Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes takes stock for you every evening. Between the strong declarations, the progress on the front and the results of the fighting, here is the main news from this Saturday, December 2, 2024, the 1,039th day of the war.
News of the day
The Eagle S tanker suspected of belonging to Russia's “ghost fleet” and of being the cause of a breakdown on a submarine cable in the Baltic Sea, was seized by Finnish police and moved for the purposes of the investigation, Helsinki said on Saturday.
“The cause of this transfer is that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) seized the Eagle S. The new location presents better possibilities for investigative procedures,” the police said in a statement.
Finnish police indicated that the ship, which was sailing under the Cook Islands flag as part of this fleet intended to circumvent sanctions, came from Russia. He was arrested on December 26 after the rupture of an underwater electrical cable linking Finland to Estonia.
On Christmas Day, the EstLink 2 electricity link between Finland and Estonia was disconnected from the network. The operator said it was “out of service” due to damage not yet assessed. Finnish police have opened an investigation for “sabotage”.
The Baltic Sea has been the scene, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, of several similar incidents.
Today's statement
« “The Kazakh government commission tasked with investigating all the details of the incident will involve Russian, Azerbaijani and Brazilian experts […] This work, carried out on the territory of Kazakhstan, will be objective and transparent” »
Vladimir Putin admitted on Saturday that Russian air defense was in action on Wednesday when the Embraer 190 plane of the Azerbaijani company Azerbaijan Airlines attempted to land in Grozny. The plane crashed in western Kazakhstan, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Thirty-eight of the 67 people on board the plane were killed when the plane crashed and caught fire.
SIVladimir Putin therefore did not recognize Russia's responsibility on Saturday, he nevertheless apologized to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, and called for an investigation.
The number of the day
1000. At least… Washington assured that “more than a thousand” North Korean soldiers deployed by Pyongyang in Russia to fight against Ukraine had been killed or injured during “hopeless” assaults in the Kursk border region. “We see that the Russian army and the North Korean supervisors are not at all interested in the survival of these Koreans,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address. Several North Korean soldiers died today. Our soldiers managed to capture them. But they were very seriously injured and could not be saved. »
Our file on the war in Ukraine
“It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders view them as troops that can be sacrificed,” added John Kirby, spokesperson for the American National Security Council.
According to kyiv, 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including “around 500 officers”, including “three generals”, are in the Kursk region, of which the Ukrainian army has occupied several hundred square kilometers since August. Neither Russia nor North Korea have confirmed the presence of this contingent.
Today's trend
An investigation has been opened into cyber attacks, claimed by a pro-Russian group, targeting several websites in Italy, particularly the two Milan airports and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italian police announced on Saturday.
“This is the third attack in three days by hackers targeting the ministry,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told the press. Today's attack is certainly of Russian origin. » The minister, who decided to create within his ministry a new department responsible for cybercrime and artificial intelligence, indicated that he was in the process of “further strengthening the level of security” in Italian embassies .
A group of pro-Russian hackers, called NoName057 (16), claimed responsibility for the attacks in a post on the social network Telegram. This group attacks public institutions and strategic sectors of NATO countries which supported Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.
“We have been recording attacks of this type on various infrastructures and ministerial sites for three days,” confirmed Ivano Gabrielli, director of the Italian postal police. These are attacks carried out cyclically by groups supporting the Russian war on Ukrainian territory. »
