Ukraine updates: Putin threatens Kyiv with new missile

11/28/2024November 28, 2024

Ukraine 2025 budget allocates 60% to defense

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has approved a significant increase in Ukraine's military spending for 2025, allocating over $50 billion (€47 billion) to defense and security.

That's equivalent to about 60% of all expenditure.

By comparison, Russia plans to spend more than $150 billion on defense and security next year.

Ukraine's budget document also outlines the first wartime tax increases since Russia's invasion, nearly three years ago.

Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenkko said the budget was vital to ensure smooth funding for the Ukrainian defense sector next year. It also covers payments for soldiers and weapons production.

"The priority of the budget remains the defense of our state," Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said in a post on Telegram.

Ukraine receives significant military and humanitarian aid from Western partners to supplement its military spending.

11/28/2024November 28, 2024

Putin warns of 'Oreshnik' missile strikes on Kyiv

Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to use Russia's new intermediate-range "Oreshnik" missile against the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

"We do not rule out the use of Oreshnik against the military, military-industrial facilities or decision-making centers, including in Kyiv," Putin said at a press conference in the Kazakh capital Astana.

Kyiv has strong air defenses. However, Putin claims that the Oreshnik, which Russia used for the first time on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last week, cannot be intercepted. Western experts have expressed skepticism about this claim.

Russia has not yet targeted Ukrainian government ministries, parliament, or the president's office during the war.

Putin also said Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv were to acquire nuclear arms.

The New York Times reported last week that unnamed Western officials suggested US President Joe Biden could provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons.

"If the country which we are essentially at war with now becomes a nuclear power, what do we do? In this case, we will use all, I want to emphasize this, precisely all means of destruction available to Russia. Everything: we will not allow it," Putin said.

11/28/2024November 28, 2024

Berlin summons Russian ambassador

The German Foreign Office has summoned the Russian ambassador to Berlin, Sergey Nechayev, over Moscow's expulsion of two journalists from German public broadcaster ARD.

"The expulsion of ARD employees by Russia is unacceptable, and the justification is simply false and dishonest. We condemn this in the strongest terms," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the move was in response to the expulsion of correspondents from Russian state broadcaster Channel One on Wednesday — a claim that Berlin denies.

"Here in Germany, the relevant authorities have taken decisions against two employees of a Russian broadcaster in line with immigration law; these can be appealed," Baerbock said.

"Russia's President (Vladimir) Putin has again and again turned the thumbscrews on the press in his country," she added. "Free reporting is not possible anymore in Russia, including for foreign journalists."

11/28/2024November 28, 2024

Putin justifies airstrikes as Zelenskyy slams 'despicable escalation'

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday's airstrikes on Ukraine was Moscow's "response" to Kyiv's attacks with US-made ATACMS missiles.

"We carried out a comprehensive strike," Putin told allies during a Kazakhstan visit several hours after the attack.

The Russian leader has criticized Ukraine's allies for permitting Kyiv to use Western weapons against Russian targets, warning of retaliation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of a "despicable escalation."

"In several regions, strikes with cluster munitions were recorded, and they targeted civilian infrastructure," he said in a post on Telegram.

"This is a very despicable escalation of Russian terrorist tactics," he added.

11/28/2024November 28, 2024

More than 1 million Ukrainians without power amid Russian strikes

Overnight Russian air strikes have left more than 1 million Ukrainians without electricity, regional officials said on Thursday.

"As of now, 523,000 subscribers in [the] Lviv region are without electricity," regional head Maksym Kozytskyi said in a post on social media. 

Meanwhile, in the northwestern Rivne region more than 280,000 households were left without power, regional head Oleksandr Koval said. Some schools in Rivne were ordered to study remotely. 

Strikes were also reported in the Volyn region, where 215,000 households have no electricity, according to the head of administration, Ivan Rudnytskyi.

The head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andrii Yermak, claimed that Russia had stockpiled missiles to strike Ukrainian infrastructure during the cold season.

"They were helped by their crazy allies, including from North Korea," he wrote on Telegram.

11/28/2024November 28, 2024

Ukraine reports 'massive attack' against energy infrastructure

Explosions rang through the Ukrainian cities of Odessa, Kropyvnytskyi, Kharkiv, Rivne and Lutsk on Thursday amid reports of a major Russian cruise missile attack, Ukrainian media said.

Ukraine's energy minister said that the strikes targeted critical infrastructure.

"Once again, the energy sector is under massive enemy attack," Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook.

"Attacks on energy facilities are taking place across Ukraine."

The minister added that the national power grid's operator had "urgently introduced emergency power cuts."

An air raid alert was declared across UkraineImage: Andreas Stroh/Zumapress/picture alliance

The Ukrainian military reported that there were inbound missiles targeting several regions. 

"Air raid alert has been declared all over the territory of Ukraine due to a missile threat," the Ukrainian air force said on Telegram. 

Other messages from the air force added that the missiles that were detected were headed for Kharkiv, Odesa and eight other regions.

"Kharkiv, go to the shelters!" the air force said in a separate message on Telegram.

11/28/2024November 28, 2024

Putin is banking on the failure of NATO, says German spy chief

The head of Germany's foreign intelligence service BND has warned about increasing Russian hybrid attacks on Germany and the NATO defense alliance, with the underlying aim to test the alliance in hopes that it would collapse. 

Bruno Kahl said BND believes that high-ranking officials in Russia's Defense Ministry seem to have doubts about whether NATO's mutual defense commitments and the United States' extended deterrence in Europe would hold in a serious situation. 

"Currently, there is no evidence of concrete war intentions by Russia. But if such views gain ground in the government headquarters in Moscow, the risk of a military confrontation also grows in the coming years," he said at an event held by the German Society for Foreign Policy late on Wednesday.

Kahl said he did not believe Moscow would engage in such a confrontation to gain territory, but rather to stamp out NATO.

"Certainly not expansive territorial acquisition would be the focus," he said, but Russian President Vladimir Putin's aim is for NATO to fail as a defense alliance, the spy chief stressed.

dvv/zc (AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa)