Ukraine update: what happened tonight
Expensive aircraft without protection: Russian military bloggers are sounding the alarm
Russian propagandists and military bloggers have criticized the inability of the Russian armed forces to defend their territory and military installations. This reports the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), referring to the Russian Telegram channel “Rybar”, which advocates Russia’s war against Ukraine. It claims that the Ukrainian attack on Pskov airfield shows that Russian air defenses have not adapted to repeated Ukrainian drone strikes.
On Wednesday night, dozens of drones attacked the airport, where Russian military units are also stationed. According to official information, four Il-76 military transporters were damaged. A fuel depot also went up in flames.
On “Rybar” it says: “While the air defense means and forces in Crimea were able to adapt and repeatedly fend off massive attacks from Ukraine, things are not looking so good on the Russian mainland after the experiences of Pskov.”
The problem is not an overload of the air defenses, but rather that even a year and a half after the start of the attack on Ukraine, the “scarce, expensive aircraft without shelters” are still there. In this context, the channel “Empire is Very Evil” is quoted, which reads: “Building a metal hangar is very difficult. It’s a lot easier to build a new plane.”
Another prominent Russian military blogger, Kotsnews, expressed concern that there would no longer be safe places in western Russia due to Ukraine’s growing technical capabilities. The Russian armed forces urgently need to take this into account when securing military and strategic facilities.
Ukraine continues airstrikes on Crimea
In its defense against the Russian invasion, Ukraine also attacked Russian targets from the air on Thursday night. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, anti-aircraft guns shot down a cruise missile from Ukraine over the annexed peninsula of Crimea. Two drones were also intercepted over the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine. The night before, Ukrainian forces had flown their most massive drone strikes to date, attacking six Russian areas as far away as Moscow and Crimea.
For Ukraine, Thursday is the 554th day of the war. The Eastern European country has suffered heavy casualties fighting Russian invaders for more than 18 months; it needs soldiers. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj agreed with his Security Council to take strict measures against employees in recruitment agencies who exempt men from military service in exchange for bribes. In its offensive in the south and east, Ukraine can use more tanks from Germany.
The alleged attack with a guided missile affected eastern Crimea near the city of Feodosiya. Parts of the cruise missile hit a power line, said an employee of the Crimean administration. The official figures were not independently verifiable. Photos circulating on the internet allegedly showed explosions and fires in the region. Eyewitnesses spoke of three rockets. The Russian Telegram channel Mash suspected that the attack was aimed at the Kirovskoye airbase in Crimea.
New details on the German-Russian entrepreneur who is said to have delivered drone components to Russia
In 2021, German authorities investigated the German-Russian entrepreneur from Saarland, who is said to have supplied Russia with drone components that are now being used in Ukraine. Research by “Business Insider” shows that Waldemar W. was already being investigated in 2021 on suspicion of money laundering. Even then it is said to have been about one of his companies. W. has processed almost 1,500 exports since 2018, according to entries from the international trade database Import Genius.
Apparently, the inconspicuous man from Saarland was able to dispel the suspicions. The public prosecutor’s office in Saarbrücken dropped the case, Business Insider learned. A spokesman for the authorities did not confirm the investigation on Wednesday for “reasons of privacy protection”.
Based on delivery data, it can be understood that W., who comes from the Caucasus, has been engaged in international trade with Russia since at least 2011. The available data sets do not go back much further. According to this, no programs can be assigned to the German-Russian for years. In 2018, the export business from Saarland picked up rapidly, shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, W. founded a GmbH – alongside his actual job. Because W. worked as a bus driver for the Saarbrücken public transport company, according to information from Business Insider, he should continue to be employed there.
Germany sends ten Leopard tanks
Germany has made another ten Leopard 1 A5 main battle tanks available. An additional 13.1 million rounds of handgun ammunition were also delivered. This emerges from the federal government’s list of military aid to Ukraine, which was updated every week on Wednesday. The current delivery includes a TRML-4D air surveillance radar, which is used with the Iris-T air defense system. Germany also sent a field hospital, 4 heavy-duty articulated trucks and 16 Vector reconnaissance drones.
What will be important on Thursday:
The foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey, Sergey Lavrov and Hakan Fidan, meet in Moscow. Turkey is trying to get Russia to sign a new agreement on Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea. Moscow let the previous agreement expire in July and canceled its security guarantees for shipping to Ukraine.
