Newsletter 11/10/2024
Daily news digest
TOP
Germany to provide EUR 4B in military support to Ukraine in 2025 - Scholz
Germany will provide Ukraine with direct military assistance worth EUR 4 billion next year. By the end of the current year, Germany and its partners will provide Ukraine with a support package worth EUR 1.4 billion.
Zelensky meets with Pope
President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Pope Francis during his visit to the Vatican on Friday.
It is noted that the talks between the pontiff and President Zelensky lasted 35 minutes, from 9:45 to 10:20.
After a private conversation at the Sala della Biblioteca and the presentation of the Ukrainian delegation, the Pope gave Zelensky a bronze plaque with a blooming flower and the inscription "Peace is a fragile flower."
Zelensky gifted the pontiff an oil painting depicting ‘The massacre of Bucha. The story of Marichka’, according to the Italian news agency.
Pope Francis also gave Zelensky his message for this year's World Day of Peace, the volumes of papal documents, the book on Statio Orbis from March 27, 2020, and the collection titled ‘Persecuted for the truth: Ukrainian Greek Catholics behind the iron curtain’.
After the meeting with the pontiff, the Ukrainian president and his delegation headed to the Secretariat of State for talks.
Ukrainian media urge world to respond to murder of journalist Roshchyna in Russia
Ukrainian journalists and media professionals have issued a statement calling on international organizations to take urgent action following the murder of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna in Russian captivity.
Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna went missing on August 3, 2023, during a trip to Russian-occupied territories. On July 27, 2023, she left Ukraine for Poland and was scheduled to reach occupied areas in eastern Ukraine (via Russia) within three days.
In April 2024, Russia first confirmed that it was unlawfully detaining her.
On October 10 of this year, Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, announced on his Facebook page that Viktoria's father had received notification of his daughter’s death, which had occurred on September 19.
Putin refuses to speak by phone with Scholz – German FM
“We have been tirelessly working since the beginning of this unlawful war by Russia to bring peace back to Ukraine and, consequently, to our European continent. Ukraine is ready for a just peace,” noted German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
“Putin is rejecting the peace we all long for,” the diplomat emphasized.
She added that the Russian leader shows this every day, continuing to kill Ukrainians and destroy the country.
Russia hits Odesa with ballistic missiles: 4 dead, 10 wounded
On the night of October 11, Russian troops struck Odesa with ballistic missiles, killing four people, including a teenager, and injuring ten others.
Ukrainian hackers attack military educational institutions in Russia - source
Specialists with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) have carried out a cyberattack on the network infrastructure of the North-Caucasus Federal University, which trains drone operators, digital communications specialists, engineers and physicists for the Russian occupation army.
Zelensky presents Victory Plan to Italian PM Meloni
“I presented the Victory Plan to the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy Giorgia Meloni. We have discussed all aspects of the Plan very productively today. The main thing is to strengthen Ukraine's position and our relations with our closest partners so that we create the necessary conditions, the necessary fair atmosphere for honest diplomacy,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement.
War
Russians restoring combat readiness of Shtorm assault group in Vovchansk – Ukrainian Military
The operational situation on the Kharkiv front remains challenging without significant changes. The Russian army conducted measures to restore the combat readiness of the Shtorm detachment's assault groups.
Three people wounded in Russian air strike on Kupiansk, Kharkiv region
Estonian intel: Ukrainian strikes on military depots in Russia will increase Russians' ammunition shortage
Russians wound man with drone in Kherson suburb
Russians employ hundreds of FPV drones daily in Luhansk direction – military
Russia prosecuting 50 Ukrainians for 'participation in Crimean Tatar battalion' - human rights activists
Russia has detained 50 Ukrainian citizens since 2014 for their "participation in the Noman Celebicihan Battalion," including 31 in the temporarily occupied part of the Kherson region after February 24, 2022.
Defense
First Lithuanian combat drones arrive at military depots
The Defense Resources Agency under the Ministry of National Defense has purchased combat drones worth 8 million euros from five Lithuanian manufacturers: Dangolakis, RSI Europe, Ltmiltech, Granta Autonomy, and Unmanned Defense Systems. More than 2,300 of these drones will be delivered to the Lithuanian Army for EUR 3 million, and almost 5,000 of the same type of drones for EUR 5 million will be delivered to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These deliveries will take place by the end of this year.
The combat drones manufactured by Lithuanian companies are purchased with all the additional accessories, launch, control and training equipment. They are fully assembled, so the drone operator only needs to connect the ammunition. Each of the five drone manufacturers has developed its own unique solutions to reduce the impact of EW.
Politics
Zelensky calls meeting with Scholz most important throughout full-scale war
"Today is our third meeting this fall with Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, and perhaps one of the most important throughout the entire period of the full-scale war. We are now presenting our key friends with our strategy for bringing peace to Ukraine — a plan of absolutely clear and realistic steps that can push the whole situation towards real peace," Zelensky stated.
Canada to provide nearly USD 300M in concessional financing to Ukraine
On October 11, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko signed the Fourth Additional Agreement with Canada for an additional loan of CAD 400 million (nearly USD 300 million).
China ready to maintain mutually beneficial cooperation with Ukraine - MFA
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin met with Ukrainian Ambassador to China Pavlo Riabikin and confirmed China’s readiness to maintain mutually beneficial cooperation with Ukraine.
Ukraine expresses concern over Israeli shelling of UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has expressed concern over the October 10 shelling by Israeli forces of the UN Interim Force in Southern Lebanon (UNIFIL), which resulted in injuries to representatives of the international mission.
Ukrainian MFA refutes claims about Kyiv’s willingness to make territorial concessions to Russia
"We emphasize the unacceptability of such concessions. This kind of statements are only perceived by the aggressor as a sign of weakness, giving it unjustified hope for success of its aggression and effectiveness of its ultimatums and blackmail. The only realistic way to restore a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine has been and remains the Peace Formula, which is based on respect for the UN Charter and the imperative to fully restore Ukraine's territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders," the Foreign Ministry underscored.
Economy
World Bank approves creation of financial trust fund for Ukraine worth at least USD 10B
The World Bank's Board of Directors has approved the creation of a special financial trust fund for Ukraine, which will amount to at least USD 10 billion. The main donors will be the United States and several other countries, and in the future the size of the fund may be increased when other donors join it.
Society
SBI forwards to court case of treason committed by MPs, ex-prosecutor
Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has forwarded to court a case of treason committed by members of a criminal organization that included MPs and a former prosecutor.
The SBI and the SBU State Security Service exposed this criminal organization in November 2023. Its members included current and former people's deputies, as well as an ex-prosecutor.
It was established that at the direction of the Russian special services, they organized measures to discredit Ukraine's image on the international stage in order to worsen its diplomatic relations with the United States and complicate Ukraine's accession to the European Union and NATO.
The SBI recalled that at the time, a current MP was suspected of treason and participation in a criminal organization, who carried out information and subversive activities for the benefit of the Russian Federation. He is currently in custody. His parliamentary colleague, who has been stripped of his mandate, was also declared a suspect for participation in the criminal organization.