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According to US experts, a storm over the Black Sea is slowing military action in Ukraine. According to media reports, the wife of the Ukrainian military intelligence chief is said to have been poisoned. The developments in the live blog.
According to US experts, a storm over the Black Sea is slowing military action along the front line in Ukraine. The US Institute for War Studies (ISW) said the fighting had not come to a complete standstill. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces continued their ground attacks despite snow and poor visibility, although at a slightly slower pace.
Due to dangerous conditions in the Black Sea, Russia was forced to withdraw its naval ships and missile carriers, it said, citing the Ukrainian navy. A Russian military blogger also warned of an increased danger from sea mines, as the storm scattered mines throughout the northwestern Black Sea. The storm also damaged railway lines, which could affect the logistics of Russian forces in occupied Crimea and southern Ukraine.
The wife of Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov is said to have been poisoned, according to Ukrainian media reports. She had to be admitted to hospital after feeling sick for several days. Accordingly, the woman was poisoned with heavy metals, which are unusual in everyday life. There is no official confirmation.
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.
According to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, ten people died in snowstorms in Ukraine. They died in the Odessa, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Kiev regions, Klymenko wrote on Telegram. 23 people were injured, including two children. A total of 411 settlements in eleven regions are without power and around 1,500 vehicles have to be recovered. Icy winds and storms have been sweeping across the country since Sunday.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov says he could send another 3,000 fighters to Ukraine to strengthen the Russian armed forces. “They have the best equipment and modern weapons,” Kadyrov said on Telegram. “The boys are also very combative and very motivated to achieve results.” In May, Kadyrov said he had sent more than 26,000 fighters to Ukraine. Kadyrov is considered a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian forces are intensifying their attacks on the eastern Ukrainian city, according to the head of Avdiivka’s military administration. “The intensity of the clashes has been increasing for some time,” Vitaly Barabasch told the media company Espreso TV. “The Russians have opened two more sectors from which they are launching attacks – towards Donetsk and in the so-called industrial zone. The enemy is trying to storm the city from all directions.”
Officials say not a single building is left intact after months of fighting in the city known for its large coking plant. Of the 32,000 inhabitants before the war, fewer than 1,500 remain.
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.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the Bundeswehr will not receive converted “Puma” tanks until the beginning of 2024. The US government currently considers negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to be “pointless”. Monday’s developments to read.