+++ 15:58 Bundeswehr sends night-vision satellites into space +++

The Bundeswehr plans to send two more reconnaissance satellites into space shortly before Christmas. They are to supplement the Bundeswehr's existing satellites, which cover "our areas of interest in Europe and the Middle East", Major General Michael Traut told the "Tagesspiegel" newspaper. He commands the German Armed Forces Space Command. The new satellites "observe the earth not only with a camera, but with radar - so they can also take pictures at night and see through clouds," says Traut. "This is very important for the Bundeswehr because it allows us to observe militarily relevant events on the earth's surface much better." On the other hand, the Bundeswehr tries to hinder espionage from space by other countries - through advance warning, camouflage or deception. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Blätte, the military head of operations at the Space Situational Awareness Center, gives an example: "We calculate when Russian satellites are likely to fly overhead, during which time we certainly won't put all our capabilities or the training of Ukrainian soldiers on display."

+++ 15:25 London expects fraud and intimidation in the election +++Britishintelligence services firmly expect Russian agencies to cheat in the presidential election in March in the occupied territories in Ukraine. It is almost certain that the elections will be neither free nor fair, according to the British daily intelligence update. "Most likely, the Russian authorities see achieving 'correct' results in these regions as a priority because they want to create the impression that the Russian invasion is legitimate." To ensure that President Putin wins by a large margin, voters are also likely to be intimidated, it is believed in London.

+++ 14:51 Kherson reports attack on center - fatalities +++Aresident of Kherson has been killed in a Russian attack, according to a regional authority. Russian soldiers shelled the center of the city in the morning, the Kherson military administration added. The victim is said to be an 81-year-old man.

+++ 14:12 Moscow plans to test seven intercontinentalballistic missiles in 2024 +++Moscowis planning to test seven intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2024, the Russian news agency Interfax reports. The United States is to be informed of the launches at least 24 hours in advance. A commander of the Russian armed forces said that the tests would "significantly increase the combat capabilities of the troops in order to be able to respond appropriately to the expected threats to our country".

+++ 13:55 Russian trolls pose as Ukrainian combat units online +++Russiandisinformation agents have developed a new tactic to spread fake news: They are impersonating Ukrainian brigades and battalions on Telegram, reports the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation. The channels are intended to receive feedback on possible violations and crimes attributed to the commando. The aim is to discredit the command of the brigades and battalions and their soldiers.

+++ 13:17 Russia forces Ukrainian nuclear engineers to become Russians +++Russiais increasing pressure on Ukrainians working at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant to obtain Russian passports and sign contracts with the Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom. This was reported by the Ukrainian military intelligence service. According to the report, several hundred Ukrainian workers must present Russian passports and sign the contracts by December 31. The report states that Russians are selectively denying access to the workplaces and have set up a Telegram bot for anonymous denunciations among the workers.

+++ 12:57 Pistorius wants to sign "roadmap" for German brigade in Lithuania +++Defense MinisterBoris Pistorius wants to sign a roadmap for the deployment of a Bundeswehr combat brigade with his counterpart Arvydas Anusauskas in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Monday. Following Russia's attack on Ukraine, the aim is to strengthen deterrence on NATO's eastern flank. Lithuania and Germany have agreed on framework conditions for the deployment of an operational and war-ready brigade. Pistorius described the project as a "beacon project of the new era". Read more here.

In March, Defense Minister Pistorius visited a German-Lithuanian exercise in Lithuania.

+++ 12:20 Ukraine: Russia's support with Iranian drones continues +++Themassive support of Russia with drone deliveries from Iran continues, according to a current assessment by the Ukrainian air force. The high number of launches of Shahed drones suggests that large stocks are available. "You can see from the debris that there are actually no changes," said an air force spokesperson. There are "minor modernizations in terms of fuselage production". The enemy is trying to "make them less visible to radars". Russia itself is now also producing variants of the Shahed model, but in the opinion of the Ukrainians "absolutely not at an industrial level".

+++ 11:18 Unger: "Russian saboteurs are said to be trying to infiltrate Ukraine" +++Russiais stepping up its attacks on Ukraine, covering the country with swarms of drones, as ntv reporter Carolin Unger reports from Odessa. But activity on the ground is also increasing, with saboteurs reportedly trying to infiltrate Ukraine.

+++ 10:45 Putin threatens Finland with "problems" +++Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Finland will get into trouble because of its NATO membership. "You brought Finland into NATO. Did we have any disputes? All disputes, including territorial ones, were resolved a long time ago, in the middle of the 20th century. We had the friendliest and most sincere relations," Putin said in an interview with state television. From his point of view, there have been no problems so far, but now there will be. A Leningrad military district will be created and military formations will be concentrated there.

