The situation at a glance: NATO countries support the Ukrainian defense industry

After new escalation steps by Russia in the Ukraine war, Germany and other NATO states want to further strengthen arms production in Ukraine. In a first step, this will be financed with interest income from frozen Russian assets, said Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius after a meeting with his colleagues from France, Great Britain, Poland and Italy. Ukraine is also the focus of discussions today at an unscheduled meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council in Brussels and at a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven Democratic Industrial Nations (G7) in Italy.

Meanwhile, the mutual shelling continued. The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, wrote on Telegram that night that the drone attacks on the capital continued. “The air defense forces are operating in different parts of the city.” The drones would enter the capital from different directions. According to unconfirmed media reports, the Ukrainian armed forces had previously attacked a Russian military airport near Kursk with artillery rockets from the US ATACMS system.

Pistorius: Promote the development and procurement of AI drones

Pistorius said that Germany and other NATO countries had planned, among other things, to promote the development and procurement of drones controlled by artificial intelligence. Cooperation is also to be expanded in ammunition production. Pistorius continued after the meeting: “Our goal: Ukraine must be able to act from a position of strength.” He emphasized that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is no longer a regional conflict. “It has acquired an international dimension.” He referred to the 10,000 soldiers from North Korea that Russian President Vladimir Putin had brought into the country and to whom he was paying a one-off amount of 2,000 euros per head. “It’s hard to beat that level of cynicism.”

Pistorius mentioned the use of Russian medium-range missiles as a further escalation step. He reiterated that Russian actions also affect people in Germany and other NATO countries. “The Russian threatening gestures are always directed at us at the same time.”

NATO-Ukraine Council discusses Russia’s missile attack

Representatives of the 32 NATO states and Ukraine are meeting in Brussels today for an unscheduled meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. According to an alliance spokesman, the meeting at ambassador level will also focus on the recent Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Russia fired a new medium-range missile called Oreshnik on Thursday. According to Russian information, it can fly at hypersonic speeds and cannot be intercepted. Experts assume that it could theoretically also be equipped with nuclear explosive devices.

The war is also the focus at the meeting of the G7 foreign ministers in Italy. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha is also taking part as a guest in the discussions in the small town of Fiuggi, about 80 kilometers outside of Rome.

Report: Ukraine attacks Russian military airfield with ATACMS missiles

According to unconfirmed media reports, on Monday night the Ukrainian armed forces attacked a Russian military airport near Kursk with artillery rockets from the US ATACMS system. The Kursk-Vostochny airport was hit by at least two rockets with multiple warheads, Ukrainian media reported. There was no information available about the extent of the damage. The reports could not be independently verified.

It would be the second use of ATACMS missiles against targets on Russian territory since Washington allowed Ukraine to use long-range weapons attacks against military objects in Russia. The first attack last week was on a Russian ammunition depot in the Bryansk region. This was followed by another attack, presumably with British Storm Shadow cruise missiles, against the headquarters of the Russian forces deployed near Kursk. With around 50,000 soldiers, including 10,000 fighters from North Korea, they want to recapture the area near Kursk that has been occupied by Ukraine since the summer.

Meanwhile, the White House confirmed – according to Ukrainian reports for the first time officially – that it had given Ukraine permission to fire the ATACMS missiles at certain targets in Russia. U.S. National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby said the U.S. had changed the policy on the use of these missiles so that the Ukrainians could use them “to attack these specific targets.” “Right now they are able to use ATACMS to defend themselves if necessary. And right now, understandably, that is taking place in the Kursk area, in the Kursk region.”

Zelensky announces response to Russian attacks

After the recent Russian missile attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a tough response. “We will definitely respond to everything Russia does,” he said in his evening video message. “There shouldn’t even be a hint of normalization of Russian terror – of getting used to it.”

Russia recently attacked the cities of Kharkiv and Odessa with rockets of various types. According to Zelensky, 25 people were injured in Kharkiv. The Russian side used a repurposed missile from the S-400 air defense system. Eleven people were injured in the port city of Odessa. An Iskander cruise missile exploded there.

Fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine

Eastern Ukraine was rocked by further heavy fighting. The focus of the fighting was once again the areas around the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove on the edge of the Donbass. An independent assessment of the events was not possible.

The Russian military launched new groups of combat drones to targets in Ukraine in the evening. Several drones hit the Sumy region in the east of the country in the evening, the Ukrinform agency reported. There was initially no information available about possible effects. Air alerts were raised in neighboring regions.