President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky He said in remarks on Tuesday night that his administration plans to make changes as part of attempts to move forward with unusually fast and complex negotiations to secure EU membership, Reuters reported. Ukraine will hold “summit” talks with EU officials on Friday.
“It is very important that we are preparing new reforms in Ukraine,” Zelensky He said. “These are reforms that will in many respects change social, legal and political realities by making them more humane, transparent and effective.”
Zelensky said he is not finished changing ranks of senior officials and that anyone who fails to perform to strict standards is subject to dismissal.
Media in Ukraine reported that two high-profile anti-corruption raids were carried out on Wednesday morning, targeting oligarchs. Igor Kolomoisky and former Minister of the Interior Arsen Avakov.
El País reports on it Spain It will initially send four to six Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Italy is to combine with France In the supply of air defenses of Ukraine.
The United States is preparing more than two billion dollars in military aid to Ukraine Two US officials familiar with the matter told Reuters that it is expected to include long-range missiles for the first time, in addition to munitions and other weapons.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that long-range missiles are included in an upcoming package of military aid from the United States we For Ukraine would escalate the conflict but would not change its course. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov He also told reporters that there are no plans for Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold talks with US President Joe Biden.
Senior Adviser to the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak, He said on Wednesday that talks were already underway about securing long-range missiles and attack aircraft from foreign partners to help fend off Russian forces.
It seems that some Western allies missed the idea of supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and other combat aircraft in the past 24 hours.. Joe Biden, the US president, when asked at the White House late Monday whether his country would provide the F-16s, he simply answered “no”, Although he confirmed on Tuesday morning that he would remain in discussions with Ukraine over its arms requests.
The UK also said that the supply of Western aircraft was not practical. “This is cutting edge equipment,” a Downing Street spokesman said on Tuesday. “We don’t think it is practical to send those planes to Ukraine.” They added that the prime minister Support Rishi Sunak Accelerated Support For Ukraine after the completion of the review that the “prolonged stalemate” in the conflict will benefit Russia.
GermanyVice Chancellor Robert Habeck He has spoken out against his country delivering fighter jets to Ukraine, saying such a move would “likely” be a step too far for Western allies who weigh their support for the Kyiv cause against fears of being drawn into outright war.
Pro-Russian forces claimed in the Russian media that Bakhmut Circled approx. “Bakhmut has practically been” embraced “from three sides, and now an operation to massively defeat the enemy is underway. They are trying, and I am sure they will succeed … to go to Shasev Yar The area from which the intense shelling continues towards Solidar in Bakhmut.
The Ukrainian state broadcaster Suspilne reported that Kinburn PeninsulaIt is a strip of land that juts out from the southern side of Kherson Region on the left bank of the Dnieper River, and is located in the “gray area”, where neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian military fully control the territory.
British Ministry of DefenseThe latest intelligence update says that recent days have seen “some of the conflict’s heaviest bombing” along the Dnieper. “This includes the ongoing bombing of the city of Kherson,” the ministry notes — adding that outside of Donbass, Kherson is the most bombed city in the conflict. “The exact justification for Russia expanding its stockpiles of spent ammunition here is unclear. However, it is likely that commanders aim in part to demoralize civilians and deter any Ukrainian counter-attacks across the river,” the ministry adds.
The Russian state-owned RIA news agency reported that Novozybkov Oil pumping station Drogba oil pipeline In the Bryansk region of Russia came under fire from Ukraine
russian president, Russian President Vladimir Putin, He told a government meeting on Wednesday that Russian regions should not be allowed to be bombed from Ukraine, and this is the task of the Ministry of Defense.
Russian forces are preparing for a renewed attack on Ukraine, possibly imminent in the coming months, According to analysts. The US Institute for the Study of War said, citing Western, Ukrainian and Russian sources Moscow was “preparing for an imminent attack,” Referring to statements by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who said there were “no indications” that Vladimir Putin was “preparing for peace”.
A Western official said that the number of military deaths on both sides in the war amounted to about 200 thousand, With an equal number of dead and wounded on both sides. A higher percentage of Russians were killedBecause they were on the offensive, the official added, which means they “suffered more deaths than Ukrainians in general.”
President of Austria Alexander van der Bellen Vice President of the Green Party in the German Bundestag Kathryn Goering Eckardt Both visited Kyiv on Wednesday, and van der Bellen traveled to Bucha to pay respects at the mass grave discovered there after Russian forces withdrew from occupying the city in the Kyiv region in the early stages of the war.
Ukraine must be able to join NATO Once the war ended, the new elected Czech President Peter Pavel said on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s grain harvest may fall again in 2023 to 49.5 million tons from about 51 million tons expected in 2022, deputy economy minister Dennis Cowden said Wed.
Belarus The armed forces are now in independent control of the nuclear-capable Iskander guided missile systems provided by Russia after completing training in Russia In addition to the exercises in Belarus, its defense ministry said. On Tuesday, the leader of Belarus, Alexander LukashenkoHe said that his country is “already ready” to provide more assistance to Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Latvia It will not send its players to 2024 Paris Olympics A spokesperson for the country’s Olympic Committee said that if competitors from Russia and Belarus were allowed to participate during the invasion of Ukraine.