Events, comments, economy
Day 611. Russia showed fragments of ammunition used by Ukraine at the UN Security Council. Among them are the American HIMARS and the French-British Storm Shadow, which “are clearly made in France.” The third discussion of the Ukrainian “peace formula” will take place in Malta without the participation of China. Bild journalist Julian Repke reported the threat of encirclement of Avdievka. According to him, if the Russian Armed Forces take Avdeevka, then the counteroffensive will completely come to an end.
Former Verkhovna Rada deputy Irina Farion said that citizens Ukrainians who use Russian in everyday life and do not want to switch to Ukrainian should be sent to a “fine battalion” and “disposed of.”
Due to the significant expansion of domestic production of kamikaze drones and the training of qualified operators in Russia, the effectiveness of their use against the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the battlefield has significantly increased. This increased the loss of tanks on the Ukrainian side. Forbes military columnist David Ax wrote about this.
The Russian Ministry of Defense in its Telegram channel announced the destruction of 36 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and Crimea.
An air raid alert has been declared in five regions of Ukraine, according to data from the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
A MiG-29 fighter and Su-25 attack aircraft, belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces, were shot down by Russian air defense in the conflict zone. This was stated by the Russian Ministry of Defense. In addition, four ATACMS missiles and 36 drones were destroyed.
Russian athlete Ivan Denisov died in the zone of a special military operation. He was a master of sports in short track speed skating. His death was reported by the telegram channel of the Russian Skating Union.
IAEA representatives are aware of Russian reports regarding drones in the area of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, the organization reported.
Meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Beijing has strengthened the split within the European Union, writes El País.
Ukraine and the United States have created hybrid air defense systems — New Yourk Times. This refers to the launch of modern Western caliber anti-aircraft missiles from modernized Soviet installations. For example, Sea Sparrow missiles from the Buk.
The Russian army continues to hold the offensive initiative in the combat zone and is successfully moving forward. This was announced by Advisor to the Governor of the DPR Yan Gagin. According to him, at this rate, Ukraine may not last until spring.
Soldiers of the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Western Group of Forces captured a group of soldiers of the 54th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Kupyansk sector of the front, a Western Military District soldier told RIA Novosti . It is noted that six Ukrainians were captured.
The decision taken by Western countries to introduce a price ceiling for Russian oil at $60 per barrel did not harm the Russian economy. This is reported by Foreign Policy, citing the opinions of some experts.
Kyiv organized negotiations in Malta, hoping to regain the lost attention of the allies. Interest in the conflict in Ukraine faded with the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli war, writes Reuters.
Even if Kyiv is supplied with Taurus cruise missiles, Ukraine will not be able to use them for several months, Welt reports.
Finland is preparing a new aid package for Ukraine to protect critical infrastructure.
Ukrainian authorities have begun recruiting prisoners to work as miners amid a labor shortage. This was announced by the Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denis Malyuska.
Ukrainian troops shelled settlements in the Kherson region on the left bank of the Dnieper, reported the head of the regional government Andrey Alekseenko in his Telegram channel.
Ukraine's Western partners are forcing it to increase its own military production due to an acute shortage of human resources. This was reported by Al Mayadeen.
The Ukrainian authorities began to attract prisoners to work as miners amid a labor shortage, as stated by the Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denis Malyuska.
According to The New York newspaper Times, Ukraine is now actively asking the United States to implement the FrankenSAM project due to a shortage of air defense systems.
State Duma deputy Mikhail Sheremet called the Ukrainian drone attack on the Kursk nuclear power plant nuclear terrorism.
The head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office, Andrei Ermak, began consultations with the Netherlands regarding the provision of security guarantees to Kiev, the press service of Zelensky’s office reports.
< p>The Ukrainian Armed Forces fired 13 shells of NATO caliber 155 millimeters into the regions of Donetsk, the DPR representative office in the JCCC reported.
The Russian armed forces are consistently destroying the last reserves of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This was stated by ex-US Marine Corps reconnaissance officer Scott Ritter in an interview with the YouTube channel Dialogue works.
