Day 552: Putin announces that he will withdraw his T-14 Armata supertanks. Ukraine wants to increase weapons production. All information in the news blog.

12:01 AM: Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has dismissed renewed corruption allegations against his house. Resnikov called on everyone to „handle the information more critically and responsibly,” referring to reports in the Ukrainian media about winter uniforms that are allegedly overpriced. Several media outlets previously reported that the Ministry of Defense in Kiev signed a deal with a Turkish company to supply winter uniforms at the end of 2022, as its price tripled after the signing of the deal.

According to media reports, one of the company’s owners is Oleksandr Kasai, nephew of Gennady Kasai, who in turn belongs to the party of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Reznikov denied the reports, saying they „mislead society”. The impact on Ukraine’s partners is even worse, as such reports create the impression of a „catastrophe”. Resnikov said that when purchasing the uniforms, everything was done „according to the law on public procurement” and „tendering procedures”.

10:13 PM: After more than a year and a half of war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced an extreme increase in weapons production to fight the Russian invasion. In addition to artillery weapons and ammunition, drones, missiles and armored vehicles must also be manufactured in the country. „We are maximizing production volumes. Ukraine is able to do this. Funding is there. Our defense industry will do well,” Zelensky said in his video message, which was distributed every evening in Kiev on Monday.

The Ukrainian leadership has repeatedly announced plans to turn the country into one of the largest arms producers. According to Selinsky, he met with representatives of the defense industry so that production could be increased further.

The country relies on huge amounts of ammunition and weapons in its counter-attack to liberate the occupied territories, which has been sluggish for weeks. The country depends primarily on military aid from Western allies. Zelensky stressed once again that Ukraine must also create conditions for new combat aircraft. Kiev hopes for early delivery of the F-16 fighter jets announced by the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway.

9:25 pm: The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is reevaluating its business in Russia. This also includes the possibility of withdrawing from a previously important market, says a spokesperson for the Wall Street Journal. „All options are on the table, including a complete withdrawal.”

9:19 PM: After the death of the mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russia announced that it would continue its activities in African countries. „Russia, for its part, will continue to provide full support to Mali and other interested African partners,” Dmitry Polyansky, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council on Monday. Russian mercenaries work with dictators in many African countries and stand up to Western alliances. Read more about the latest developments of Wagner’s forces regarding Prigozhin’s supposed death here.

So far, about 1,000 mercenaries from the Wagner Group, headed by Prigozhin, have worked with the military government in Mali, officially to fight jihadism, but they have not succeeded in pushing back the Islamic State.

In June, the UN’s Operation MINUSMA in Mali ended after the military junta ordered UN soldiers to leave the country. Previously, there were disagreements about ways to return to democracy. Instead, the army relied on Russian mercenaries. According to the United Nations, the Islamic State has nearly doubled the area under its control in Mali since the departure of the international soldiers.