At least three soldiers died in explosions at Russian military airfields on Monday. Putin is therefore calling an emergency meeting of his Security Council. All current voices and developments on the Ukraine war can be found in the ticker.
5:38 a.m .: The United States has apparently manipulated the Himars rocket launchers delivered to Ukraine in such a way that they cannot be used to attack Russian territory. The “” claims to have learned this from a US official.
The rocket launchers had been modified in such a way that they could only launch rockets supplied by the US. The missiles delivered in this way would have a shorter range than those that are also Himars-compatible – which would have allowed Ukraine to attack targets on Russian soil.
5:17 a.m .: Two weeks ago, Defense Minister Lambrecht proposed moving the Patriots to Poland. Her Polish colleague Blaszczak initially accepted the offer. A day later, however, he surprisingly suggested that German anti-aircraft defenses should be stationed on Ukrainian territory instead of in Poland. This caused resentment in Berlin.
“After a discussion with the German Defense Ministry, I was disappointed with the decision to refuse support for Ukraine. Deploying Patriots in western Ukraine would increase the security of Poles and Ukrainians,” Blaszczak wrote on Twitter. They are therefore working on stationing the Patriots in Poland.
5:17 a.m .: Two weeks ago, Defense Minister Lambrecht proposed moving the Patriots to Poland. Her Polish colleague Blaszczak initially accepted the offer. A day later, however, he surprisingly suggested that German anti-aircraft defenses should be stationed on Ukrainian territory instead of in Poland. This caused resentment in Berlin.
“After a discussion with the German Defense Ministry, I was disappointed with the decision to refuse support for Ukraine. Deploying Patriots in western Ukraine would increase the security of Poles and Ukrainians,” Blaszczak wrote on Twitter. They are therefore working on stationing the Patriots in Poland.
Wednesday, December 7th, 1:28 am: According to diplomats, Russia is said to have ordered hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles from Iran again. “We know that Iran is planning to significantly increase its deliveries of unmanned missiles and missiles to Russia,” circles at the United Nations in New York told the German Press Agency. Moscow wants to counteract the acute shortage of military supplies. There are several hundred projectiles and hundreds of drones. “I don’t think they’ve shipped yet, but they’re definitely on the order books,” a source in New York said.
According to consistent reports, Iran had already sent drones to Russia in August, which can be used, for example, to attack military objects such as radar systems and artillery. A few weeks later, Russian forces repeatedly attacked targets in Ukraine with Iranian Shahed 136 kamikaze drones, which crashed at high speed and caused extensive damage. The EU states then imposed additional sanctions on Iran, which had already been subject to a number of punitive measures.
At first it was not clear how exactly Russia could show its appreciation for the war aid given to the leadership in Tehran. According to diplomatic circles, it is less about money and more about military aid: “There will probably be a much deeper defense cooperation – with massive effects on the security of the region.”
The influential regional power Iran, with which another international nuclear agreement is becoming increasingly unlikely, has recently continued to upgrade its nuclear power. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that the nuclear power Russia could help Iran in its nuclear program in return for the weapons. According to Zelenskyj, the Russian army is also instructed by Iranians when using the drones.
A UN Security Council resolution passed after the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran bans Iran from such arms deals. The United States, Britain, France and Germany called for a United Nations investigation into Iranian-armed attacks in Ukraine in October. Zelenskyy accused Iran of supporting the Russian war of destruction against the infrastructure and energy facilities in his country. The leaders in Moscow and Tehran officially deny that Iranian drones are being used in Ukraine. However, Russian military experts also said in the state media that these are unmanned aircraft of Iranian design, which Russia is using in Ukraine under the name Geran – in English: geranium. Pieces of debris discovered on the ground also seem to indicate this. Russia and Iran have long cooperated militarily.
11:47 p.m.: Following the alleged Ukrainian drone strikes on military bases in Russia, the US government has said it did not “encourage” or “enable” Kyiv to attack Russia. Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Tuesday: “We have neither encouraged nor enabled the Ukrainians to attack inside Russia.” However, it is important to understand “what the Ukrainians are experiencing on a daily basis as a result of the ongoing Russian aggression”.
According to Russian sources, three people were killed and two planes damaged in the drone strikes on three bases in central Russia on Monday. Kyiv has not yet commented on this.
A US State Department spokesman also did not explicitly attribute the attacks to Ukraine. However, experts assume that Kyiv could have invaded Russian airspace with simple Soviet-era drones – and not with the billions of dollars in military aid from its western allies.
“We are providing Ukraine with what it needs on its sovereign territory – on Ukrainian soil – to act against the Russian aggressors,” said ministry spokesman Ned Price. The State Department spokesman declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report that the US modified the US Himar missile launcher systems supplied to Ukraine so that they can no longer be fired into Russia.
US President Joe Biden has publicly stated that he does not support longer-range missiles for Ukraine, fearing an escalation that could put his country in direct conflict with Russia.
Himars missile launchers can fire multiple precision-guided missiles simultaneously at targets up to 80 kilometers away. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy assured Washington in June before delivery that the Himars would not be used to attack targets in Russia.
11:45 p.m.: During a visit near the front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked his soldiers for defending their country under the most difficult conditions. During his stay in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, he also gave awards to the soldiers who were deployed in the “most dangerous and responsible” places, Zelenskyy said in a video that he published on Telegram after his return to Kyiv on Tuesday. He was also in the Kharkiv region and met doctors there treating wounded fighters.
Earlier in the day, Zelenskyj showed up at the entrance to the city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region in sub-zero temperatures. Sloviansk is around 35 kilometers from the front. Around nine and a half months after the Russian invasion, Selenskyj traveled to the particularly hard-fought east of his country to mark the day of the Ukrainian armed forces.
2:31 p.m .: Because of the Ukrainian attacks on Russian airfields far behind the front, Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin has convened a crisis meeting of his Security Council. This was announced by Kremlin spokesman Peskov on Tuesday.
12.17 p.m .: In the Russian region of Kursk on the border with Ukraine, according to the authorities, an airfield was attacked with drones. “Because of the fire in the airport area, it was decided to suspend classes at two schools,” Kursk Governor Roman Starovoit told the Telegram news service on Tuesday. The fire was not under control as of this morning. According to a media report on Tuesday, a military facility was also attacked with drones in the neighboring Baza region.
Videos from the industrial city of Kursk showed a large flash of fire in the airport area. According to media reports, an oil reservoir caught fire. The airport has been used exclusively for military purposes since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against the neighboring country at the end of February. It is closed to civilian flights.
In addition, the Internet portal Baza reported on a drone attack on the “Slava” combine in the Bryansk region, about 80 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. The Russian authorities have declared the activities of the combine a state secret because it has ties to national security. According to reports, the targets were apparently also fuel reservoirs. However, they were said to be empty, which is why the attack did not cause a major fire.
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