News blog about the Ukraine war
Zelensky: “This Russian regime repeats evil”
From dpa, Reuters, afp, t-online, mam, lw, csi, sic, fho, jcz, ts, lec
Updated on December 9th, 2023 – 6:58 a.m. Reading time: 24 min.
Volodymyr Zelenskyj: He calls for further international help in air defense. (Source: Pool /Ukrainian Presidentia)
Day 652: A Ukrainian citizen is said to have passed on secret information to Russia. Zelenskyj calls for further help with air defense. All information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
Zelensky: “This Russian regime repeats evil”
6:54 a.m.: In his evening video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj asked for further international help with air defense in view of the recent Russian bombing raids. “This Russian regime is repeating the evil it has already done, but it is trying to make each attack even more painful,” Zelensky said.
There were impacts on Friday night, among other places in the eastern Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk near Pavlohrad, where, according to preliminary information, one person was killed. The eastern Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv was also attacked with ground-based S-300 missiles.
Russia is using strategic air power again
10:06 p.m.: After a break of more than two months, Russia has again attacked targets in Ukraine using its strategic air force. “After a long break of 79 days, the enemy has resumed air strikes with cruise missiles from aircraft of the Strategic Air Force Tu-95MS,” the military commander of the capital Kiev, Serhiy Popko, said on Telegram on Friday. The rockets were fired by several bombers near Engels in the Russian Saratov region.
“Not one enemy target reached the city,” the colonel general summarized. In the surrounding area of the capital with around three million inhabitants, several houses were damaged by debris and the pressure waves from explosions. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, 14 of the 19 cruise missiles fired were intercepted. The information could not be independently verified.
According to information, there were impacts in the eastern Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk near Pavlohrad. According to preliminary information, one person was killed, as the governor of the region, Serhiy Lyssak, said on news television. Eight other people were also injured. The authorities previously spoke of at least four people being wounded. There was therefore damage in an industrial company. In addition, almost two dozen houses were damaged. According to the military, five combat drones had previously been intercepted over the area.
The USA and Ukraine want to cooperate more closely in weapons production
7:36 p.m.: Washington and Kiev want to work more closely together on armaments in view of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. For example, both countries signed a memorandum of understanding on “co-production and technical data exchange” to cover the urgent needs of the Ukrainian armed forces in the areas of air defense systems, repair and maintenance and production of ammunition, the US Department of Commerce said on Friday.
According to the information, the US government has also set up an interdepartmental team made up of representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs, defense and commerce. It is intended to support industry and partners in Ukraine – for example with questions about possible business and export requirements. Washington and industry partners are also providing Kyiv with technical data to locally improve Ukraine’s legacy air defense systems by incorporating certain Western munitions, the Commerce Department said.
Bulgaria donates heavy weapons systems to Ukraine
7:02 p.m.: Bulgaria will support Ukraine in Russia’s war of aggression with armored transport vehicles and anti-aircraft missiles. The parliament in Sofia on Friday overturned President Rumen Radev’s veto against an armored car agreement with Ukraine. Head of state Radev, who is considered Russia-friendly, justified his veto on Monday by saying that the approximately 100 armored vehicles were needed for border or civil defense in his own country.
The presidential veto has now been rejected by a majority of 162 parliamentarians from the pro-Western government camp. Only 55 deputies from the pro-Russian Nationalists and the Socialist Party supported the veto.
Ukrainian from Odessa is said to have spied for Russia
6:35 p.m.: A Ukrainian man suspected of spying for Russia was identified and arrested on Friday by the regional prosecutor’s office in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). This is reported by the Ukrainian online media “The Kyiv Independent”.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the man is said to have been recruited from Russia and has been spying for Russia since October under the pseudonym “Mazepa”. Among other things, the man is said to have been commissioned to take photos of the locations of Ukrainian troops as well as the defense and energy infrastructure in Odessa. He is said to have then forwarded this to his Russian clients.
