Since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine has been very dependent on Western arms deliveries for its war effort. Faced with the slowness of the counter-offensive that kyiv launched in June, the Ukrainian authorities fear a loss of steam in the Western will to continue this support at such a level.
It is in this context that Ukraine brought together 252 defense sector companies from 30 countries in kyiv on Friday for a forum intended to convince them to establish themselves in the country at war. This first international forum dedicated to the defense industry was inaugurated by Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We are interested in localizing the production of equipment necessary for our defense and advanced defense systems used by our soldiers,” summarized the Ukrainian president in his introductory speech, broadcast this Saturday, September 30. The objective, according to him, is to “build a modern and powerful arsenal”, at a time when Russia is also striving to increase its military production capabilities.
Romania announces possible violation of its airspace
Romania, a NATO member country, announced this Saturday that it had detected a possible violation of its airspace during nighttime attacks launched by Russia on infrastructure in the Danube region in neighboring Ukraine.
“After the detection of groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory near the Romanian border,” residents of the cities of Tulcea and Galati were alerted, the Romanian Defense Ministry said in a statement. “The Romanian army’s radar surveillance system showed a possible unauthorized penetration into the national airspace, with a signal detected on a road leading to the town of Galati,” the statement said. The Defense Ministry added that so far no objects appear to have fallen into Romanian territory. The search was to continue this Saturday.
Since its exit in July from an agreement on Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea, Moscow has intensified its attacks on the Odessa and Mikolayev regions which house essential infrastructure for grain exports, in the south of Ukraine.
Paralympic Games: Russian participation “encourages” Moscow in its war in Ukraine
Ukraine said on Friday that the authorization granted to Russian athletes to participate under a neutral banner in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris “encourages Russia” to continue its invasion of the country. “Allow the participation of Russians in the Paralympic Games […] firstly, prolongs the war and, secondly, encourages Russia to increase the levels of mass violence in Ukraine,” Mykhaïlo Podoliak, adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, wrote on X (ex-Twitter).
Russians and Belarusians will be able to participate under a neutral banner and strict conditions of neutrality in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris (August 28-September 8), the International Committee (IPC) ruled on Friday.
Russia: 8 and a half years in prison for criticizing the invasion of Ukraine
A blogger was sentenced Friday by a Russian court to eight and a half years in prison for a publication criticizing the assault on Ukraine, illustrating the repression against opponents of the conflict. Alexander Nozdrinov was found guilty of “spreading false information” concerning the Russian army, an article of the penal code introduced at the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, reported the specialized NGO Net Freedoms Project.
According to the NGO Memorial, this blogger from the Kuban region (south) published in March 2022 on Telegram a photo of a damaged apartment building in Kiev with the ironic message: “Ukrainian cities after the arrival of the liberators “.
Alexandre Nozdrinov, arrested shortly after and who has been in pre-trial detention since, denies being the author of this message, according to the same source. The blogger is the author of a YouTube channel in which he frequently criticizes the excesses and violations of traffic police. Memorial, the main Russian human rights NGO, itself in the crosshairs of the authorities, indicated that it considers Alexander Nozdrinov to be a “political prisoner”.
Orban warns EU against integrating country at war
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, reluctant to welcome Ukraine into the European Union, warned Brussels on Friday against opening accession discussions due to the many uncertainties linked to the Russian invasion.
“Is it appropriate to start negotiations with a country at war?” declared the nationalist leader during a radio interview. “We do not know the dimensions of the territory due to the ongoing war. Nor the size of its population given the flow of refugees,” he stressed. Integrating Ukraine “without being aware of these parameters would be an unprecedented decision”, according to Viktor Orban, while “the entire decision-making system in the EU is based” on such elements.
Hungary maintains tense relations with kyiv: although a member of NATO, it refuses to provide any military contribution and maintains links with the Kremlin. Budapest also continues to fan the embers of an old dispute, relating to the rights of the Hungarian minority in western Ukraine. It has some 100,000 members, who became Ukrainians after the dismantling of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the First World War.