As 1016 days have passed since the war in Ukraine, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, is in Malta, his first visit to a country of the European Union since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. There, his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Sybiga, referred to him as a "war criminal," as they coincided at the OSCE plenary session.
Meanwhile, a pact between North Korea and Russia has come into effect, signed in June, at a time marked by the deployment of North Korean troops to the Ukrainian front to support Moscow with around 11,000 deployed soldiers, some of whom, according to Kiev and other allies, have already entered combat.
Specifically, Russia acknowledges a phone conversation between its Chief of the General Staff and the US counterpart regarding Ukraine, the launch of the hypersonic ballistic missile Oréshnik, the use of Western long-range missiles against Russian targets, the deployment of North Korean troops on Russian territory, especially in Kursk, partially occupied by Kiev's troops since last August.
November 2024 marks a new record in daily casualties (1,523 between dead and wounded) among Russian forces and represents the fifth consecutive month of increasing casualties with a total of 45,680 for the month, according to the latest report from the UK Defense Intelligence Service.
The Chechen leader Ramzan Kadirov claims that a Ukrainian drone reached the center of Grozny, hitting the facilities of a police special forces unit and injuring individuals. The capital of the Chechen Republic is about 750 km from the Ukrainian border. This is the second drone attack reported against Chechnya.
Zurabishvili welcomes Ukrainian sanctions against the Georgian Government
The President of Georgia, Salomé Zurabishvili, praised on Thursday the sanctions imposed by Ukraine on senior Georgian officials for the repression of anti-government protests in the country, while Prime Minister, Irakli Kobajidze, stated that these sanctions reflect the "difficult situation" in which Kiev finds itself.
"I couldn't have said it better. Thank you, Volodimir! Russia is trying to regain control over the Black Sea!" Zurabishvili wrote in response to a video of the Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelenski.
In his speech, the Ukrainian President announced the approval of sanctions against the Georgian strongman, the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, "and his accomplices," referring to the Prime Minister and other members of the Government of the Caucasian republic.