Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The past winter was the second warmest in Russia in the entire history of observations. This was reported on March 5 by the scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center of the Russian Federation Roman Vilfand.
"The average winter temperature throughout the Northern Hemisphere repeated the record set last year to within 0.1 degrees. <…> In Russia, the winter turned out to be the second warmest in the entire history of observations," the specialist noted.
He explained that in each city experts conduct their own observations, so the starting point is different for everyone, but the Hydrometeorological Center takes 1891 as the starting point.
Vilfand added that the winter of 2019–2020 came first in terms of high temperatures. Then, the average temperature was above zero, which was a completely unique phenomenon.
Earlier, meteorologists predicted a warm March in Central Russia. According to experts, it is quite possible that the weather conditions will surprise residents of other regions of the country.
On February 21, Vilfand said that in Moscow at the beginning of March the air temperature will be several degrees higher than the climatic norm . According to the specialist, no snowfall is expected during this period.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 20:46 Ukraine is preparing agreements to increase Ukrainian production of weapons, primarily drones. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky in an evening video address on Wednesday, March 5.
20:24 Information about alleged plans to "register young men over 14 years old for military service" is fake. This was reported by the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on its Facebook page.
19:33 Russian troops have once again attacked the Kherson region, using artillery, multiple launch rocket systems and drones. Two people were killed and two women were injured. This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office on Wednesday, March 5.
19:03 Russian troops have once again attacked the Kherson region, using artillery, multiple launch rocket systems and drones. Two people were killed and two women were injured. This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office on Wednesday, March 5.
As a result, a 55-year-old man died. Another 41-year-old man died in Antonovka as a result of explosives being dropped from a UAV. He was on the street during the shelling and died from his injuries on the spot.
18:59 Over the past four months, Russians have handed over twice as many bodies as during the entire period of the full-scale war. This was stated in a statement by the Commissioner for Persons Missing in Action under Special Circumstances, Artur Dobroserdov, during the presentation of the documentary film Repatriation. Heroes on the Shield.
18:48 Ukraine and Europe are preparing a plan for the first steps to bring a fair and sustainable peace closer. It will be ready soon. This was announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Telegram following talks with Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob.
18:25 Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. An investment package worth 700 million euros with capital investment in drones was discussed. The head of government wrote about this on the social network X .
17:07 US President Donald Trump will consider resuming aid to Ukraine if peace talks are held and confidence-building measures are taken, US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said, Reuters reports.
Noted.
16.34 The United States has suspended the exchange of intelligence data with Ukraine, but not completely. American intelligence has stopped sharing data that could help the Ukrainian Armed Forces strike the aggressor state. This was reported on Wednesday, March 5, by the British TV channel SkyNews, citing an anonymous Ukrainian source.
Noted again.
16:31 Since the beginning of the day, 59 combat clashes have occurred on the front in nine directions. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on the progress of the battles in an operational summary as of 16:00.
16:27 The Security Service and the National Police have eliminated another fraudulent scheme to extort money from relatives of Ukrainian prisoners of war and missing persons. They detained a businessman who extorted tens of thousands of hryvnias from Ukrainian families.
15:59 A court in Kursk sentenced British and Northern Irish citizen James Scott Rhys Anderson to 19 years in prison for "committing a terrorist act and mercenary activity." This was reported by the Astra publication on its Telegram channel on Wednesday, March 5.
15.30 More than 3,000 residents remain in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, and more than 1,300 in the city of Rodinskoye, Pokrovsk community, their evacuation continues. This was reported by the head of the city military administration, Sergei Dobryak.
15:18 The United States has temporarily stopped providing weapons and intelligence data to Ukraine. This was stated by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Fox Business White House correspondent Edward Lawrence reported on the social network H.
Thrice noted.
14:57 Ukrainian military destroyed more than a dozen Russian vehicles and an electronic warfare system in the Liman direction. The strikes were carried out by pilots of unmanned systems. This was reported by the operational-strategic group of forces (OSGV) Khortytsia , which published a video.
14:46 The leaders of European states will begin substantive work on formulating a concept of EU security guarantees for Ukraine after the possible end of military actions. The guarantees will include the deployment of European troops on Ukrainian territory. This was reported by European Pravda , citing an EU official familiar with the preparation of the agenda for the EU summit, which will take place tomorrow in Brussels.
