Meanwhile, the missile war in Ukraine continues. At least 13 people were injured in renewed Russian rocket attacks on the Ukrainian industrial city of Dnipro. This was announced by the military governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentyn Resnichenko, on his Telegram channel on Saturday. In addition to Dnipro, the small town of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk was also hit on Saturday. On the other side, the Russian-backed separatists reported that one person was killed and one injured in the Ukrainian shelling of the city of Donetsk.
Two days before the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised Germany’s military support for Ukraine. Germany’s “strong support” makes a “crucial difference,” Stoltenberg told the “Welt am Sonntag”. The German air defense systems would help “protect homes, schools and hospitals from Russian missiles”. It was important to maintain and strengthen support for Ukraine. This would help Ukrainians uphold their right to self-defense.
Most recently, in the German-Polish dispute over Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine, Stoltenberg emphasized that it was Germany’s “national decision” whether or not to deliver the system to Ukraine.
At the beginning of the week, Germany proposed using the Patriot system to strengthen Poland’s air defenses after rockets fell in the border area with Ukraine, killing two people. However, Warsaw suggested transferring the Patriot battery to Ukraine. Poland caught the federal government by surprise with this move.
Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) then called for a discussion at NATO level. Their argument: the Patriot systems are planned as part of NATO’s integrated air defense and cannot be relocated to Ukraine without discussion. Apparently Stoltenberg now fears that the topic could overshadow the foreign ministers’ meeting in Bucharest next week. There, the alliance wants to announce, among other things, more winter aid for Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war for the third time in a week. “We managed to free twelve of our people,” said the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, on his Telegram channel on Saturday. The Ministry of Defense in Moscow confirmed the exchange of nine soldiers with Russian citizenship.
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine wants to deliver grain worth 150 million dollars to the poorest countries in the world with the help of the western industrialized countries. “Food security is one of the key elements of global stability,” said the 44-year-old in his daily video address on Saturday. He presented the “Grain from Ukraine” program as an important step in combating the global food crisis.
After the end of the Russian naval blockade, Ukraine had already shipped 12 million tons of food to 40 countries via its Black Sea ports. “Of this, more than 2.5 million tons are destined for countries that are not only affected by food shortages, but also by a serious crisis,” reported Zelenskyj. According to him, these deliveries are to be expanded with the new grain export initiative.
Russia and Ukraine are not only wrestling with each other on the battlefield. It is also a matter of asserting one’s own interpretation of the conflict internationally. Both countries are increasingly targeting the poor countries in Africa and Asia, which – in contrast to the industrialized countries of the West – have not yet positioned themselves clearly. Zelenskyy’s initiative serves to draw the largely neutral states of Africa and Asia to Kiev’s side.
For its part, Moscow recently blamed the West for the global food crisis. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin portrayed his war of aggression against Ukraine as a defense against Western claims to hegemony.
Duma head Vyacheslav Volodin visits the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has triggered concerns about their own sovereignty in the Central Asian ex-Soviet republics. In view of Moscow’s continuing supremacy in the region, there have been no open protests against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, but given the increasingly distanced regional elites, the Russian leadership must fear a loss of influence there as well.
Also read: The Ukraine Update on November 26 – Report: Putin Plans to Train 120,000 New Soldiers by Spring
Belarusian ruler Lukashenko has ruled out deploying his army in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announces that Russia will not break its people. Meanwhile, Russia fires deadly missiles at the liberated Cherson. All current voices and developments on the Ukraine war can be found in the ticker.
Russia continues to attack Ukraine with numerous missiles. In the recently liberated city of Kherson, the first people are being evacuated. According to a new British intelligence report, Russia is firing missiles with detached nuclear warheads.
Russia’s ruler Putin is increasingly losing allies. Now even Armenia’s Prime Minister Pashinyan publicly snubbed the Kremlin ruler at the CSTO summit in Yerevan. How it came to this.
