live blog
Foreign Minister Baerbock is calling for particularly strong support for Ukraine in the winter. Violent storms and heavy rain are slowing the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian military. All developments in the live blog.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is calling for Ukraine to be given firm support as winter approaches. As was the case a year ago, Russia is deliberately attacking the infrastructure in Ukraine in order to cut off people’s supply of electricity and hot water, said Baerbock before NATO foreign ministers’ deliberations in Brussels. Therefore, a winter protection umbrella must be put in place, for which Germany has already provided generators and Patriot anti-aircraft systems. “And I once again call on the world to do everything we can to put together this winter protection umbrella for Ukraine.”
In 2022, the Russians occupied the city of Izyum for months – according to the deputy mayor, 80 percent of the buildings were destroyed, including six of the eleven schools. And to this day, the city’s residents still distrust each other.
According to Ukrainian information, bad weather is hindering the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine. “We don’t see any equipment arriving,” a Ukrainian officer said on state television. “The weather is bad. But as soon as the frost comes and the ground becomes harder, an attack with heavy equipment is possible.”
Violent storms with heavy rain – and snow in the south – have softened the ground and made it unsuitable for military maneuvers. Ukrainian military spokesman Volodymyr Fitio confirmed that the bad weather had forced the Russians to “adjust.” “You can’t advance if the ground is like this,” Fitio told Espreso TV. “The Russians used to draw on their reserves and send them into battle. Because of the weather, there are much fewer such movements now.”
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
The foreign ministers of the 31 NATO countries will continue their discussions in Brussels on Wednesday. The focus is on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. For the first time, the newly created NATO-Ukraine Council will meet at foreign minister level. Ukraine is represented by department head Dmytro Kuleba. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is taking part on behalf of Germany. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized at the start of the meeting on Tuesday that NATO remains firmly on Ukraine’s side.
The Ukrainian Air Force says it repelled most of the nightly Russian attacks with 21 drones and three cruise missiles. The Iranian Shahed drones flew into the Khmelnitsky region and the cruise missiles targeted targets in the south of Ukraine, the Air Force said on Telegram. Only one cruise missile was not launched, but it missed its target. The Russian Defense Ministry had previously announced that four cruise missiles had been launched from a frigate.
According to US experts, a storm over the Black Sea is slowing military action in Ukraine. According to the government, the wife of the Ukrainian military intelligence chief is said to have been poisoned. All developments from Tuesday to read.