14:08 The leaders of Ukraine, France and Great Britain may make a joint visit to the United States. This was stated by the spokesperson of the French government Sophie Prima.
13:49 The Chinese authorities see "new trends" in the process of political settlement of the war in Ukraine. This was stated by the spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Lin Jian at a briefing. In the Ukrainian issue, China continues to insist on the need to comply with four principles in resolving disagreements, Beijing recalled.
13.37 Russian troops fired a Molniya -type drone at Kharkiv on March 5. There are no reports of casualties yet. This was reported by the city's mayor Igor Terekhov on Wednesday, March 5.
Subsequently, the mayor confirmed the arrival of Lightning in an abandoned area in the Osnovyansky district.
"There is no fire and no casualties at this moment," he stressed.
13:29 Two Russian soldiers are suspected of committing sexual violence in the Donetsk region during the occupation of a village in 2022. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General on Wednesday, March 5.
Natives of the Khabarovsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region were exposed in the commission of sexual violence during the temporary occupation of a village in the Donetsk Region.
12:19 On March 4, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted changes to the procedure for booking military-liable employees of mobile operators and Internet providers.
Now, reservations are required for workers involved in the construction of networks resistant to power outages using xPON technology, as well as creating energy-independent telecom networks along highways and national roads.
12:16 The Cabinet of Ministers approved a 10-year construction of bomb shelters. The cost is UAH 789.3 billion, mainly due to international aid.
12:09 Ukraine received a total of more than EUR 2 billion in aid thanks to the Drone Coalition, which united 17 countries to develop technological superiority over the enemy. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Defense on Wednesday, March 5.
11:59 Drone operators of the unmanned systems battalion and the RV unit of the 28th separate separate brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign destroyed several tanks and personnel of the Russians near Toretsk, Donetsk region.
11:36 Officials from the Trump administration held behind-the-scenes talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team after a dispute in the White House, CNN reported, citing sources.
10:58 Chinese troops may unofficially appear in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Ukraine. This was reported by the National Resistance Center. China wants to gain combat experience from the example of how North Korea does it, sources say.
Of North Korea? How odd…
10:25 On Wednesday night, the Ukrainian military shot down 115 Russian drones, and another 55 UAVs were lost. The details of the attack were reported by the Ukrainian Air Force.
10:14 The Security Service detained an FSB agent in Odessa who was preparing a terrorist attack in southern Ukraine on orders from Russia. The terrorist turned out to be a 20-year-old drug addict from the Odessa region, recruited by the FSB through a Telegram channel looking for "easy" money.
Following instructions from the Russian special services, the agent purchased components from which he planned to personally make an IED and disguise it as a fire extinguisher.
The man was then supposed to leave the explosives at the address he was expecting from the Russians. After that, the occupiers planned to detonate the IED by calling a phone connected to the explosive device.
9:16 At night, Russian troops again attacked the Kyiv region using attack drones. In the Boryspil district, due to falling UAV debris, the glazing of 85 apartments in two apartment buildings, 20 cars, two minibuses, a store, a private house, two warehouses, two hangars, and the windows of a kindergarten and a school were damaged.
8:45 There have been 108 combat clashes on the front in 24 hours, with the Russian army attacking the Kursk, Liman and Pokrovsk directions most intensively. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
8:16 On the night of March 5, Russian troops launched a missile attack on Pavlograd in the Dnipropetrovsk region, damaging two industrial enterprises. This was reported by the head of the Dnipropetrovsk OVA Serhiy Lysak. According to him, a fire broke out at one of them as a result of the attack. It was extinguished. Windows in two five-story buildings were also damaged. No one was hurt.
7:49 Over the past 24 hours, the Defense Forces have neutralized 1,250 Russian invaders and 23 artillery systems. The total combat losses of the Russians from 24.02.22 to 05.03.25 are estimated at about 880,660 people. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
02:00 On the night of March 5, Russian troops carried out a massive drone attack in the Odessa region. A 77-year-old man was killed. The strike also damaged critical infrastructure in Odessa - part of the city was left without electricity, water and heat. In addition, private houses in the suburbs of Odessa were damaged by the debris of the downed drones, and a fire broke out.
