German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sharply rebuked Vladimir Putin for his “cynical” comments on civilian casualties. Scholz said in parliament on Thursday: “It makes me more than furious to hear the Russian president repeatedly warning that there could be civilian casualties in an armed conflict,” referring to Putin’s comments on war between Israel and Hamas. “It doesn’t get more cynical than that,” Scholz said, noting that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, caused a significant number of civilian casualties.
Scholz said that the European Union will have to continue to financially support Ukraine in the future, but that using additional funds is not a long-term solution.
Ukraine’s parliament has given its first approval to the 2024 budget, which will increase funding for the army and national defense. Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said the government’s priorities for next year include accumulating funds for defense and security and ensuring social payments for the population “to bring Ukraine’s victory closer.”
Ukraine said it had made a small incremental gain of 400 meters southwest of Verbove in the Zaporizhzhia region. Military spokesman Oleksandr Stupun said the southern advance was still difficult due to Russian minefields and heavily fortified defenses.
Ukraine said its forces remained under fire near Kupiansk and Avdiivka on the Eastern Front. Stupun said Russian forces “do not stop their attempts to encircle” Avdiivka and “continue to apply pressure there.”
NATO is stepping up patrols in the Baltic Sea following recent damage to underwater infrastructure. «The enhanced measures include additional surveillance and reconnaissance flights. A fleet of four NATO minehunters will also be sent to the area,” NATO said in a statement. The Balticconnector pipeline linking Finland and Estonia broke down earlier this month in a possible deliberate act of sabotage, officials said. authorities Both Finland and Estonia are members of NATO and border Russia.
Finland’s defense ministry said on Thursday it had blocked three planned real estate transactions involving Russian buyers on the grounds that allowing the acquisition could hamper the defense of Finnish territory.
Russia scrambled fighter jets to prevent British military planes from entering Russian airspace over the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Russia said the British planes had turned back after being approached. It is not unusual for Russian and NATO forces to test each other’s airspace and defenses. In June 2023 the UK Ministry of Defense claimed that NATO had scrambled RAF aircraft six times in the previous three weeks, intercepting 21 Russian aircraft. An encounter between Russian and British planes in September 2022 near the Black Sea led to what was described as a “near-kill”.
A Russian-American journalist has been detained in Russia on charges of violating the Foreign Agents Act, allegedly due to his coverage of Russia’s military mobilization for the invasion of Ukraine. Alsu Kurmasheva, editor of the Tatar-Bashkir service of Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty (RFE-RL), was arrested on Wednesday by masked Russian law enforcement officers. RFE-RL confirmed her detention Thursday and said Kurmasheva was charged with failure to register as a foreign agent and faced up to five years in prison.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with North Korean leader Kim Jong during his visit to Pyongyang, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Kazakhstan has banned the export to Russia of 106 specific products that could be used for military purposes. Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidency office, said: “These are goods that Kazakhstan does not produce. Russia has attempted to acquire Western components through re-export.”
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