Faced with Russian bombing, Ukraine continues to launch aerial and naval drones on Russia. The latter claimed on Tuesday to have neutralized three Ukrainian naval drones in the Black Sea which appear to have targeted the bay of Sevastopol, in annexed Crimea.
“A strike with anti-diversion missile systems was carried out against the detection zone” of these naval drones, the ministry said. Anti-diversion measures and those aimed at detecting mines were underway in the Bay of Sevastopol, home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, following this incident, according to the same source.
Vladimir Putin calls for “unhindered” access to Gaza
Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Monday for “unhindered” access for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, shelled by the Israeli army, during a call with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “The fundamental importance of a rapid ceasefire, the evacuation of foreign nationals from the Gaza Strip and the unhindered access of humanitarian aid to the enclave was underlined” during the telephone conversation between the two leaders, according to a Kremlin press release.
Faced with “a situation which has greatly worsened”, the Russian president also expressed “his deep concern” about “the growing number of civilian victims” in the war which has pitted Israel against Hamas for more than two weeks following an attack by fighters from the Palestinian Islamist movement. According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin and Lula also called for “urgent and effective measures to be taken within the framework of the United Nations to defuse the crisis”, while Brazil is chairing the UN Security Council this month.
American journalist detained
A Russian court on Monday ordered the pre-trial detention “until December 5” of Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, arrested last week, becoming the second American reporter detained in the country, Russian news agencies said. The Sovetsky court in Kazan, in the Tatarstan region, said it had validated the request of investigators who arrested the journalist on Wednesday, accusing her of breaches linked to her registration in the register of “foreign agents”.
Three Kherson residents suspected of helping Russia
Three Kherson residents were arrested for allegedly “helping Russia target strike sites.” The latter allegedly helped Russian forces target strike sites in the city of Kherson, the regional prosecutor’s office announced on Monday, according to the kyiv Independent.
Russia has focused on the industrial east since after its failed advance on Kiev at the start of the February 2022 invasion and its forces have tried to maintain their positions in Kherson since abandoning the main city of the region at the end of last year.
International infrastructure damaged by war?
Submarine cable between Sweden and Estonia damaged by “external force or tampering”, according to the Swedish government. He said damage to an undersea telecommunications cable between Sweden and Estonia in early October was caused by “an external force or tampering.” Bohlin added that Estonia had assessed that “the damage to the gas pipeline and the communications cable between Finland and Estonia is related to the damage to the communications cable between Sweden and Estonia.”
On October 8, an underwater gas pipeline and telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Estonia were damaged, which Finnish investigators believe could be deliberate sabotage. Helsinki is investigating the pipeline incident, while Tallinn is investigating the cable incident. Last week, Sweden said a third link was damaged around the same time as the other two.