Selenskyj celebrates return of prisoners of war ++ Marin thinks Europe is not strong enough It doesn’t work at all

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has Celebrated return of more soldiers from Russian captivity. “It was a special day in a special week,” Zelenskyj said in his daily video address on Friday evening.

At the same time, he announced that he would bring more soldiers from Russian prison camps. «We will not leave a single Ukrainian in Russian prisons, camps and “isolations” (detention centers). We’re thinking of everyone.”

Zelenskyy met a number of former prisoners of war in Kiev that afternoon and presented them with medals. Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war several times in recent days. According to Zelenskyy, a total of 1,331 Ukrainian soldiers have been released from Russian captivity in this way since the start of the war in February. (sda/dpa)

A fuel depot in Shakhtarsk in the Donbass was hit by a rocket attack by the Ukrainian army on Friday. Several people were injured, said Mayor Alexander Schatow of the pro-Russian government there, as reported by Russia’s state agency TASS. “The tank farm has been hit, unfortunately there are casualties.”

No information has been released about the consequences of the two rocket attacks in the camp. According to the Russian account, Ukrainian forces used Himar-type artillery rocket launchers in the attack. The information could not be verified. (sda/dpa)

The EU countries have agreed on a price cap for Russian oil. Together with international partners, they want to force Russia to start selling oil to buyers in other countries from Monday for a maximum of 60 dollars (about 57 euros) per barrel (159 litres). Government representatives have reached a corresponding agreement after long negotiations in Brussels, as several diplomats from the German news agency confirmed on Friday. (awp/sda/dpa)

Ukraine has received its first shipment of Hawk anti-aircraft systems from Spain. This was announced by Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on Friday after a meeting with his Spanish counterpart Margarita Robles in Odessa. More Hawk anti-aircraft missiles from Spanish stocks to follow. Ukrainian soldiers are already being trained in Spain.

The medium-range anti-aircraft system, which originated in the US, was put into service in the early 1960s and was continuously modernized. Hawk has already been phased out in most NATO countries. (sda/dpa)

Just two days after receiving a package of pyrotechnics, the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, like other diplomatic missions in the country, received a shipment of “bloody” contents.

Kiev Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko announced this on Facebook on Friday. The Spanish police dropped off the diplomatic mission because it was initially unclear how dangerous the program was, the Spanish state television channel RTVE, among others, reported.

It was not until Wednesday that an embassy security guard was slightly injured in one hand when he opened a package in the garden as a precaution, from which a jet of fire shot up.

A total of six such shipments filled with pyrotechnics have been received in recent days by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Defense Secretary Margarita Robles, the US Embassy, ​​a weapons company and the EU Satellite Center at Torrejón Air Base.

All packages, except those in the Ukrainian embassy, ​​were neutralized in a timely manner. Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said he believed the broadcasts could be linked to the war in Ukraine. (sda/dpa)

According to reports on Twitter, a graffiti by renowned artist Banksy has been stolen in Hostomel. Photos show how all the plaster around the artwork is missing.

Seven graffitis of the British street art legend appeared in October in a cloak and dagger campaign. It is still unclear who stole the work.

A Banksy graffiti in Hostomel has been stolen.
Folks, what the hell is this? pic.twitter.com/POAcq15M1J

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) December 2, 2022

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has emphasized the important role of the US in the war in Ukraine. Europe’s defense capabilities are not strong enough, without the US Europe would already be in trouble. The United States had provided crucial support to Ukraine with arms, money and humanitarian aid. “We need to make sure that we build these capabilities also when it comes to European defense and the European defense industry.”

The war showed two things: Europe’s weaknesses and strategic errors in dealing with Russia, Marin told Australia’s Lowy Institute in Sydney.

For a long time, Marin himself believed that with strengthened economic relations and buy from Russian energy was to avoid a war. But she was wrong about that. (first)

The Ukrainian secret service SBU has again over half a dozen monasteries and churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The searches are part of countermeasures against sabotage activities by Russian secret services, the authority said on the Telegram news channel on Friday. Checks in Western Ukrainian Regions of Zhytomyr, Rivne and Zakarpattia were assisted by the police and the National Guard.

Earlier, the SBU had already searched objects in the main shrine of the Orthodox Church in the UNESCO World Heritage Cave Monastery in the capital Kiev last week. There were also raids in the western Ukrainian regions of Bukovina, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil.

At the same time the chairman Volodymyr Zelensky under the leadership of the Security Council, the cabinet ordered the drafting of a law banning religious organizations in neighboring Russia.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate clearly distanced itself from Moscow after the Russian invasion in February. However, nationalists have long called for their ban to be outlawed. Instead, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was founded in 2018 with state aid, should be promoted. (sda/dpa)

After a letter bomb in Spain, other Ukrainian diplomatic missions have received information from Kiev Package with bloody contents to get.

There are packages in the embassies in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy and three consulates in Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic animal eyes received, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday. There were also alleged incidents in front of the seat of the Ukrainian ambassador to the Vatican and the embassies in Kazakhstan and the US. Parcels and letters go out synchronously “a European country” receive.

“Since they cannot stop Ukraine on the diplomatic front, they are trying to intimidate us,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said of the incidents, referring to Russia’s war of aggression against his country, which has been going on for more than nine months. . The 41-year-old assured that the Ukrainian diplomats continued to work unperturbed. Security measures have been tightened at all Ukrainian diplomatic missions.

Midweeks were in Spain letter bombs sent to leading politicians and embassies – including the Ukrainian embassy in the EU country. A security officer of the representation was injured in the hand. There was initially no information about the sender and no one has claimed responsibility for the crimes. (sda/dpa)

The Kremlin has heeded calls from US President Joe Biden to end the war in Ukraine and ruled out withdrawing its own troops from there.

“The military special operation will of course continue as usual”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. “But at the same time, President (Vladimir) Putin was, is and remains open to contacts, to negotiations,” added Peskov.

Biden had previously stated that he would only be open to talks with Putin if Russia were willing to end the war against Ukraine. “But the fact is that I don’t plan to contact Mr. Putin immediately,” Biden said Thursday.

“I am willing to talk to Mr. Putin if he is really interested and looking for a way to end the war. He has not done that before.” If so, he wants to consult with the Allies. (sda/dpa)

According to British intelligence, the Russian army is facing logistical challenges following its withdrawal from the western bank of Ukraine’s Dnipro River.

The Ukrainians have recently found it easier to attack Russian logistics hubs and communication channels, so Moscow is likely to move the hubs further south and east, according to the British Ministry of Defense’s daily summary report on Friday. A lot of equipment has to be moved from rail to road – the transports are easy to attack along the way.

The ammunition holes in Russia’s arsenal, exacerbated by such logistical challenges, are likely why Russian forces are currently struggling to launch effective ground offensives, the British said.

The British Ministry of Defense has been publishing information on the course of the war every day since the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine at the end of February, citing information from intelligence services. With this, the British government wants to both counter the Russian image and keep allies in line. Moscow accuses London of a disinformation campaign. (sda/dpa)