Two suspected Russian spies, suspected of planning acts of sabotage to undermine military support for Ukraine, have been arrested in Germany, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
While Volodymyr Zelensky once again deplores the lack of aid from the West, Germany announced the sending of a third Patriot anti-aircraft defense system.
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Ukraine: two years of war
UKRAINIAN STRIKE IN CRIMEA
Ukraine claimed Thursday that it had struck the day before a Russian military airfield in Djankoi, in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014. “A successful operation by the Ukrainian armed forces on the Djankoi military airfield” made it possible to “destroy or seriously damage” S-400 system launchers, radar equipment and an air defense control center, Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) said.
AMERICAN AID BLOCKED
Military aid to Ukraine, blocked in the American Congress for several months and on which elected officials must vote on Saturday, “will not be able to change anything” in the situation on the front, the Kremlin assured Thursday.
“This cannot in any way influence the development of the situation on the fronts. (…) This will not be able to change anything,” assured the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov. kyiv, for its part, considers this aid to repel the Russian army “critical”.
AMERICAN AID
American Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted Thursday on the “urgency” for the House of Representatives, dominated by the Republican opposition, to approve a budget package for Ukraine, while a new strike the day before caused dozens of deaths. “At this time, it is urgent that all friends and supporters of Ukraine make every effort to continue providing Ukraine with what it needs to defend itself against Russian aggression,” he said. he said, shortly before an interview with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.
The Ukrainian minister, for his part, begged the United States to approve this budget, stressing that it was crucial to help Ukraine “deal with the massacre caused by Russian missiles.” “It’s about life and death,” he insisted, also affirming that “the one and only question on my program here at the G7 ministerial is air defense.”
The two leaders participate on Thursday in a meeting of the heads of diplomacy of the G7 (United States, Canada, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Japan, Italy) on the island of Capri, in Italy.
RUSSIAN BOMBARDING
At least one person was killed Thursday in Russian bombings in Selydové, in the Donetsk region, Governor Vadym Filashkin announced. Two people were also injured in Krasnogorivka and several other towns were hit by strikes, he added.
RUSSIAN SPIES
Two suspected Russian spies, suspected of planning acts of sabotage to undermine military support for Ukraine, have been arrested in Germany, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. The two men, who also have German nationality, were arrested in Bayreuth, a town in the Bavaria region in the southeast of the country. They are suspected of having carried out several reconnaissance missions, notably on “installations of the American armed forces”.
KRONOS SUBMARINE
Ukrainian engineers are working from the United Arab Emirates to develop a stealth submarine called Kronos. The manufacturer announced that the ship has passed the first tests for military use. However, nothing has been specified regarding a possible deployment in the Black Sea.
DRONES
Russia claimed Thursday to have neutralized 20 Ukrainian drones in several regions, particularly those bordering Ukraine.
“During the night, several attempts by the kyiv regime to carry out terrorist attacks against sites located on Russian territory were prevented,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
In detail, the Russian army neutralized 20 drones, two Tochka-U ballistic missiles, as well as five balloons which are generally used to divert the attention of air defense systems.
KHARKIV UNDER THE BOMBS
The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, expressed his concern about the state of his city, which is bombarded daily by Russia. According to him, it could become a “second Aleppo”. This northern Syrian city was devastated during fighting that raged almost a decade ago during the civil war
ATTACK ON CHERNIGUIV
Eighteen people were killed in a triple Russian strike on Wednesday in Cherniguiv, according to the latest report from the authorities. Emergency services also reported 77 injured, including four children.
Social infrastructure, an educational institution, a hospital and twenty residential buildings were damaged.
WELCOME
Hello and welcome to this live to follow the news around the war in Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday called on Europeans to follow the example of Germany, which announced the sending of an additional Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. “It’s useful right away and we want to encourage others to do it”he declared upon his arrival in Brussels for a summit of 27.
Berlin announced on Saturday the sending of this Patriot system to help Ukraine counter Russian attacks targeting its cities and energy infrastructure, which have increased in recent weeks. This is the third Patriot system that Berlin has supplied to kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Germany and urged other Western countries to “follow this example”a call that he reiterated on Wednesday in front of the 27 by videoconference. “Thank you Olaf, for your efficiency. However, we need more”he said, stressing that the attack on the Ukrainian town of Cherniguiv, which left 17 dead, demonstrated the urgency of the situation.
“The (air defense) systems that you have, we also need them in Ukraine, needed to prevent (Russian President Vladimir) Putin from relying on his terrorist methods”he added.
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War in Ukraine: Kronos, a stealth combat submarine that could soon join kyiv’s ranks
Ukraine is insistently demanding from its Western allies the sending of anti-aircraft defense systems, particularly Patriots, which are particularly effective in intercepting ballistic missiles. According to the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, kyiv recently asked its allies to send seven Patriot batteries, out of the hundred they have in total. Several European countries, including the Netherlands, have them.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, for his part, on Wednesday encouraged the countries of the Atlantic Alliance to draw on their stocks in favor of Ukraine, even if this should temporarily put them below the bar recommended by NATO.