned, here there is a certain grace period, coal flows will be redirected to alternative markets,” Peskov said.
Russia exported a total of 223 million tonnes of coal last year, of which 48.7 million, or 22 percent, went to Europe, according to the Russian energy ministry.
The decision by European countries to abandon Russian coal would backfire, Russian energy minister Nikolai Shulginov said on social media on Friday, as he expects a process to replace coal shipments from Moscow to take time and drive costs.
Russia’s Foreign Currency Rating Cut, Risk of Debt Default Looms
Russia’s foreign currency payment rating has been downgraded after Moscow used rubles to make a dollar-denominated debt payment earlier in the week, a move that rating agency S&P Global said casts doubt on Russia’s ability or willingness to honor its obligations to foreign debtholders.S&P Global on Saturday cut Russia’s rating to “selective default,” saying in a statement that it understood that Russia had made coupon and principal payments on dollar-denominated Eurobonds on Monday.
“We currently don’t expect that investors will be able to convert those ruble payments into dollars equivalent to the originally due amounts, or that the government will convert those payments within a 30-day grace period,” the agency said.
Ex-Russian President Warns About ‘World Order’
The unprecedented sanctions that Western nations have imposed on Russia since the start of its military offensive in Ukraine only further erode the existing system of international institutions and the authority of the U.N., former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned in a Telegram post on Friday.“This is nothing but infringement on the Russian Federation’s sovereign rights committed by certain nations and blocs,” he said, calling the penalties illegal. The “unprecedented scale” of the restrictions placed on Moscow will only lead to the “collapse of all international institutions and primarily the U.N.,” Medvedev, who is currently the deputy head of the Russian Security Council, warned.
More Evacuations Needed From Ukraine’s Luhansk as Shelling Increases: Governor
More people need to evacuate from the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine as more Russian forces have been arriving, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Saturday.He said that some 30 percent of residents still remain in cities and villages across the region and have been asked to evacuate.
“They [Russia] are amassing forces for an offensive and we see the number of shelling has increased,” Gaidai told public television.
Ukraine has increasingly been warning that Russia plans intensified attacks in the country’s east and south after withdrawing its troops from areas to the north of the capital, Kyiv.
The United States claimed this week that Moscow probably plans to deploy tens of thousands of soldiers in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that 10 humanitarian corridors have been agreed for the evacuation of people across the country, including for people to leave the southern besieged port of Mariupol by private transport.
Multiple attempts to agree to safe passage for buses to take supplies to Mariupol and bring out civilians have failed, with each side blaming the other.
The Russian defense ministry said on Saturday that it transported more than 80 residents from the left bank district of Mariupol on Friday, the Russian RIA news agency reported.
“All people were taken to safe places,” RIA cited a statement from the ministry. “Residents who suffered from shelling were provided with qualified medical help by Russian servicemen.”
Reuters could not immediately verify that.
Germany Could End Russian Oil Imports This Year: Scholz
Germany could end Russian oil imports this year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday (April 8), signaling the urgency driving Europe’s biggest economy to wean itself off energy from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.Scholz was responding to a journalist’s question about whether he felt a sense of shame that E.U. countries were paying Russia billions of euros for fossil fuels.
“We are actively working to get independent from the import of [Russian] oil and we think that we will be able to make it during this year,” Scholz said during a news conference in London with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The European Union this week approved new sanctions against Russia, including a ban on coal imports starting in August.
Russian oil now accounts for 25 percent of German imports, down from 35 percent before the invasion, and gas imports have been cut to 40 percent from 55 percent. Russian hard coal imports were down to 25 percent from 50 percent before the invasion.
A stoppage of Russian gas imports is tougher for Germany, which in the first quarter received 40 percent of deliveries from Russia. Germany wants to cut the share of Russian gas to 24 percent by this summer. But it could take until the summer of 2024 for Europe’s largest economy to end its reliance on Russian gas.
“We are actively working to get independent from the necessity of importing gas from Russia,” Scholz said.
Ukraine Says 10 Humanitarian Corridors Agreed for Saturday
Ten humanitarian corridors to evacuate people from Ukraine’s besieged regions have been agreed for Saturday, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.The planned corridors include one for people evacuating by private transport from the city of Mariupol, Vereshchuk said.
