live blog
According to SOS Children’s Villages, more than 19,000 Ukrainian children were kidnapped during the Russian invasion. There has apparently been a drone attack on a petrol depot in the Rivne region of Ukraine. The developments in the live blog.
According to British secret services, the Russian authorities have recently taken significantly stronger action against the use of virtual private networks (VPN). “VPNs represent probably the single greatest vulnerability in the Russian state’s attempts to control domestic information pervasively,” the UK MoD wrote in its daily update.
Protected network connections allow access to websites and social media that are blocked in Russia and thus to objective information about state repression or the war of aggression against Ukraine. Although VPNs have been illegal in Russia since 2017, they are still very popular, it said in London.
Poland wants to move up to 10,000 soldiers to the border with Belarus. 4,000 should support the border guard directly, 6,000 are in reserve, says Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak in a radio interview. “We are moving the army closer to the border with Belarus to deter the aggressor and so he doesn’t dare attack us.” Poland fears for its safety since hundreds of Wagner mercenaries left for Belarus last month after their failed coup attempt in Russia. The Belarusian military is holding an exercise near the border with Poland this week.
Over 19,000 Ukrainian children were separated from their parents and deported to Russia during the Russian invasion. This was announced by the SOS Children’s Villages in Munich. “This is a war crime and, according to international law, part of a genocide,” says Serhii Lukashov, head of the aid organization in Ukraine. Everything must be done to bring the children back.
According to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, the Russian capital Moscow was again the target of a drone attack in the early hours of the morning. Two unmanned aircraft were shot down by air defense around 4 a.m. local time (3 a.m. CEST), Sobyanin told Telegram.
Moscow had already reported a repelled drone attack on Wednesday morning. The metropolis of millions has recently become the target of enemy drone attacks. However, these are disproportionate to the mass attacks by Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
According to the local governor, a Russian drone attack destroyed a petrol depot in the Rivne region in western Ukraine. There were no injuries, writes Vitaly Kowal on Telegram
According to the RIA news agency, Russian forces shot down eleven Ukrainian drones near the Crimean city of Sevastopol. Two drones were hit by air defenses and nine more by electronic countermeasures, RIA reports, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
Germany has strengthened Ukraine’s anti-aircraft defenses with two more launch pads of the “Patriot” anti-aircraft system. Ukraine has opened a border crossing with Russia. The developments in Wednesday’s live blog.