Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Wednesday, January 29, 2025, discover the latest news about this conflict
Electrical facilities
Ukraine has launched a large-scale drone attack on a nuclear power plant as well as Russian oil and electricity facilities, Russian media and authorities reported on Wednesday. Russian air defense systems destroyed a drone that was flying toward a nuclear power plant in the Smolensk region on the Belarusian border, Governor Vasily Anokhin said on the Telegram messaging app.
The plant, which is the largest in western Russia, is, however, operating normally, state media RIA reported, citing the site’s press service. Reuters was unable to verify the reports, while Ukraine has not commented. The Russian Defense Ministry wrote on Telegram that 104 drones attacked western Russia, of which 11 were destroyed over the Smolensk region. In total, Russian air defenses shot down drones in nine regions, nearly half of them over Kursk, the region that Ukraine still partially occupies since its surprise incursion last August.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military confirmed that its drones had hit an oil refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod region, adding that a large fire had broken out at the site. Russian petrochemical giant Sibur said it had temporarily suspended operations there, but said there were no casualties at the plant, located about 800km from the Ukrainian border, and that emergency services were on site. One person was injured and hospitalized following a drone strike in the Belgorod region, near the border with Ukraine, the region’s governor said. Russia’s air transport agency Rosaviatsia temporarily suspended flights to Kazan and Pulkovo airports. Flights have since resumed normally, according to Rosaviatsia's Telegram channel.
Ministers' meeting
France has invited the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, the head of European Union diplomacy and the foreign ministers of several Western partners to a meeting on the war in Ukraine on February 12 in Paris, diplomats said on Wednesday. Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Italy and Poland are expected to take part in the meeting, while there was immediate doubt about the presence of the new US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity.
The meeting will come about three weeks after Donald Trump is inaugurated for a second term as president, a return to the White House that has fueled fears among Europeans that Washington is changing its policy toward Ukraine, as former President Joe Biden’s administration provided billions of dollars in military aid to Kyiv. Trump has said he will end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine quickly, without explaining how. During his confirmation hearing before the US Senate, Marco Rubio said last week that the new administration would do “everything possible” to stop the war.
“Each side is going to have to give something,” he added, after previously suggesting that Ukraine should abandon the idea of reclaiming the territories it seized from Russia over the past decade—which appears to include the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Console Ban
According to The Financial Times, the EU has reportedly found a link between video game consoles and Russian drone construction.
According to Kaja Kallas, vice-president of the European Commission and responsible for foreign policy within the EU, they are used to control drones used in combat. While the precise reasons are not expressed in detail, an electronic component is used by the Russian army and the ban on the consoles would restrict its use.
The ban could thus be part of the next round of sanctions planned for February 22, the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.