Diplomatic efforts are stalled, Russia is hammering away, and Kiev fears that the United States may be weakening its support even before the UN, removing the issue of Ukraine's territorial integrity and the term"aggression" by Moscow from its annual report. The Kyiv Post is raising the alarm. The annual resolution presented by Ukraine to the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly has for years been an important step in gaining international support for the country's sovereignty. Last year, the US joined 77 other countries in reaffirming that Ukraine cannot be divided, contrary to what the Kremlin claims, which claims the occupied territories.
Militarily, the news for Kiev is not good. The fog is playing into the hands of the Russians in Pokrovsk, where fighting is going on door-to-door. The command of the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps of the Ukrainian Airborne Assault Forces confirms that"currently, more than 300 Russians have entered the city, and their objective remains unchanged: to reach the northern borders of Pokrovsk to encircle the agglomeration. At the same time, the Defense Forces continue to detect and destroy enemy groups in city buildings even in poor visibility conditions."
Another scenario. The Russian Defense Ministry claims to have seized control of the eastern part of Kupyansk, in the Kharkiv region. According to the ministry, Kiev forces unsuccessfully attempted to launch an attack south of Kupyansk-Uzlovy, which remains a key defense zone for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Taking the city would allow the Russian army to continue its advance in the western part of the region. President Zelensky held a security meeting in Kherson; a city that"deserves greater protection" due to "thousands of Russian drone strikes every month."
A plan developed by the Kiev and London intelligence services involved diverting a Mig-31 fighter jet from the Moscow Air Force armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile to the NATO base in Constanta, Romania, the Atlantic Alliance's largest military installation in Europe. The Russian Federal Intelligence Service FSB denounced"the large-scale provocation, which also reported to the Tass agency that the United Kingdom
was involved in the operation."To hijack the aircraft," Moscow's intelligence services claimed,"Ukraine was ready to recruit Russian pilots by offering them $3 million." State television showed photos of messages and recordings from a man the FSB claims was working for Kiev and London, which revealed a substantial offer of money to a Russian pilot, who was also allegedly promised Western citizenship, to fly the MiG to Europe.
"The Federal Security Service," reads a statement cited by Tass,"uncovered and foiled an operation by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's General Intelligence Directorate and its British supervisors to hijack a Russian MiG-31, equipped with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile, and send it abroad." "For the hijacking," the statement continues,"Ukrainian intelligence attempted to recruit Russian pilots, offering them $3 million. The special services planned to send the jet to the area of NATO's largest air base, in Constanta, Romania, where it would then be shot down by air defenses. The measures implemented foiled the plans of Ukrainian and British intelligence to carry out a large-scale provocation." The FSB itself announced that the Russian Armed Forces launched an attack in retaliation for Kiev's “ provocation ”, hitting an F-16 base in Ukraine.
