Restocking Western munitions after arming Ukraine will take years, munitions group owner says
Workers and Ukrainian military personnel unload a shipment of ammunition delivered as part of the United States of America’s security assistance to Ukraine at Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on November 14, 2021 .
US Embassy in Ukraine | Reuters
It will take 10 to 15 years to replenish depleted Western stocks of artillery ammunition to support Ukraine’s military as it fights invasion by Russia, according to the owner of major arms maker Czechoslovak Group.
Despite the flow of ammunition to Ukraine, CSG owner Michal Strnad said Ukrainian forces were experiencing shortfalls as Western governments were depleting their stockpiles amid production capacity limits.
Strnad told Reuters his company was now responsible for about 25-30% of European production of NATO-standard 155mm artillery.
“Artillery ammunition is a very scarce commodity today,” he said in an interview. “I estimate it will take 10 to 15 years to replenish (the Western military’s) stocks” as a result of the war in Ukraine.
European governments have drawn significantly on their arsenals to support Ukraine, which Strnad said was firing 40,000 shells a week from several hundred Western-supplied shells against the Russian invaders.
“A lot of things have really been delivered to Ukraine,” he said. “But the fact is that today the Ukrainians are shooting less than they could because they don’t have enough ammunition.”
— Reuters
Widespread Russian missile attacks leave at least two dead and others injured in Zaporizhzhia
A view shows a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile attack, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on October 9, 2022.
Stringer | Reuters
At least two people have been killed and two others injured, including a 1-year-old boy, in the Zaporizhzhia region after Russian missile attacks across the country, the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine said , Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
Several private houses were destroyed and more are likely to be injured, Tymoshenko said in a Telegram post. He noted that emergency services are already working at the scene.
The head of the Kyiv regional military administration, Oleksii Kuleba, urged residents to remain in shelters as Ukraine’s air defense began operating in the region.
“There is an increased danger of rockets moving into the region,” Kuleba posted on Telegram.
The northeastern region of Sumy is also without electricity due to an emergency shutdown of the energy system following the attacks that remained, according to the region’s local energy company, Sumyoblenergo. Separately, Odesa region was cut off from water supply due to the strikes, local water supply company Infoksvodokanal said.
The wave of widespread missile attacks is part of Russia’s efforts to cut off Ukraine from vital energy resources by targeting vital infrastructure across Ukraine, leaving many Ukrainians in dire and uncertain conditions for the winter.
Rocio Smith
Russia now controls 18% of Ukraine, according to the UK ministry
Ukrainian soldiers on the front line in Donbass, Donetsk province, Ukraine, on November 22, 2022.
Diego Herrera Carcedo | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Ukraine has released around 54% of the maximum amount of extra territory Russia has seized since the start of its invasion on February 24 this year, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
Posting on Twitter, the ministry said Russia now controls about 18 percent of Ukraine’s internationally recognized areas, “including the Donbas and Crimea regions under Russian control since 2014.”
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and supported a pro-Russian uprising in two regions of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas, home to two self-proclaimed breakaway “republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Since the start of the war, Russia has been pushed out of several regions by Ukrainian forces, most notably around Kharkiv in the country’s northeast. Russian forces have also withdrawn from areas around Kyiv, the capital, and Kherson in the south.
Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, is now the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in Ukraine as Russian forces try to advance and capture the city of Bakhmut, hoping to advance towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in an attempt to consolidate its base in the region.
—Holly Elliott
Russia launched new wave of missile attacks, Ukrainian air force spokesman says
A militant from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic inspects the remains of a missile that fell on a street in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine, on February 26, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters
Russia launched another wave of missile strikes against Ukraine on Monday, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat told a news conference amid air strike alerts in Kyiv and across the country. country
“This is not a drill,” Ihnat told reporters. “The missiles are already launched.”
