Day 648: Ukraine appears to have attacked a fuel depot in Luhansk. The number of Russians who died in the war is estimated at 70,000. All information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
Putin plans to travel to Saudi Arabia and Emirates
7:24 p.m.: According to Moscow media reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to visit Saudi Arabia this week. Talks with Crown Prince Mohammed are planned there, Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov told the Telegram channel Shot on Monday. Before that, a working visit to the United Arab Emirates is on the agenda. Ushakov did not give exact dates.
Putin was last in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates in 2019, wrote the state agency Tass. Because of the war of aggression against Ukraine, the Kremlin chief’s foreign contacts are limited. The visit to the Gulf would be the first since the war began in 2022 that is not aimed at direct allies such as China, Belarus or Kazakhstan. Russia coordinates with Saudi Arabia regarding prices and quantities on the world oil market. The kingdom has also mediated between Moscow and Kiev on issues such as the release of prisoners.
Lula invites Putin to the G20 summit in Brazil
6:03 p.m.: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wants to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit in Brazil next year. “He will be invited,” Lula said in response to a question on Monday after the German-Brazilian government consultations in Berlin.
However, Lula left it open whether Putin would be arrested if he arrived because there was an arrest warrant against him from the International Court of Justice. The courts would have to decide that. In September, Lula said that Putin would under no circumstances be arrested. Brazil is a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued an international arrest warrant for Putin over the attack on Ukraine.
White House warns: Aid to Ukraine could end soon
12.45 p.m.: The White House has warned that US military aid to Ukraine will expire by the end of the year if there is still no agreement on this support in Congress in Washington. In a letter released Monday to House Republican leader Mike Johnson, White House Budget Office Director Shalanda Young wrote that without this support, Ukraine would be “crippled on the battlefield.”
Young warned that the issue cannot be postponed until next year: “The time to help democratic Ukraine fight Russian aggression is now. It is time for Congress to act.”
The dispute in the US Congress over new funding for aid to Ukraine has been dragging on for months. Among the opposition Republicans, who are in the majority in the House of Representatives, there is some resistance to new aid for the country fighting the Russian invasion.
Britain estimates the number of Russians killed in the war at 70,000
12:03 p.m.: According to British estimates, around 70,000 Russians have been killed in the war of aggression against Ukraine. The British Ministry of Defense said these were 50,000 regular soldiers and 20,000 members of the Wagner private army. The number of wounded between the start of the war on February 24, 2022 and the end of November 2023 is estimated in London at 180,000 to 240,000 soldiers and 40,000 Wagner fighters.
“This gives an estimated range of 290,000 to 350,000 total casualties among Russian combatants. The midpoint of the estimate is a total of 320,000 Russian casualties,” it continued. Exact information is difficult. Even in Russia, the total number of dead and wounded is probably not known because there is an established culture of dishonest reporting within the military. The authority does not provide any information about Ukrainian losses.
