Section: The Centre for Eastern Studies (Poland)
Russia and Ukraine on the prospects for peace talks
Since September, signals from Russia that the threat of the Russian-Ukrainian war turning into a nuclear conflict have been intensifying. This might happen either through the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine or as a consequence of a direct armed clash between Russian and NATO troops. …read more Source:: Centre for Eastern Studies...
Better late than never. Bulgaria’s parliament agrees to supply weapons to Ukraine
In recent weeks there has been an unexpected shift in Bulgaria’s policy with regard to the war in Ukraine. On 3 November the Bulgarian parliament, which was formed following the2 October elections, agreed to supply light weapons to Ukraine. The resolution of the National Assembly was backed by GERB, We Continue the Change (PP), Democratic...
Ukraine without electricity. 265th day of the war
On 15 November, Russia launched its most significant missile attack against Ukrainian infrastructure. The published summary of the Ukrainian Air Force Command shows that it used 96 sea- and air-based cruise missiles (Kalibr, Ch-101, Ch-555), i.e. 12 more than on 10 October, as well as an unspecified number of air-to-ground guided missiles (Ch-59)...
Kherson is under Ukrainian control. 263rd day of the war
On 11 November, Ukrainian subunits entered Kherson without fighting and, in the following days, continued to take control of areas abandoned by Russian troops. On 13 November, the Operational Command ‘South’ reported the de-occupation of 179 places in Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts over an area of more than 4,500 km². Ukrainian forces have...
Cooperation in spite of everything. Scholz’s visit to China
On 4 November, Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Beijing, where he met with Chairman of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang. Scholz was accompanied by representatives of German companies, including Volkswagen, BMW, BASF, Bayer and Deutsche Bank. One of the topics discussed with Xi was the Russian...
Kyiv is on the threshold of blackout. 256th day of the war
The Ukrainian authorities warn that continued Russian destruction of energy infrastructure will lead to increasingly frequent blackouts. On 5 November, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the capital, now home to around 3 million people (350,000 are internally displaced), could run out of electricity, heating and water. He appealed to residents...
43% of Ukraine’s defence budget. 253rd day of the war
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced the adoption of Ukraine’s 2023 budget. It provides for 43% of the total expenditure, or more than 1.1 trillion hryvnias (more than $30 billion), for security and defence. Social payments and benefits – the second largest item – will account for 17%. The state’s revenues are estimated at 1.3...
Russia returns to the grain deal
On 2 November, President Vladimir Putin announced that he had ordered Russia to resume its participation in the Black Sea Initiative, an agreement to export Ukrainian grain via a secure corridor through the Black Sea. He justified this by saying Kyiv had, as Moscow had demanded, guaranteed that it would not use the route to attack Russian ships...
Hydroelectric plants are under fire. 251st day of the war
Russian forces have intensified offensive operations in the Donetsk Oblast south and east of the Velyka Novosilka–Pavlivka–Marinka line but have not achieved significant success. They also renewed attacks on Ukrainian positions west of Donetsk, in the Avdiivka and Horlivka areas and along the road to Kramatorsk. In addition, further aggressor...
Russia: renewed blockade of Ukrainian grain exports by sea
On 29 October, explosions occurred at the Russian Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol, most likely the result of an attack using unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) in the form of explosive-laden speedboats. The incident was reported by Moscow – damage was caused to a minesweeper and port infrastructure. At the same time, Russia accused Ukraine and...
