12/01/2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 03:00 USA expects further attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure +++
The USA assumes that Russia will specifically attack Ukraine’s central energy infrastructure in the winter. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says they are working with the government in Kiev to prepare for this. This includes the delivery of supplies and equipment, for example to secure the power supply.
+++ 01:58 Explosion on railway line: Ukrainian secret service is said to have carried out an operation in Siberia +++
The Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU is looking for information multiple media may be responsible for explosions on a railway line in Siberia that Russia also uses for military transport. In the Severomuysky Tunnel on the border with Mongolia, four explosive devices exploded last night when a freight train was passing through the tunnel, reports, among other things Reuters. According to Russian sources, there were no injuries, but it is unclear what damage occurred to the tunnel. The site of the explosion is more than 4,000 kilometers from Ukraine.
+++ 23:29 Ukraine: Five civilians dead in Russian attacks +++
According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian military has killed five civilians in several parts of Ukraine. Three were killed by Russian shelling in the village of Sadowe in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. In the Donetsk region, Russian troops fired six S-300 missiles at the cities of Pokrovsk, Novohrodivka and Myrnohrad. Two men were found dead from the rubble, three people are missing, including a child. In Pokrovsk, a baby and two boys aged 13 and 16 were injured when a projectile exploded in a garden, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
+++ 22:02 Defense instead of attack? Zelenskyj wants to turn the front into a fortress +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj announces the accelerated construction of shelters and fortifications along all sectors of the front. “The priority is obvious,” he says in his daily video address. He discussed the construction of such facilities with the Defense Minister and leading military officials. Most recently, a number of observers declared the Ukrainian counteroffensive to have failed. The emphasis on fortress building is an indication that the leadership in Kiev is now concentrating on defense.
+++ 21:29 Ukrainska Pravda: Russia recreates Ukrainian weapon from remains +++
According to Ukrainska Pravda sources, Russia is trying to replicate Ukraine’s own development, “Sea Baby”. This is an unmanned surface ship that is filled with explosives and then hits its targets like a kamikaze drone. “Sea Babies” are said to have been used, among other things, in attacks on the Crimean Bridge and Russian ships. Apparently the Russians managed to put together a “relatively functional” model from the remains of several “Sea Babies”. This is currently being thoroughly examined and reprogrammed.
+++ 20:51 Slovakia’s Prime Minister speaks of the end of the war and “normalization” of relations with Russia +++
According to a report by the Kyiv Independent portal, the new Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is continuing on a confrontation course with the EU. In a conversation with the US and Russian ambassadors in Bratislava, Fico says that Slovakia’s foreign policy is influenced by its membership in the EU and NATO, but has certain “sovereign positions”. These positions “are not always consistent with the politics of a single right opinion promoted in the European Union,” Fico said. His priority in the field of foreign policy is the implementation of “protecting and promoting the national interests of Slovakia” as well as supporting “peace initiatives” and not the war in Ukraine. Slovakia should prepare for “the end of the war in Ukraine and for the normalization of Slovak-Russian relations.”
+++ 20:30 Ukraine wants to increase its war industry “many times over” +++
In the coming year, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Strategic Industries want to increase the production of missiles, ammunition, weapons and military equipment several times over. The focus will be on anti-aircraft systems, the authorities said. These include portable anti-aircraft missile systems and anti-aircraft systems with a range of more than 100 kilometers. “In addition, the approved budget for 2024 provides that about 4.5 billion euros will be allocated for the purchase of missiles and ammunition so that our defense forces can adequately counter Russian aggression,” says Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk on the United News Telethon program. The development of the national defense industry is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Defense.
You can read all previous developments here.