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Anton Gerashchenko is an official advisor and a former deputy minister at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, ex-member of the Ukrainian parliament. Cooperation - @Tatiana_Pravda
Joe Biden had authorised the use of long-range Atacms missiles against targets in Russia - The Times.
There has been no official confirmation.
https://t.co/bu8YXUld98
"I don't know how to shoot. I don't even know how to use an assault rifle."
"You had an RPK machine gun!"
"I went with what they gave me."
Captured Russian soldier shares how Russian army treats its troops.
📹: State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
Russia is a prime suspect in cutting off two data cables running below the Baltic Sea - WSJ
A preliminary investigation involving Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, and Germany suggests the cables were likely cut in Swedish economic waters, where they intersect in a small area, with cuts caused by human interference rather than natural phenomena, sources indicate.
There are indications that Russia was behind the incidents, which they said were similar to other operations resulting from Moscow's escalating hybrid warfare against NATO countries in Europe, Western officials said.
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/russia-suspected-as-baltic-undersea-cables-cut-in-apparent-sabotage-801cb392
Meanwhile, The Financial Times reported that, according to MarineTraffic, the Chinese-registered vessel Yi Peng 3 was near both the Swedish-Lithuanian and Finnish-German cables around the time each was cut. Sweden has launched an investigation into the incidents, focusing on what role the vessel might have played.
"The Swedes are taking a hard look at the Chinese vessel," said one person with insight into the investigation.
https://www.ft.com/content/383516a5-02db-46cf-8caa-a7b26a0a1bb2
Ukrainian Defense Intelligence reports that the command post of the Russian "Northern" troop group was hit in Gubkin, Belgorod region of Russia.
Locals reported black smoke and loud explosions.
News item on the website of Russian EFKO plant, published on June 16, 2023:
"Belgorod-based EFKO Group of Companies wants to allocate 40 billion rubles to the development of innovative drones. The Group's head office is located in Voronezh, and its main production facility is in Alekseyevka, Belgorod region."
And Putin personally opened the "food of the future" plant in Belgorod region in March 2024.
Russians planned to deliver "groceries for the population" using drones and built a plant for that right near the border with Ukraine during a full-scale war. Cool story.
The UK's Ministry of Defense announced further military support of £7.5 million ($9.5 million) of funding for new attack and surveillance drones for Ukraine, which will be invested through the drone coalition led by the UK and Latvia.
Thank you, UK! 🇬🇧🇺🇦
"1,000 days after Putin initiated his full-scale invasion, our commitment to Ukraine remains ironclad. President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people will have our fullest support for as long as it takes," Defence Secretary John Healey said.
Also, Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard, said that the number of Ukrainian recruits trained on British soil passed 50,000, "an achievement which cannot be overstated."
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-marks-1000th-day-of-full-scale-invasion-of-ukraine-as-training-programme-hits-50000
❗️Czechia blames Russia for school bomb threats - Politico
At the beginning of September, hundreds of Czech and Slovak schools received threatening emails that kept the institutions closed for several days while police investigated, but none of the threats materialized.
Czech secret service chief Michal Koudelka condemned cyberattacks on Czech institutions at a conference on Russian sabotage against Europe at the Czech parliament, saying "there is also a clearly visible Russian trace" behind them.
"We are witnessing a kind of globalization of evil, where the countries of the axis of evil — Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea — support, complement, and help each other achieve their goals. We are, therefore, witnessing a phenomenon that is very serious and dangerous," said Koudelka.
Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/czech-republic-secret-service-michal-koudelka-russia-school-bomb-threats-slovakia/
Lavrov commented on the night strikes, allegedly with ATACMS missiles, in the Bryansk region of Russia.
At the same time, he said that he did not know whether the USA had really permitted Ukraine to use long-range missiles against Russia.
Anastasiia, 14, and Illia, 9, were killed in a Russian attack on a residential building in Sumy on November 17.
Anastasiia Borovyk was in the 9th grade at Sumy school №15. Illia Doroshenko was in the 3rd grade at Sumy Educational Complex №16.
Deepest condolences.
The war in Ukraine "will take a little bit longer," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
In an interview with the Indian ANI news agency, he stated that the war has dragged on as it has turned into a conflict between Russia and NATO.
"When it all started, it started against the Kyiv regime. And now it's continuing as a war between Russia and NATO countries. That's why it took a little bit longer, and it will take a little bit longer," Peskov said.
Russian propagandist Solovyev:
"Russian corps in Paris, Berlin, Portugal ensure that any sanctions are lifted. Any sanctions."
It is reported that these are missiles launched on a Russian ammunitions depot in Bryansk region.
Russian authorities claim the depot was attacked by ATACMS missiles.
Russia killed mom Tetiana and her sons Nikita and Vasyl in Hlukhiv today.