+++ 10:22 Russia reports defense against Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory +++TheRussian Ministry of Defense reports the shooting down of Ukrainian drones. According to this information, the Russian air defense destroyed a total of 35 unmanned missiles that were aimed at the Volgograd, Rostov and Lipetsk regions. This information cannot be verified. The governor of the Rostov region reported a massive attack on the region and said that the majority of the drones had been shot down. Military bloggers report on the internet that a military airfield in Morozovsk was the target of the attacks. Fighter jets are stationed there.

+++ 09:58 Ukraine attacks Russia with home-made drones +++Sincethe beginning of the war, Ukrainian troops have been supplied with weapons from their allies to defend themselves against the Russian attackers. But not all soldiers have access to the latest technology. In Kherson, a unit defends itself with home-made drones.

+++ 09:30 Putin calls Biden's warning of an attack on NATO "nonsense" +++Russian President Vladimir Putin calls US President Joe Biden's warnings of a Russian attack on NATO after a victory over Ukraine "utter nonsense". Russia has no interest in a fight with NATO. Biden had made the assessment that Russia would subsequently attack a NATO member in the event of a victory over Ukraine. "That is complete nonsense - and I think President Biden knows that," said Putin in an interview on state television. It was just an attempt by Biden to justify his "flawed policy" towards Russia.

+++ 08:57 Governor: Airstrikes on Odessa, one person killed +++One person has been killed in a Russian airstrike in the southern Ukrainian region of Odessa. Debris from an intercepted drone fell on a residential area and exploded, the governor announced on Telegram. Several houses were damaged. One person was recovered dead. According to the report, the Ukrainian air defense shot down nine Iranian Shahed drones in the third Russian airstrike on the region this week.

+++ 08:27 Ukrainian General Staff: High Russian losses yesterday - 1250 soldiers injured or killed +++Inthe past 24 hours, Russia has lost 1250 soldiers, according to the latest figures from the Ukrainian General Staff. This is a loss figure well above the usual level, which is well below 1000. The total losses since the beginning of the war therefore amount to 346,070 Russian soldiers. In addition, 19 tanks were destroyed yesterday, 25 armored vehicles, 37 artillery systems and four air defense systems.

+++ 07:52 Ukraine: Russia attacks with Iskander missile and drones +++Accordingto Ukrainian reports, Russiaattacked with an Iskander ballistic missile, a cruise missile and drones during the night. The air defense intercepted and destroyed the cruise missile and twenty attack drones, the Ukrainian air force announced on Telegram. The Iskander missile did not reach its target, it added. No details are given.

+++ 07:14 ISW: Russian Navy suffers after Ukrainian attacks on Black Sea Fleet +++TheUkrainian attacks on Russian Black Sea Fleet facilities are affecting the Russian Navy, analyzes the American Institute for the Study of War. It has had to relocate several ships from its main base in occupied Sevastopol in Crimea and is now developing a small port in Russian-controlled Abkhazia. As a result, the Russians are losing their ability to intervene in maritime trade in the western Black Sea. This makes it easier for Ukraine to use the Black Sea grain corridor and trade grain via cargo ships.

+++ 06:56 Sumy in the northeast under heavy shelling +++TheRussian armed forces shelled 11 communities along the border of the Sumy region yesterday, injuring one civilian, according to the region's military administration. The Russian military shelled the various communities with grenade launchers, artillery, mortars and drone attacks and also threw mines at several settlements. Around 138 explosions were recorded. Sumy Oblast is located on Ukraine's north-eastern border with Russia. For over a year, the Russian military has been terrorizing the settlements along the border with almost daily shelling.

+++ 06:30 Despite war - majority of Ukrainian business people expect good business development +++Themajority of Ukrainian business people expect good economic developments in the country. 41 percent of businesspeople expect revenues in the future to be similar to the current level and 55 percent plan to employ the same number of people in the future. 33 percent even plan to hire new employees. This is the result of a survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. 40 percent of Ukrainian business people believe that the war in the country will probably end in 2025. A further 24 percent expect the war to end as early as next year, while 17 percent do not expect it to end for another five years. The survey polled 108 people from management or executive positions who are members of the Chamber of Commerce.

+++ 05:21 Russia claims to have intercepted 33 Ukrainian drones +++According to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, theRussian air defence has neutralized 33 drones that were sent from Ukraine towards Russia. They were intercepted or destroyed before they reached their targets over the regions of Lipetsk, Rostov and Volgograd, the ministry announced via Telegram.