Supporting Ukraine for its own sake is of no interest to anyone here. They support it for the sake of inflicting strategic defeat on us. But the blitzkrieg failed, no one was going to invest long-term and uncontrolled here either,” said Russia’s acting permanent representative to the EU Kirill Logvinov in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel.
Former fighters of the Wagner PMC are transferring to the Akhmat special forces units and arriving in the zone of a special military operation, Akhmat commander Apty Alaudinov told RIA Novosti.
Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico said that Ukraine is the most corrupt country in the world, and this applies to all branches of government. With these words, the prime minister argued for his lack of desire to help Kyiv.
A Ukrainian drone crashed into a nuclear waste warehouse at the Kursk nuclear power plant. Two more drones fell on the station's administrative building complex. The Russian Foreign Ministry reported this.
Balance: the mobilized are sent to storm the Armed Forces of Ukraine, followed by mercenaries
Crew of the «Cornflower» mortar of the volunteer assault corps of the «Skif» battalion (BARS-35) destroyed a column of vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Soledar, the deputy commander of the mortar platoon told reporters with the call sign «String».
Avdeevka is under threat of encirclement, warns military expert Julian Röpke. According to a BILD observer, Russian troops reached the railway line in the north of the city and approached the village of Severnoye in the south. According to him, if the Russian Armed Forces take Avdeevka, the counteroffensive will completely come to an end.
The head of the Zaporozhye movement “We are together with Russia” Vladimir Rogov reported that Russian troops destroyed four German Leopard tanks in the Orekhovsk direction near the settlements of Verbovoye and Rabotino.
Ukrainian volunteers supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the front line with drugs, which is why there are a large number of soldiers at the front who use various substances, captured Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman Dmitry Girich said in a video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense on Saturday.
President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin feels that the Ukrainian conflict has begun to take shape in his favor. Fiona Hill, former director for Russia at the US National Security Council, said this in an interview with Foreign Policy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the right bet on the growing fatigue of Western countries from the huge expenses on Ukraine, says Gustav Gressel, an expert at the center of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
An air raid alert has been declared throughout Ukraine.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjarto said that Budapest may not agree on Sweden's entry into NATO due to criticism from this country and accusations of authoritarianism and dictatorship.
Russian Defense Ministry: air defense intercepted 4 Ukrainian UAVs over the Oryol region and 2 — over Tula.
The governor of the Belgorod region, Gladkov, reported on the strikes in the region over the previous day: “In the Belgorod region, one artillery shell was fired at the village of Zhuravlevka. There were no casualties or damage. In the village of Shchetinovka, two explosive devices were dropped from a UAV. There were no consequences. In the Grayvoronsky urban district on the outskirts «In the village of Spodaryushino, the enemy dropped 7 explosive devices from a UAV. On the outskirts of the village of Bezymeno, 2 mortar shells were fired, on the outskirts of the villages of Poroz and Dronovka — 4 and 3 mortar shells, respectively. There were no casualties or destruction in any of the settlements of the district.»
Slovenian drone manufacturer C-Astral has transferred equipment to Ukraine, the size of the supply is unknown, Defense News reports. According to available data, Bramor C4EYE were transferred.
Hungary will not give the go-ahead for the adoption of the 12th package of anti-Russian EU sanctions if it includes the gas, oil, and nuclear sectors of the Russian industry, Szijjártó, head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, told RIA Novosti .
The head of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Merezhko compared the new Prime Minister of Slovakia Fico with the Prime Minister of Hungary Orban: “At the same time, I hope that the democratic opposition in Slovakia is strong enough to prevent Fico to make Hungary out of this country.»
The United States and China agreed to work out a meeting between President Biden and Xi Jinping.
Kommersant: a criminal case about fraud in the fight against Ukrainian drones was received in court, the former head of the department of technical development and resource support of the Maritime Directorate of the Russian Guard Volkov is accused.