The boys were 21 and almost 8 years old. Their dad survived.
The death toll in Hlukhiv is 12 people as of now.
Deepest condolences.
How many more Ukrainian families will be destroyed by Russia...
Putin signed a new Russian nuclear doctrine today. Peskov said that a "potential adversary" should understand the "inevitability of retaliation" in case of aggression against Russia or its allies.
Peskov added that Russia could strike with nuclear weapons in response to the use of non-nuclear weapons and advised Western states to study the new doctrine carefully.
Aggression by any state from the military coalition against Russia or its allies is considered aggression by the coalition as a whole, according to the document.
❗️WELT: Russia is actively attacking European infrastructure, and, in the opinion of Western intelligence agencies, this is just the beginning – Putin will probably not stop at Ukraine and will try to expand his influence in the Baltic states, where he is currently waging a hybrid war, using cyber attacks, disinformation and sabotage.
According to the publication, the strategy of hybrid warfare includes not only IPSO, but also the financing of pro-Russian political forces in Europe and the disruption of NATO's airspace by Russian jets.
Putin is already waging a shadow war, including against Germany, as a joint investigation by journalists from Welt am Sonntag and Politico shows.
▪️ In an interview with Welt am Sonntag, Thomas Haldenwang, former president of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution claims that spying and sabotage by Moscow has increased in Germany both qualitatively and quantitatively. "We have been seeing aggressive behavior by Russian intelligence services for some time now," he says. In the real world and in cyberspace, Germany is at the center of a hybrid war. "Russia is using the full range of tools: from influencing political discussions and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure to large-scale sabotage and assassinations."
▪️ In this shadow war, mysterious incidents have recently taken place in Bundeswehr barracks. Drone flights over military facilities where Ukrainians are being trained. A planned attack on the head of the German defense company Rheinmetall was thwarted.
▪️ After the war in Ukraine started, Europeans expelled more than 700 Russian agents disguised as diplomats. The services there responded with a creative idea: disposable agents, advertised, for example, in pro-Russian Telegram channels.
These agents are mostly Russian-speaking young people in their 20s and 30s, often with criminal records and a penchant for information technology. Some of them are guided by ideological considerations, while others do it for money received in cryptocurrency.
▪️ The operations of one-off agents are varied. Painting pro-Russian or anti-Western slogans. For such graffiti, they are paid about 50 euros, and sometimes 100 euros for photographs of the object to be spied on. Sometimes Russians recruit people for more complex work. It is said that the package that burned down at Leipzig airport could have been sent by a one-time agent who might not even know that he was planting a bomb.
▪️ Moscow is also doing much to prevent the creation of a planned Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania. Armored and mechanized infantry battalions of the Bundeswehr have already been stationed there since 2017.
"A lot of fake news is being spread, for example that German soldiers raped women and wanted to occupy Lithuania. Russia wants to sabotage the project," Darius Jauniškis, Director General of the State Security Department of Lithuania, says.
German soldiers and their commanders found out about it again and again. For example, their names appeared in Russian Telegram channels.
▪️ Most German radios are not encrypted, which means radio traffic can be easily jammed, which is what happened during a major NATO exercise in 2022. "Russians entered the radio airwaves," one participant in the exercise said. "Only after changing frequency and pattern did the suspicious-sounding Russian voices gradually disappear and the exercise continued again."
Putin is testing red lines. Germany is not at war with Russia. But Russia is no longer behaving peacefully toward Germany. It is creeping toward the red lines. Testing them. You don't have to be an expert on Putin to see this. He says it all the time in his speeches.
https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/plus254516486/Russlands-Kampf-gegen-den-Westen-Wie-Putin-in-Europa-zuendelt.html
Ukrainian Defenders who shot down a Russian Kh-101 missile in the Rivne region received awards.
Senior soldiers Olha Maksymenko and Valentyna Steblevets, soldier Nataliia Hrabarchuk shot down the Russian missile together.
Olha's husband died in the war in 2023. "It won't be what it was, but it is what it is," she wisely says.
"Behind our backs are our children, our families, our relatives, our brothers-in-arms," the ladies said.
Glory to Ukrainian Heroines!
❗️Embassies of the United States, Spain and Italy are closed in Kyiv today due to a possible massive Russian missile attack.
Читать полностью…
President Biden authorized provision of antipersonnel mines to Ukraine, lifting his own ban, The Washington Post writes, citing two unnamed U.S. officials.
It is reported that the mines could have a great impact on the battlefield. Ukraine's first attempts to get antipersonnel mines started almost 3 years ago, at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. Russians themselves have used them extensively along the entire front line.
