DIRECT War in Ukraine Kiev says it shot down 29

DIRECT. War in Ukraine: Kiev says it shot down 29 Russian drones overnight

Kharkiv builds underground school

The metropolis of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine will build a completely underground school in the country to protect students from frequent Russian bomb and missile attacks. “Such accommodation will allow thousands of Kharkiv children to continue their personal education safely, even in the face of the threat of missiles,” wrote the city’s mayor Ihor Terekhov. Many schools in the frontline regions have already been forced to teach online, and Kharkiv set up around 60 separate classrooms in its metro stations before the start of the school year, creating space for more than 1,000 children to study.

The spark between Zelenskyy and Elon Musk is burning

Yesterday, Elon Musk attacked Volodymyr Zelensky on his social network X (formerly Twitter). He mocked the Ukrainian president regarding the financial aid he was demanding. “If five minutes have passed and you haven’t asked for a billion dollars in support,” he posted with a photomontage of a Zelensky. Ukraine’s reaction via its parliament was not long in coming. The official account of the Ukrainian parliament shared the same photo, but with the billionaire’s head: “When five minutes have passed and you have not yet broadcast Russian propaganda.” Last week, the Tesla boss suggested that it would be better for the US , to use the money itself than to give it to Ukraine. He also criticized the results of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. “So many deaths for such small results,” he wrote. In France, media philosopher Bernard Henri Levy sharply criticized Elon Musk.

Russia mistakenly published the addresses of secret services in several cities

Russian authorities accidentally revealed the addresses of the country’s secret military buildings, institutions and spy houses in several cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, in a 434-page document titled “Special Group” posted on the Moscow City Hall website . According to Newsweek, this supposedly secret document is no longer accessible.

Heavy fighting in southern Ukraine

According to a recent report from the Ukrainian General Staff, there were 35 battles on the front in the south of the country in the last 24 hours. In total, Russian troops carried out eight rocket attacks and 47 airstrikes, firing 27 times at Ukrainian troops and civilians.

In addition, Russia attacked Ukraine with seven Shahed-136/131 drones from the southeast. According to the Ukrainian military, air defense forces destroyed a total of 29 aircraft across the country overnight. “Russian attacks have killed and injured civilians. Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged,” the General Staff said. For its part, the Ukrainian Air Force launched eleven airstrikes on Russian troops and military equipment, as well as one airstrike on an anti-aircraft missile system.

Russia accuses Ukraine of bombing a village with cluster munitions

Ukraine may have bombed a Russian village with cluster munitions, according to the governor of Russia’s Bryansk region. Cluster munitions were fired at the Russian village of Klimovo near the Ukrainian border, damaging several houses but causing no casualties. Although Ukraine received cluster munitions from the United States, it promised to use them only to expel enemy soldiers.

The fact is that this cluster munition, which looks like a container filled with mini explosive bombs, causes significant damage, especially to the civilian population. They have been fundamentally banned by the Oslo Convention since 2010, but have been widely used in numerous conflicts such as Syria, Yemen, Sudan, etc.

Serial aircraft breakdown for Aeroflot

Although it may be a coincidence, several Aeroflot aircraft have experienced mishaps in recent days. A Boeing 777 remained stranded on the tarmac in Phuket en route to Moscow due to damaged landing gear. Another in Moscow was unable to take off for Turkey with 400 people on board. Since the start of the war, major aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing have stopped supplying parts to Russia, leading to aircraft maintenance problems.

A Japanese senator’s visit to Russia embarrasses Japan

A pro-Russian Japanese senator has visited Moscow, the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began last year. This initiative surprised the government, which criticized this approach. .

The Russian Foreign Ministry reported a personal meeting between deputy head of Russian diplomacy Andrei Rudenko and Muneo Suzuki, senator from Japan’s Innovation Party, a populist formation in the opposition.

Japan advises all its citizens not to travel to Russia “for any reason,” reminded Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, indicating that this instruction also applies to parliamentarians.

75-year-old Muneo Suzuki has long been considered an advocate for strengthening Russian-Japanese relations. He was also accused and convicted of corruption in the early 2000s, forcing him to leave the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, right-wing conservative), Japan’s main political party in power. However, that sulphurous past didn’t stop him from becoming an informal diplomatic adviser to then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the 2010s, as he again tried to boost relations with Moscow.

Russia could test a nuclear missile

According to the New York Times, Russia plans to test a nuclear-powered Burevestnik missile based on footage from an Arctic base. Putin had already announced this missile project in 2018. At the time it was said that the rocket would fly in the atmosphere but could not be shot down by air defenses.

In Ukraine, more than 800 medical facilities have been partially or fully restored

According to the Ministry of Health, 820 medical facilities have already been fully or partially restored. Of these, 410 facilities were completely restored and another 410 were partially restored. According to the ministry, most of these facilities are located in the Mykolaiv, Dnipro, Kiev, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions. International partners are helping to rebuild this infrastructure. According to one report, the Russians damaged 1,439 medical facilities and completely destroyed 190 others.

According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Russian economy has held up better than expected.

The Russian economy will grow by 1.5% this year, while a previous forecast predicted a contraction of the same magnitude; , said the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

“This shows, at least in the short term, some resilience of the Russian economy, which has managed to reorganize its trade flows. For a while, Russia was able to benefit from significant export revenues for its fossil fuels,” explains its President Odile Renaud-Basso.

Reconstruction of Ukraine: The EBRD plans to double its financing

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to double its financing in Ukraine at the time of reconstruction, “to reach about 3 billion euros per year, with a focus on the private sector but also on large infrastructures.” appreciates its president Odile Renaud-Basso.

Organization, hierarchy, connection to the army… What do we know about Wagner’s return?

Wagner fighters have been seen on Ukraine’s Eastern Front in recent days. Some joined the ranks of the regular army. And for those who remain in the militia, the shadow of the Kremlin looms large. Our article.

Suspending US aid would have a “devastating” impact on Kiev

Experts warn that Ukrainian troops could soon run out of ammunition and equipment if Trumpist elected officials manage to cut US funding to Kiev.

Since the conflict began, the United States has pledged more than $43 billion in military aid to Ukraine. However, Republican opposition managed on Saturday to get Congress to approve a preliminary federal budget that does not include this envelope, despite being requested by the White House and Senate.

This compromise, which prevented government paralysis or “gridlock,” highlights the fact that such support for Ukraine is far from set in stone.

If this aid were to be suspended, “it would be devastating for the Ukrainians,” warns Mark Cancian, a consultant at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.

“Ukrainian troops would be weakened and possibly even collapse,” he believes, although he believes it is possible “that they can continue to remain on the defensive.”

More than 500 Ukrainian children have been killed since the conflict began

According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, 504 Ukrainian children have officially been killed since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. More than 1,100 children also suffered more or less serious injuries, reports The Kyiv Independent.

But the actual figures could be much higher because they do not fully take into account areas still under Russian occupation, recently liberated by Ukrainian forces or where there is heavy fighting, prosecutors said.