Updated on 01/01/2023 10:11 am
- 10:11 am: ➤ Recruited prison inmates flee the center of the Wagner group
- 9:01 a.m.: Klitschko requests Germany to supply Leopard 2 tanks
➤ Recruited prison inmates flee Wagner Group center
Six armed Wagner group mercenaries recruited from Russian prisons escaped from a Wagner training center in the Sorokyne district of the Luhansk region on December 30. This is reported by the “Institute for the Study of War” (ISW). A Russian source warned residents of the Rostov region to be vigilant and “pay special attention to people in military camouflage uniforms.”
Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin tried to downplay the story, claiming he had the situation under control by December 31, according to ISW.
The Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia), the police and the Wagner Security Service had extensive experience in arresting various types of armed persons, Prigozhin said. They were working to “arrest a lot of scoundrels, of which [russische Bürger] don’t even need to know anything”, starting from the front lines of the Luhansk region, Donetsk region and the Russian borders. (ari)
++++
+++
The situation at a glance:
Leads since February 24, 2022 Russia from the air and on the ground a war of aggression against the Ukraine. Shortly before that, President Vladimir Putin had Ukraine’s right to exist as an independent state in doubt and the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine.
Since then, the Ukrainian army has been fighting the invaders as best they can. Thousands of dead are reported on both sides, but exact numbers of soldiers and civilians have not been independently verified. The fact is: the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is getting worse every day.
The refugee agency UNHCR has now registered more than 16.5 million border crossings from Ukraine (as of December 20th). The refugees are mainly women and children, as men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country. According to UNHCR, over 8.7 million border crossings back into Ukraine were registered during this period (as of December 20th).
The EU and the USA reacted with sanctions. Besides, they supply arms to Ukraine, too Germany supports the country with arms deliveries. Also tanks of the class Cheetah received Ukraine from Germany. (dpa)
+++
The other reports on the war in Ukraine from December 30th
Klitschko requests Germany to supply Leopard 2 tanks
The mayor of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv,
The politician also expects a new attack on Kyiv. Russia is mobilizing more forces, up to 300,000 soldiers could tackle another attack on Ukraine. “Kyiv was a target and Kyiv remains a target,” writes Klitschko.
The aim of the Russian army was to bring Ukraine “a dark Christmas, a dark New Year, a dark future,” Klitschko continues. “But, as always, they miscalculated in this war! We are stronger, also thanks to Germany: the German Iris-T missile defense system helps like nothing else to ensure that our civilian infrastructure is not completely destroyed, but that we have been able to renew it again and again.” (dpa)
+++
With material from dpa, Reuters and AFP
The tickers of the past few days to read:
Once again there is a change at the top of Russia’s Western Forces Group. According to British information, Yevgeny Nikiforov is to be the new commander – he would be the fourth since the beginning of the war.