Status: 28/09/2023, 16:16 p.m.
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A local resident stands in front of her house, which was damaged by a missile attack in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region. © Alex Babenko/AP/dpa
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg is coming for the second time since the Russian attack. The defense ministers of Great Britain and France will also travel to the capital of the attacked country.
Kyiv - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, during an unannounced visit to Kyiv, attested to the gradual territorial gains of Ukrainian troops in the fight against the Russian invaders.
"Their troops are advancing. Under heavy fighting. But they are gradually gaining ground," he said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. "Every meter that the Ukrainian Armed Forces regain means one meter that Russia loses."
During his inaugural visit to Zelensky, the new British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps also stressed that Ukraine was liberating its occupied territories and that Britain would continue to help. France's Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu also traveled and was accompanied by representatives of his country's defense industry.
Zelensky: NATO accession only a matter of time
The Ukrainian president described his country as a "de facto ally" of NATO. Admission to the North Atlantic defense alliance is only a matter of time, he said. At the press conference with Stoltenberg, he announced a new joint document that will outline the country's practical steps to meet NATO standards.
Zelensky expressed gratitude for the continued support of NATO partners, but at the same time stressed the need for further assistance in the areas of cybersecurity and air defense. This is particularly necessary in view of possible new Russian air strikes against the country's energy infrastructure in the coming winter.
Shapps: Further help against "Putin's illegal invasion"
The new British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps pledged further support to Ukraine. "We will work tirelessly to bring our partners together to help Ukraine crush Putin's illegal invasion," Shapps wrote on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter. He was in Kiev to find out what was still necessary for victory.
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Lecornu wants "innovative" solutions for arms deliveries
France's Defense Minister Lecornu wanted to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov in Kyiv. In addition to parliamentarians, he was also accompanied by around 20 representatives of French companies related to drones, ammunition, guns and artificial intelligence, the minister said. He had come to propose innovative solutions to the Ukrainian army. The aim is to gradually move away from the transfer and towards direct purchases - also with French subsidies.
Missile warhead suspected at sea in Moldova
The security forces of the Republic of Moldova have cordoned off a lake about 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border due to rocket debris. There is a suspicion that the warhead of the downed missile is at the bottom of the lake, the Moldovan Interior Ministry wrote on Facebook. Lake Hîrbovăţ is located just a few kilometers west of the separatist region of Transnistria, which breaks away from Moldova. As soon as the warhead is recovered, specialists are to clarify the type and origin of the projectile.
In the course of the Russian war of aggression, rocket and drone parts have already crashed several times in Ukraine's neighboring countries in recent months. In November 2022, for example, two people in Poland were killed by debris from a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile, according to previous findings. In recent weeks, parts of Russian kamikaze drones have also been discovered several times in the Romanian border area.
Germany buys Arrow 3 from Israel
The defense ministers of both countries, Boris Pistorius (SPD) and Joav Galant, signed a memorandum of understanding in Berlin on the purchase of Israel's Arrow 3 missile defense system. The purchase is a reaction to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
With Arrow 3, Germany wants to protect itself against possible attacks with medium-range missiles - and the NATO allies at the same time. The "arrow" can destroy enemy missiles at an altitude of over 100 kilometers and thus outside the atmosphere in incipient space by a direct hit.
At least one dead in Russian attack on Kherson
A 41-year-old man was killed in the Ukrainian city of Kherson, military governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram on Wednesday evening. Another man was injured. Not far from the city of Beryslav, there were also air strikes by the Russian army, it said. "These days, Russia is bombing Kherson, Beryslav and villages in the Kherson region with particular brutality," Zelenskyy said in his evening video address on Wednesday. "This is deliberate terror by the occupiers." dpa
