Update on the situation at 4 p.m.
The French Minister of the Armed Forces launched the “Artillery Coalition” initiative on Thursday by announcing the production of 78 Caesar cannons intended for Ukraine. Sébastien Lecornu also promised to provide around fifty A2SM air-to-ground missiles per month from January and throughout the year.
“The ammunition shortage is a very real and pressing problem that our armed forces are currently facing”lamented Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who participated in the initiative by videoconference. “We must strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities to protect the free world against Russian danger. »
“France has no “mercenaries”, neither in Ukraine nor elsewhere, unlike others”said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, in reaction to the assertions of the Russian authorities.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced Wednesday evening that the army had “carried out a high-precision strike on the point of temporary deployment of foreign fighters” has Kharkov. “ The majority are French. More than 60 militants were killed and more than 20 were injured”he added.
Ukrainian military intelligence attacked an oil depot in the St. Petersburg region at night, in north-west Russia, using drones, reports Agence France-Presse, citing a source within the Ukrainian security services. The sector is almost 1,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Russian forces launched 33 Iranian-designed drones into Ukraine overnight, 22 of which were interceptedas well as guided missiles towards Kharkiv, in the east of the country, according to the Ukrainian army.