Ukraine Focuses On EU Ascension
Russia looks to increase attacks on Ukraine as the temperatures drop
Even though the news is focusing on the Middle East (Israel and Gaza) because of the worldwide protests that are either pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel, the war in Ukraine continues. World leaders say that the war there will not impact their support for Ukraine, but it has done already with countries saying their budget for Ukraine has been used up, and that military aid packages will be smaller. This is what Russia wanted—the Western allies to reduce and stop military aid to Ukraine.
Then we have the new Slovakian president who said he would halt military aid to Ukraine and the latest aid package was not passed by the government. News on the war is scant, with the protests over the Middle East taking over the headlines.
Ukrainians are trying to stay positive and are focusing on EU ascension, even though Hungary says it opposes any talks of Ukraine joining the EU until the war is over. Ukraine remains undeterred and say they have a delegation going to Hungary to discuss issues and concerns, but I feel that would be futile. They must do it, but it will show how Hungary are silently supporting Russia and will do what they can to block EU ascension. Realistically, Ukraine cannot be a member for at least a few years although they may get fast tracked, which Hungary also opposes.
Kyiv was targeted again for the first time in 52 days, and that’s no surprise as the temperatures are close to zero and dip to minus in some areas. Russia is prepared fro a long war, but does Ukraine have enough resources to keep the Russians at bay? WE can hope that behind closed doors that some of the allies are doing more, but they need to arm Ukraine with more than Russia has in order to defeat them, and the message from the allies has always been to offer support to defend themselves from the Russians, but not support to defeat them. Some of the world leaders are changing their policies after witnessing the slow counter offensive over the summer. They had hoped that Ukraine would have de-occupied the regions that the Russians invaded, but that was not the case as they lacked weapons and manpower.
As I write this, I can’t believe that it has been nearly 2 years already when I began documenting this war and as many Christian countries prepare for Christmas, Ukraine will be under threat from the Russians again. Around me, people are protesting about climate change, pushing people to make eco-friendly living choices, and due to the Israel- Gaza war, more people are protesting where religious prejudices are being raised. The war there does affect the war in Ukraine as Russia is pushing another propaganda campaign, and with the world leaders focused there, they will have less time for Ukraine. The problem is that while Hamas is a terrorist organisation, the war will not spread to Europe or the US, while the war in Ukraine is already spilling out to the border countries and Belarus is practically Russian. This is why the war in Ukraine has far more consequences for the world as a whole, and why the allies must support Ukraine now rather than allow Russia to acquire more weapons and armies.
Day 623 (8 Nov)
Russia attacks a Liberian civilian ship in the Black Sea as it entered Odesa. At least one person died and Russia claimed all vessels would be considered military targets.
France is to allocate €200 million to Ukraine so that they can continue to purchase French equipment. This sort of gets round the issue of supplied weapons that cannot be used on Russian soil. If Ukraine has purchased it themselves then those conditions do not apply. Ukraine has already attacked military targets for defensive purposes, and the western allies have had to accept this because Ukraine doesn't have the weapons that Russia has, therefore they must target the weapons before they enter Ukrainian territory.
The European Commission has suggested that EU ascension talks with Ukraine should begin. Hungary has objected to the EU holding talks, stating that Ukraine should ben given privileged partnership status, but no talks should be held until the ‘military operation’ (as Orban calls it) has ended and there is peace in Ukraine. Orban is probably trying to squeeze or blackmail the EU into giving the country more funds and subsidies. As for peace, how does one define a country at peace?
Ukraine has countered this objection by preparing to send a delegation to Hungary to discuss the concerns raised, and to show a roadmap as to how Ukraine will resolve the issue of national minorities, which Hungary has stated as a problem.
Slovakian government has rejected a $43 million military aid package to Ukraine. As Fico, the current president has stated part of the manifesto was to end military aid to Ukraine. The package would've included 140 air defence system rockets that the crane desperately need.
In the US, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved a bill on using confiscated Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine. Any assets would not be returned until Ukraine was fully compensated for the damage caused by Russia.
The Netherlands has sent five F-16 fighter jets to Romania for training purposes. In total. They plan to provide up to 17 aircraft for this purpose.
Day 624 (9 Nov)
Putin arrived in Kazakhstan for talks with Tokayev, probably to try and gain support and cooperation for the war in Ukraine. The visit also was to discuss Russian oil and gas and the Kazakh president has stated it will increase its capacity of both commodities. Obviously this does not help the situation with sanctions when other countries are taking up the supplies others have banned, hence why sanctions rarely work, unless they are implemented strictly quickly, which was not the case here.
