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Ukrainian President Zelenskyy made a surprise trip to Lithuania. According to authorities, air defense shot down a drone in the Saratov region of southern Russia. All developments in the live blog.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj made a surprise trip to Lithuania for talks. He will speak to President Gitanas Nauseda about the Russian war against Ukraine, the Lithuanian presidential office announced. “The presidents will discuss the war in Ukraine, support for Ukraine and its integration into the European Union and NATO,” it said. A public speech by Zelensky is also planned.
Zelenskyj announced on the online platform X that he would also visit the other two Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia in the coming days. The Baltic states are among Ukraine’s strongest supporters in its fight against Russian invasion.
According to authorities, anti-aircraft defense forces shot down a drone in the southern Russian region of Saratov. The Ukrainian drone was destroyed by air defense, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram early this morning. This thwarted Kiev’s attempt to “carry out a terrorist attack on facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation.”
Russia had already shot down drones several times in the Saratov region, where the Engels-2 military airfield is also located. Russia has stationed strategic bombers here for missile attacks on Ukraine. Only in December did Moscow fire rockets from several bombers near Engels. Engels is more than 500 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
A group of almost 50 countries has condemned the delivery of North Korean missiles to Russia and their use against Ukraine. The US State Department released a statement to this effect. Germany and almost all European countries have also joined it, as have Canada, Israel, Australia, Japan and South Korea. “The transfer of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia’s war of aggression and undermines the international non-proliferation regime,” it said.
The use of North Korean weapons by Russia affects the security situation in Europe, on the Korean Peninsula, in the Pacific region and throughout the world. The arms purchase contradicts several UN resolutions, which Russia itself supported, the states criticized in the statement. They called on all United Nations member countries to condemn the violations by Moscow and Pyongyang.
Despite severe frost, Ukrainian ground troops continue to face many Russian attacks. In order to save energy in Ukraine, electricity has been switched off in 1,025 municipalities. The live blog to read.