UNITED24 Media Telegram Highlights
The 19th meeting of the Ramstein format has begun. "We will focus on increasing defense production, drones and technologies, as well as preparing for both long-term challenges and solving urgent needs," said Defense Minister Rustem Umierov.
"Caesar Kunikov" carried cargo from Novorossiysk to Sevastopol. The ship was loaded and on the way it was destroyed by five MAGURA V5 unmanned aerial vehicles, said Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in a comment to national television.
Hungary blocks new package of sanctions against Russia — Financial Times.
According to the publication's sources, at yesterday's meeting of EU ambassadors, Hungary was the only country that did not approve the 13th package of sanctions targeting nearly 200 individuals and organizations from Russia, China, North Korea and other countries who are deemed to be helping Russia’s war effort. [Fucking hell]
Australia providing a 50 million Australian dollar grant to Ukraine. "...the [Australian] Government will provide a grant of 50 million Australian dollars (over $32 million) to the International Fund for Ukraine, directly supporting the procurement of priority military capabilities,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
"The EU has proposed imposing sanctions against North Korea for supplying missiles to Russia," reports Bloomberg.
However, Bloomberg notes that the impact of the sanctions, which include a travel ban and asset freeze, will be primarily symbolic.
"Diia Open Code — the application will become an open-source product," announced Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov. After opening the code, access to the registers and encryption features of Diia will remain restricted," Fedorov explained. [Diia is the do-everything app in Ukraine that's very heavily used]
In Latvia, cars with Russian license plates will begin to be confiscated from February 15. They can be transferred to Ukraine as a gesture of solidarity
In addition to the confiscation of vehicles with Russian license plates, their owners will have to pay a fine of 750 to 2 thousand euros, said Latvian Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis.
German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit denied Putin's statement that Germany and France asked to withdraw racist troops from Kyiv during negotiations in Istanbul in 2022
Putin announced such a request from Berlin and Paris in an interview with Tucker Carlson.
Baltic states are preparing for Russian invasion, — The Times.
The Baltic states are strengthening a thousand-kilometer stretch of their eastern borders, the most militarily vulnerable part of NATO's flank, with the so-called "Baltic Defense Line," which consists of barriers and bunkers.
"Each bunker will have an area of about 37 square meters, will accommodate about 10 soldiers, and will be protected from artillery strikes. In addition, there will be ammunition depots and structures such as anti-tank mines, ditches, barbed wire, and concrete pyramids nearby, known as "dragon's teeth"”, stated the Deputy Minister of Defense of Estonia Susan Lilleväli.