Russian missiles have once again hit power plants in six regions of Ukraine, causing disruptions to energy supplies throughout the country. While in the EU a “agreement in principle” on the use of extra profits from frozen Russian assets for military aid to Kiev. A sign of unity following the divisions that emerged yesterday, when some member states, including France, sent their ambassadors to Moscow to the inauguration ceremony of Vladimir Putin for his fifth term as president despite invitations from Brussels to abandon the event .
“There is no common position on not recognizing Putin as the legitimate president of Russia,” a European Commission spokesperson admitted. But the permanent representatives of the 27 have in fact reached an agreement on the thorny issue of the use in favor of Ukraine of the interest accrued on the 210 billion euros of Russian funds frozen in the Union. The text, according to European sources, still needs some refinement. But in principle it is expected that 90% of the 2.5/3 billion in annual profits will be allocated to the European Peace Fund for the purchase of weapons. The remaining 10% should instead be transferred to the newly established Financial Assistance Facility for Kiev. “Russia will pay directly for its crimes,” exulted European Commission vice president Valdis Dombrovskis, announcing that the first billion euros should be transferred by the summer.
Meanwhile, it continues to grow tension between Moscow and London.
Britain has announced its decision to expel the military attaché at the Russian embassy, accused of being “an undeclared intelligence officer” of the armed forces. The Home Secretary, James Cleverly, also announced that the British government will revoke the diplomatic status of some detached properties belonging to the embassy, in particular a country residence in the county of Sussex (southern England) which according to London would be used for “espionage” activities. Moscow will give “an appropriate response” to these decisions, warned Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
On the ground in Ukraine, the Russian advance continues. The Defense Ministry said Moscow forces captured two more villages: Novokalinovo in the Donetsk region and Kislovka in the Kharkiv region. Short of soldiers, Kiev is also resorting to conscripting prisoners, as Russia has done so far. According to reports from some deputies, the Ukrainian Parliament has approved a bill in this sense, excluding some categories, such as those convicted of murder, rape, pedophilia and corrupt officials.
In the meantime, Russian naval and air forces have once again struck energy infrastructure in the regions of Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia and Lviv. In the latter oblast, said the head of the local military administration, a Kinzhal hypersonic missile dropped from a Mig-31K was also used.
ANSA Agency Moscow: ‘We will continue to develop cooperation with North Korea’ – News – Ansa.it According to a US source, Russia is violating the sanctions imposed by the UN on Pyongyang with its oil (ANSA)President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of a “massive missile attack by Nazi Putin on Remembrance Day and victory over Nazism in the Second World War”, which is being celebrated in Ukraine today, a day earlier than in Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry instead explained the night’s bombings by calling them a “response” to Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities, stating that missiles and drones also hit “Ukrainian military and industrial enterprises”. Local Ukrainian authorities said that in another Russian bombing in Kharkiv, in the north-east, the sports area of an educational institution was hit, where they remained. Five people were injured, including three minors.
The Kremlin has meanwhile responded to accusations from Ukrainian secret services according to which Russia had tried to organize an attempt on Zelensky’s life. Information from Ukrainian intelligence “in general can hardly be perceived as true,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. But Kiev insisted, making it known – through the mouth of the SBU spokesperson, Artem Dekhtyarenko – that at least one of the assassins hired by the spy network that wanted to kill Zelensky “would have received a reward of 80 thousand dollars to strike”, according to what emerges from a audio intercepted between the conspirators. In a video that also immortalizes an alleged Russian 007, it seems that the offer refers in particular to the planned missile and drone attack against the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov. One of the two arrested SBU colonels allegedly confessed to having received thousands of dollars in cash and through parallel accounts over the course of two years.
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