The battle in Avdiika continues as Russia intends to make this the next Bakhmut. In Bakhmut, the Russians control most of the area and are still attacking the small pockets that are under Ukrainian control. Not much has been reported as this is on the frontline, but there are reports of heavy Russian losses.
Russia claims that Ukraine attacked Skadovsk in an occupied part of Kherson, and was likely as Ukraine seeks to liberate the settlement.
Ukraine has stated that the interest from seized Russian assets is not enough to rebuild Ukraine. Several countries have stated that the interest from seized assets could be used and transferred to Ukraine, but it's simply is not enough as a country sustain is more damage each day.
Reports claimed that North Korea has transferred about 500,000 rounds of artillery over the last couple of months. This comes from satellite images and shipping data that indicates North Korea has been supplying Russia with weapons.
Ukraine will investigate more than 1000 cases of torture, committed by Russian troops against civilians. This comes from a UN report that said that the Russians did not provide medical assistance to Ukrainians, who had been detained, and to tortured and simulated executions, which, in some cases led to fatalities.
Reports claimed that Russia is attempting to retrieve some of the weapons. It exported to countries such as Belarus, Brazil, Pakistan, and Egypt, in order to replenish stock piles.
Zelenskyy has signed in law to extend martial law and general mobilisation for another 90 days. It is now extended until 14 February 2024.
Germany will send for Eurofighter jets to Romania to support the NATO air patrol mission in the region.
Day 625 (10 Nov)
In Riga, Latvia, a former interior minister, Janice Adamsons, was found guilty of spying for the Russians, and was sentenced to prison.
The US has stated it will continue to send defence a packages to Ukraine, but admitted that they are getting smaller as 96% of the budget for Ukraine has already been used for this year.
The UAE has agreed to restrict the export and re-exporting of materials that could be used potentially for military purposes. Turkey is said to be considering a similar move.
Orban of Hungary has stated that: ‘The EU must not stop membership talks with Ukraine.’ I doubt any delegation from Ukraine could convince Orban otherwise as he is known to be friendly with Putin, but Ukraine doesn’t believe that Hungary will be an obstacle. While Orban is in power, Hungary will always remain an obstacle unless they leave the EU or the EU kicks them out.
In the International Court of Justice, for the first time in 77 years since 1946, Russia will not have a judge after the UN rejected its candidate.
Lithuania is still a strong supporter of Ukraine and supplied them with NASAMS arms, medium-range air defence systems.
Lyudmyla Skubriyeva and Halyna Hil, two Ukrainian pensioners have purchased two kamikaze drones for Edelweiss 10th mountain assault brigade. They saved their own money and gave $556 each for the drones. It goes to show that this war is about money and weapons and that if they can’t fight, Ukrainians still can help in other ways.
Day 626 (11 Nov)
The anniversary of Kherson being liberated resulted in Russia launching attacks 62 attacks on the city, and also Kyiv, where the last attack on Kyiv had been 52 days ago. The energy infrastructure was targeted and the defence systems managed to intercept most of the drones and missiles fired on the city.
In Ryazan, Russia a freight train was derailed where 19 carriages fell off the tracks. It seems that there are Russians who are opposed to the war and are doing their bit to aid Ukraine. In Kotovsk, a gunpowder plant was set on fire. These are legitimate military targets during a war and there is an underground in Russia that are becoming more active.
`Day 627 (12 Nov)
Germany has said it will double its military aid to Ukraine and will be approving €4 billion to support Ukraine next year. This has to be approved by the German parliament, but comes at a time where many other countries have already given what they can to Ukraine, and additional funds will make up for the lost funds from other countries such as Slovakia or in the case of Hungary where no military aid has been offered.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine has regained control of Topoli. A small gain, but a gain nonetheless, but you can see that in order for Ukraine to gain control of all the occupied areas it will take a long time with the armies they have and the weapons they have been supplied. Therefore, they need more trained military personnel and more up to date weapons and equipment to stand a chance of defeating Russia.
Russia has attacked more than 120 settlements in eight regions over the past day and include Donetsk, Kherson, Sumy, Chernihiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv.
Once again, I'd like to thank E-L for keeping this journal up-to-date. Locally, the news is all about the conflict (or whatever else it is known by) in the middle east, and the Russia Ukraine "war" appears to have been put on the back burner, with very little reported. I do appreciate the work E-L has put into this excellent reporting. Thank you!!