+++ 03:26 Lithuanian Commander-in-Chief: No country is doing as much as Germany on NATO's eastern flank +++TheCommander-in-Chief of the Lithuanian army, General Valdemaras Rupšys, praises the planned stationing of a permanent Bundeswehr brigade in his country. "Germany is demonstrating extraordinary decisiveness and leadership here," he told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. "No other NATO country is doing so much on NATO's eastern flank. For Lithuania, the stationing of a permanent brigade means security, deterrence and trust in our country." Germany wants to station around 4,000 soldiers permanently in Lithuania as a combat-ready and independently capable unit. The defense ministers of both countries plan to sign the exact roadmap in Vilnius on Monday.

In June, the German and Lithuanian military trained together in the

+++ 01:57 Zelensky praises air defense successes +++Afterseveral days and nights of heavy Russian air attacks on Ukraine, President Zelensky praises the work of the air defense. In one week, 104 of 112 attacking Shahed drones have been intercepted, says Zelensky in his evening video. "And the destruction of every single one means that lives and infrastructure have been saved." Ballistic missiles from Russia were also knocked out of the sky. "The Patriots, NASAMS, Cheetahs and other systems provided by our partners work perfectly," he says, referring to foreign air defense systems. It is important to further improve the air defense over Ukraine. Dozens of people have been injured by the attacks this week, according to civilian authorities.

+++ 00:15 Kuleba praises Scholz's leadership at EU summit +++UkrainianForeign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praises Chancellor Scholz's commitment to Ukraine at the recent EU summit: "What Chancellor Olaf Scholz did at the summit to remove the threat of a Hungarian veto will go down in history as an act of German leadership in the interests of Europe," Kuleba told Bild am Sonntag. He hopes "that this will also mean a broader and irreversible turnaround in Germany's attitude towards leading efforts to resolve the most complicated issues", Kuleba continued. In the deadlocked dispute over the start of EU accession negotiations with Ukraine, Scholz had suggested to Hungary's Prime Minister Orban that he leave the meeting for the decision to allow the other heads of state and government to reach the necessary consensus.

+++ 23:22 Ukrainian truck driver dies at blocked Polish border +++AnotherUkrainian driver apparently died atthe border between Ukraine and Poland, which was blocked by Polish truck drivers. The Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne reports that the man fell ill at the Krakivets-Korczowa border crossing and died during transportation to a clinic. Two other Ukrainian drivers had already died in the blockade in November. Polish drivers have been blocking several border crossings since the beginning of November. They say Ukrainian drivers are undercutting Polish prices and are calling on the EU to reintroduce a system that would require Ukrainian companies to have a permit to operate in the EU and allow European truck drivers to drive to Ukraine. Slovakian drivers had staged similar protests at border crossings this week, but ended their action on Friday.

+++ 22:19 Austria abandons blockade of Russia sanctions +++Austriaabandons its blockade of the twelfth EU sanctions package against Russia. Ukraine had previously removed the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International from a blacklist, according to the website of the government in Kiev and an EU diplomat. Austria had pushed for the bank to be removed from the Ukrainian list of "international sponsors of the war". The list aims to put pressure on companies that do business in Russia and support the war effort, for example by paying taxes. The list has no legal status, but is symbolically important.

+++ 21:51 Authority: Communities in Sumy attacked with bombs, shells and artillery +++++Thenorth-eastern region of Sumy registers 138 explosions in one day. The Russian armed forces have attacked several communities with artillery, mines and mortar shells, according to the region's administration. Drones have also dropped bombs. In the community of Yunakivska, a civilian was injured by mortar fire.

Oleksandr Nazarenko, a senior sergeant in the Ukrainian border guard, stands in a military position in the Sumy region.

+++ 21:20 Nikopol: City under constant shelling +++According to local authorities, thecity of Nikopol is under constant shelling. The Russian armed forces have attacked Nikopol and two surrounding communities several times from morning to evening - with artillery and drones. The Ukrainian armed forces shot down five of seven kamikaze drones. However, three men were injured by the explosion of mines, according to reports from Nikopol. Several residential and commercial buildings were damaged. The port city on the Dnipro River is located in south-eastern Ukraine.

+++ 20:48 Military warns of missile and drone attacks +++ In theevening, another air alarm sounds in parts of Ukraine, following a series of drone attacks the night before. "Danger of missiles", warned the air force on social networks for several regions in the center and east of the country. Combat drones were in the sky over the south - from Kherson towards Mykolaiv. The military is also warning of drones in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv.

You can read all previous developments here.