United 24 Media
🔘 The week-long LIVEX air-to-air landing exercises involving 19 European Union countries began in Spain. These are the first non-NATO-led military exercises in the history of the EU.
The head of the EU Military Committee, Robert Briger, said that the LIVEX scenario would play out an intervention in the third country "Seglia", which is asking for EU help, because the situation there is "rapidly deteriorating" due to the activities of a violent extremist organization
🔘 NATO has begun annual exercises to defend its territory with nuclear weapons, dpa news agency reports.
Exercise Steadfast Noon will continue until Thursday, October 26, in the skies over Italy, Croatia and several other Mediterranean countries. They will involve 13 countries and involve up to 60 aircraft, including B-52 bombers.
Alliance Secretary General Stoltenberg said that military weapons would not be used.
🔘 Recent reports suggest that North Korea has established regular ammunition supplies to Russia. Experts from the British Royal Institute of Defense Research (RUSI) conducted satellite image analysis of the Russian base in Fokino (Primorsky Krai) and the North Korean port of Rason. Since August, they have documented the flights of Russian dry cargo ships "Angara" and "Maria," linked to entities involved in military logistics.
These ships have transported several hundred containers, concealing their geolocation during transit. Notably, these containers subsequently arrived at an ammunition warehouse in Tikhoretsk, Krasnodar Krai, located approximately 200 kilometers from the Ukraine border. Satellite images have revealed a significant expansion of the warehouse.
These findings are also corroborated by the investigative journalists at Dossier, who report that one shipment aboard the "Angara" contained 50 tons of rockets with explosive charges, indicating that the Russian Federation received missiles from North Korea.
Last week, the U.S. accused North Korea of supplying ammunition and military equipment to Russia, specifically mentioning the warehouse in Tikhoretsk. Satellite images from Planet Labs show the loading of the "Angara" in Rason and the expansion of the warehouse in Tikhoretsk, providing further visual evidence of these activities.
🔘 Ukraine has received its first armored ambulance, part of an order for 13 armored medical vehicles based on the Gurkha armored car (4x4) manufactured by the Canadian company Terradyne Armored Vehicles.
These vehicles meet NATO ballistic standards, specifically STANAG 4569 level II, ensuring a high level of protection. Notably, they feature "run-flat" tires, allowing them to continue driving even when deflated, with speed variations from 50 to 150 km depending on the vehicle's weight and road quality. This capability is vital in real-world combat situations where a punctured tire would otherwise leave the vehicle stranded.
Additionally, these all-wheel-drive vehicles can navigate through rugged terrain and war-damaged roads.
🔘 ❗️Kovalenko: ammunition famine in the Russian army in Ukraine is turning into an ammunition crisis
In the fourth quarter of 2023, for the first time in the full-scale war, the number of rounds fired by Ukrainian artillery exceeded those fired by occupying Russian forces.
This shift indicates that the Russian army is experiencing a transition from an ammunition shortage to an ammunition crisis. This situation arises not only due to depleting stocks in warehouses and storage facilities but also as a consequence of various factors. It's becoming evident that the Russian military-industrial complex will be unable to meet the ammunition demands of its forces. This predicament is exacerbated by the fact that a prolonged war is not in Russia's interests.
At the outset of the invasion of Ukraine in February and March 2022, Russian artillery could afford to fire 60,000, 70,000, or even 80,000 rounds per day. However, by July-August of the same year, this number had decreased to a range of 40,000 to 50,000 rounds per day. During the offensive in Bakhmut, the rate further dropped to a limited 20,000-25,000 shots per day throughout the entire combat zone, with over 50% of this firepower concentrated in the vicinity of the fortress city.
🔘 Latvia closed two checkpoints on the border with the Russian Federation — "Vientuli" and "Pededze". At these border crossings, concrete barriers have been installed, — Delfi
🔘 President Zelenskyy met with the US special representative for the economic recovery of Ukraine, Penny Pritzker. They discussed the protection of the energy infrastructure, the need for reconstruction, macro-financial support, and the fair use of frozen Russian assets —
"We are interested in attracting private American investments to long-term projects in the agricultural sector, machine building, and chemical production, and in the participation of American companies in the reconstruction of the Ukrainian energy system," the president said.
🔘 The Ukrainian Armed Forces "shot down" an enemy Su-25 for the third time in a week, — General Tarnavskyi.
This time again, the Defense Forces in the Donetsk region distinguished themselves.
🔘 In India, payment for at least seven shipments of Russian oil delivered to local oil refineries was delayed, Reuters reports, citing sources.
According to the agency's interlocutors, the Indian authorities are unhappy with the payment in yuan instead of rupees.
🔘 The Russian military shelled a residential area and a transport enterprise in Kherson, as a result of which four people were injured, the head of the Regional Military Administration Prokudin said
🔘 🎬 American actress Sarah Jessica Parker will produce the Front Row documentary film about Ukrainian ballet dancers. The movie will tell about the life of a group of Ukrainian dancers in exile as part of the United Ukrainian Ballet troupe. The documentary will be shot by the 2024.
🔘 Russian dictator Putin arrived in Beijing by plane to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and participate in the Belt and Road Forum.
According to the plan, negotiations with Xi will be held on October 18 in two stages: in an expanded composition and in a narrow one, in the format of a working breakfast. The Kremlin did not rule out that Putin and Xi will talk face-to-face as part of the negotiations "on the most sensitive topics"