The attacks used strategic aviation launched from three different locations: the Volgodonsk region in western Russia, the Caspian Sea and from ships in the Black Sea, according to Ihnat. The most recent missile launches are a continuation of Russia’s attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine that began in early October, he said. So far, Russian attacks have damaged about half of Ukraine’s energy systems, leaving many Ukrainians without power as temperatures drop.
Ilhnat warned that Monday’s launch could lead to several waves of strikes, warning Ukrainians to take shelter. “The Russians are doing this to scatter and confuse our air defense forces,” he said of the launch waves.
Several senior Ukrainian officials have requested additional air defense capabilities, including fighter jets and advanced missile deterrent systems, in recent weeks as Russia steps up its missile attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
Rocio Smith
The Kremlin has no further information on the explosions at the air bases
St. Basil’s Cathedral and a Kremlin tower are visible on Red Square in Moscow.
Soup Images | light rocket | Getty Images
The Kremlin has told reporters it has received no further information on what caused the explosions at two separate military air bases in Russia on Monday.
Explosions were reported at military airfields in Russia’s Saratov and Ryazan regions yesterday. Russian state media said a tanker had exploded at an air base, killing three people and injuring several others. At the other airfield, Ukrainian media reported that a possible drone strike had damaged two Tu-95 strategic bombers.
Asked whether President Putin had been briefed and what might be behind the incidents, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he could not comment further.
“I don’t have any precise information. I’ve only seen the media reports, but I don’t have precise information and I can’t comment on it,” he told reporters.
“Of course, the president regularly receives information about everything that happens from all the relevant services”, he added.
—Holly Elliott
Russian shelling of Donetsk damages kindergartens and houses
Ongoing Russian shelling in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, seen as the epicenter of fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, has damaged a kindergarten, residential buildings and an administrative facility, according to a regional official.
The head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, told Telegram on Monday that the city of Kurakhove and the village of Gostre had come under fire with “a kindergarten, 4 high-rise buildings and 7 private houses … damaged”. Kyrylenko posted pictures of damaged buildings along with the information.
He said Avdiivka had been attacked overnight, as well as the center of Bakhmut, a town that has become a key target for Russian forces seeking to advance into Donetsk. There, an administrative building, a residential building and farm buildings were damaged, Kyrylenko said.
A Ukrainian serviceman is seen in the trenches on the Bakhmut front line in Donetsk, Ukraine, on December 4, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Towards Lysychansk in Luhansk, the neighboring Donetsk region, Kyrylenko said “numerous” shells had hit the villages of Torsky and Zarichny. CNBC was unable to verify the information in the report.
—Holly Elliott
Russia says it is preparing retaliatory measures against the Western oil price cap
The Kremlin says it is preparing retaliatory measures after Ukraine’s Western allies implemented a price cap on Russian-sourced offshore oil at $60.
“Decisions are being prepared, but of course one thing is obvious here: we do not recognize any ceiling,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Last week, Ukraine’s G-7 allies Australia and the EU (known as the “Price Cap Coalition” in this case) agreed to cap Russian offshore oil at $60 in an attempt to reduce revenues from Moscow’s oil exports that help finance its ongoing war.
The price cap, which began on Monday, means that third countries will only be able to access services such as insurance, shipping and brokerage from coalition countries (ie the EU and the G-7) if they trade Russian oil in a lower or lower level. none
The UK, US and EU will not make use of the cap as they have already introduced a ban on Russian oil imports.
On Monday, Peskov did not elaborate on what form the “retaliatory” measures might take. Russia has already criticized the price cap, saying it would continue to find buyers for its oil and would not supply oil to countries that adhere to the price ceiling.
—Holly Elliott
Explosions were reported at Russian airbases that damaged two bomber planes
Explosions have been reported at two Russian military air bases in Russia, with bomber planes reportedly damaged in one of the incidents.
On Monday morning, Russia’s Tass news agency said the explosion took place early Monday morning at an airbase near the city of Ryazan, southeast of Moscow,…