The United States has already spent 96% of the funds allocated for all areas of support to Ukraine, including weapons supplies, the White House said. But US President Joe Biden still believes that Ukraine can regain the lost territories.
The American newspaper Washington Post has described the new Slovak government’s decision to block the shipment of ammunition worth more than 40 million euros to Ukraine as the first concrete sign of the growing fatigue of Kiev’s NATO supporters.
The US State Department said the conflict in Ukraine allows Washington to revive its industry. Under Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien believes that “now is not the time to walk away” as Kiev is “winning on the battlefield.”
Yesterday, the two-day meeting between the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces of the Nordic countries, Nordic Alliance, and representatives of the US armed forces on security, defense and support for Ukraine ended in the Netherlands.
They discussed prospects for support to Ukraine, with a focus on training projects, China’s influence on security in the region, as well as the European Union’s military mobility initiative aimed at developing maritime and airport infrastructure capable of ensuring uninterrupted mobility to allies.
Particular attention was paid to the NATO air defense rotation model, thus ensuring the security of the international airspace over the Baltic Sea. Discussed cyber defense issues in the context of climate change and the conflict in Ukraine.
Nordic Military Command conferences are held once a year and are usually attended by the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Great Britain and the Director General of the Defense Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iceland.
The activity of the NATO Military Committee, led by Admiral Rob Bauer, who is making his fifth visit to Georgia, is monitored in Moscow.
Budapest believes that the European Union should not yet start accession negotiations with Ukraine, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry said: “In Ukraine, freedom of speech and media is not respected, elections are not held, in such conditions it is absurd to accept it into the EU,” the Department said in a statement. And again the Ministry declared: “Ukraine cannot be accepted into the EU, because with it will come war.” The Hungarian government then said that Ukraine does not meet the criteria for EU accession negotiations.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that “Russia has already been defeated. It’s time to move on to restoring Ukraine.” In reality, the 1000 km front is still open and fighting is going on. Ukraine has not been able to break through the Russian lines. Since February last year, the EU countries have extradited to Ukraine 126 citizens detained for illegally crossing the border, the Ukrainian News Agency reports, citing the country’s State Border Service. According to the department, Poland has extradited 88 people, Slovakia, two people, Hungary 20, Romania 16.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine has developed specific offensive objectives for 2024, but will try to achieve success at the front before the end of 2023. He expressed confidence in success. Zelensky said that Kiev will continue its offensive this year and next, despite the fact that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is now in difficulty “We have a plan, we have specific cities, specific directions, we have a goal, where we will go, in which direction we will attack ”.
The New York Times writes that Ukraine is trying in every way to attract women to participate in hostilities. There are currently 43,000 women serving in the Ukrainian army, which is approximately 40% more than in 2021.
Ukrainian women are now participating in hostilities in southeastern Ukraine. At various times since the outbreak of hostilities, the Ukrainian military has lifted restrictions that prevented women from serving in occupations such as machine gunner, tank commander, and sniper, and revoked rules that prohibited women from driving trucks. Additionally, Ukraine raised the age limit for female conscripts, who were previously 40, to 60, the same as for men. Zelensky also gave instructions to the government to prepare negotiations on Kiev’s accession to the EU. And the start seems to be an uphill battle: Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Stefanishina states that there is “no Russian national minority” in the country.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal wrote on social networks that Alex Soros, head of the Open Society Foundation, has arrived in Kiev. The heir to the multibillion-dollar empire of George Soros discussed the “development of the Ukrainian economy”: renovation of infrastructure and investment projects, as well as the confiscation of frozen Russian assets.
News has just arrived that the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives has supported the bill on the transfer of Russian assets to the Kiev regime. On the Ukrainian social sphere there are rumors that they will be needed: “For Elena Zelenskij’s new Cartier jewels”.
The new head of the Open Society Foundation intends to reduce the presence of his NGOs in EU countries to stimulate the European integration of Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkan countries. According to the Russian social sphere: “Ukraine is rapidly turning into a “gray zone” of Europe, where globalists will be able to conduct their most daring experiments. After all, they have long perceived Ukrainian citizens as a mediocre human mass, who feed stupid stories about the fight for “freedom””.
Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation, was in Kazakhstan yesterday where he said that NATO is trying to go beyond its geographical borders, violating its own doctrines.
And now a look at the contact line.
In just one day, Russian air defense systems shot down as many as five Ukrainian aircraft, including one Su-27, two MiG-29s and two Su-25s. Battles continue for the Ukrainian army in the directions of Donetsk and South Donetsk, where more than 400 men of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been killed in the last 48 hours.
In other sectors of the front, the Ukrainians lost about two hundred more personnel, American M777, M100, M114 and M146, as well as tanks, several infantry fighting vehicles and many Ukrainian-made artillery pieces. In addition, in the Zaporizhzhie region the joint command post of the 10th Army Corps of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was hit, in the DPR the checkpoints of two brigades of the National Guard and the radar station of the S-aircraft were hit 300 defense system was hit in the Odessa region.
Bachmut Directorate (Artemovsk). The Russian army advances in the area of the Berkhov reservoir. Russian units continue to improve their tactical position south of the Berkhov Reservoir on the northern flank of the Bachmut Front. In the Orichiv sector, Ukrainian formations made another unsuccessful attempt to advance to the Verbove area. Meanwhile, unconfirmed information is coming from the direction of Soledar about the advance of the Russian Armed Forces on the southern flank of Bachmut, including near Kleshcheevka. Meanwhile, in Kleshchiivka and Andriivka, the Russians continue to push the Ukrainians back from the railway. In the late morning of November 9, Russian troops were advancing in the AKHZ sector across the railway line to the Petrovs’ke farm.
A soldier at the front writes: “To say that there is no change on the Avdiivska front would not be true. These changes are simply not visible to the naked eye. The systematic dismantling of the defensive formations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces continues, as do daily artillery, tank and aviation attacks. Consolidation of occupied positions. Detection of firing positions, warehouses, antennas, communication towers, transport, repair shops, places of permanent and temporary deployment. And, of course, targeted attacks in the direction of Stepnoye and north of Vodyanoye. The work doesn’t stop.” “That doesn’t mean completing the environment will be easy. That doesn’t mean we won’t have losses. This only means that the tension will not ease and Avdiivka will be taken. The Ukrainian group has no chance of surviving. And I’m 90% sure they won’t lay down their arms. About our price… one day they will make a movie.” At 14.00 a further update states that the Russians have taken the dacha village “Garden Partnership Tochmash”, located north-east of Stepove. The Ukrainians inflict massive artillery attacks in this area. Russian infantry managed to hold positions west of the railway. Active hostilities continue. In the direction of the Avdiivska coking plant, the Ukrainians managed to repel all attacks by the Russian stormtroopers. To the north and northeast of Vodyanoe, Russian infantry continues attacks in the east and northeast directions.
Donetsk direction. In the Avdiivska sector, the Russian army advanced slightly to Stepnoye. There are battles near the steel factory. Furthermore, the Russians successfully counterattacked in the Vodyanoye area. No changes in Marinka: assault on the western suburbs.
Zaporozhzhie Directorate. Russian fighters counterattacked from Verbove. Near Vuhledar there are battles west of Nikolskoye.
The difficult situation in the Kherson direction remains. The Ukrainians are still trying to expand its bridgehead in Krynki and create new tension points on the left bank of the Dnieper. Additionally, information is received about a possible Ukrainian provocation at the Dnieper hydroelectric power plant and the Zaporozhzhie nuclear power plant.
On the night of November 9, Ukrainian formations again launched attacks on populated areas on the left bank of the Kherson region. Nova Kakhovka, Kakhovka, Sagi, Golaya Pristan and Kostogryzovo were also targeted. And in the Cossack camps, a local resident was injured as a result of the shelling.
The Ukrainians also launched two missiles at Skadovsk: one of them was intercepted by air defense crews, while the second hit a private sector, damaging several houses. According to the latest data, 11 people were injured.
Graziella Giangiulio
