2023-09-28 13:47:06
Today
Thursday September 28, 2023
15:12
LONG-TERM HELP
Faced with a protracted war, France wants to anchor its aid to Ukraine over the long term and move from a logic of selling military equipment to the establishment of industrial partnerships between the two countries.
Traveling to kyiv, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu insisted on the necessary “endurance” that Paris must demonstrate in its support for Ukraine. “We know, this war will last. As it will last (…) we must ensure that tomorrow, we continue to be reliable in our aid to Ukraine,” he said shortly after having gathered in front of the “Wall of Heroes”, a memorial in Kiev dedicated to soldiers killed on the front. However, “if we want to last, we must be able to directly link our defense industry with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and with the Ukrainian army,” he said.
14:48
CHECK
On Monday, kyiv announced that it had shot down Admiral Viktor Sokolov during a strike in Crimea. Information denied by Moscow, which published a number of images of the boss of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. But what to think of this proof of life? We wanted to check.
14:47
EXPLANATIONS
Since the start of the war, the shortage of weapons has been a problem on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides. But this could have reached a new stage within Moscow’s forces. The Russian army, due to a lack of new armor, has started using tanks made up of parts from other models, kyiv claims.
International
Published today at 11:44 a.m.
14:35
ENCOUNTER
Volodymyr Zelensky met today with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. A meeting of which he published images on the social network “We discussed strengthening Ukraine’s air defense in order to protect the population from Russian terrorism,” the Ukrainian president added.
13:41
“CLOSER THAN EVER”
Ukraine is “closer to NATO than ever,” said Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday during a surprise visit to this country, which has been fighting the Russian invasion since February 2022. Ukraine is now closer to NATO than ever,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Kiev with Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president, for his part, assured that kyiv’s accession to the Alliance was only a “matter of time”.
13:37
EXPLANATIONS
The Russian Finance Ministry has published a document detailing the 2024 draft budget. And military spending is expected to explode. Explanations:
International
Published on September 26, 2023 at 3:00 p.m.
13:29
COUNTEROFFENSIVE
The Ukrainian counter-offensive against the Russian army is “gaining ground little by little”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declared Thursday in Kiev, while denouncing Moscow’s “imperialist delusions”. “Today your forces are advancing. They are facing fierce fighting, but they are gaining ground little by little,” said Jens Stoltenberg. “Ukrainians are fighting for their families” and “their freedom” and “Moscow is fighting for its imperialist delusions,” he added.
13:11
MILITARY SPENDING
The explosion in Russian military spending planned for 2024 is “necessary” because of “the war” waged against Moscow, the Kremlin said on Thursday, thus expecting a long conflict in Ukraine. “It is obvious that such an increase is necessary, absolutely necessary, because we are in a state of hybrid warfare,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “I want to talk about the hybrid war that is being waged against us. And that requires high spending,” he argued. A document released Thursday indicates an increase of nearly 70% in Russia’s defense budget, the largest budget ever allocated to this sector.
13:10
MEMBERSHIP
Ukraine’s accession to NATO is only a “matter of time” declared Thursday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while receiving Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Kiev. “It is a question of time when Ukraine will be a de jure member of the Alliance. We are doing everything to bring this moment closer,” Mr. Zelensky said as the allies refused to give Kiev a timetable for its accession during the last summit in July in Lithuania.
13:10
I’LL TAKE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Kiev on Thursday for more anti-aircraft defense systems to counter Russian “attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure” expected in winter.
“The Secretary General agreed to make efforts to help us”, to “mobilize the members of the Alliance”, affirmed Mr. Zelensky during a joint press conference with Mr. Stoltenberg. “We must get through this winter together, to protect our energy infrastructure and the lives of our citizens,” he said.
11:32
“GRAIN WAR”
Neither Ukraine nor Poland “needs this grain war”, declared the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kuleba in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency published on Thursday. “We don’t need this grain war, neither does Poland,” Kouleba said. “We did not create this crisis and we are absolutely inclined to end it,” he added, believing that the current Polish-Ukrainian tensions were due to the electoral campaign ahead of the October 15 elections in Poland .
