In Russia’s capital, it can be seen how sanctions and partial mobilization are isolating Russia. Four suspected Russian torture chambers have been discovered in Cherson. The residents are to be evacuated because of the power outages. All current voices and developments on the Ukraine war can be found in the ticker.
More on the course of the war in Ukraine.
Thursday, November 24, 8:35 a.m.: According to British estimates, Russia has relocated large parts of its airborne units to eastern Ukraine. Potential areas of application are the defense positions in the area around the cities of Swatowe and Kreminna in the Luhansk region or in the ongoing Russian offensive against the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, the Ministry of Defense in London said on Thursday, citing intelligence findings. In September and October, the troops were deployed to defend west of the Dnipro River in the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson.
According to British information, some of the severely weakened airborne units (WDW) were reinforced with mobilized reservists. “Although these poorly trained personnel will dilute WDW’s supposedly elite capabilities, Russia will likely still assign these units to sectors deemed particularly important,” the London statement said.
The Russian airborne troops are considered an elite unit and represent a separate branch of the armed forces. At the beginning of the war of aggression against Ukraine nine months ago, they were supposed to conquer the capital Kyiv together with ground troops, but were repulsed.
10:42 p.m .: After Russian attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj asked the UN Security Council for another condemnation of Moscow. Russia must be clearly described as a terrorist state, Zelenskyj demanded via video from the committee in New York on Wednesday. The council meeting had previously been put on the agenda at short notice after a request from Zelenskyj.
The attacks on critical infrastructure, which led to widespread power outages, are “crimes against humanity,” Zelensky said. He called for more air defense support and for United Nations teams of experts to investigate the damage.
10:40 p.m .: According to its own statements, Russia does not doubt the success of its offensive in Ukraine. “The future and success of the special operation is beyond doubt,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday during a visit with President Vladimir Putin in Armenia’s capital Yerevan. Peskow did not provide any further information.
The Kremlin spokesman also did not address the European Parliament’s decision to classify Russia as a state using “terrorist means” in front of reporters. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, described the decision of the EU Parliament in the online service Telegram as “idiotic”.
8:17 p.m .: Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sharply condemned the targeted Russian bombing of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. “This terror bombing against the civilian population must stop – and immediately,” said the SPD politician on Wednesday evening after a meeting with the President of Cyprus, Nikos Anastasiadis, in Berlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown once again how ruthless and ruthless he is in this war. “A war that he can no longer win on the battlefield, that much seems clear,” said Scholz. He called on Putin to withdraw his troops and agree to peace talks with Ukraine.
7.45 p.m .: The Moscow winter is cold, dark – and empty. A number of shops are closed on the streets of the capital as numerous entrepreneurs are affected by the effects of western sanctions. “The mood in the country is now extremely somber, calm, intimidated and hopeless,” a 34-year-old Russian woman told CNN. The planning horizon is shorter than ever before. No one would know what could happen in a day or even a year.
Although the shelves of most shops are well stocked, Western products in particular are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. “Commodities we are familiar with are disappearing, from toilet paper and Coca-Cola to clothing,” says the woman.
Although she can get used to all these circumstances, she still does not understand why Western companies have left the Russian market. “I don’t really know how that helps to solve the conflict because it only affects normal people, not those who make decisions,” the Russian said.
In an interview with the “Spiegel” the professor of economics, Andrei Alexandrovich Yakovlev, already assured that the sanctions of the West would have a severe effect, especially in the autumn. The industrial sectors that are becoming heavily dependent on imported technology would be particularly affected. The agricultural sector, more precisely the maintenance of agricultural technology, could soon suffer more and more because of the sanctions.
“Now there is no access to foreign technology and spare parts needed for repairs. It doesn’t take effect after two or three months, but rather after half a year or a whole year,” says Jakowlew.
In Moscow, however, the isolation is not only spreading on the shelves, but also among the population. More than 300,000 Russians have been drafted since partial mobilization was announced. In addition, hundreds of thousands of young Russians left the country because of the partial mobilization. “The first wave of panic is over,” another Russian told CNN. Everyone has calmed down a bit now. And yet: “Many have fled, but many remain. I’m happy for the people who stay here and support Russia,” said the Russian, who goes by the false name ‘Irina’.
6:33 p.m .: According to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the Russian troops in Ukraine are increasingly having to deal with “significant bottlenecks in artillery ammunition”. Since the beginning of their war of aggression against Ukraine, Russian forces have had “problems with logistics,” and those problems continue, Austin told journalists on Wednesday. Above all, the shortage of artillery shells is increasingly impeding their military action.
Any ground offensive by the Russian armed forces will be prepared by massive artillery fire, Austin said. However, Ukrainian attacks on Russian military depots have led to the Russian troops now having problems. A lot of artillery ammunition is necessary for the Russian combat strategy, Austin said. It is doubtful whether the Russian military still has sufficient ammunition to continue this strategy.
According to the US Secretary of Defense, Russia’s stockpile of “precision-guided munitions” such as self-guided missiles and artillery shells has “decreased significantly” in the nine months since the invasion. Due to the international trade restrictions for products such as microchips, Moscow will not be able to replace them quickly.
4:15 p.m .: Shortly after the Russia vote, there was a hacker attack on the EU Parliament, according to a spokesman. The EU Parliament has condemned Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. In addition, according to the will of the European Parliament, the EU should create a terror list for states like Russia in order to punish them more severely. A large majority of MPs approved a resolution on Wednesday, which also describes Russia as a “state using terrorist means” (see below).
Jaume Duch, spokesman for the European Parliament, said on Twitter that the European Parliament’s websites were paralyzed due to a DDoS attack. In this cyber attack, the web server is paralyzed by the overload due to numerous calls. Work is currently underway to resolve the issue.
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