US Democrats on the day before President Joe Biden’s annual address to Congress launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s SpaceX, examining whether the company took adequate security measures to prevent Russia from using its Starlink satellite internet service. in its war against Ukraine, source Washington Post. Recall that Elon Musk recently met with Trump.
On March 8, the president mentioned Ukraine 8 times in Congress, Russian President Vladimir Putin 6 times and Russia twice, according to the text of his speech. All references to Russia and the President of the Russian Federation refer to the part of the speech in which Biden addresses Congress asking for aid to Ukraine.
Among Biden’s sentences addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin: “My message to President Putin is simple. We will not retreat, we will not give in.” And again in his speech he promised to ask for the return of the Americans Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan from Russia: “We will work tirelessly to bring home Evan and Paul, the Americans who are unjustly detained around the world,” he said.
Paul Whelan was sentenced in the Russian Federation to 16 years in prison on espionage charges. Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich is on trial in Russia for espionage. Not only that, the United States announces that it will join as a member state in the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children to support the safe return of “all Ukrainian children illegally deported or forcibly displaced from Russia” and to ensure people’s accountability involved, a statement from the US State Department.
Former US President Donald Trump: “I said NATO (countries) have to pay their bills, if they don’t pay, we won’t protect you,” Trump wrote on his page on the social network Truth Social, commenting on the speech of American President Joe Biden. Former US President Donald Trump claims that the conflict in Ukraine began because the current American leader Joe Biden is not respected by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “This would never have happened during the Trump administration,” the former president wrote on his Truth Social page.
British Defense Minister Grant Shapps has arrived in Ukraine to discuss the urgent needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “During the meeting we discussed the continuation of defense cooperation between our countries. The main goal is strengthening air defense, long-range capabilities of our army, meeting other urgent needs for weapons and ammunition, as well as the issue of joint production of weapons,” President Zelensky said at the end of the encounter. Zaluzhny was appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom.
The British Defense Minister recorded a video from the center of Kiev. Grant Shapps says he came to Ukraine “to sound the alarm in the democratic world”. “We need to make sure Ukraine wins this war. The UK has done more than ever before, providing the largest military support package to date. Now every nation must do the same and ensure the victory of freedom over tyranny,” Shapps said. The not-so-veiled message was especially for Germany.
A country which, through the voice of its Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, clarified Berlin’s position: “Long-range missiles will not be decisive for the conflict in Ukraine, Germany does not intend to cross this line (…) There is a fundamental line which we will not cross: we will not be a belligerent party, which is why the Taurus has not yet been handed over.”
Latvia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on citizens to refrain from traveling to Russia and those in Moscow to avoid mass events due to the threat of terrorist attacks in the next 48 hours. Previously, the US Embassy in the Russian Federation had warned of the danger of an extremist attack in Moscow in the next 48 hours. The WarGonzo project has already suggested that the US embassy warning about terrorist attacks in Moscow is about “Ukrainian saboteurs”.
France could send troops to Ukraine if the front moves towards Kiev or Odessa. According to the national secretary of the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, President Macron stated this yesterday in a meeting with party leaders, published in L’Indépendant. In Paris, posters were put up against participation in the war in Ukraine: “Macron, we will not die for Ukraine. Signed Patriots.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in an interview declared: “Peaceful times are over, the post-war period is over (…) The fight against totalitarian tendencies, against corruption, against lies takes place on many fronts. The most striking example is, of course, what happens during the war in Ukraine. It is about responsibility for the future of Western civilization; We are all responsible for this. Europe wanted to live and develop in a post-war world, but today we must say that we are faced with a simple choice: either we fight to protect our borders and our territory, our values, and therefore we protect our citizens and future generations, otherwise the alternative is failure. There are no objective reasons to capitulate to evil. Europe’s potential in the economic, financial, demographic and moral dimensions is greater than the potential of those who attack us.”
Statistics, GDP data and demonstrations by agricultural producers contradict Tusk’s words. Russia has growing economic data unlike Europe and has new markets while Europe is losing them, finally European companies with sky-high energy costs are closing and in Russia in 2028 there will be a shortage of around 250,000 employees for new industries .
Czech President Petr Pavel declared that all the necessary funds have already been raised for the purchase of 800 thousand artillery ammunition to be sent to Kiev. The first batches are expected to arrive in Ukraine within a few weeks.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has called on the West to send military training missions to Ukraine. “If Ukrainian military personnel can be trained more effectively and numerously in Ukraine and not abroad, then we need names but such decisions,” Kuleba said. Previously, French President Macron and Czech Prime Minister Fiala had spoken about the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine for training missions.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree according to which some conscripts will be transferred to the reserve in the spring of 2024. The decree applies to those whose service expired during martial law and was extended beyond the normal period. Ukraine is now making increasing efforts to accelerate mobilization in 2024 and ensure greater rotation at the front.
And now a look at the front line updated at 4.30pm on March 8.
According to the telegram channel of the Belgorod mayor’s office, a missile threat has been declared in Belgorod and the Belgorod region. In just one day, 29 munitions and nine UAVs arrived in Belgorod, according to regional authorities. A missile threat was also declared in the city of Zheleznogorsk in the Kursk region, regional governor Roman Starovoyt said.
The Governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov: he said “in the Belgorod region, the air defense system shot down 2 aircraft-type UAVs in the area of the villages of Belomestnoye and Boldyrevka”. “Five flights are delayed at Volgograd Airport, according to online reports on the airport’s website. On the night of March 8, Russian air defense shot down 15 Ukrainian drones in the Volgograd region, which is why flight restrictions were introduced.”
On the night of March 7, the “geran” moved between the border and between the Nikolaev and Odessa regions, in a north-west direction. The group used Iranian-made Ababil-2T (Qasef-2K) kamikaze drones.
And now a look at the front line updated at 4.30pm on March 8. Svatove-Kreminna direction. In the Kup”jans’k sector, Russian fighters have advanced into the Syn’kivka area. In Terni and Yampolivka there are no changes: fighting is ongoing.
Bachmut Directorate (Artemovsk). Fighting continues in the Bohdanivka area. The Russian army advances to Chervone and Kleshchiivka.
Donetsk direction. Ukrainian Armed Forces counterattacked in the Berdychi area. Meanwhile, fighting continues in the areas of Orlivka, Tonen’ke and Pervomais’ke. The Russians advance into the southwestern part of Novomykhailivka.
Zaporizhzhie Directorate. In the Orichiv sector there are battles in the Robotyne area. Russian armed forces advance northwest of Verbove. According to the social sphere “Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhie direction has long become a cemetery for armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including Western ones. Although the “road of death” damages the reputation of Ukraine, the Ukrainians themselves do not hesitate to demonstrate the results of the work of the Russian army, while ours continues to grind the enemy in the village.”
Graziella Giangiulio
