Norway has arrested the son of a Putin confidant. Federal President Steinmeier cancels his visit to Kyiv. Nothing else in the Kremlin indicates that Vladimir Putin could lose power. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war in the ticker.
More on the course of the war in Ukraine
6:26 a.m .: The Norwegian police arrested the son of the former Russian railway boss and Putin confidante Vladimir Yakunin for unauthorized drone flights over Spitsbergen. Andrej Jakunin was arrested on Monday in Hammerfest in northern Norway, police said on Wednesday. The Russian-British citizen admitted to illegally piloting a drone over the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen, a police official said. Yakunin is in custody, drones and other electronic devices have been confiscated, it said.
It is the seventh arrest of Russian citizens within a few days. They are accused of illegally operating unmanned aerial vehicles or taking illicit photographs in Russia-bordering Norway, which is now Europe’s largest gas supplier.
In connection with further drone flights near Norwegian airports, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Störe told the broadcaster NRK on Wednesday: “It is unacceptable that foreign secret services fly drones over Norwegian airports.” The Russians do not have the right to fly drones over Norway leave, he added. A few hours earlier, a drone flight near Bergen Airport in the west of the country had caused a brief disruption to air traffic.
In Norway, drones have recently been repeatedly sighted on energy infrastructure, including on offshore oil and gas platforms. These reports and the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea have prompted the country to step up its security measures.
5:41 a.m .: At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Russia denied the use of Iranian drones in Ukraine. Russian diplomat Dmitry Polyansky said Russia only uses Russian-made drones in Ukraine. “I would advise you not to underestimate the technological capabilities of the Russian drone industry,” he said. Reports of the use of Iranian drones are “baseless allegations and conspiracy theories”.
Ukraine, meanwhile, released an undated photo that Ukrainian sources say shows the wreckage of an Iranian Shahed drone that was shot down near Kupiansk, Ukraine.
4:37 a.m .: Finland is to have a fence more than 130 kilometers long on the border with its large neighbor Russia. All parties represented in parliament have expressed their support for this, said Prime Minister Sanna Marin after a meeting of party leaders on Tuesday evening in Helsinki. “It’s about making sure the border is well controlled,” the prime minister told Yle. “And that we can preventively influence the situations that could arise at the border.”
According to a proposal by the Finnish border guard, the fence should have a length of 130 to 260 kilometers. The border between the two states is more than 1,300 kilometers long. The government will now work out proposals for a pilot project, Marin announced after the deliberations. Parliament is expected to vote on this later this year. The final decision is then planned for next year.
Border guards estimate the costs at “hundreds of millions of euros”. Construction is expected to take three to four years. The opposition has criticized the cost and duration of the construction. Like Sweden, Finland also wants to become a member of NATO after decades of rejection because of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The final decision on admission is still pending.
3:16 a.m .: The vodka birthday gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Italy’s ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi probably violates the European Union’s sanctions against Russia. As a spokeswoman for the EU Commission confirmed, in April 2022 it was decided to extend the import ban on goods from Russia to the EU to include spirits, including vodka. The corresponding legal basis does not provide for an exception for gifts. The member states are responsible for implementing the EU sanctions.
Authorities in Italy have to determine who is responsible for the alleged breach of sanctions. Berlusconi said Putin sent him 20 bottles of vodka for his birthday. With his statements about Putin published on Tuesday evening, he again fueled doubts about the determination of the future government in taking action against Moscow. In a recording of a secretly taped speech by Berlusconi, the politician, who turned 86 on September 29, said that he was back in contact with the Kremlin boss and that he had described him as one of his five best friends.
Thursday, October 20, 2022, 12:15 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked the men in the areas occupied by Moscow not to be drafted into the Russian army under any circumstances. “Avoid that if at all possible!” Said Zelenskyj in his evening video address on Wednesday. Anyone who can leave these areas should do so. Those who have been drafted should lay down their arms and try to desert to the Ukrainians. “Most importantly, save their lives and be sure to help others, too!” he said.
Russian head of state Vladimir Putin declared a state of war in the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson on Wednesday. Russia claims them for itself in violation of international law and considers the Ukrainians living there as Russian citizens. This increases the danger that the men will be forced to serve in the Russian army and have to fight against their compatriots.
9:16 p.m .: Italy’s ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has again raised doubts about the determination of the future government in action against Moscow with statements about his friend Vladimir Putin. On Tuesday evening, the LaPresse news agency published a recording of a secretly taped speech by Berlusconi to Forza Italia party colleagues in parliament. In it, the 86-year-old said he was back in touch with the Kremlin chief and that he had described him as one of his five best friends.
After the party had denied the statements in the afternoon, it was only said in the evening after the audio recording was published that Berlusconi was still on the line of Europe and the USA.
In the audio recording, the former prime minister, whose Forza Italia wants to form the next government as a small partner in a right-wing coalition, said: “I’ve reopened relations with President Putin a bit, a bit much, so he sent me 20 bottles of vodka for my birthday and a very sweet letter.” Berlusconi then said he sent Putin Italian wine in return and “an equally sweet letter.” Putin counted him among “one of his five true friends.”
Some Italians and Ukrainians worry about the Mediterranean country’s support for Kyiv in the war against Russia when the new government headed by election-winner Giorgia Meloni of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia takes office. Only weeks ago, Berlusconi claimed that Putin had been urged to attack.
7:18 p.m .: Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has postponed a planned trip to Ukraine at short notice. According to dpa information, security reasons were decisive for this. Steinmeier wanted to be in the country attacked by Russia this Thursday and also want to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in Kyiv.
Russia has been bombarding Ukraine and the capital Kyiv with drones for days. According to the information, the officially unannounced trip should be made up for in the near future. “Stern” and “Bild” also reported on the preliminary cancellation.
The spokeswoman for the Federal President, Cerstin Gammelin, and the designated new Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, wrote identically on Twitter in the evening: “We are in close and confidential planning of a visit by the Federal President to Ukraine, which is important to both sides. Tomorrow our two presidents have a phone call.”
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