LIVE. The war in Ukraine: Zelensky wants to believe that the war will end in the coming months

According to “El Mundo” newspaper, a third explosive device hidden in a package sent to the Torrejon de Ardoz airbase near Madrid was discovered. Two other letter bombs were sent to the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid and an arms manufacturer in Zaragoza, northern Spain, police said. The first one was blown up, the Ukrainian official was slightly injured.

An air raid warning continues in Nikolaev, Dnepropetrovsk and Kirovograd, as well as in the Kiev-controlled part of the Zaporozhye region.

Spanish arms company Instalaza, which makes rocket launchers donated to Ukraine, also received a letter similar to the one that exploded at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, police say. Rosa Serrano, a government representative in Zaragoza, said in an interview with the SER station that the two envelopes were from the same sender because the same email address was written on the back of both. These letters a priori came from Ukraine. This alerted the gun company, who called the police.

The government has decided to extend the period of temporary protection visas for Ukrainians until March 2024.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a meeting with European Council President Charles Michel in Beijing, said that it is in Europe’s interest to resolve the conflict in Ukraine by political means.

In his last video address, President Zelensky claimed that six million people are still without electricity. The Ukrainian authorities claimed that the city of Kherson was completely without electricity this morning due to the bombing.

The UN has launched a record appeal for funds for 2023 in the face of growing humanitarian needs linked to the effects of climate change, such as the conflict in Ukraine and the risk of famine in Africa. Next year, UN humanitarian organizations need 51.5 billion US dollars, which means a 25% increase in needs. The funds will enable them to fund their programs to help 230 million of the most vulnerable people in 68 countries.

The fighting for Russia’s capture of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine is of rare intensity. Russia claimed to have captured three villages near the city, which the Russians have been trying to capture since the summer. Wagner’s leader, billionaire Yevgeny Prigozhin, swore that he wanted to “destroy the Ukrainian army” and called the battle “Bakhmut’s slaughterhouse”. In addition, some intelligence services believe that the Russians have exhausted their forces in these battles.

The US military has signed a $1.2 billion contract with Raytheon Technologies Co for six advanced Nasam surface-to-air missile systems for Ukraine. The United States has approved the deployment of a total of eight Nasam missiles to Ukraine to repel Russian missile and drone attacks. “Nasams are the latest addition to the diverse range of air defense capabilities we provide to Ukraine,” said Deputy Defense Secretary Bill LaPlante. The new US-supplied Nasams air defense systems have so far been 100% successful in intercepting Russian missiles in Ukraine, the Pentagon said. In total, the US has provided more than $19.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration.

According to Conflict Intelligence Team analysts, Russia needs Iranian drones. According to them, the Russians have stopped using them actively in recent days. “The Russians are waiting for new supplies or they will manufacture drones on Russian territory,” they note.

“The war will end either when Ukraine wins or at the request of the Russian Federation. Russia can only ask for this if it is weak, isolated and has no partner. We hope that this will be over in the next few months,” President Zelensky said in an interview with The New York Times.

NewsGuard, a US company that monitors the spread of disinformation on the Internet, in a report found more than 160 videos on Tik Tok praising the Wagner mercenary group fighting the Russians. NewsGuard analysts also identified more than 500 music videos that contained violence against Ukrainians, some of which incited the killing of Ukrainians, although no acts of violence were shown. Some videos have gone viral.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday called for the release of one of the Belarusian dissidents, Maria Kolesnikova, who has served 11 years in prison and is currently in hospital.

“The information about Maria Kolesnikova’s health worries me. The government of Belarus should guarantee his health and release him immediately,” the German minister wrote on his Twitter account. “His commitment to democracy is not a crime,” he said.

His supporters announced on Tuesday that he had been hospitalized in intensive care for unspecified reasons and were concerned after not hearing from him on Wednesday.

On Wednesday evening, the Bundestag adopted a resolution recognizing the famine caused by the Stalinist regime in Ukraine 90 years ago as “genocide” by a majority vote.

There was little doubt that the vote in favor of the resolution announced last week was carried by the ruling coalition formed by the SPD, the Greens and the liberals of the FDP, joined by the opposition conservative CDU-CSU.

Two extreme parties, Die Linke on the left and Alternative for Germany (AfD) on the right, abstained.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on his Twitter account, “I thank the deputies of the Bundestag for this historic decision.” “Truth always wins,” he said.

On Wednesday, the Milli Majlis adopted the resolution adopted by a large majority. The text calls for the “establishment of a buffer zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant,” the largest in Europe, and affirms the Assembly’s “full support for Ukraine, its people, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The non-legislative resolution was adopted with 303 votes in favor. The LFI and RN groups largely abstained, with the LFI deputy voting against.

A large part of the assembly turned to the Ambassador of Ukraine to France, Vadim Omelchenko, and applauded his reception.

The resolution “condemns in the strongest possible terms” Russia’s brutal, unjustified and illegal attack and its “war crimes, even crimes against humanity.”

It calls for “strengthening of sanctions” against Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, and for the French government and the European Union to support “any initiative to promote an end to the conflict.” He also asks “France to continue actively participating in the reception of Ukrainian refugees.”