The Russo-Ukrainian War at a Glance: What We Know on Day 343 of the Invasion | Ukraine

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in remarks on Tuesday evening that his administration plans to introduce changes as part of efforts to move ahead with unusually fast and complex negotiations to secure membership of the European Union, Reuters reports. Ukraine is holding “summit” talks with EU representatives on Friday.

“What is very important is that we are preparing new reforms in Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “These are reforms that will in many respects change social, legal and political realities, making them more humane, more transparent and more efficient.”

Zelensky said he is not done shuffling the ranks of senior officials and that anyone who fails to meet the strict standards faces dismissal.

Media reports in Ukraine that two high-profile anti-corruption actions against an oligarch took place on Wednesday morning Igor Kolomoisky and former interior minister Arsen Avakov.

This is reported by El País Spain will initially send between four and six Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. This was reported by the FT on Wednesday Italy is to join forces with France in the supply of air defense to Ukraine.

The US is preparing military aid for Ukraine worth more than 2 billion dollars which is expected to include longer-range missiles for the first time, as well as other munitions and weapons, two US officials briefed on the matter told Reuters.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the longer-range missiles were reportedly included in an upcoming military aid package from US towards Ukraine will escalate the conflict, but not change its course. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told reporters that there are no plans for Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold talks with US President Joe Biden.

Senior Advisor to the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podoliak, said on Wednesday that talks were already underway to secure longer-range missiles and attack aircraft from foreign partners to help repel Russian forces.

Some Western allies appear to have cooled on the idea of ​​supplying F-16s and other fighter jets to Ukraine in the past 24 hours. Joe Biden, the US president, asked at the White House late Monday if his country would provide the F-16, just answer no although he stressed on Tuesday morning that he would continue to discuss with Ukraine over its arms requests.

The UK has also said that supplying Western aircraft is not practical. “These are sophisticated pieces of equipment,” a Downing St spokesman said on Tuesday. “We don’t think it’s practical to send these planes to Ukraine.” They added that the prime minister Rishi Sunak supported expediting support for Ukraine after the review concluded that a “prolonged stalemate” in the conflict would benefit Russia.

Germanyis vice rector Robert Habeck has spoken out against his country supplying fighter jets to Ukraine, saying such a move would “probably” be a step too far for Western allies who are weighing support for Kyiv’s cause against fears of being drawn into outright war.

This is what pro-Russian forces claim in Russian media Bakhmut is almost surrounded. TASS quoted Colonel Vitaly Kiselev on behalf of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic as saying: “Bakhmut is practically ’embraced’ from three sides, intensive slaughter of the enemy is underway.” They are trying, and I’m sure they will succeed… to go to Chasov Yar area from where intense shelling is taking place back towards Soledar, Bakhmut.

Ukrainian state television Suspilne reports that Kinburn Peninsulaa strip of land that stretches from the southern side of Kherson Oblast on the left bank of the Dnieper River is in the “grey zone,” with neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian military in full control of the territory.

The British Department of DefenseThe latest intelligence update says recent days have seen “some of the most intense shelling of the conflict” along the Dnieper River. “This includes ongoing shelling of the city of Kherson,” the ministry noted – adding that outside Donbass, Kherson is the city most frequently shelled in the conflict. “Russia’s exact rationale for using up its strained munitions stockpile here is unclear. However, commanders are likely partly seeking to demoralize civilians and deter any Ukrainian counterattacks across the river,” the ministry added.

The Russian state news agency RIA reported that Novozibkov oil pumping station of Druzhba oil pipeline in the Bryansk region of Russia came under fire from Ukraine

The Russian President Vladimir Putin, told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that shelling of Russian regions from Ukraine should not be allowed and that is the task of the defense ministry.

Russian forces are preparing for an imminent renewed attack on Ukraine, most likely in the coming months, according to analysts. Citing Western, Ukrainian and Russian sources, the US think tank the Institute for the Study of War said Moscow was “preparing for an upcoming offensive” pointing to remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who said there were “no signs” that Vladimir Putin was “preparing for peace”.

Military casualties on both sides in the war total about 200,000, a Western official said. with similar numbers killed and wounded on both sides. Most of the Russians were killedthe official added, because they were on the offensive, meaning “they suffered more deaths than Ukrainians in general.”

President of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen and Vice President of the German Bundestag from the Green Party Catherine Göring-Eckard both visited Kyiv on Wednesday, Van der Bellen traveling to Bucha to pay tribute to a mass grave discovered there after Russian forces withdrew from their occupation of the city in the Kyiv region in the early stages of the war.

Ukraine should be able to join NATO as soon as the war is over, a new president of the Czech Republic Peter Paul said on Wednesday.

Ukraine’s grain harvest may fall again in 2023 to 49.5 million tons from about 51 million tons expected in 2022, Deputy Economy Minister Denis Kudin said Wednesday.

of Belarus The armed forces are now in autonomous control of the Russian-supplied Iskander nuclear-capable mobile guided missile systems, following the completion of training in Russia as well as exercises in Belarus, its defense ministry said. On Tuesday, the leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenkosaid his country was “already ready” to offer more help to Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Latvia will not send its athletes to The 2024 Paris Olympics if competitors from Russia and Belarus are allowed to compete while the invasion of Ukraine is underway, a spokesman for the country’s Olympic committee said.