Ukraine Hits 15 Russian Vessels, Germany Funds 50,000 Drones

Ukrainian drones hit 15 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov overnight, including seven tankers, Ukraine’s drone forces commander Robert Brovdi said on Monday. That brings the total number of vessels struck in the past eight days to 105, Robert Brovdi said on the Telegram messaging app. The attacks have led to the suspension of shipping through the trade route as of last week, Reuters reported.

The Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow that killed at least three people and injured five has also been confirmed by governor Andrei Vorobyov. Air defence units downed 81 drones over the region overnight, he added. Officials who allowed weapons warehouses to operate in a residential area outside Kyiv where explosions killed 10 people had been identified and would be held accountable, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.

Western allies are set to meet in Paris today to discuss securing more air-defence commitments for Ukraine, as shortages have left it increasingly exposed to Russian ballistic missiles. The Kremlin has said it will be closely following the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, which includes leaders of the UK, France, Germany, and Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the group as a pro-Ukrainian bloc that wants the war with Ukraine to continue.

Germany is funding 50,000 attack drones for Ukraine, a source familiar with the matter said, in an order that marks one of the biggest known purchases of drones for Kyiv by a Western government. The attack drone order involves Shrike first-person-view (FPV) drones made by major Ukrainian manufacturer SkyFall and equipped with software from US defence technology firm Auterion designed to autonomously track and hit moving targets in the final phase of the flight. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that EU countries are hoping to agree on 250 listings, which would be the biggest number of listings they have done so far, as part of their sanctions against Russia.

However, there is no agreement yet on the broader 21st package. France will summon the Russian ambassador to Paris over an alleged cyberhacking campaign conducted by Russia against European countries, including France. Sir Bill Browder, a long-time critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has warned that Putin will never make peace in Ukraine, as he is desperate to cling to power after manipulating the country’s wealth for so long.

Browder believes that the war will drag on and end up in a stalemate, with neither side winning, and that the best likely outcome is that Ukraine extracts such a heavy price for Russia’s war that it dwindles into a frozen cold conflict, as in the Korean Peninsula. Browder compared the potential outcome to the Korean Peninsula, saying ‘I don’t believe you are ever going to have Putin signing a peace treaty. I don’t think the war is ever going to end officially, but I can imagine it is going to grind down to a low level, potentially even totally quiet front, in the same way as North and South Korea did.’ He also mentioned that the US Magnitsky Act, inspired by the killing of his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, is now the legal basis for personally targeted sanctions in America against Russia and corrupt officials all over the world.