09.12.2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:08 ISW: Kremlin sticks to original goals in Ukraine +++
The Kremlin is unlikely to have given up on its maximalist goals in Ukraine, according to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), although Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted for the first time on Thursday that Moscow’s current territorial goal is four to fully capture partially occupied Ukrainian oblasts. In response to a journalist’s question about the Kremlin’s original war goals, Peskov said one of the main goals of Russia’s “military special operation” was “to protect residents of southeastern Ukraine and Donbass.” According to the US think tank, Peskov also pointed out that there are no talks about the annexation of new areas that are not currently under partial Russian occupation, as “a lot of work still needs to be done” to expand the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Zaporizhia regions to occupy Kherson completely. However, Peskov reiterated that the Kremlin is still pursuing its original goals of “demilitarization” and “denazification” in Ukraine.
+++ 05:08 USA are planning sanctions against representatives of Russian armaments companies +++
The US plans to impose new sanctions on Russia today, according to US government officials. The sanctions are said to be aimed primarily at a number of representatives of Russian defense companies involved in the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia, the insiders say, according to the Reuters news agency.
+++ 04:07 arms dealer Bout landed in Moscow +++
After his spectacular exchange of prisoners for US basketball player Brittney Griner, Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout has landed in his home country. Dubbed the “dealer of death,” the 55-year-old was greeted by his family at Moscow airport, state television reported. “They woke me up in the middle of the night and told me to pack my things,” Bout says of his release. He did not receive any precise information. “But I’m here now, that’s the most important thing.” Bout had been in prison in the United States for more than ten years and had been sentenced to 25 years in prison for his arms deals. In exchange for Washington’s release of the 55-year-old, Moscow allowed US basketball player Griner to leave the country after months of imprisonment.
+++ 02:59 Energy supply possibly worse than assumed in the test +++
According to a media report, the electricity supply situation in Germany may be worse than the results of the second stress test commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economics. An internal memo from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment dated December 2, from which “Bild” quotes, states that the French nuclear power plants that supply Germany generate less electricity than previously assumed. According to the paper, the nuclear power failures in France are the biggest problem for the energy supply in this country. You would bring only 33 of 61 possible gigawatts of power. The second stress test assumed at least 40 gigawatts.
+++ 01:13 Ukraine reports heavy fighting in Donetsk +++
According to the Ukrainian military command, Russian forces are shelling civilian infrastructure in the cities of Kupiansk and Zolochiv in the northeastern Kharkiv region and in Ochakiv in the Mykolaiv region with artillery. The governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kirilenko, says in a TV interview that the fiercest fighting is taking place near the towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka. The entire front line was under fire and Russian troops were also trying to advance near Lyman, which was recaptured by Ukrainian forces in November. The information cannot be independently verified.
+++ 00:06 Selenskyj complains about the ongoing danger from Russian mines +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj laments the threat posed by Russian mines on Ukrainian territory. “This is the form of Russian terror that we will have to contend with for years to come,” he says in his daily video message. He accuses Russia of deliberately leaving the mines as a deadly threat to civilians as well. The 44-year-old says he is therefore certain that mine terrorism will be one of the charges against Russia after the war.
+++ 23:17 report: Kremlin-related billionaires do business in Latvia +++
Despite the sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia’s elite, two billionaires believed to be close to the Kremlin continue to do good business in Latvia, according to a media report. “The companies in Riga control them both personally and through straw men,” reports the independent Internet portal The Insider. According to the report, it is about the billionaires Iskander Makhmudov and Andrei Bokarev, who, among other things, equip the Russian army. In Latvia, the two own, among other things, a mechanical engineering factory in Riga. In Russia, on the other hand, they are partners in large coal and industrial plants. According to The Insider, they continue to equip Russian warships with diesel engines to this day.
+++ 22:16 Ukraine exports 17 million tons of grain through solidarity channels +++
According to the EU Commission, more than 17 million tons of grain have so far been exported from Ukraine via trade routes developed as a result of the Russian war of aggression. In addition, there are other products such as fuel, animal feed, fertilizer or humanitarian aid that have been transported via these routes, said EU Transport Commissioner Adina Valean. The Ukrainian Black Sea ports were blocked for a long time during the war. The so-called solidarity corridors were set up in May to establish alternatives to exports via the Black Sea. With more material such as wagons, barges or trucks, more staff and less bureaucracy, existing trade routes should be expanded and new routes should be used to remedy the situation.
+++ 21:48 “Unpatriotic disgrace”: Trump railed against the exchange of prisoners +++
Former US President Donald Trump has described the sensational prisoner swap between Russia and the US as an “unpatriotic disgrace”. “Why wasn’t former Marine Paul Whelan included in this completely one-sided transaction?” Trump asked in a post on Truth Social, a network he co-founded. Whelan was arrested in Russia in 2018 and convicted of alleged espionage. The US government promised to continue negotiating Whelan’s release. The choice was to release Brittney Griner or not, said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre. “There was no way to bring Paul home at the moment.”
Read more about this here.
+++ 21:23 Russian shells hit Donetsk region +++
Russian troops have shelled the city of Toretsk in the Donetsk region with artillery, said the head of the Donetsk regional military administration Pavlo Kyrylenko. Russian shells destroyed and damaged at least 12 houses. One person was killed and two injured in the attack.
You can read earlier developments in the Ukraine war here.