War in Ukraine: tensions between Zelensky and the Slovak President, Putin's apologies to Kazakhstan… an update on the situation

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Saturday, December 28, 2024, discover the latest news about this conflict.

Vladimir Putin's apologies

Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted Saturday that Russian air defenses were in action Wednesday when an Azerbaijani plane attempted to land, which crashed shortly afterward in Kazakhstan, according to the Kremlin.

Putin noted in a telephone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev that “the Azerbaijani airliner repeatedly attempted to land at the Grozny airport. At the same time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian combat drones, and Russian air defenses repelled these attacks.”

The Russian president did not say whether the plane was hit by the defenses. Since Wednesday's disaster, suspicion has been falling on Russia, which may have accidentally shot down the plane.

While Mr Putin did not acknowledge Russia's responsibility on Saturday, he nevertheless apologized to Mr Aliev. “Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that took place in Russian airspace,” the Kremlin said.

Finland moves ship suspected of damaging undersea cable

Finnish authorities said Saturday they were moving a ship carrying Russian oil suspected of damaging an undersea power cable and cables and causing four internet lines to collapse for investigation. Finland seized the Eagle S on Thursday, a vessel suspected of causing a breakdown in the Estlink 2 undersea power cable between Finland and Estonia on Wednesday.

The Cook Islands-registered vessel is also suspected of damaging or causing the disruption of four internet lines.“Finnish police have started an operation to transfer the Eagle S from the Gulf of Finland to Svartbeck, an inland anchorage near the port of Kilpilahti,” Helsinki police said in a statement.

NATO has announced plans to increase its presence in the Baltic Sea in response to the possible sabotage of undersea cables. The Kremlin said Friday it was not concerned about the issue.

Countries around the Baltic Sea are on high alert for possible sabotage after a series of outages to power cables, telecommunications links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Finnish customs believe the ship is part of a ghost fleet of aging tankers seeking to evade sanctions on the sale of Russian oil

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Zelensky accuses Slovakian Fico of opening second energy front against Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico of opening a “second energy front” against Ukraine on Russia's orders, as the two countries are locked in a battle over gas supplies. Ukraine, through which Russian gas transits to several European countries including Slovakia, is refusing to renew a gas delivery agreement with Moscow that is due to end at the end of the year, because of the Russian invasion.

In retaliation, Robert Fico has threatened measures on the delivery of electricity to Ukraine after January 1. “It appears that Putin has ordered Fico to open a second energy front against Ukraine to the detriment of the Slovak population,” wrote Volodymyr Zelensky on X. Bratislava is seeking to maintain this route, arguing that other routes would increase delivery costs, which could amount to 500 million euros.

Ukraine is forced to import electricity from several neighboring countries after Russia has relentlessly targeted its energy infrastructure. Slovakia accounts for 19% of Ukrainian electricity imports, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Slovakia is part of the single European energy market and Fico must respect common European rules”, wrote the Ukrainian president. According to Volodymyr Zelensky, such a decision by Robert Fico would deprive Slovakia of $200 million in revenue per year. Since taking office in 2023, Robert Fico has been one of the most ardent supporters of the Russian invasion of the European Union. He visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this week, after which the Russian leader said he was open to Slovakia's offer to host peace talks between Moscow and kyiv.

Significant North Korean losses

North Korean troops deployed in Russia's Kursk region are suffering heavy losses and are not receiving any support from the Russian military alongside which they are fighting, Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday. In his daily address, the Ukrainian president said the Russian military is sending North Korean troops into battle with minimal protection, and the North Koreans themselves are taking extreme measures to avoid being captured.

“Their losses are significant, very significant. We see that neither the Russian military nor their North Korean supervisors have any interest in ensuring the survival of these North Koreans,” Zelensky said. “Everything is done to make it impossible for us to capture them. There are cases when they are executed by their own forces. The Russians send them to attack with minimal protection,” he added.

Ukrainian and Western intelligence services estimate that about 12,000 North Korean troops have been deployed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces entered in August. Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that more than 3,000 North Korean troops had been killed or wounded in the fighting. He said on Friday that Ukrainian forces had managed to capture some North Korean soldiers.

“But they were seriously injured and it was not possible to save their lives,” he said. The Ukrainian president also called on China to use its influence with North Korea to prevent the latter from getting involved in the conflict triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.