01:10 Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that Minsk is ready to organize negotiations between US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. At the same time, Lukashenko said that he would not like to play the role of mediator in the "Ukrainian issue".
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The Ukrainian Armed Forces are engaged in heavy fighting in the east and south of Ukraine.
Russian troops organized 11 assaults in the Pokrovsky direction, but all of them ended without result for the invaders.
Since the beginning of the day, 59 combat clashes have occurred on the front in nine directions. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an operational report as of 16:00 on Wednesday, March 5.
Thus, in the Kharkov direction, Russian occupiers are trying to break through the defense in the direction of Vovchansk. The situation is under the control of the Defense Forces.
In the Kupyansk direction, the enemy once unsuccessfully attacked the positions of our units in the area of the settlement of Golubovka.
In the Liman direction, the invaders carried out five attacks near Novomikhaylovka and Novoye. Four combat clashes are currently ongoing.
In the Kramatorsk direction, our defenders repelled four attacks in the areas of Chasovy Yar, Aleksandro-Shultino and Predtechino. One combat clash continues.
In the Toretsk direction, the Russians tried to attack in the areas of Toretsk, Dachnoye and Dilievka. The Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled nine assaults, and three more clashes are still ongoing.
In the Pokrovsky direction, the enemy carried out 11 assaults in the areas of Elizavetovka, Promin, Peschanoye, Kotlino, Bogdanovka, Kotlyarovka and Andreyevka. The defense forces repelled all attacks.
In the Novopavlovsk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces stopped two enemy attacks in the area of Constantinople and Burlatskoye.
In the Orekhov direction, our defenders successfully repelled the enemy attack in the direction of Kamenskoye.
In the Kursk direction, Ukrainian defenders have repelled eight assaults, and four more clashes are ongoing.
Let us recall that in one day on March 4, the Ukrainian Armed Forces neutralized 1,250 Russian invaders. The total combat losses of the aggressor country Russia exceeded 880 thousand people.
Kindly note that the Russian MoD has lifted the requirement for a VPN to access their sites; This change went into effect, presumably, on March 1st.
[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kharkov direction, the Sever Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on formations of a mechanised brigade of the AFU, a territorial defence brigade, and two border guard units close to Lobanovka, Kazachya Lopan, Veterinarnoye, and Volchansk (Kharkov region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 40 troops, an infantry fighting vehicle, four motor vehicles, an artillery gun, and an electronic warfare station.
Units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation. Russian troops hit five mechanised brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Kupyansk, Podvysokoye (Kharkov region), Novoye, Shandrigolovo (Donetsk People's Republic), Novolyubovka (Lugansk People's Republic) as well as the Serebryansky forestry.
The AFU losses amounted to more than 200 troops, six pick-up trucks, five field artillery guns including three Western-made artillery pieces, an Anklav-N electronic warfare station, and three ammunition depots.
Units of the Yug Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions. Russian units damaged formations of four mechanised brigades of the AFU, a territorial defence brigade, and two national guard brigades close to Pleshcheyevka, Shevchenko, Dyleyevka, Krymskoye, Seversk, Aleksandropol, Minkovka, and Konstantinovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 245 troops, two motor vehicles, three field artillery guns, and an electronic warfare station.
Units of the Tsentr Group of Forces continued advancing to the depth of the enemy's defences. The units of four mechanised brigades, an assault brigade, three jaeger brigades, an unmanned aerial vehicles brigade, an assault regiment of the AFU, a naval infantry brigade, and two national guard brigades were hit close to Novopavlovka, Krasnoarmeysk, Zverevo, Kotlino, Uspenovka, Udachnoye, Yelizavetovka, Petrovskogo, Dimitrov, Mirolyubovka, Alekseyevka, Zelyonoye, and Sribnoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 600 troops, five infantry fighting vehicles including four Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, an M113 armoured personnel carrier, three U.S.-made MaxxPro armoured fighting vehicles as well as two artillery guns.
The Vostok Group of Forces liberated Privolnoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
Russian troops engaged formations of three mechanised brigades, a jaeger brigade, an assault regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, two territorial defence brigades, and a national guard brigade near Kamyshevakha, Bogatyr, Fyodorovka, Iskra, Dneproenergiya, Novopol, Burlatskoye (Donetsk People's Republic), Yanvarskoye (Dnepropetrovsk region), and Gulyaipole (Zaporozhye region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 175 troops, a tank, an armoured fighting vehicle, four motor vehicles, and four field artillery guns including a U.S.-made Paladin and a Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery systems.