Ukraine War Pushes Germany to Strengthen Its Bunker Infrastructure
Germany has started working on strengthening its basement shelters as well as building up crisis stocks in case of war, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported on Saturday, citing the country’s interior minister.After decades of attrition of Germany’s armed forces, Russia’s war in Ukraine has led to a major policy shift with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledging to increase defense spending and injecting 100 billion euros ($109 billion) into the army.
The government is also looking into upgrading its public shelter systems and will increase spending on civil protection, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the newspaper.
“There are currently 599 public shelters in Germany. We will check whether we could upgrade more of such systems. In any case, the dismantling has stopped,” Faeser said.
Germany is working on new concepts for strengthening underground parking lots, subway stations, and basements to become possible shelters, she said, adding that the government has given the federal states 88 million euros to install new sirens.
“But as far as nationwide coverage is concerned, we’re not even close,” Faeser added.
The country will also build up crisis stocks with supplies including medical equipment, protective clothing, masks or medication, she said.
Russian Forces Destroy Ammo Depot at Ukrainian Air Base: Interfax
Russian forces have destroyed an ammunition depot at the Myrhorod Air Base in central Ukraine, Interfax news agency reported on Saturday, quoting the Russian Defence Ministry.A Ukrainian air force MiG-29 fighter and a Mi-8 helicopter were also destroyed in the attack on the base in the Poltava region, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
US Curbs Russian Access to Foreign Fertilizers and Valves
The United States on Friday broadened its export curbs against Russia and Belarus, restricting access to imports of items such as fertilizer and pipe valves as it seeks to ratchet up pressure on Moscow and Minsk following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.President Joe Biden’s administration also restricted flights of American-made aircraft that are owned, controlled or leased by Belarusians from flying into Belarus “as part of the U.S. government’s response to Belarus’s actions in support of Russia’s aggressive conduct in Ukraine.”
The Commerce Department said it will begin requiring Russians and Belarusians to get a special license when seeking to obtain a host of goods from U.S. suppliers and pledged to deny those licenses. The goods include fertilizer, pipe valves, ball bearings and other parts, materials and chemicals.
The administration said items made abroad with U.S. tools would also require a U.S. license, which the administration plans to deny.
Actions in late February and March placed unprecedented controls on export of U.S. and foreign-made items destined for Russia or Belarus. Those measures, coordinated with over 30 other countries, restrict a broad swath of commodities, software, and technology.
EU Says Resuming Diplomatic Presence in Kyiv
The European Union will resume its diplomatic presence in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, after temporarily moving it to Poland after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the bloc said on Friday.Matti Maasikas, head of the EU delegation in Ukraine, joined top EU officials visiting the country on Friday and will remain in Kyiv to reopen the delegation and assess conditions for staff to return, the bloc’s diplomatic service said.
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said the move would enhance the bloc’s interactions with the Ukrainian government and help support Ukrainian citizens.
The EU’s delegation was evacuated from Kyiv to the Polish city Rzeszow shortly after Russia’s invasion.
Russia Relaxes Rules on Foreign Exchange Buying as Ruble Rallies
Russia will relax temporary capital control measures aimed at limiting a drop in the ruble by allowing individuals to buy cash foreign currency and will also scrap commission for buying forex through brokerages, the central bank said on Friday.The ruble has rebounded on the Moscow Exchange from record lows in March to levels seen before Feb. 24, when Russia started what it calls “a special military operation” in Ukraine, as capital control measures suffocated demand for forex.
The swift rebound in the ruble raised concerns about its economic and financial impact as analysts have warned that the volatile and strong ruble could pose a threat to Russian revenues from selling commodities abroad for foreign currency.
The central bank said banks will be allowed to sell cash foreign currency to individuals from April 18 but only the notes they have received no earlier than on April 9.
The central bank is also scrapping its requirement for banks to limit the gap between prices at which they offer to buy and sell foreign exchange. But it recommended banks sell forex to import-focused companies at a rate of no more than two rubles above the market rate.
The central bank said individuals will be allowed to withdraw not only dollars but also euros from their accounts from April 11, but kept the maximum amount that can be withdrawn until Sept. 9 at the equivalent of $10,000.
