December 10, 2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 07:45 Banker from Wagenknecht Association is a Kremlin friend +++
The Sahra Wagenknecht alliance of the former left-wing politician is also said to receive numerous donations from abroad. However, as “Bild am Sonntag” writes, the association is silent on the question of whether donations from Russia are included. Wagenknecht chose an account at Volksbank Pirna for the money, even though the alliance is based at the other end of Germany. According to the “Tagessspiegel”, Volksbank counts, among others, Russian state media among its customers. The CEO Hauke Haensel apparently maintains contacts with Russia on his Facebook account emblazoned with a photo of the Kremlin. In another photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-Chancellor Angela Merkel can be seen hugging. Haensel writes: “What belongs together is together!”
+++ 06:57 Apparently huge explosion in Makiivka +++
According to Ukrainian reports, a massive explosion occurs in the Russian-occupied city of Makiivka in the Donetsk region. “The New Voice of Ukraine” shows footage on Saturday evening showing a huge fire and thick black smoke. The cause of the explosion is still unclear, it is said. According to a journalist, the fire probably broke out after an attack on a Russian oil storage facility.
+++ 06:37 Griner calls for more efforts to release US citizens in Russia +++
US basketball professional Brittney Griner is calling for more efforts to release other people currently imprisoned abroad. As the US newspaper “The Hill” reports, it particularly highlights the plight of the imprisoned Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich. Gershkovich, who worked as a reporter in Russia for the Wall Street Journal, was arrested at the end of March during a research trip. Ex-soldier Whelan has been imprisoned since 2018 and is serving a 16-year prison sentence on charges of “espionage.” Griner himself spent almost ten months in a prison in Russia on drug charges that were vigorously denied by the United States. She was only released in December 2022 in exchange for the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
+++ 06:00 Hungarian truckers also want to block the border with Ukraine +++
From Monday, Hungarian truck drivers also want to block the border with Ukraine. How “Kyiv Independent” citing local media, there will be an official demonstration and the Zahony-Chop checkpoint on the border with Ukraine will be blocked. Polish, Slovak and Hungarian freight forwarders complain of “unfair competition” from Ukrainian companies after the EU suspended a series of border transport requirements because of Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Polish transport companies have been blocking several important border crossings with Ukraine since the beginning of November. Freight transport has therefore largely come to a standstill.
+++ 05:24 Kamikaze drones trigger air alarm in southern regions of Ukraine +++
Russia launches a new wave of so-called kamikaze drones against Ukraine overnight. Air alert is sounded in the southern regions of the country.
+++ 03:53 Ukraine has not yet decided whether to take part in the Olympics in Paris 2024 +++
Ukraine is still uncertain about taking part in the Paris Olympics next year. “The decision to participate should be made on the basis of what it brings to the country, what the response will be and to what extent it brings us closer to victory,” says Ukrainian Minister of Youth and Sports Matviy Bіdni. Participation would be impossible if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not change its “non-constructive position,” said the minister. Bіdni is referring to the IOC’s decision that Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete in Paris as so-called neutral athletes without flags, emblems or anthems. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday condemned the IOC decision as “shameful.”
+++ 01:45 Will Zelensky meet Hungary President Orban on his trip to Latin America? +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky makes his first trip to Latin America. According to the announcement via Telegram, he will attend the inauguration of the new Argentine President Javier Milei. The government in Kiev is trying to build relationships with African, Asian and Latin American governments. Ukrainian media are also speculating about a possible meeting between Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the inauguration. The topic could then be the dispute over Ukraine’s desire to join the EU.
+++ 23:50 During a stopover: Zelenskyj thanks Cape Verde for support +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets the country’s Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva in the African island state of Cape Verde on his way to Argentina. Zelensky thanks the African state for its support in Ukrainian grain exports. It is the first such meeting in the history of bilateral relations between the two countries. Zelensky is on his way to Argentina, where he will take part in the official inauguration of newly elected President Javier Milei on Sunday.
+++ 22:14 US government bypasses Republican blockade – but for aid to Israel +++
The US government approves the sale of almost 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel. Congress was informed the day before of the sale of 13,981 rounds of tank ammunition and related equipment worth $106.5 million, the State and Defense Departments in Washington said. The opposition Republicans are blocking a request from President Joe Biden’s government for new military spending for Israel and Ukraine. The State Department says Secretary of State Antony Blinken has determined that “an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale of the weapons to the Israeli government.” Therefore, the usual review by Congress was waived.
+++ 21:32 Russian police arrest US citizens in St. Petersburg +++
Russian police say they have arrested a US citizen in the metropolis of St. Petersburg. According to a police report, the 60-year-old man, who has Russian and American citizenship, is being investigated for allegedly “rehabilitating Nazism.” In 2022, he is said to have posted a provocative image on a Russian social network with the orange and black St. George ribbon, which police said “defiled a symbol of Russia’s military glory.” The man faces up to five years in prison or a fine of up to the equivalent of almost 70,000 euros. According to the Russian Telegram channel Baza, the picture of the arrested man showed the St. George’s Ribbon wrapped around the big toe of a corpse – with the caption “The right way to wear the St. George’s Ribbon.” In Russia, the Ribbon of St. George has been a commemorative symbol since 2005, increasingly becoming a symbol of loyalty to Putin and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
+++ 21:03 Russian election plans on Ukrainian territory anger Kiev +++
Kiev describes Russian election plans in the occupied Ukrainian territories as a “gross violation of international law”. According to the Kyiv Independent medium, Moscow wants to include occupied Crimea and parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in the upcoming presidential “elections”.
+++ 20:34 Army spokesman: 90 percent of Russian attacks are concentrated in two areas +++
According to a report by the Ukrinform agency, Russian troops concentrate almost all of their activities in the Avdiivka and Marinka areas. According to an army spokesman, over 90 percent of the fighting took place there in the last 24 hours. 35 attacks were repelled in the Avdiivka area and 24 in the Marinka area. According to the spokesman, however, the Russian armed forces are not particularly active in the Shakhtarsk and Zaporizhzhia area. All attacks there were repelled.
You can read all previous developments here.