Rat u Ukrajini

A subsea gas pipeline and a telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Estonia under the Baltic Sea have been damaged in what may have been a deliberate act, the Finnish government said https://t.co/RF7ClrJe2B pic.twitter.com/gARIoUXG3T

— Reuters (@Reuters) October 11, 2023

Belgium will be the first country in the world to allocate €1.7 billion of Russia's frozen assets to support Ukraine

A special fund created for this purpose will be replenished by confiscating Russian money, Prime Minister Alexandre De Crowe said after a meeting with… pic.twitter.com/FJhaRkaWrn

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 11, 2023

Ukraine tells NATO: Forget me not
The alliance insists it can handle crises in Ukraine and Israel at the same time.


BY STUART LAU, JOSHUA POSANER AND LAURA KAYALI
OCTOBER 11, 2023 7:56 PM CET

BRUSSELS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Brussels on Wednesday to discover a Europe no longer completely focused on the war Russia has unleashed on his country, but he's rolling with the punches.

He insisted that there was no danger of Israel crowding Ukraine out of the limelight, and instead encouraged Western politicians to visit Israel — replicating similar treks to Kyiv by most of the world's leaders.

"My recommendation to the leaders [is] to go to Israel," said Zelenskyy. "Unity is more important than to be alone."

He also sought to tie the two conflicts together, saying that divisions in the alliance will only help the Kremlin: "Russia’s counting on it, on dividing support," he said during an appearance with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. He then made the link between the two crises explicit, calling both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hamas "terrorists" that "seek to hold free and democratic nations as hostages."

Russia "still has enough resources to incite conflicts and turn them into full-scale tragedies. This is happening in the Sahel, and it can happen even more painfully in Israel and in the Middle East as a whole. We must not allow this to happen," Zelenskyy told NATO defense ministers.

Zelenskyy's appearance was a surprise at a meeting that was supposed to be at the ministerial level, but with Ukraine facing a renewed Russian offensive in the east and the prospect of widespread attacks over the winter, Kyiv is desperate to ramp up shipments of Western weapons and ammunition.

"Air defense is a significant part of the answer to the question of when this war will end and whether it will end justly for Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.

Western countries are responding to those appeals, and insisting that they can support both Israel and Ukraine at the same time — a message underlined by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

“Absolutely we can do both and we will do both," Austin said, referring to security assistance to Ukraine and Israel. "We are the strongest nation in the world and we are going to do what’s necessary to help our allies and partners.”

The same signals came from smaller allies.

"I got the word from the U.S. secretary of defense that they can manage both conflicts, so this is important," said Hanno Pevkur, the defense minister of Estonia — which borders Russia and relies on American security guarantees to fend off threats from Moscow.

Wednesday saw a rush of military promises made to Kyiv.

The U.K. promised a £100 million package of military support that includes mine-clearing equipment and shoring up fortifications. London also announced a separate £70 million package that includes the MSI-DS Terrahawk Paladin drone destroyer.

"During my recent visit to Kyiv, I assured President Zelenskyy that the U.K.’s support for Ukraine and their most urgent needs is unwavering," said Defense Secretary Grant Shapps.

Belgium pledged to deliver F-16 fighters by 2025, as long as the next government agrees.

"Let’s be very clear, Belgian F-16s will be available,” De Croo said.

Austin said allies in the security bloc’s Ukraine Defense Contact Group had decided to form smaller “capability coalitions” focusing on specific areas of support for Kyiv. For example, Estonia and Luxembourg will lead on supporting Ukraine’s IT infrastructure to “defend its networks,” while Lithuania will help with demining.

He added that the United States will head up a coalition of countries training Ukrainian pilots and crews to operate and maintain F-16 fighter jets alongside the Netherlands and Denmark.

Still, NATO countries are increasingly preoccupied with the Middle East.

U.S. President Joe Biden made a 10-minute televised speech on Tuesday highlighting American commitment to Israel's right to self-defense, while the British government dispatched Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to Tel Aviv on Wednesday. French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, lashed out at Iran's potential "aid" and "cooperation" for Hamas.

