The Spanish police seized 13 tons of prohibited chemical substances, including “possibles” chemical weapons precursors, bound to Russia on October 15, according to the national police.
Four suspects were arrested and charged with smuggling prohibited goods. They allegedly tried to circumvent EU sanctions that prohibit the shipping to Russia of dual-use chemical products.
Reuters reports that the national police and the tax authority stated in a press release that “during the investigation it was proven” that internationally sanctioned chemical products, including some possible precursors to chemical weapons or nerve agent, had been export in the past by using this company structure.
According to investigators the unspecified chemical was found in a shipping container in Barcelona’s port.
To smuggle chemicals, the accused set up a Spanish company which would allegedly ship the banned chemicals to a Moscow subsidiary through shell companies in Armenia or Kyrgyzstan.
A Kyiv Independent report from August revealed that Russia is increasing its use of gas attacks. According to the Ukrainian military Support Forces, which is responsible for inspecting chemical weapons, in January 229 cases were reported, compared to 639 cases in June and 358 cases in July.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full scale invasion, Ukraine has registered over 4,000 cases of Russian chemicals used on Ukraine’s first line, including more than 3,100 reported cases in December 2023.
A poll conducted by the Kyiv Institute of Sociology (KIIS), released in recent months, found that President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to enjoy the trust of six out of ten Ukrainians.
After Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, 81% young German respondents expressed concerns about the possibility of a war in Europe. This is a sharp increase from 46% in 2019
Charles Michel, President of the European Council, announced on October 15 that he invited President Volodymyr Zelensky to present his plan for defeating Russia during a summit this week of EU leaders.
On Oct. 15, former President Donald Trump declined to confirm whether he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin after leaving office in 2021, but said: “If I did it, it was a smart thing.”
According to Suspilne, the sources claim that the North Korean soldiers left around 7 kilometers (4miles) from the border of Ukraine.
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Serhii Lehchenko, advisor to the Presidential Office, reported that unnamed U.S. legislators cited America’s Vietnam War experience, where men aged 18-26 years old were drafted into combat.
Western diplomats and analysts say that the growing military ties between Russia and North Korea show Moscow’s growing need for resources in order to continue its costly war against Ukraine.
Interfax reported that the federal censorship agency Roskomnadzor confirmed that Steam, with its online catalog of over 100,000 games, and the use by more than 130 million people around the world including close to 10 millions in Russia, has agreed to comply to the legislation.
David Arakhamia is the leader of Zelensky’s Servant of the People, a parliamentary group. He made comments to the Kyiv Independent.
Financial Times (FT), Oct. 15, reported that Elina Valtonen, Finnish Foreign Minister, warned that Western countries are becoming tired of their support for Ukraine and called for a stronger commitment to backing Kyiv.
According to a Harvard CAPS/Harris survey, 48% of voters in swing states who said they’d vote early supported Trump while 47% supported Harris. Another 5% of voters said they had voted or chose another candidate.
Mark Rutte stated in an interview with German radio Hessischer Rundfunk and Reuters on October 13.
On Oct. 14, hundreds of Ukrainian schools, businesses and media outlets including the Kyiv Independent received bomb threats by email. This prompted the evacuation of state institutions.
In an interview with Kremlin’s RIA Novosti, published on October 15, Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that Budapest and Russia’s state-owned Gazprom are in discussions on additional gas purchases next year.
The Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces shot down 12 of the 17 drones of the type Shahed launched by Russia over night. Overnight, seven S-300/400 and two Kh 59 missiles were fired at Mykolaiv Oblast.
“With the beginning of the ‘heating seasons,’ we can anticipate massive Russian strikes in the energy sector,” Oleksandr Litvynenko said, National Security and Defense Council Sec.
Dmytro Lytvyn, Ukraine’s presidential advisor, reacted after almost a full week of silence following Ukrainska Pravda’s claim that the Ukrainian Government is exerting “systematic” pressure against one of Ukraine’s largest news media sites.
The statement follows an article in the French newspaper Le Monde that claimed that Tuareg fighters of the anti-government CSP were using Ukrainian drones to attack the military and Wagner mercenaries.
“Now the town is more like a desert world: there are no shelters either for civilians or for soldiers,” said Anastasia Bobovnikova. She was a spokesperson from the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk.
“It was (Ukraine) the apple of his eyes; he used talk about it.” Donald Trump said that he had told him, “You’re not going to go in, and he was not going to go in.”
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