Russia launched a “double tap” missile attack on a small town near Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, killing two people, a paramedic and a police officer, authorities said.Authorities also reported that a series of attacks in the southeastern Donetsk region killed four people, and two more in the southern Kherson region. Prosecutors said the mid-afternoon missile attack targeted a train station in Budi, southwest of Kharkiv. A second missile landed in the area after rescue teams arrived. The incident wounded 25 people, two of them children. Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said the head of emergency services in the Kharkiv region and a police officer from a rapid response unit were killed. The injured included three paramedics, one police officer and about 20 civilians.
The Kremlin has warned that the deployment of US long-range missiles in Germany could lead to a return of a Cold War-style conflict and make European capitals targets of Russian missiles. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of the “contradiction” that “Europe is a target of our missiles, and our country is a target of US missiles in Europe,” AFP reported. “We have sufficient capabilities to contain these missiles, but the potential victims are the capitals of these countries,” Peskov told Russian state television. Peskov also suggested that such a confrontation could weaken Europe as a whole, just as the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. “Europe is falling apart. Europe is not having the best time. In a different configuration, a repeat of history is inevitable,” he said. The United States announced at a NATO summit this week that it would routinely deploy long-range weapons, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, in Germany from 2026 as a deterrent. Russia had already criticized the move, accusing Washington of taking a step towards a new Cold War and directly participating in the Ukrainian conflict.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has downplayed US President Joe Biden’s recent gaffe at a NATO summit when he introduced the Ukrainian leader as Russia’s “Putin”, saying it was a “mistake” that can now be forgotten. “That is wrong. [the] “The United States has given Ukraine a lot of support and I think we can forget some mistakes,” Zelensky told reporters after landing at Ireland’s Shannon airport. Zelensky is calling on Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris on his way back from a summit in Washington. The meeting between Zelensky and Harris is expected to solidify Irish support for Ukraine’s efforts to join the European Union.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said tensions had eased on his country’s border with Ukraine and that extra troops stationed there were returning to their bases. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Belarusian intelligence had determined that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from sensitive areas, according to the Belarusian state news agency BelTA. [Ukrainian] “The troops sent as reinforcements have now been withdrawn. There are no problems with Ukraine now and I hope there won’t be any in the future,” Lukashenko said. The Belarusian Defense Ministry said late last month it was stepping up border security in response to security incidents and a buildup of Ukrainian troops. A spokesman for Ukraine’s border guard services denied plans to send in additional troops in a statement posted online.
European leaders are meeting at the upcoming European Political Community (EPC) to discuss Ukraine and the “arc of conflict and instability” that threatens Europe’s borders. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that “Europe is on the frontline of the greatest challenge of our time”, stressing that “Russia’s barbaric war” continues to “reverberate across the continent”. Starmer is expected to reiterate Britain’s “ironclad” support for Ukraine and use the meeting to appeal for continued international military and financial support ahead of what is expected to be a “harsh winter”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit the UK next week to address European leaders at the European Parliament.
Germany said its support for Ukraine would “not be threatened” following reports of an assassination attempt on the head of a major defense company. this week, CNN reported: The Russian government reported that U.S. intelligence agencies had foiled a plot to assassinate Armin Papelger, CEO of Rheinmetall, a company that has supplied Ukraine with a large amount of weapons. The report, which cited U.S. and Western officials, said the plot was one of several Russian plans to assassinate defense industry executives from European countries that have supported Ukraine’s war effort. German Interior Ministry spokesman Maximilian Kahl declined to comment on the report, but said Germany takes “very seriously” the “significant increase in the threat of Russian aggression.” “We are aware that the Putin regime would like above all to weaken support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s war of aggression, but the German government will not be intimidated,” Kahl said. Asked about the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it “does not contain any serious discussions and is based on anonymous sources.” “It’s all presented in a different, fictional style. Therefore, such reports cannot be taken seriously,” Peskov said.
