Restocking Western ammunition after arming Ukraine will take years, says owner of munitions manufacturing group
Workers and Ukrainian servicemen unload a shipment of ammunition delivered as part of the United States of America's security assistance to Ukraine, at the Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine November 14, 2021.
U.S. Embassy in Ukraine | Reuters
It will take 10-15 years to refill Western stocks of artillery ammunition depleted to support Ukraine's army as it battles Russia's invasion, according to the owner of major arms manufacturer Czechoslovak Group.
Despite the flow of ammo to Ukraine, CSG owner Michal Strnad said Ukrainian forces were experiencing shortfalls as Western governments were running down their arsenals amid limits on production capacity.
Strnad told Reuters his firm was now responsible for about 25-30% of European output of NATO-standard 155mm artillery.
"Artillery ammunition are very scarce goods today," he said in an interview. "I estimate it will take 10-15 years to refill (Western armies') stocks" as a result of the war in Ukraine.
European governments have significantly drawn on their arsenals to support Ukraine, which Strnad said was firing 40,000 shells per week from several hundred, Western-supplied howitzers against Russian invaders.
"Really a lot has been delivered to Ukraine," he said. "But the fact is that today the Ukrainians are shooting less than they could because they do not have enough ammunition."
— Reuters
Widespread Russian missile strikes leave at least two dead and others injured in Zaporizhzhia
A view shows a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 9, 2022.
Stringer | Reuters
At least two people are dead and two others injured, including a 1-year-old child, in the Zaporizhzhia region following nationwide Russian missile strikes, reported the Deputy Head of the Office of the Ukrainian President, Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
Several private homes were destroyed and there are likely more injured, Tymoshenko said in a Telegram post. He noted that emergency services are already working at the scene.
The head of Kyiv's regional military administration, Oleksii Kuleba, urged residents to stay in shelters as Ukrainian air defense began operating in the region.
"There is an increased danger of rockets moving toward the region," Kuleba posted on Telegram.
The northeastern Sumy region is also without power due to an emergency shutdown of the energy system following the attacks left, according to the region's local energy company, NE Ukraine. The Odesa region was cut off from its water supply due to the strikes, the local water supply company said.
The wave of widespread missile strikes form part of Russia's efforts to cut off Ukraine from vital energy resources by targeting vital infrastructure across Ukraine, leaving many Ukrainians in harsh and uncertain conditions for the winter.
— Rocio Fabbro
Russia now controls 18% of Ukraine, UK ministry says
Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline in Donbass, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on November 22, 2022.
Diego Herrera Carcedo | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Ukraine has liberated around 54% of the maximum amount of extra territory Russia seized since the beginning of its invasion on Feb. 24 this year, according to the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence.
Posting on Twitter, the ministry said Russia now controls around 18% of internationally recognized areas of Ukraine, "including the Donbas and Crimea regions under Russian control since 2014."
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and supported a pro-Russian uprising in two regions in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine where two separatist self-proclaimed "republics" of Luhansk and Donetsk are located.
Since the start of the war, Russia has been pushed back from several regions by Ukraine's forces, notably around Kharkiv in the northeast of the country. Russian forces have also withdrawn from areas around Kyiv, the capital, and Kherson in the south.
Donetsk in eastern Ukraine is now the scene of the fiercest fighting in Ukraine as Russian forces try to advance and capture the city of Bakhmut, in the hope of then advancing towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in a bid to cement their foothold in the region.
— Holly Ellyatt
Russia launched a new wave of missile attacks, says Ukrainian air force spokesperson
A militant of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic inspects the remains of a missile that landed on a street in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine February 26, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters
Russia launched another wave of missile attacks against Ukraine Monday, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said in a press briefing that took place amid air raid alerts in Kyiv and across the country.
"This is not a drill," Ihnat told reporters. "The missiles are already launched."
The attacks used strategic aviation launched from three separate sites: the Volgodonsk region in western Russia, the Caspian Sea and from ships in the Black Sea, according to Ihnat. The most recent missile launches are a continuation of Russia's attacks on critical Ukrainian infrastructure that began in early October, he said. To date, Russian strikes damaged approximately half of Ukraine's energy systems, leaving many Ukrainians without electricity as temperatures drop.