The Dnepr Group of Forces engaged the manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades, three coastal defence brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and three territorial defence brigades close to Pyatikhatki, Novodanilovka, Shcherbaki, Lukyanovskoye, Malaya Tokmachka (Zaporozhye region), Antonovka, Dneprovskoye, and Lvovo (Kherson region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 90 troops, seven motor vehicles, a field artillery gun, and three electronic warfare stations.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack UAVs, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have engaged the infrastructure of military airfields, an oil tank that provided fuel for AFU units, production laboratories and drone control posts, the base of the boats of the special operation forces of the AFU, the Kraken Nationalist Formation Headquarters as well as clusters of manpower and hardware of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and foreign mercenaries in 150 areas.
Air defence systems shot down six U.S.-made JDAM guided bombs and 51 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 656 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 45,318 unmanned aerial vehicles, 600 anti-aircraft missile systems, 21,989 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,523 MLRS combat vehicles, 22,286 field artillery guns and mortars, and 32,455 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise AFU formations on the territory of Kursk region.
In the course of offensive actions, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on formations of a heavy mechanised brigade, five mechanised brigades, a motorised infantry brigade, an assault brigade, two air assault brigades, two territorial defence brigades, and two assault regiments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Goncharovka, Gornal, Zaoleshenka, Kazachya Lonknya, Pervy Knyazhy, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Rubanshchina, Staraya Sorochina, and Sudzha. Three enemy counter-attacks were repelled.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the enemy near Bondarevka, Viktorovka, Guyevo, Dmitryukov, Zazulevka, Zamostye, Vtoroy Knyazhy, Kolmakov, Kositsa, Loknya, Melovoy, Mirny, Cherkasskaya Konopelka, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, Yuzhny as well as Basovka, Belovody, Vodolagi, Zhuravka, Zapselye, Miropolye, Novenkoye, and Yunakovka (Sumy region).
Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 215 troops, a tank, two infantry fighting vehicles, four armoured fighting vehicles, 12 motor vehicles, two field artillery guns, and two mortars, a signal intelligence station, a counterobstacle vehicle as well as six UAV command posts
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk direction, the AFU losses amounted to more than 65,060 troops, 384 tanks, 295 infantry fighting vehicles, 255 armoured personnel carriers, 2,131 armoured fighting vehicles, 2,307 motor vehicles, 510 artillery guns, 52 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and seven of MLRS made by the USA, 25 anti-aircraft missile launchers, one self-propelled anti-aircraft system, ten transport-loading vehicles, 118 EW stations, 15 counter-battery warfare radars, nine air defence radars, 52 units of engineering and other materiel, including 20 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, five bridge launchers, one engineering reconnaissance vehicle as well as 14 armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:58 Official summary of the Office for Documentation of War Crimes of Ukraine from 00:00 05.03.2025 to 00:00 06.03.2025.
A total of 16 facts of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
There were reports of one civilian being killed and two injured.
DAMAGED:
One truck,
One residential building,
Three cars,
Two civil infrastructure facilities.
A total of 16 armed attacks in the Gorlovka direction.
A total of 57 units of various ammunition were fired.
19:50 From 18:00 to 18:15 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the territory of the Belgorod region.
19:15 During a combat hunt in the Kursk border area, a detachment of Tiger UAVs destroyed a T-80 of neo-Nazi formations with two strikes from the Prince Vandal drone. We continue to burn the enemy and liberate our native land, –video.
18:15 Donetsk direction: T-72B3 tank crews of the "Southern" group of forcescontinueprovide fire support to motorized rifle units, ensuring the advance of Russian troops.
17:50 Dzerzhinsky direction
Enemy breaks through to the Zabalka microdistrict of Dzerzhinsk from the direction of Shcherbinovka by equipment. Destruction of the attacking enemy.
16:40 Attack drone crews of the Atlant battalion of the 35th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Center group of forces destroyed the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ manpower, disrupting the rotation of enemy units, –video.
