EU members call for increased defense funding
Over half of the EU's 27 member states, including Germany, France and Sweden, have signed a letter to the European Investment Bank, EIB, to increase funding for the defense industry. This is reported by AFP.
According to the letter, which was signed by 14 countries, the industry is singled out as an important key for the security of all of Europe.
It has long been against EIB policy to invest directly in the defense industry, with some exceptions. But now these principles are being called for re-evaluation in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
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Russian invasionUkraine's response
Ukraine has uncovered 400 groups helping men escape
Ukrainian authorities have uncovered over 400 groups that have been selling illegal travel out of the country to conscripts who do not want to fight. This is what the spokesman for the Security Service of Ukraine, Andriy Demchenko, says on Ukrainian television.
Among other things, the groups offer forged documents. Others arrange trips to unguarded parts of the border to help people escape over rivers and mountains.
- In addition to being illegal, it is also dangerous for the offenders themselves, says Demchenko according to Ukrinform.
Ukraine's martial law states that no men between the ages of 18 and 60 may leave the country because they must be ready to be drafted into the military.
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The Russian InvasionThe Battles
Soldiers in Kupjansk: They can shoot 22 times more than us
The outcome of the Russian invasion depends on the actions of the Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield and the support of allied countries. This is what Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Havryliuk writes in a post on Ukrinform.
He writes that Russia has a clear ammunition advantage and that every day they can fire seven times as many artillery shells as Ukraine.
The numbers are even more uneven at parts of the front. The Independent has visited Kupjansk in the Kharkiv region, which was liberated by Ukrainian forces in the fall of 2022. Now the city is being defended against increasingly intense attacks from the Russian side.
A soldier known as "Vegan" is appealing for increased supplies from the West, saying Russia fires 22 times as many artillery shells as Ukraine.
- If we don't get the ammunition, the enemy will make progress.
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The Russian InvasionThe Battles
Russian arms exports halved in recent years
Russian arms exports fell by 53 percent in the years 2019-2023 compared to 2014-2018. This is according to research from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), according to the British Ministry of Defence.
Thus, Russia fell from second to third place in the global ranking of arms exporters. In 2023 alone, the export volume was halved compared to last year.
This is likely due to the Russians prioritizing their weapons for the war, as well as to reduced demand in the outside world due to sanctions and widespread condemnation of the war, the British write.
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