Section: The Centre for Eastern Studies (Poland)
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...
Ukrainian offensive is slowing down. 246th day of the war
The Ukrainian General Staff identifies the Donetsk Oblast as the arena of the heaviest fighting. Russian forces were to make successive unsuccessful assaults on Bakhmut and its southern outskirts and towns to the northeast and southwest of the city. The defenders are to consistently repel attacks east of Siversk, on the outskirts of Horlivka and...
Selling shares in the Hamburg terminal: Scholz does not want a clash with China
The ruling coalition in Germany, which has been struggling in recent months with the dilemma of how to combat the energy crisis while supporting Ukraine, now finds itself in another dispute. It concerns plans by the Chinese shipping company COSCO to buy a 35% stake in Hamburg’s container terminal (Container Terminal Tollerort GmbH, CTT)....
Russia threatens with a dirty bomb. 242nd day of the war
The Donbas remains the main arena of fighting. Ukrainian troops repelled further attempts to attack Bakhmut, its outskirts, and surrounding villages. Aggressor forces also pressed unsuccessfully east of Siversk, on the outskirts of Avdiivka, northwest of Horlivka and in an arc west of Donetsk. Ukrainian reports indicate that on 21 October, the...
A struggle to survive. Ukraine’s economy in wartime
The ongoing war in Ukraine has had a disastrous impact on the country’s economy. Its GDP has fallen by approximately a third, and material losses due to the destruction of infrastructure have exceeded US$100 billion and are rising every day. The high inflation rate, the weakened currency and the very high unemployment rate are taking an...
Strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. 239th day of the war
The Ukrainian General Staff has significantly reduced information on the situation in the combat areas. Russian forces are making further attempts to advance on Bakhmut and its outskirts, as well as the southwest and northeast of the city. Defenders also repulsed attacks northeast of Siversk and in an arc west of Donetsk. …read more...
Distrust and reticence. Kyiv on Tsikhanouskaya’s offer of an alliance
On 10 October, the leader of the Belarusian opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya proposed to President Volodymyr Zelensky that an alliance be formed between Ukraine and a free & democratic Belarus – i.e. the interim cabinet formed under Tsikhanouskaya’s leadership in August this year. At the same time, she declared that Belarus should...
