Intense fighting at the front, and Iran received captured Western weapons from Russia: the last night's highlights
The intensity of fighting at the front is not decreasing, Russia has paid Iran for drones in cash and captured Western weapons, and the European Commission told when Ukraine should receive the first disbursement of €18 billion in aid. Here is what you may have missed from the previous night.
Samples of Western weapons for Iran
Russia has paid Iran 140 million euros in cash for the supply of drones, and also provided samples of Western weapons captured in Ukraine, which the Iranians will be able to study for their own development, Sky News reports.
The Iranians received the British NLAW anti-tank missile and two types of American weapons — the Javelin anti-tank missile and the Stinger anti-aircraft missile. According to the sources of this publication, the received samples can allow Iranians to study Western technologies and probably copy them to use in future wars.
Intense fighting at the front
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that now the intensity of the fighting is the same as in early autumn, although the amount of news from the front has slightly decreased. The situation is difficult along the entire front, especially in Donetsk Oblast, but the Ukrainian military are not giving up a single centimeter of land, Zelenskyy said.
In general, according to the President, Ukrainian forces “are moving step by step to return the Ukrainian flag to all our cities and communities” in the east. They are also working to strengthen the border.
Exchange of strikes in the south
On the southern front, Russian occupants conducted 4 airstrikes on the Ukrainian military’s positions. In response, they received 11 strikes from the Armed Forces of Ukraine on air defense systems and areas of concentration of forces and hardware.
Over the day, the Ukrainian military destroyed 55 occupants, 17 pieces of hardware (including 4 tanks), and 2 Russian ammunition depots near Snihurivka and Kostromka in Kherson Oblast.
First disbursement out of €18 billion from the EU
The first disbursement from the new €18 billion European Union funding program should come to Ukraine in January 2023, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said. The European Commission will present its proposal on November 9 and aims to get the approval of the European Parliament and the European Council by the end of the year.
Regarding this year's funding, Dombrovskis expects the next disbursement in the amount of 2.5 billion euros to arrive in Ukraine by the end of November.
Exemption of generators from VAT
The Cabinet of Ministers has exempted from VAT and customs duties the import to Ukraine of goods and devices important for the heating season, including generators. According to the Prime Minister, the abolition of taxes will help speed up repairs, improve the provision of light and heat, meet the demand of the population, as well as reduce prices for the relevant products.
Power outages
Ukraine does not plan to carry out emergency power cuts on November 9, but there will still be scheduled hourly blackouts.
The regulator plans maximum stabilization restrictions in Kyiv city, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad Oblasts.
Other news
Ukrposhta showed what the Christmas and New Year stamp will look like. In 2022, the voting was won by the sketch “Separated by War”, which was created by an 11th-grader from Mykolaiv.
Zelenskyy proposes to the Verkhovna Rada to extend martial law and mobilization for 90 days. Thus, if the parliament supports the proposal, martial law and mobilization will last until February 19, 2023.
Police have identified 168 thousand of Russian soldiers who took part in the invasion. Moreover, law enforcement officers have already initiated more than 42 thousand criminal proceedings on war crimes committed by the occupiers.
Three more bodies of civilians were found in the liberated part of Kherson Oblast. Law enforcement officers found traces of violent death on the body of one of them.