FThe interior is to have a fence of more than 130 kilometers on the border with its big neighbor Russia. Prime Minister Sanna Marin, following a meeting of party leaders on Tuesday evening in Helsinki, said that all parties represented in Parliament had expressed their support for this.
„It’s about making sure the borders are well-controlled,” the prime minister told Yale. And that we can preemptively influence situations that can arise at the border.”
According to a proposal by the Finnish border guards, the length of the fence should be 130-260 kilometers. The length of the border between the two countries is more than 1,300 km. After deliberations, Marin announced that the government would now develop proposals for a pilot project. Parliament is expected to vote on that later this year. Then the final decision is planned for next year.
Border guards estimate the costs in the „hundreds of millions of euros”. Construction is expected to take three to four years. The opposition criticized the cost and duration of construction. Like Sweden, Finland also wants to become a member of NATO after decades of being rejected by Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine. The final decision on admission is still pending.
All developments in the live broadcast tape:
11:35 a.m. – Ukrainian ambassador to Kazakhstan launched
The Ukrainian ambassador to the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan was sacked after comments were highly criticized. Ukraine’s presidential office announced that Petro Vroblosky had been dismissed. No explicit reason was given in the decree.
In response to a question in August about Russia’s war against his country, Wrublevskyj quoted a killed Ukrainian fighter as saying: „We try to kill as many of them (the Russians) as possible. The more Russians we kill now, the less our children are killed.”
Moscow reacted angrily and demanded that Wrublewskyj be expelled. Kazakhstan denied this but asked Ukraine to replace the diplomat who had served in Astana for more than two years.
11:14 am – Crew Management Departure Kherson
Faced with the advance of Ukrainian forces, the pro-Russian administration began evacuating the city of Kherson on the Dnipro River. „Starting today, all government structures in the city, the civil and military administration, and all ministries, will be moved to the left bank of the river,” said head of the administration Vladimir Saldo. Russian state media showed pictures of people being escorted to the other side by ferry across the Dnipro River.
11:07 am – 150,000 homeless in Kharkiv
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, more than 150,000 people are made homeless after months of Russian attacks, according to local authorities. „Many of them have left the city and traveled to western Ukraine, other regions or abroad,” the Yunyan news agency quoted Mayor Ihor Terekov as saying. But much remains. „Because Kharkiv was considered the student capital of Ukraine before the war, we make dormitories available to people who do not have a place to live and provide them with everything they need.”
10:27 a.m. – Russia bombed energy infrastructure again
According to Ukrainian information, the Russian armed forces continued, on Wednesday evening, the bombing of the energy infrastructure. During the night and in the morning, parts of Enerhodar, the city closest to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, lost power and water supply after the strikes.
Mayor Dmytro Orlov said initial reports were that a substation had been bombed. Governor Oleksandr Staruch said that vital infrastructure in the Zaporizhia region was hit by S-300 missiles. This type has already been developed for anti-aircraft purposes.
According to Ukrainian sources, two districts in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region came under heavy fire.
09:45 – Von der Leyen: Russian attacks are war crimes
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has described Russian attacks on power plants and other vital infrastructure in Ukraine as war crimes. Von der Leyen says at the European Parliament in Strasbourg that targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure with the express aim of cutting off water, electricity and heating for men, women and children next winter are pure terrorist acts. The international system is very clear. These are war crimes.”
08:50 – Russia: repels Ukraine’s advance on Zaporizhia NPP
According to Russia’s state-controlled news agency, Ukrainian forces failed in their attempt to restore the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. „The fighting lasted several hours, at least three to three and a half hours,” Russian official Vladimir Rogov was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying. Russian forces repelled the attack.
8:36 a.m. – Merz warns of winter power jams 23/24
After Chancellor Olaf Schulz (SPD) set his foot in the nuclear dispute, CDU leader Frederick Merz warned about the uncertain power supply in winter 23/24. „None of us know what the power supply situation will look like next winter,” said Mers of Deutschlandfunk. The decision pending in the Council of Ministers on changing the Atomic Energy Law will continue until spring only.
7:45 am – Commander in Chief in Kherson: „The situation is difficult”
The Russian army expects a massive Ukrainian offensive to liberate the occupied city of Cherson. „The situation is difficult in this part of the front,” the new commander-in-chief of the Russian forces in Ukraine, Sergei Surovkin, said on television on Tuesday evening. It was an unusual performance by an army general, who seemed to indicate that Russia might consider withdrawing from the city. Sorovkin said „hard decisions” may be necessary.
Sorovikin’s television appearance was the first in nearly eight months of the war, and the general painted a grim picture of the situation in and around Kherson in southern Ukraine. Ukraine bombs residential buildings and city infrastructure. Artillery bombardment made the crossing of Ukraine across the Dnipro River impassable. This complicates the city’s supply.
„We will act with caution and in a timely manner, and will not rule out difficult decisions,” Sorovikin said. This passage in particular was understood as an indication of a possible decline. The head of the Russian occupation administration in Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, said that civilians should be evacuated in some areas on the right northern bank of the Dnipro River.
07:38 – Ukraine reported 14 drone strikes in 24 hours
According to Ukrainian information, the Russian armed forces have used 14 Iranian-made kamikaze drones as well as missiles during the past 24 hours. The Ukrainian military announced that ten of these drones were shot down. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his video address on Tuesday evening that reliance on Iranian-made drones revealed that Russia was „militarily and politically bankrupt”.
4:39 a.m. – Republican top McCarthy: No 'blank check’ for Ukraine
US Republicans could cut off financial aid to Ukraine if they win the midterm elections. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in an online interview with Punchbowl News on Tuesday that if his party wins a majority in the House, there will be no „blank check” for the country. . He referred to the economic situation of the electorate. At a time when people were stuck in a recession, they wouldn’t give Ukraine a blank check. „They won’t.”
4:28 am – IAEA chief Grossi: back to Ukraine soon for talks on Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
According to his own statements, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, intends to travel to Ukraine and Russia again soon to conduct negotiations on the creation of a security zone around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which it occupies. Russia. „There is a possibility that I will return to Ukraine and Russia,” he told Reuters news agency during a visit to Argentina, „We agreed on this in principle and at the moment we are continuing negotiations to establish the protection zone.”
The talks are seen as key to defusing growing concerns since August about the risks of hostilities around Zaporizhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the bombing.
1:34 a.m. – New York Times: Iranian drone trainers stationed in Crimea
Iran has reportedly sent trainers to Crimea to teach Russians how to operate Iranian drones. The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing current and former officials familiar with the intelligence. Iranian trainers were supposed to help the Russians deal with the problems of the UAV fleet acquired from Tehran. This is another sign of the growing rapprochement between Iran and Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine eight months ago.
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