A judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Donetsk, a region annexed at the end of September by Moscow in eastern Ukraine, was wounded by bullets and is “in serious condition”, announced on Saturday, November 5, the Russian occupation authorities. The facts took place in the evening of Friday, but the Ministry of the Interior of the region did not specify the reasons for this attack. “His condition is assessed by doctors as serious,” senior Russian occupation authority official Denis Pushilin wrote on Telegram.
- Behind the scenes, the United States asks Ukraine to remain open to negotiations
In its November 5 issue, the washington post writes that the Biden administration would, behind the scenes, encourage Ukrainian leaders to show that they are ready to negotiate with Russia. The demands expressed by US officials are not aimed at bringing kyiv back to the negotiating table but rather at ensuring that Ukraine retains the support of other nations, according to the newspaper.
These discussions show the complexity of the Biden administration’s position vis-à-vis Ukraine, with American officials publicly pledging to support kyiv “as long as necessary” while hoping for a resolution of the conflict. According to washington post, they share the view of the Ukrainians, according to which Russian President Vladimir Putin does not seriously consider resuming negotiations for the time being. However, they acknowledged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s refusal to talk to his Russian counterpart had raised concerns in some countries in Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the conflict has led to a rise in food and fuel.
- Iran admits delivering drones to Russia, Zelensky warns of consequences
For the first time, Iran acknowledged, this Saturday, November 5, having supplied drones to Russia before the start of the war, confirming the accusations made by Ukraine. These drones allow Moscow to carry out attacks against infrastructure but also civilians. “Even making this confession, they lied,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the evening, who believes that Tehran is minimizing the impact of its deliveries in the conflict. “We shoot down at least ten Iranian drones every day, and the Iranian regime says it would have given few, and even before the full-scale invasion began.” Iran has also not admitted sending instructors to help the Russians use the drones.
The Ukrainian president has warned Iran of the negative consequences that this collaboration with Russia will entail for it. “If Iran continues to lie about obvious things, it means that the world will make even more efforts to investigate terrorist cooperation between the Russian and Iranian regimes”, before specifying that “in the modern world, this cannot go unpunished”.
- In besieged Bakhmout, residents “hold their ground”
Residents of the besieged town of Bakhmout in eastern Ukraine ‘live in dire conditions, with civilians being killed and injured every day,’ the deputy mayor said on Saturday evening, as fighting between troops Russian and Ukrainian forces rage around the city. Bakhmout is an important target for the Russian army in its slow advance in the Donetsk region, one of the territories that the Kremlin claims to have annexed by referendum.
Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Marchenko said Russian troops were “trying to storm the city from several directions”. “Every day it becomes more and more difficult to survive in this city.” Ukrainian troops are ‘holding the front line firmly’, lawmaker said, while describing deteriorating humanitarian situation in town, where population has shrunk from around 80,000 before the war to just 12,000 today today. The city has been without electricity, gas and running water for nearly two months.
- The German Chancellor justifies the benefits of his trip to China
Strongly criticized for his trip to Beijing this week, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, justified on Saturday afternoon that the joint declaration of China and Germany had “alone been worth the trip”. The two governments have agreed to “jointly oppose the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons” in Ukraine. The Chinese president nevertheless refrained from criticizing Russia or calling on Moscow to withdraw its troops.