Israel isn't the only distraction facing NATO allies.

Just hours before the defense meeting started, news broke in Finland and Estonia that undersea gas and telecom links were disrupted.

"We have contacts at the highest political level [on the pipeline incident]," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, referring to his calls on Tuesday with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

The blizzard of news highlights the crucial role that NATO is playing.

"We don't have the luxury of choosing only one threat and one challenge," Stoltenberg said.

North Korea provided Russia with weapons, White House says https://t.co/ddoxIO074L Weeks after meeting at Vostochny Cosmodrome, Kim Jong-un has apparently sent more than 1,000 containers of munitions & equipment to Putin #KimJongUn #DPRK #Putin #UkraineWar.

— Patrick M. Cronin (@PMCroninHudson) October 14, 2023

Filipenko wrote:Pa treba nesto sto ce da ostavi utisak da su oni ozbiljno istrazivali stvar i zakljucili da Severna Koreja isporucuje Rusiji...municiju.

Ocekujem da u narednoj iteraciji isplivaju dokazi da Severna Koreja isporucuje Rusiji hranu, a nakon toga i kompjutere i opremu za satelite.

Filipenko wrote:Nema teorije da zaostala i nikakva Severna Koreja isporucuje konvencionalno oruzje koje je potrebno Rusiji. Ukoliko se neki transport i odvija preko njih, to Kina isporucuje Rusiji, pa opet dolazimo do toga da Severna Koreja ne isporucuje nista Rusiji. Severnokorejsko oruzje je matoro i zaostalo, samo sto ga ima mnogo. Ove stvari kojima se barata po Ukrajini su pravljene ozbiljnije i novijeg su datuma. Moze tenk iz 1964. da se upotrebi uvek, jer je bolje da imas neko gvozdje ispred sebe nego nista, ali artiljerija iz 1964. je bukvalno zali boze nafte za kamione koji ce je vuci. O stanju granata da ne govorim.

fikret selimbašić wrote:

Ispucavaju 122 i 152 milimetarske haubičke granate stare pedeset-šezdeset godina, ta municija uz 122 mm rakete se najviše i trošila. Ako može sovjetska, što ne bi mogla i ona za vrijeme djeda Kima pravljena. Ne mislim da su im dali neko hi-tech oružje već baš ono najprostije i najviše trošeno.  

MNE wrote:(ostalo im je vrlo malo)

- Ruska vojska je na kupjanskom pravcu odbila deset napada ukrajinskih snaga.

MNE wrote:apsolutno ne vjerujem da su Rusi trošili Iskander na civile(ostalo im je vrlo malo), vjerovatno je u blizini bilo neko skladište municije ili ko zna čega

Vilmos Tehenészfiú wrote:

Reported as additional footage of Berdyansk airport this night. Looking at the fires, its seems 3 helicopters are on fire (smoke coming from the left indicates a 4th on might be on fire as well) while ammunition can be heard exploding in the background. https://t.co/hOFrU6mmCR pic.twitter.com/rRbinewoeY

— NOELREPORTS :flag_eu: :flag_ua: (@NOELreports) October 17, 2023

I think we can confirm the use of ATACMS. This is reportedly debris from Berdyansk.

MGM-140A ATACMS Block I, M39(A1?) pic.twitter.com/hRr1KiYCls

— NOELREPORTS (@NOELreports) October 17, 2023

The US secretly provided Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles, according to two US officials, providing Ukraine with a significant new capability that could allow its forces to hit new Russian targets that were previously out of reach.

The confirmation came on Tuesday after images of the missiles’ submunitions inside Ukraine began circulating on social media.

US officials indicated to CNN on Tuesday that Ukraine has already used the ATACMS, some variants of which have a maximum range of approximately 186 miles, to attack Russia’s Berdyansk and Luhansk airfields in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian military tweeted on Tuesday that the attack destroyed several Russian helicopters, an ammunition depot and an air defense launcher, but did not specify whether they used ATACMS to do it.