Kremlin lauds bounty offer on tanks
Ukraine says $1bn embezzlement case uncovered at oil firms
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) says it has uncovered embezzlement worth more than $1bn at two oil companies which until November were partly owned by billionaire Ihor Kolomoiskiy.
The SBU said in a Telegram post that the former management team of one of the firms, Ukrtatnafta, were issued with suspicion notices in the case.
Biden may visit central Europe in February: Polish president
Polish President Andrzej Duda says his US counterpart Joe Biden will likely visit Central Europe in February as the war in Ukraine nears the one-year mark.
“The president will most likely be coming to our part of Europe in February,” Duda said during a news conference in Riga, Estonia.
“Our part of Europe means Central Europe … this is an area stretching from Romania to Estonia. It is very difficult for us to answer where the president will be coming in detail, we do not have such information,” he added.
Latvia rules out sending athletes to Olympics if Russians permitted to compete
Latvia will not send its athletes to an Olympic Games that includes Russian and Belarusian nationals while the war in Ukraine continues, a spokesperson for the country’s Olympic committee has said.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said last week it is open to including Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutrals at the 2024 Paris Games and has opened a door to them competing in qualifiers.
“If we need to make a decision now, of course, we will not go to such a competition,” the spokesperson for Latvia’s Olympic committee told the Reuters news agency.
“But the Paris Games is a year and a half away. We will see what happens in Ukraine – we hope the Ukrainian people will win this war, and we will be in a new situation.”
Kremlin says longer-range US rockets will escalate war
The Kremlin says the US will escalate the war in Ukraine, albeit not change its course, if it supplies Ukraine with longer-range rockets as part of a new package of military aid reportedly being readied.
“Yes, this is a direct way to escalate tensions, to increase the level of escalation, we can see that,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“It requires us to make additional efforts, but, once again, it will not change the course of events. The special military operation will continue,” he added, using the Kremlin’s phrase for its offensive in Ukraine.
Ukrainian security officials raid homes of billionaire businessman, ex-minister
Ukrainian security officials have raided the home of billionaire businessman Ihor Kolomoiskiy in what several media outlets said was an investigation into possible financial crimes.
David Arakhamia, head of the Servant of the People party’s parliamentary faction, said there were also searches at Ukraine’s Tax Office and that the management team of the Customs Service would be dismissed.
“The country will change during the war. If someone is not ready for change, then the state itself will come and help them change,” he said in a Telegram post.
The Ukrainska Pravda news website said Wednesday’s search related to an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of oil products and evasion of customs duties, and that it was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine.
It came as former Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said his home was also searched by security officials as part of an investigation into a purchase of Airbus helicopters, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
An Airbus helicopter crashed on the outskirts of Kyiv on January 18, killing 14 people, including Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi and other top ministry officials.
Belarus says Iskander ballistic missile systems now in service
Belarus says it has taken Russian Iskander ballistic missile systems into service after its operators had received training in Russia.
The missiles are capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 500km (310 miles), the Belarusian defence ministry said.
“Having completed the theoretical course, the artillerymen carried out practical training at the Belarusian firing ranges,” it added.
Turkey supports Finland’s NATO bid, but not Sweden’s: Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Ankara looks positively on Finland’s application for NATO membership but does not support Sweden’s bid.
“Sweden should not bother to try at this point. We will not say ‘yes’ to their NATO application as long as they allow burning of the Quran,” Erdogan said in a speech to his AK Party deputies in parliament.
Last week, Turkey suspended NATO talks with Sweden and Finland over protests in Stockholm that included the burning of a Quran.
Kremlin welcomes ‘bounty’ offer for destroying Western tanks in Ukraine
The Kremlin has welcomed a Russian company’s offer of “bounty payments” for soldiers who destroy Western-made tanks on the battlefield in Ukraine, saying it would spur Moscow’s forces to victory.
The Russian company Fores this week offered 5 million roubles ($72,000) in cash to the first soldiers who destroy or capture US-made Abrams or German Leopard 2 tanks in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian troops would “burn” any Western tanks that were delivered to Ukraine, adding the bounties were extra encouragement for Russian soldiers.
Talks under way on long-range missiles, attack aircraft for Ukraine: Official
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak says Ukraine is “in talks” with its allies for the supply of “longer-range missiles and attack aircraft” to help repel Russian forces.
“Each war stage requires certain weapons. The concentration of RF’s [the Russian Federation’s] reserves in the occupied territories requires specifics from Ukraine and its partners,” Podolyak said in a post on Twitter.
“So: 1. There is already a tank coalition (logistics, training, supply). 2. There are already talks on longer-range missiles & attack aircraft supply,” he added.
A guard told me, ‘We will shoot you’: Life in a Donetsk prison
Natalya Zelenina, a Ukrainian social worker, was imprisoned by Russia-backed separatists in grim, gruelling conditions for five years.
But on October 17, she was among 108 women freed from captivity in a prisoner exchange.
Austrian president arrives in Kyiv for talks with Zelenskyy
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has arrived in Kyiv for expected talks with his Ukrainian counterpart.
“After almost one year of war, Ukraine is not forgotten. Together with President Zelenskyy and the brave people of Ukraine – we stand for European values,” Van der Bellen said in a post on Twitter.
He also posted photographs of him being greeted by Ukrainian officials at Kyiv’s central railway station.
Russian spy chief says NATO ‘raising the stakes’ in Ukraine
Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s SVR Foreign Intelligence Service, has accused NATO of “raising the stakes” in Ukraine by supplying Kyiv with additional military support, including more advanced weapons.
“They still have dreams of a strategic defeat over Russia,” Naryshkin said in a televised interview with the state-run RIA news agency.
“But this will not happen,” he added.
NATO allies have sent billions of dollars worth of weapons and military hardware to Ukraine to help it fend off Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Naryshkin’s comments come as the US is readying its latest package of military aid for Ukraine. Supplies are expected to include rockets with a range of up to 150km (94 miles) for the first time.`
US readying new $2bn Ukraine weapons package: Report
The US is readying more than $2bn worth of military aid for Ukraine that is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time as well as other munitions and weapons, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.
The aid is expected to be announced as soon as this week, Reuters reported, citing two US officials briefed on the plan.