Ilhnat warned that Monday's launch could result in several waves of strikes, cautioning Ukrainians to take shelter. "Russians do this in order to disperse and confuse our air defense forces," he said of the launch waves.
Several top Ukrainian officials have requested additional air defense capabilities, including fighter jets and advanced missile deterrent systems, over the past weeks as Russia ramps up its missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure.
— Rocio Fabbro
Kremlin has no more information on airbase blasts
The St. Basil Cathedral and a Kremlin tower are visible on the Red Square in Moscow.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
The Kremlin has told journalists it has received no further information on what caused explosions at two separate military air bases in Russia on Monday.
Explosions were reported at military airfields in the Saratov and Ryazan regions of Russia earlier today. Russian state media said a fuel tanker had exploded at one airbase, causing the deaths of three people and injuring several others. At the other airfield, Ukrainian media reported that a possible drone attack had damaged two Tu-95 strategic bombers.
Asked whether President Putin had been informed, and what could be behind the incidents, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he couldn't comment further.
"I don't have any precise information. I have only seen the media reports, but I do not have accurate information and cannot comment on it," he told reporters.
"Of course, the president regularly receives information about everything that happens from all relevant services," he added.
— Holly Ellyatt
Russian shelling of Donetsk damages kindergarten, houses
Ongoing Russian shelling of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, seen as the epicenter of fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, has damaged a kindergarten, residential buildings and an administrative facility, according to a regional official.
The head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram Monday that the town of Kurakhove and village of Gostre had come under fire with "a kindergarten, 4 high-rise buildings and 7 private houses ... damaged." Kyrylenko posted images of damaged buildings alongside the information.
He said Avdiivka had been attacked during the night, as well as the center of Bakhmut, a city that has become a key target for Russian forces looking to advance in Donetsk. There, an administration building, residential building and farm buildings were damaged, Kyrylenko said.
A Ukrainian serviceman is seen in the trenches in the frontline of Bakhmut in Donetsk, Ukraine on December 04, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Towards Lysychansk in Luhansk, the region neighboring Donetsk, Kyrylenko said "numerous" shells had hit the villages of Torsky and Zarichny. CNBC was unable to verify the information in the report.
— Holly Ellyatt
Russia says its preparing retaliatory measures against Western oil price cap
The Kremlin says it is preparing retaliatory measures after Ukraine's Western allies implemented a cap on the price of Russian-origin seaborne oil at $60.
"Decisions are being prepared, but, of course, one thing is obvious here - we will not recognize any ceilings," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.
Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov.
Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Last week, Ukraine's allies in the G-7, Australia and the EU (known as the "Price Cap Coalition" in this case) agreed on the $60 cap on Russian seaborne oil in a bid to curtail Moscow's oil exporting revenues which helps it to finance its ongoing war.
The price cap, which began on Monday, means that third countries will only be able to access services such as insurance, shipping and brokerage from countries within the coalition (i.e the EU and G-7) if they trade Russian oil at or below the cap.
The U.K., U.S. and EU will not make use of the cap as they have already introduced an import ban on Russian oil.
On Monday, Peskov did not detail what form "retaliatory" measures could take. Russia has already lambasted the price cap, saying it would continue to find buyers for its oil and would not supply oil to countries adhering to the price ceiling.
— Holly Ellyatt
Explosions reported at Russian air bases, damaging two bomber aircraft
Explosions have been reported at two Russian military air bases in Russia, with bomber aircraft purportedly damaged in one of the incidents.
Earlier Monday morning, Russian news agency Tass said the explosion happened Monday morning at an airbase near the city of Ryazan to the south-east of Moscow, killing three people and injuring five, citing information from the emergency services.
Russian news agency Ria Novosti said the deaths had been caused when a fuel truck exploded at the airfield.
Separately, Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor in Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs, posted a video on his Telegram channel purportedly showing a blast at the "Engels-2" air base in the Saratov region in which he said two Tu-95 strategic bombers had been damaged.
