15.12.2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 04:30 report: USA deliver components for intelligent bombs +++
According to a newspaper report, the USA is providing Ukraine with precision military components. With the help of the special electronic equipment, unguided missiles can be converted into self-guiding missiles (“smart bombs”) and achieve a high degree of targeting accuracy, reports the Washington Post, citing US government officials familiar with the matter.
+++ 03:23 Canada reintroduces sanctions once morest Nord Stream 1 turbines +++
Canada is revoking a temporary sanctions exemption for Siemens Energy turbines on Russia’s Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline Melanie Joly and Natural Resources Secretary Jonathan Wilkinson in a joint statement. The decision was made in close cooperation with Ukraine, Germany and other European allies. The pipeline, which runs beneath the Baltic Sea, was shut down for repairs on August 31 but was not subsequently put back into service.
+++ 02:16 Russia warns USA once morest Patriot delivery +++
The Russian embassy in Washington sees the US government’s plans to equip Ukraine with the modern Patriot air defense system as a provocation. This might lead to unforeseeable consequences, the embassy warns on Telegram. “It is the United States that is responsible for the prolongation and escalation of the Ukraine conflict,” the embassy writes.
+++ 00:58 Ukraine: Children’s torture chamber discovered in Cherson +++
According to Ukrainian sources, children were also abused under Russian occupation in the recently liberated city of Cherson. “We found ten torture chambers in the Kherson region, four of them in the city of Kherson,” reports Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner. “In one of the torture chambers we found a separate room, a cell in which children were kept, even the occupiers called it that, a children’s cell.” The only difference between the cell and the adjoining rooms is that the occupiers laid thin mats on the floor. “We documented that the children were not given water, they were only given water every other day. They were given practically nothing to eat.” Psychological pressure was put on the children. “They told them their parents had left them and weren’t coming back.”
+++ 23:30 NATO countries agree on budget for 2023 +++
The NATO countries have agreed to significantly increase joint spending in view of the new security situation caused by Russia’s war once morest Ukraine. According to the alliance, the civilian budget will increase by around 28 percent to 370.8 million euros in the coming year, and the military budget by around 26 percent to 1.96 billion euros. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomes the decision. “This is a concrete expression of higher ambition,” comments the Norwegian. Only together can we offer security to the approximately one billion people in the NATO countries in a more dangerous world. Currently, NATO’s military and civilian budgets together amount to around 1.8 billion euros.
+++ 22:16 Scholz to Putin: “The brutal killing must come to an end” +++
Chancellor Olaf Scholz sees a clear signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin following the first summit meeting between the European Union and the ASEAN countries in Brussels: “The brutal killing must come to an end, Putin must end the war immediately,” said Scholz following the summit meeting in Brussels. The EU and the association of Southeast Asian countries had “made it unmistakably clear” that the United Nations Charter applies “to everyone and everywhere”. “With its terrible attack on Ukraine, Russia questioned precisely these principles,” Scholz continues. “No state has the right to invade another and nuclear threats are unacceptable.”
+++ 21:47 Ukrainian secret service confiscates propaganda material in churches and monasteries +++
The Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU has found propaganda writings in Orthodox churches and monasteries in renewed raids because of possible connections to Russia. During searches of religious sites across the country, he seized “Russian passports, propaganda literature and permits” issued by the Russian occupation authorities, the SBU explains. He wants to use the measures to prevent “religious communities being misused as the center of the ‘Russian world'”. In addition, the SBU wants to “protect the population from provocation and acts of terrorism.” The secret service published photos of confiscated Russian passports, Russian military symbols and pro-Russian writings. According to the SBU, Russian representatives deny “the existence of the Ukrainian people, their language and culture”. They also questioned the Ukrainian state.
+++ 21:15 Zelenskyj speaks of “significant progress in the question of air defense” +++
After new Russian drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj relies on more modern and more effective anti-aircraft systems from the West. “This week we made significant progress on the issue of anti-aircraft defense,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video message, without giving any details. According to media reports, the US government is considering supplying the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. Zelenskyy reported that 13 Russian drones had been shot down in the morning. “That means 13 spared infrastructure objects, that’s saved lives,” he says. Ukraine is constantly expanding its air defenses. “And we are doing everything to get more modern and more effective systems for Ukraine.” Without giving details, Zelenskyj says that agreements to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities are being worked on.
Read earlier developments in the Ukraine war here.
