Day dawns in Europe and a 967th day of armed conflict begins in Ukraine after the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
This Wednesday, October 16, 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled his “victory plan” for the war against Russia before the Ukrainian Parliament. This plan must in particular be studied by NATO this Thursday, when the defense ministers of the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty are due to meet in Brussels.
For its part, Australia announced the upcoming delivery of 49 American-made Abrams tanks to kyiv.
We take stock of the events that have marked recent hours.
READ ALSO: “Victory plan”, military aid to Ukraine… Update from Wednesday October 16, 2024
Australia to donate 49 old Abrams tanks to Ukraine
Australia announced this Thursday, October 17, 2024 that it would donate a batch of 49 old American M1A1 Abrams battle tanks to kyiv.
Australian Defense Minister Pat Conroy said in a statement that Australia stands
alongside Ukraine in their fight against the illegal Russian invasion
.
These battle tanks are equipped with a 120 mm cannon and weigh 60 tons. They were built between 1985 and 1993 and had been refurbished before their acquisition by Australia in the mid-2000s.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed this initiative on the X network and expressed his gratitude
towards Australia and its Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
At the start of the year, Canberra announced that it would not respond to a request from kyiv to deliver old MRH90 Taipan helicopters, arguing that they were no longer fit to fly.
Pat Conroy is due to meet Ukrainian officials on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO defense ministers which is being held Thursday and Friday in Brussels. Australia is not formally one of the 32 members of the Atlantic Alliance but is one of its closest partners.
Zelensky at the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels this Thursday
NATO Defense Ministers are due to meet this Thursday, October 17 in Brussels, Belgium, in particular to examine the plan for victory against Russia presented by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a speech to the Ukrainian Parliament.
According to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, this victory plan will undoubtedly be on the table this week
during the meeting of defense ministers
this Thursday evening.
According to the program for these two days of meeting of NATO Defense Ministers, available online, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join the ministers and the NATO Secretary General at the end of the afternoon, before delivering a press conference alongside Mark Rutte.
Meeting between American, French, German and British leaders in Berlin on Friday
American President Joe Biden will meet this Friday, October 18 in Berlin with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a visit focused on Ukraine, announced Wednesday the White House.
During this one-day transatlantic trip, in the middle of the electoral campaign in the United States, Joe Biden will also meet separately with Olaf Scholz, according to the program for this presidential visit sent by the White House, specifies Agence France Presse .
South Korea monitors possible involvement of North Korean troops in Russian war effort in Ukraine
As indicated by the American Institute for the Studies of War (ISW) in its latest report, the South Korean Ministry of Defense declared this Wednesday, October 16 that it was monitoring up close
indications that North Korean troops are directly supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, while reports indicate that the Russian military is training North Korean soldiers.
South Korean intelligence also said it was monitoring the possibility of North Korean troops participating in Russia’s war effort and was now coordinating with Ukrainian intelligence.
Ukrainian military and intelligence sources recently told Ukrainian media that the Russian army was training more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers in the Russian Far East and was preparing to transfer some of them. them in border areas close to Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said this Thursday that he did not have any information definitive
that North Korean troops were fighting in Ukraine. I cannot confirm this information, but it is obvious that it is concerning,”
he declared.
Ukrainian intelligence arrests security chief of national power grid operator
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced this Thursday that it had arrested a head of security at the Ukrenergo company, the national operator of the Ukrainian electricity network, reports the Ukrainian media Kyiv Independent. According to the SBU, the man justified the Russian invasion of Ukraine, questioned the existence of an independent Ukrainian state, and supported the killing of civilians.
The SBU did not release the name of the suspect. Ukrainian intelligence services also claim that the man also allegedly leaked information about the consequences of strikes on Ukrainian critical infrastructure.
