According to Medvedev, the Russian army will be replenished with more than 231 thousand people. 90 States pledge to take action against the use of food as a weapon of war.
Numerous organizational, economic and social steps have been taken in recent months to attract more volunteers, Medvedev said. According to him, military personnel and members of their families will also be better provided with social guarantees.
231 thousand fighters will replenish the Russian army
Accurate data on the size and new deployment of the Russian army is difficult to obtain due to Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine and the isolation of Moscow. Last year, as a result of partial mobilization after heavy losses in the war, Moscow called up about 300,000 reservists.
At the same time, tens of thousands of people fled abroad to avoid possible forced participation in the war against Ukraine. Russian troops invaded Ukraine at the end of February 2022.
Blinken: “Hunger should not be used as a weapon”
After Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal, the US warns against blocking food in conflicts. “Hunger should not be used as a weapon,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told the UN Security Council Thursday in New York.
He submitted a joint declaration with more than 90 signatory states, including Germany. They pledge to take action to end the use of food as a weapon of war and starvation of civilians as a tactic of war. “I call on all participating countries to join this communiqué,” Blinken said.
The US Secretary of State has criticized Russia for the fact that, despite numerous international calls, the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea expired in July. “Every member of the United Nations must say to Moscow: enough! Stop using the Black Sea as blackmail. Stop treating the world’s most vulnerable people like a bargaining chip.” He did not elaborate on the fact that, according to the UN, the “most vulnerable people” got only less than a tenth of the Ukrainian grain during the year of work on the deal. The German ambassador to the UN, Antje Leenderts, also sharply criticized Russia and urged her to immediately return to the agreement.
Zelensky praised air defense
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about heavy fighting in the east and south of the country in his evening address. “The invaders are trying with all their might to stop our guys. The attacks are very brutal,” Zelenskiy said in a video posted on his Telegram channel on Thursday evening. He praised the military on the Ukrainian-Romanian border near the port city of Izmail for fighting Russian kamikaze drones.
Since the beginning of the war, Russia has used at least 1,961 Shahed drones against Ukraine, Zelensky said. Therefore, increasing the number of air defense systems is the task of every Ukrainian ambassador and representative abroad, Zelensky believes.
EU extends sanctions against Belarus
The European Union extends sanctions against Russia’s allied Belarus in connection with the aggressive war in Ukraine, in which it is not directly involved. According to the EU Commission, these punitive measures are designed, in particular, to ensure that it is impossible to circumvent the already existing sanctions against Russia through Belarus. The measures were published yesterday in the Official Journal of the EU and thus entered into force.
In accordance with them, the EU countries have introduced a ban on the export of technologies that can be used in the aerospace industry, such as drones. In addition, the sale, supply or export of firearms and ammunition will be prohibited in the future. The ban on the export of goods and technologies that can be used for both civilian and military purposes has also been expanded.
In addition, 38 individuals and three organizations from Belarus fell under the sanctions. They reportedly contribute to the suppression of Belarusian civil society and are responsible for human rights violations in the country.
What is important today
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, today the government in Moscow will publish the text of a joint statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin and seven African countries on their “peacekeeping mission” in Ukraine.
Source : STRATERA
