12/15/2024
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 01:47 Pope: Russians and Ukrainians are “brothers” +++
In his Sunday sermon, Pope Francis again called for peace in Russia's war against Ukraine. “They are brothers, cousins. Let them come to an understanding. War is always a defeat. Peace for the whole world,” said the Pope during a visit to the French island of Corsica.
+++ 00:00 Moscow flies some diplomats out of Syria +++
A special Russian Air Force flight from Hmeimim Air Base in Syria evacuated some Russian diplomats in Damascus as well as Belarusian and North Korean foreign representatives, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. “The work of the Russian Embassy in Damascus continues,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Telegram. The Russian state news agency RIA reports, citing the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, that all Belarusian diplomats have been withdrawn from Syria.
+++ 22:09 Zelenskyj: Humanitarian aid for Syria via the “Grain from Ukraine” program +++
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine is ready to provide humanitarian aid to Syria. In consultation with his government, food aid from the “Grains from Ukraine” program was discussed to help the population of Syria, Zelensky said in his evening video speech. “Now we can help the Syrians with Ukrainian wheat, flour and our oil – our products that are used worldwide to ensure food security.” Specifically, the logistics must now be discussed with Syrian representatives. “We will definitely support this region so that calm there can become a pillar of our movement towards real peace.” The humanitarian program, launched in 2022, envisages that donor states and other organizations will receive agricultural products directly from local producers buy and send to countries that are on the verge of famine – especially in Africa and Asia.
+++ 21:13 SPD wants to include Taurus rejection in the election program +++
The SPD will state its rejection of deliveries of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine in its election program before the federal election in February. The arms deliveries to the country attacked by Russia should be continued “with prudence and a sense of proportion,” says the draft, which is to be approved by the party executive committee on Tuesday. However, the maxim is intended to assert that Germany and NATO do not become parties to the war. This also includes: The Taurus cruise missiles that Ukraine requested last year are not being delivered. The election program contains nothing on the current discussion about Ukraine joining NATO, a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire or other security guarantees for Ukraine.
+++ 20:28 Zelensky: Need strength in Kursk to achieve the right diplomatic results +++
In his evening speech, Volodymyr Zelenskyj described the situation in the hotly contested cities of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove in the Donbass region as “difficult”. “I am grateful to all the units that are destroying the occupiers there,” he says in the video. He also paid tribute to foreign soldiers fighting in Russia's Kursk region and highlighted the area's importance for future peace negotiations: “Thanks also go to our fighters in the Kursk region – we need strength to achieve the right results for Ukraine in diplomacy “to achieve,” said the President.
+++ 19:33 Melnyk answers Chrupalla: “Russia won a shit” +++
The former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, reacted with clear criticism to an interview by AfD leader Tino Chrupalla. He had demanded in the “Welt” that the federal government should recognize Russia’s victory in the Ukraine war and declared: “Russia won this war.” Melnyk now replies to X: “Russia won shit. Maybe in your sick heads.” He further accuses the AfD of handing over Germany without a fight in the event of a Russian attack. “One day, when Putin's troops are at the gates of Berlin, you will be the first to greet the Russians with flowers and ceremoniously hand over the keys. How do the Germans tolerate you?”
+++ 18:44 Hungary: Zelenskyj rejected a phone call with Orban “energetically but politely” +++
According to information from Hungary, the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the proposal to have a telephone conversation with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Hungary had suggested holding a phone call about a Christmas ceasefire, but Zelensky's team had rebuffed it “vigorously but politely.” A few days ago, Orban spoke on the phone with Kremlin leader Putin, which Zelenskyj criticized. “We hope that Orban will at least not call Assad in Moscow to listen to his hour-long lectures,” Zelenskyj wrote on X.
+++ 17:55 Liked Kurachowe? Soldiers hoist Russian flag on town hall +++
On Saturday, Russian soldiers are said to have hoisted a Russian flag on the city administration building in the small town of Kurachow, which has been under dispute for weeks. A Russian military blogger published a corresponding video on Telegram. According to the map from the Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState, the Russian military now has almost the entire Kurakhove area under control. The city is located near Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine and had around 18,000 inhabitants before the start of the war.
+++ 17:10 Explosion damaged railway line in Russia +++
According to the Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR, an explosion occurred in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk on Saturday, blowing up a railway line. The detonation is said to have occurred near a railway depot and an engine factory. Unknown persons are said to be responsible for the incident. Ulyanovsk is located around 800 kilometers east of Moscow.
+++ 16:12 Russian authorities: one dead in tanker accident off Crimea +++
According to the Russian authorities, a sailor was killed in the accident of two oil tankers off the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia. According to the shipping authority, the tankers are the “Volgoneft-212” and the “Volgoneft-239”. According to the rescue authorities, there were 13 and 14 crew members on board, according to the shipping authorities there were 14 and 15 respectively. One of the sailors died, the rescue authorities said. The state news agency Interfax had previously reported that several crew members had fallen overboard.
+++ 15:22 Footage shows Ukrainian drone attack on Grozny +++
The Ukrainian army attacks the Czech capital Grozny with E-300 drones. They hit bases of the mobile special police unit and an army camp. Video footage captures the attack.
+++ 14:45 Ukrainian drone video is said to show dead North Koreans in Kursk +++
A drone unit has posted a video on its Telegram channel that allegedly shows 22 dead North Korean and Russian soldiers. The drone video is said to have been recorded in the Kursk region of Russia. It shows about two dozen bodies lying in a row on the snow-covered ground. The soldiers are said to have been killed in fighting this morning, it says under the video. The information cannot be independently verified. Ukrainian President Zelensky said yesterday that Russia had already deployed North Korean soldiers in the fighting in the Kursk region. The losses among the North Koreans are already significant, said Zelensky.
+++ 13:47 Ukrainian secret services carry out an attack on a Russian train carrying fuel +++
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian secret services have succeeded in striking a blow against the logistics of the Russian occupiers: The military intelligence service HUR and the secret service SBU, together with other parts of the military, destroyed a train with 40 fuel tanks. In addition, a railway line running from the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula to Zaporizhzhia was destroyed, the state news agency Ukrinform reported, citing intelligence sources.
You can read all previous developments here.
