► Musk participated in the call between Zelensky and Trump
Billionaire Elon Musk participated in the call on Wednesday between Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump after the latter’s victory in the American presidential election, an official within the Ukrainian presidency said on Friday, November 8.
“I can confirm it”indicated this official, on condition of anonymity, questioned about information from the American media Axios. Another high-ranking Ukrainian source claimed that Donald Trump had “passed the phone” to Elon Musk who then spoke “briefly” avec Volodymyr Zelensky.
► Belarus: rare meeting between Russian and Ukrainian human rights mediators
Russian and Ukrainian human rights mediators announced they met in Belarus to discuss humanitarian issues, a rare contact between representatives of Moscow and kyiv after more than two and a half years of war.
“An equal meeting took place with the Ukrainian side on the territory of Belarus”indicated the Russian mediator, Tatiana Moskalkova, on Telegram. “I interact with the Russian mediator to resolve humanitarian issues”affirmed for his part the Ukrainian mediator, Dmytro Loubinets.
According to Tatiana Moskalkova, the two sides exchanged lists of prisoners of war and letters from their families to them and “discussed continued humanitarian cooperation to provide assistance to civilians”.
► Ukraine obtains the bodies of 563 of its soldiers from Russia
Ukrainian authorities announced that Russia had handed over the bodies of 563 soldiers killed in the war between the two countries, without saying whether it was an exchange.
Some “320 bodies of defenders killed in the Donetsk sector and 89 soldiers who fell in the Bakhmout sector have been repatriated. We also managed to repatriate 154 bodies from morgues in Russia”said the Ukrainian coordination organization for prisoners of war.
This is one of the largest repatriations of bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022.
► Despite the political crisis, Germany assures Ukraine of its support
The German government has claimed that bilateral aid to Ukraine is “assured”despite the political instability linked to the fall of Olaf Scholz’s coalition, which hampers budgetary discussions.
“It is important to say that aid to Ukraine – military and financial support – is assured and that we provide significant assistance both nationally and within the framework of the G7”declared one of the spokespersons for the German government, Christiane Hoffmann. among the countries of the European Union.
► Viktor Orban calls on Europeans to “move from war to peace” in Ukraine
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called on Europeans to recognize the new situation created by the election of Donald Trump, by agreeing to “moving from war to peace” in Ukraine, despite their reaffirmed support for kyiv.
“The situation on the battlefield is obvious, it is a military defeat” for Ukraine, he said before welcoming the heads of state and government of the 27, gathered in Budapest for an informal summit. Donald Trump “hate war” and therefore, “for us Europeans, the situation is evolving”he added on Hungarian radio.
► Russia: 13 years in prison for €50 in support of the Ukrainian army
A Russian was sentenced to thirteen years in prison for “high treason”guilty of having financially supported the Ukrainian army, the Ria Novosti agency specifying that it was a transfer of €50.
A Moscow court recognized Alexander Kraitchik “guilty of high treason for having provided financial support to a foreign state”for “motivations of political and ideological hatred”. He will have to serve his sentence in a “high security penal colony”according to the verdict which dates from November 1 but was made public on Friday.
Furthermore, the Russian prosecutor’s office requested six years in prison against a 68-year-old Russian pediatrician, accused by the mother of one of her patients of having criticized the Russian offensive in Ukraine in a private conversation.
► One dead and around forty injured in Russian bombings
At least one person was killed and more than forty injured during a series of strikes targeting the cities of Kharkiv and Odessa in Ukraine, local authorities announced.
“Missiles, drones and glide bombs were used against the Odessa, Kharkiv and kyiv regions”noted President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia fired five missiles, 92 drones and glide bombs overnight, with four missiles and 62 drones shot down.
In Kharkiv, the country’s second city located in the northeast near the Russian border, 25 people were injured, according to local authorities.
► The death toll from the strikes on Zaporizhia rose to eight dead
The death toll from Russian strikes on the town of Zaporizhia on Thursday rose to eight, while one person was killed in Odessa overnight, also in southern Ukraine, local officials and emergency services said. .
“The death toll from the Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia increased to eight, including a one-year-old boy”declared the governor of the Zaporizhia region, Ivan Fedorov, reporting 42 injured on his Telegram account.
► Europe still poorly equipped to protect itself, according to a study
Europe lacks military personnel and its defense capabilities remain insufficient, even if its spending has increased since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a study by a British think tank.
The main European armed forces “remain understaffed, too many of them continuing to lose troops without sufficiently encouraging the younger generation to get involved”said the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). “They continue to rely on the United States to varying degrees in all military domains”deplored this group of experts which is organizing a forum in the Czech Republic to strengthen European defense.
This report is published at a time when European countries are questioning the persistence of American military support for Ukraine after the election of Donald Trump.