11:09
THANKS
On X, Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the British Defense Minister, who visited kyiv this week. “I am deeply grateful to the United Kingdom for its financial, humanitarian and military support,” said the Ukrainian president, who specified that he had discussed with Grant Shapps “the continuation of cooperation in defense matters” between the two countries as well as “ measures to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense.
10:39
DIFFICULTIES IN THE AIR?
In its latest update, the UK Ministry of Defense estimated that the Russian Aerospace Forces have lost around 90 aircraft in combat since February 2022. Russia has also “been flying some of its combat aircraft types much more intensively only in peacetime”, points out British intelligence, recalling that “all planes have a planned lifespan, in flight hours”.
“It is very likely that with this additional use in wartime, Russia will consume the lifespan of a large number of its devices much more quickly than it had anticipated,” the ministry further points out A situation which, in the event of a long war, could considerably weaken the air strike power of the Russian aerospace forces.
09:40
ENCOUNTER
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps visited kyiv this week. He met President Volodymyr Zelensky there to ask him “what he needed to win”. The MP also recalled on X that the UK’s support remained “unwavering”. “We will work tirelessly to bring our partners together to help Ukraine defeat Putin’s illegal invasion,” he recalled.
09:37
REACH ITS GOAL
In his traditional daily speech, Volodymyr Zelensky recalled that “whatever happens in the world, whatever external circumstances, we in Ukraine must remember that only our own conditions, our own internal attitude to towards Ukraine, our freedom and our goals determine when we will achieve our goal.” The Ukrainian president thus insisted that the “main objective” of his country was “the victory of Ukraine”.
09:34
EXCUSES
Justin Trudeau offered his “deepest apologies” as Parliament paid tribute to a Ukrainian veteran who fought with the Nazis. An event that occurred during Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the country on Wednesday. He notably apologized for “the situation in which President Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation were placed.”
International
Posted today at 8:56 a.m.
08:09
WE TAKE STOCK
Here we summarize the important news from yesterday:
International
Posted today at 7:52 a.m.
07:48
THE SECURITY OF THE ZAPORIJIA POWER PLANT IN QUESTION?
The NGO Greenpeace warns of the situation at the Zaporizhia power plant, in a report made public today and relayed by the Guardian. According to the organization, which must send its document to Western governments today, regulators at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are unable to properly monitor the safety of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
According to Greenpeace, there are too few of them on site – four IAEA agents have been sent to the plant – and their access to different areas of the plant is subject to too many restrictions. According to Greenpeace, the Agency is thus “incapable of meeting the requirements of its mandate” but is not ready to admit this reality in public and has not denounced what the NGO considers to be “Russian violations of the principle of security” within the plant.
And members of Greenpeace conclude: “The IAEA risks normalizing what remains a dangerous nuclear crisis, without precedent in the history of nuclear energy, while exaggerating its real influence on events on the ground.”
07:33
VISIT
French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu arrived in Kiev on Thursday accompanied by defense industrialists to discuss the evolution of French aid to Ukraine and industrial partnerships in a conflict set to last, noted a journalist from the AFP. During his visit, the minister is due to meet his counterpart Rustem Oumerov as well as Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin.
Representatives of around twenty French companies specializing in the production of armored vehicles, artillery, drones, cyber and mine clearance must for their part discuss and sign partnerships with Ukrainian industry. For example, this involves developing the on-site production of spare parts to maintain equipment delivered by France.
Sébastien Lecornu warns against a future (new) Russian offensive. – Geoffroy Van der Hasselt / AFP06:50
DRONES
Ukrainian air defense destroyed more than thirty drones during the night from Wednesday to Thursday during a Russian attack in the regions of Odessa and Mykolaiv, in the south of the country, a spokeswoman said. “This night, several groups of attack drones were launched” in these regions, declared Natalya Gumenyuk, spokesperson for the southern command of the Ukrainian army, referring to “a massive attack”.
“However, the work of air defense was quite effective. More than 30 drones were destroyed. More accurate estimates will be provided by the Air Force,” she added. “The enemy does not stop attacking, does not stop pressure and search for new tactics, especially with the use of massive attacks,” Natalya Gumenyuk said.
06:49
Hello and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the war in Ukraine. Find here all the information for this day of Thursday September 28.
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