Zelensky: Ukraine is repairing its power grid

Kyiv Ukraine is already using the Iris-T anti-aircraft defense system delivered by Germany a few days ago in the south of the country. The spokesman for the Ukrainian air force, Yuriy Ihnat, said on television on Friday. Ukraine is the first country in the world to have this state-of-the-art air defense system.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was making progress in repairing destroyed infrastructure after the heavy Russian rocket attacks earlier in the week. 15 objects have already been repaired, he said, without giving details. “We will also renew all the others,” he promised in his video address in Kyiv.

Zelensky visited wounded soldiers in the hospital. He also decorated military personnel with medals. Saturday marks the 234th day since the start of the February 24 Russian invasion of the neighboring country.

“In most regions, the technical possibilities of power supply have been restored,” said Zelenski. In others, temporary shutdowns are still necessary to stabilize the entire network. The President called on his compatriots to save electricity. “This is also a contribution to the defense of our country,” he said.

On Monday, the Russian army fired dozens of rockets at Ukraine’s energy and water supply facilities and also in the center of major cities. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin said on Friday that out of 29 objects targeted, 7 “were not damaged as planned by the Defense Ministry”. That will be made up for, he threatened.

Zelensky sees hopelessness in Russia

On the occasion of the military holiday, the day of the country’s defenders, Zelenskiy thanked everyone who is defending Ukraine. Russia still has weapons to use against the neighboring country, he said. “You still have the ability to terrorize our cities and all Europeans, to blackmail the world. But they don’t stand a chance. And they won’t have any. Because Ukraine is moving forward.” In the face of Ukrainian counter-offensives, he already saw Russia trapped in an atmosphere of hopelessness and defeat.

Ukraine gets more military aid from the US

The US is providing Ukraine with further military aid, which will provide the country with artillery shells, anti-tank weapons and vehicles, among other things. The aid package is worth up to 725 million dollars (745.6 million euros), as the US government announced on Saturday night. Since the Russian war of aggression began in February, the US has pledged around $17.6 billion in security support for Ukraine.

Tech billionaire Musk wants to see money for satellite internet

The use of the Starlink satellite Internet service has been indispensable for the Ukrainian resistance against Russia for the past seven and a half months. Where there is no longer access to mobile communications and the Internet due to destroyed infrastructure, it is used by both civilians and the Ukrainian military as a means of communication.

Now tech billionaire Elon Musk is threatening to no longer bear the Starlink costs with his space company SpaceX. Musk wrote on Twitter that SpaceX does not want reimbursement for previous expenses. But one cannot “pay for the existing system indefinitely AND send thousands more terminals”. Ukraine costs SpaceX around $20 million (€20.6 million) a month.

Ukraine will find a way to keep Starlink operational, said Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Zelensky. Musk helped “survive the most critical moments of the war.” CNN reported that SpaceX had asked the US Department of Defense to cover Ukraine’s costs.

Better power supply for Zaporizhia nuclear power plant

External power supply has improved at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which is occupied by Russian troops. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear power plant was reconnected to a reserve power line. In addition, it was possible to increase the diesel stocks of the plant. This would allow the factory generators to cool the reactors in Europe’s largest nuclear power plant for ten days in an emergency.

In the past few days, the generators had had to step in twice because both the last remaining main line from the outside and the reserve line had failed. All six reactors are currently idle. The staff are preparing to restart two reactors, said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. In shuttle diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine, he is trying to establish a security zone without fighting around the nuclear power plant.

German anti-aircraft Iris-T already in action

The Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Ihnat did not say where exactly the German Iris-T system is in use; he spoke only generally of “southern direction”. Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov confirmed on Wednesday that the first Iris-T system had arrived. Germany initially wants to provide Kyiv with four of the weapons, each costing 140 million euros, and financing for three more has been secured.

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Each unit consists of radar, command post and three truck-mounted rocket launchers. Iris-T SLM can fire at targets up to 20 kilometers altitude and 40 kilometers away. A medium-sized city such as Nuremberg or Hanover can thus be protected. After the Russian missile attacks, several countries had promised Ukraine anti-aircraft weapons, including the United States and Great Britain.

That will be important on Saturday

Russia wants to allow truck traffic over the damaged bridge to the annexed Crimea peninsula on Saturday evening. In the future, however, loaded trucks would have to be checked before entering the strategically important building, said Deputy Prime Minister Marat Chusnullin.

A week earlier, there had been a serious explosion on the 19-kilometer bridge. According to Russian authorities, a truck with explosives exploded and set fire to a freight train that was traveling parallel on the bridge. Moscow sees this as an attack organized by the Ukrainian secret service. Ukraine has not commented on the authorship of the explosion.

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