Ukraine war ticker: London: Russia wants to recruit 400,000 new soldiers Putin: Sanctions will have “negative” impact on Russia

Yesterday, 05:22

After a visit to the border region with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated the strength of Ukrainians in the face of continued threats from Moscow. According to U.S. reports, after suffering heavy losses, Russia is meanwhile taking obsolete tanks from depots, some of which date back to the 1950s.

“The threat is constant, our border is constantly under shelling,” Zelensky said in a late-night video address on Tuesday, recounting his visit to the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine. “But life and our people are apparently stronger than all fears.”

During his visit to Sumi, Zelensky met the commanders of the border forces stationed there. “Strong positions along the entire border with the terrorist state (Russia) are the result of the strength of our people, who are always ready to defend the border,” Zelensky said. In the northeast, Ukrainian border forces are guarding several hundred kilometers of the common border with Russia to prevent infiltration by Russian units.

According to a Ukrainian military official, the situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is “very dynamic”. Sometimes even the enemy has tactical advantages, Ukrainian Eastern Front spokesman Serhii Serovaty said on Tuesday evening television. But these benefits are predictable. “We are identifying them and taking countermeasures.”

No strategic advantage. “The situation is stable but difficult,” Serewati said. “Fighting and countermeasures means robbing the enemy of their ability to successfully expand their attacks.” The battle for Bachmut has been going on for months. Mercenary Wagner, operating on the Russian side, threatens the city from the east, north and south.

Austin told a Senate hearing that Ukraine had depleted Russia’s armored vehicle inventory “in ways no one could have imagined.” “That’s why we see Russia now chasing T-54 and T-55 tanks with the level of damage that Ukraine has done.”

Tank models were mainly developed by the Soviet Union after World War II. According to the US Institute for War Studies (ISW), the tanks have significantly lighter armor and smaller guns than the latest models.

Despite the high number of Russian rocket attacks on its energy infrastructure over the winter, Ukraine does not expect power shortages for the next six months. “The Ukrainian energy system is part of the European Union, so there is an option to import electricity if ours is not enough,” said Volodymyr Gudrytskij, head of state energy supplier Ukrainerho. In this way, the energy system can balance the situation in the spring and summer months. “But you have to prepare well for next winter,” the 36-year-old insisted. Major focus here is on repairing damaged power plant blocks from thermal and hydro power plants.

Russia invaded Ukraine 13 months ago. Since October, the neighboring country’s power grid has been heavily attacked by rockets and drones. As a result, many parts of Ukraine received only hourly electricity. Millions of people are affected by problems with water and district heating supplies.

According to the Ukrainian military, the kamikaze drones used by Russia are of Iranian manufacture and contain a large amount of Western-made components. Ukrainian media reported on Tuesday that experts were taking apart and examining the downed and lightly damaged Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 drones. Most components come from the West and can be ordered from the Chinese online retailer Aliexpress, for example.

The most important component is a CRPA antenna, which receives signals from the navigation satellite and therefore cannot be disturbed by the electronic air defense system. Even if the satellite link fails, the drone can continue its flight accurately. The necessary technology was developed in Israel and elsewhere, it said.

This is important on Wednesday

Iran supports Moscow in its war against Ukraine with so-called kamikaze drones.

In the current hour in the German Bundestag, coalition factions have demanded that MPs want to talk about Wednesday’s massacre in the Kiev suburb of Bucha. The SPD, the Greens and the FDP are calling for a commemoration and a “criminal investigation”. In the spring of 2022, after Russian troops withdrew, hundreds of civilian bodies were found in Bucha.