War against Ukraine: this is the situation
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the situation in the Black Sea has improved in his country's favor in recent months. "We have succeeded in wresting the initiative from Russia in the Black Sea," said Zelenskyi in Kiev. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) was meeting there.
Fierce fighting continued on the approximately 1000-kilometer-long front on land. The General Staff in Kiev counted 62 battles between Russian and Ukrainian troops on Thursday. Russia carried out many attacks near the Donbass towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivkia.
During the night, the Russian armed forces again attacked Ukraine with combat drones, according to the Ukrainian air force. There was an air alert in the south and east of the country. The night before, the Ukrainian air defense had shot down 16 of 18 Russian drones, according to its own information.
Today is the 632nd day of war. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of the neighboring country in February 2022. An opponent of the war, the artist Alexandra Skochilenko, was sentenced to seven years in prison in her home city of St. Petersburg for a protest action. Finland was preparing to close four border crossings to Russia on Friday night.
Ukraine pushes Russia out of the west of the Black Sea
"My country has fundamentally changed the situation in the Black Sea. Russia has lost control," said Zelensky in his evening video address. He explained to the foreign parliamentarians in Kiev that Russian forces had largely had to vacate the western part of the Black Sea and had withdrawn to the eastern part.
When the war of aggression began in February 2022, Russia initially completely blockaded the Ukrainian Black Sea coast; Ukraine lost its navy. Moscow later allowed limited Ukrainian grain exports by ship in an agreement with Turkey and the United Nations. Since August, Ukraine has been operating a sea corridor towards the Bosporus without Russian security guarantees. Since then, around 100 ships have ventured on the still risky passage.
The military background to this are Ukrainian successes such as the sinking of the Russian cruiser "Moskva" and the recapture of Snake Island off the Romanian coast in 2022. This year, Ukraine used Western precision weapons to disable Russian air defense positions, military airfields and command centers on the Crimean peninsula.
Several ships of the Black Sea Fleet were also severely damaged. However, Russia can still bombard Ukrainian ports on the sea and the Danube with combat drones or missiles. The Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), founded in 1992, comprises 13 states in the region, including Russia.
New British Foreign Secretary in Kiev immediately
Selenskyj praised the visit of the new British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who was only appointed on Monday. "It is a signal that helping Ukraine also helps global stability," said the president in the evening.
In Kiev, the former British Prime Minister also assured Ukraine of military support from the UK in the future. "We will continue the moral support, the diplomatic support, the economic support and above all the military support," Cameron said, according to a video from the Ukrainian presidential office. "Not just this year and next, but for as long as it takes."
Since the Russian invasion almost 21 months ago, the UK has been considered one of Ukraine's most important supporters. Cameron traveled on to the Black Sea city of Odessa. There, the Foreign Secretary announced support for evacuees from the frontline areas.
Artist replaces price tags with slogans against the war
The Russian anti-war activist and artist Alexandra Skochilenko was sentenced to seven years in prison in St. Petersburg. The 33-year-old had replaced price tags in a grocery store with slogans against the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. She had to answer for allegedly spreading false information about Moscow's army. The musician and poet was arrested after the action in April 2022 and has been in custody ever since.
Her case also caused international outrage because she remained in custody despite being seriously ill. The public prosecutor's office had requested eight years in prison, with a maximum sentence of ten years. Skochilenko has been classified as a political prisoner by the human rights organizations Amnesty International and Memorial.
What is important today
In recent days, the government in Helsinki has observed that Russia is allowing dozens of asylum seekers to leave for Finland without valid papers. Belarus has already put pressure on Poland at the EU's external border in this way. Even if the numbers are not as high as in Belarus, Finland will close four border crossings near St. Petersburg at midnight on Friday. The Baltic republic of Estonia is also registering that more migrants are attempting to enter the country from Russia without valid papers.
Ukraine's military successes have significantly shifted the balance in the Black Sea, as President Volodymyr Zelensky stated, declaring, "My country has fundamentally changed the situation in the Black Sea. Russia has lost control over the western part." This assertion follows Vladimir Putin's order to invade Ukraine in February 2022, which sparked a prolonged conflict.
Source: www.dpa.com