One official noted that the type of antipersonnel mine requested is "nonpersistent," meaning that the mines self-destruct or lose battery charge to render them inactive within days or weeks, reducing the danger to civilians. The Ukrainian side has pledged not to deploy the mines in densely populated areas, and the Biden administration - to support Ukraine's demining efforts after the war is over.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/11/19/biden-landmines-ukraine-russia/
Russian propagandists:
"We have the right to destroy NATO satellites and even more so American satellites over our own territory in response to any attack on our territory... For every strike, a satellite is shot down. Let's see if you can respond to that."
Russian media report that 45 drones are attacking several regions of Russia.
According to them, the videos show a drone hit in Belgorod region.
It is reported that an EFKO plant was hit. According to information from publicly available sources (including the company's website), a research and development facility on drone production is located there, probably a drone manufacturing site, as well.
Mrs Zinaida lived in Ulanove, Sumy region, near the border with Russia. She and many other people had to leave their home due to Russian strikes.
Tetiana and her sons Nikita and Vasyl were among them.
The dormitory where those relocated people lived, is now ruined. They will have to settle somewhere else, build a life from scratch - again.
These human tragedies happen every day in Ukraine because of Russia.
📹: HlukhivCity
President Zelenskyy commented on the strike on Russian ammunition depot in Bryansk region of Russia:
"Sorry, no extra details. Ukraine has long-range capabilities, we have long-range drones of our own production, we now have a long-range Neptune missile, and not just one. And now we have ATACMS, and we will use all of this," the President said.
Attention, Lithuania!
Russian propagandists:
"Lithuania is a small territory, easy to destroy. Have they ever defeated us at least once? Who do they think they are? Do they want us to pay attention to their existence?"
Russia's ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin called Medvedev's foreign policy statements his private opinion, essentially saying Medvedev doesn't matter in Russia anymore.
"It is only three persons who are allowed to speak officially for Russia: the president, the minister, and the spokesman of the ministry of foreign affairs," Kelin told BBC journalist Stephen Sackur. According to him, Medvedev says what he thinks, but he does not speak as an official person.
📹: HARDtalk
1,000 days of the full-scale war. It's hard to even imagine this.
None of us will ever be the same.
I can't even tell you how exhausted I am, how depleted - by all the deaths, suffering, destruction, constant air raid alerts and attacks, bad news.
But in these 1,000 days I've also seen so much bravery, love, devotion, beauty, dedication - it gives me strength to go on, to continue the work.
I don't know whether I will ever write "2,000 days of the full-scale war" and I hope to God I won't have to. Ukraine wants peace more than anyone in the world. But we want a lasting and safe peace - to raise our children, rebuild out beautiful country and honor our fallen heroes.
Thank you for being here, friends. The fight continues. Slava Ukraini.
Abkhazia update:
The "parliament" of unrecognized Russian-occupied Abkhazia accepted the "president's" resignation.
In return, protesters agreed to leave the area near government buildings.
◾️Context:
On November 12, protests broke out in unrecognized Abkhazia. The reason was an investment agreement with Russia, signed in late October. By this agreement, large Russian businesses would receive unprecedented benefits, as well as ownership of land and property. But it could only come into force if it is ratified by the "parliament". Activists demanded the resignation of "President" Aslan Bzhania, who has headed the unrecognized republic since 2020, accusing him of betraying national interests.
◾️Wider context:
Abkhazia declared independence after the war with Georgia in 1993. But it was not recognized by any state in the world.
After the Russian-Georgian war of 2008, Abkhazia's independence was recognized by Russia and Venezuela, Nauru, Nicaragua and Syria.
Georgia considers Abkhazia, as well as South Ossetia, to be occupied.
Reportedly, this is ammunition detonating at the ammunitions depot hit in Bryansk region today.
Sound on!
Russian authorities claim the depot was attacked by ATACMS missiles.
Two undersea internet cables in the Baltic Sea have been disrupted by sabotage – German Defense Minister Pistorius.
"A very clear sign that something is going on there. No one believes that these cables were accidentally damaged. And I don't want to believe in the versions that anchors are to blame. So we have to conclude, without knowing who did that, that this is a hybrid action. And we also have to assume, without knowing, of course, that this is sabotage," the German minister said.
"We give Ukraine just enough to hold, and sometimes even less, while Russia has put its entire economy on a wartime footing and counts with the unconditional backing of North Korea and Iran" - Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Borrell wrote that in his blog post about his recent visit to Kyiv.
📷: Josep Borrell in a shelter during an air raid alert in Kyiv
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/last-night-train-kyiv_en
Russian strike on Hlukhiv, Sumy region. Two Russian drones hit a dormitory and an entire section of the five-story building collapsed from top to bottom.
Seven people were killed, an 8-year-old boy among them. 12 more people injured. There are probably more people under the debris.
Russia kills Ukrainian civilians every day.