— Holly Ellyatt
The role of Russia's air force in the war is decreasing, UK says
The number of sorties conducted by Russian tactical combat aircraft over Ukraine in recent months has reduced significantly, according to Britain's Ministry of Defense.
"Russian aircraft now probably conducts tens of missions per day, compared to a high of up to 300 per day in March 2022," the ministry said in its latest intelligence update Monday morning.
It believed Russia had now lost over 60 fixed-wing aircraft in the conflict in Ukraine, likely including an additional Su-24M FENCER fighter-bomber and a Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack aircraft last week.
The Sukhoi Su-24M (which has the NATO codename "Fencer") supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft/interdictor of the Russian Air Force.
Aviation-images.com | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
"The decrease in sorties is likely a result of continued high threat from Ukrainian air defences, limitations on the flying hours available to Russian aircraft, and worsening weather," the U.K. said.
"With Russia's ground attack tactics largely reliant on visual identification and unguided munitions, the Russian air force will likely continue a low rate of ground attack operations through the poor winter weather," it added.
— Holly Ellyatt
'We will endure' this winter, President Zelenskyy insists
Locals transfer humanitarian aid across a collapsed bridge near Novopetrivka, following the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson region, Ukraine, on Nov. 17, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Ukraine's President Volodymy Zelenskyy used his nightly address Sunday to call on citizens to unite and support one another through the winter.
"The winter, which will obviously be difficult. But still, it is worth perceiving this winter not as a test, but as time - time that brings us closer to the main thing - to victory. Each of these 90 winter days," he said.
Zelenskyy said Russia "hopes to use winter against us: to make winter cold and hardship part of his terror. We have to do everything to endure this winter, no matter how hard it is. And we will endure. To endure this winter is to defend everything," he added.
Locals transfer humanitarian aid supplies near Novopetrivka, following the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson region, Ukraine, on Nov. 17, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The president said Russia "still has missiles and an advantage in artillery" but noted that Ukraine has the advantage in terms of its motivation for fighting: "we have something that the occupier does not have and will not have. We defend our home, and that gives us the strongest motivation possible. We fight for freedom, and that always multiplies any force."
"To get through this winter, we have to help each other more than ever and care for each other even more. And please don't ask if you can help, and how. Just help when you see you can."
— Holly Ellyatt
Ukraine appears to push back on U.S. claim that fighting could be at a 'reduced tempo' over winter
Ukrainian officials have seemingly pushed back against comments by a U.S. official that fighting in the country could be tempered over winter.
On Saturday, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the United States expects to see a "reduced tempo" in the fighting in Ukraine to continue over the next few months before counteroffensives resume in earnest in the spring.
"We're seeing a kind of a reduced tempo already of the conflict ... and we expect that's likely to be what we see in the coming months," Avril Haines told the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in California, Reuters reported. She said both Russia and Ukraine would look to refit and resupply their armies over the winter.
Ukraine appears keen to dispel any idea of a lull in the fighting or loss of momentum in their counteroffensives, however, with its Ministry of Defense posting videos of tanks plowing through muddy, water-logged fields and high morale among its soldiers.
A Ukrainian tank runs on a road near Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, on Dec. 2, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Anatolii Stepanov | AFP | Getty Images
Serhii Cherevatyi, the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Eastern Group, said on Sunday that Ukraine is "doing everything to be ready for the winter period of military operations, we are preparing our equipment — we are transferring it to winter operation, we are providing the units with special clothing and ammunition and those means that provide an opportunity to warm up and rest," according to comments on Army Inform, an information agency of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense.
Cherevatyi said that frozen ground enables heavy wheeled and tracked vehicles to advance during offensive or counteroffensive actions. Meanwhile, he said hastily mobilized Russian troops or personnel within the private military company Wagner are unprepared for combat operations in winter in Ukraine.
Ukraine's President Volodymy Zelenskyy used his nightly address Sunday to call on citizens to unite and support one another through the winter. He said Russia "hopes to use winter against us: to make winter cold and hardship part of his terror. We have to do everything to endure this winter, no matter how hard it is. And we will endure. To endure this winter is to defend everything."
— Holly Ellyatt
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