DSlovakia has handed over two more Zuzana-type wheeled howitzers to Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia. “We gave the aggressor Putin another gift,” Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad wrote sarcastically on Twitter. Russian President Vladimir Putin turned 70 on Friday.
The delivery is part of a commercial order totaling eight Zuzana howitzers, two of which are pending. In addition, Denmark, Norway and Germany want to jointly finance the production of 16 more weapon systems of this type for Kyiv.
Zuzana is a further development of the Czechoslovak Dana SPG. The gun now uses the NATO standard caliber 155 millimeters. The maximum firing range is more than 39 kilometers. The basis is a heavy four-axle truck.
All developments in the live ticker:
7:40 p.m. – Putin blames Ukraine for Crimean bridge attack
Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin has blamed the Ukrainian secret service SBU for the massive explosion on the Crimean bridge. “There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critical civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation,” Putin said.
7:17 p.m. – Scholz is on the phone with Biden
Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to US President Joe Biden on the phone. The discussion focused on the preparations for the upcoming meetings in the G-7 and G-20 format, which will also deal with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how to deal with its effects, as government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit reports.
Scholz and Biden had agreed that the most recent Russian annexations of Ukrainian territories were a massive breach of the principles of the United Nations Charter and should be seen as an attempt to forcibly acquire foreign territory and would never be accepted. They condemned this further escalation and shared the assessment that Russia’s partial mobilization was a serious mistake.
18:48 – FSB reports more than 100 attacks on Russian territory
Around seven and a half months after the war began, Russia’s domestic secret service FSB accused Ukraine of more than 100 attacks on Russian territory – since the beginning of October alone. The FSB announced on Sunday that a total of 32 towns in the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions bordering Ukraine had been shelled in the past few days. The number of attacks has recently increased significantly. This could not be verified independently.
17:02 – Ukraine names seven liberated places in Luhansk Oblast
According to its own statements, Ukraine has recaptured seven towns in the Luhansk region in the east of the country, which is largely occupied by Russia. These included the villages of Novolyubiwka and Grekivka, wrote the Ukrainian head of administration for Luhansk, Serhiy Hajday, on Telegram. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had already spoken of six liberated Luhansk towns on Friday. However, since these still had to be secured after the Russian troops were driven out, the details could only be given now, said Hajdaj.
3:49 p.m. – Federal government plans winter package with equipment for Ukraine
According to a media report, the federal government wants to support Ukraine with military equipment for the winter. Part of the package are 100,000 warm under jackets and other winter clothing, 100 heatable team tents, hundreds of mobile power generators and pallets of food packages, as the “Spiegel” reported on Sunday. The financial outlay is therefore eleven million euros.
The magazine refers to corresponding requests from the Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov to NATO. In a letter to the Secretary General of the western military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, the Ukrainian asked for uniforms for 200,000 soldiers.
1:00 p.m. – Train traffic is back to normal
After the heavy explosion on the bridge between Russia and the Black Sea peninsula Crimea, which it annexed, train traffic is back to schedule, according to Russian information. The freight and long-distance trains rolled in normal operation on Sunday, the Ministry of Transport announced in Moscow. Regional traffic should also start again in the evening, it said. The ministry also released a photo of the burned freight train carriages that burst into flames on Saturday. The clean-up work continued. In car traffic, on the other hand, there were hours of waiting at the bridge, as reported by the media.
11:59 am – 17 dead after Russian missile attack on Zaporizhia
According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian army has bombed houses with several rockets in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia, killing numerous civilians. There are twelve dead and 49 injured, including six children who need to be treated in hospital, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday in Kyiv. A member of the Zaporizhia city government named at least 17 people who were killed.
Zelenskyj published pictures of badly damaged high-rise buildings on his channel in the Telegram news service. He spoke of “absolute evil”; the “terrorists” would be held accountable from the commander to the perpetrator.
In this photo provided by Ukraine’s Civil Protection Service, rescue workers work on a shell-damaged building in Zaporizhia
Source: dpa/Uncredited
Unlike large parts of the region of the same name, the city of Zaporizhia is not controlled by Russian troops. She has been the target of multiple attacks. According to Ukrainian military information, the Russian troops are said to have fired at least twelve rockets at the residential buildings. Initially, there was no confirmation from the Russian side. The Ukrainian authorities had first given a higher number of deaths during the night, but later corrected themselves.
After the annexation of four Ukrainian territories, which also includes the Zaporizhia region, which has been criticized internationally as a violation of international law, Russia is trying to advance further there. Ukraine recently liberated dozens of towns during its defensive offensive and pushed back the Russian occupiers.
1114 – London: Crimean bridge capacity significantly reduced
According to British experts, the explosion on the bridge between Russia and the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea has significantly reduced the capacity of the road connection. Two of the four lanes collapsed over a length of 250 meters. The other two tracks would probably be used again, according to the British Ministry of Defense’s daily intelligence update on the Ukraine war.
It is unclear how badly the adjacent rail link is damaged, “but any major disruption to its capacity will most likely have a significant impact on Russia’s already strained ability to resupply its forces in southern Ukraine,” the statement said.
“The Kremlin reacts very cautiously”
After the explosion on the Crimean bridge, Russian divers are to examine the bridge. The Kremlin has not released any more information. “Absolutely surprising that no martial words come from the Kremlin,” says WELT correspondent Christoph Wanner.
Source: WORLD / Christoph Wanner
7:20 a.m. – Röttgen warns against intimidation by Putin’s nuclear threats
CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen has warned against being intimidated by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats. “If we let Putin blackmail us once, then we’re permanently screwed,” Röttgen told the newspapers of the Funke media group. The credible deterrence of Putin’s threats remains crucial to prevent further escalation. The USA is “just as indispensable as it is prepared” for this.
The CDU politician called for “keeping a cool head and sticking strictly to the facts”. This includes the fact that Putin wants to continue the war. “As part of this war, he’s trying to scare us.”
4:59 am – Divers examine bridge
Russian divers are examining the damage caused by the powerful explosion on the Crimea road and railway bridge today. Russian news agencies quote Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin as saying the divers will start work at 06:00 a.m. (local time; 05:00 CEST). A more detailed survey above the waterline is expected to be completed by the end of the day.
This is the story of a German who left his life in Bavaria to fight for Ukraine. “Close to it – the reportage podcast” subscribe now at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, deezer, Google Podcasts or directly the RSS feed.