16:00 Dnepropetrovsk direction
Enemy pushed a side our units in Uspenovka and to the north near the Solenaya River.
In this area, the enemy’s desire to break through to Novotroitskoye and encircle our units to the north is clearly visible in cooperation with enemy units counterattacking from the Belgiyka – Zverevo (Shevchenko – Peschanoye) line.
Southwest of Nadezhdinka, our units continue to put pressure in the direction of Kotlyarovka and Preobrazhenka.
North of Andreyevka our assaults attack the enemy in the direction of Zaporozhye, in the opposite direction, in the fields along the plantings. Advancement here is difficult due to the rather open nature of the terrain.
15:50 The enemy does not stops attacks the border areas of the Zaporizhia region.
In the morning, a Ukrainian UAV attacked another village in the Pologovsky District – Novoselovka. As a result, a civilian died – a man born in 1981. During the attack, he hid behind an electric concrete support, which was hit.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are currently shelling the city of Tokmak in the Tokmak Municipal District. Air defense is in operation. Asking residents to remain in shelters until the situation stabilizes.
15:45 To the central office came a report presented on the investigation into the violation of housing rights of the family of a deceased SVO participant in the Chelyabinsk region
Social media reports that a large family from Chelyabinsk, the head of which died in the SVO, may be left without housing. The house where they live has been declared unsafe. The amount offered by local authorities as part of the resettlement for the purchase of other housing is too small and will not allow them to purchase an apartment of the appropriate size and quality. The investigative bodies of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Chelyabinsk Region are conducting an investigation into this fact.
14:41 In the Kursk border area, the crew of the MI-28NM launched a guided missile attack on a Ukrainian tank in a closed firing position, –video.
13:30 Mortarmen of the 9th Motorized Rifle Regiment support the attack aircraft with fire
Russian troops are pressing the Ukrainian Armed Forces, getting closer to the border of the Kursk region, but the enemy is making every effort to maintain its presence on Russian territory for as long as possible.
12:50 Calculations of FPV drones of the Rubicon Center struck equipment and manpower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the border area of the Kursk region.
12:10 Units of the "East" group of forces, as a result of active and decisive actions released the settlement of Privolnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic.
11:35 Calculations of strike UAVs of the special purpose battalion of the 51st combined arms army daily applied strikes against personnel and equipment of Ukrainian nationalists on the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic.
A Ukrainian MTLB tractor was identified in the Krasnoarmeysk direction. The Ukrainian Armed Forces tractor was destroyed along with its crew by a direct hit from an FPV drone.
Southwest of Krasnoarmeysk, the operator of a Russian drone destroyed an artillery piece along with its ammunition by accurately dropping high-explosive fragmentation munitions of increased power.
The drone operators also hit the identified firing position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' anti-tank missile system.
10:45 Specialists of the separate communications battalion of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army of the "West" group conducted training sessions with assault unit servicemen.
9:55 UAV operators destroyed a Ukrainian tank in the Sudzhan border area, –video.
8:15 Information on strikes carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Belgorod region over the past 24 hours:
In the Belgorod region in the village of Dubovoye, the villages of Krasnoye, Krasny Khutor and Repnoyereleased7 ammunition during one shelling, also the air defense system repelled attacks of five aircraft-type UAVs. In the village of Dubovoye, one private house and an outbuilding were damaged.
In the Valuysky municipal district, six drones were suppressed. There were no consequences.
In the Volokonovsky district, the villages of Borisovka and Tishanka were subjected to three artillery attacks, during which 11 artillery shells were fired, and an attack by one drone. In the village of Tishanka, five private houses, four outbuildings, a gas pipeline and a power line were damaged.
Emergency services will begin restoration work after coordination with the Russian Ministry of Defense.
In the Graivoronsky municipal district, the village of Gorkovsky was shelled using three rounds of ammunition. No consequences.
In the Krasnoyarsk region, eight rounds of ammunition were fired at the villages of Vyazovoe, Grafovka, Demidovka and Popovka during three artillery attacks and three drone attacks were carried out. No casualties or destruction.
In the Shebekinsky municipal district, the city of Shebekino, the villages of Belyanka, Voznesenovka, Meshkovoe, Murom, Novaya Tavolzhanka, Rzhevka, as well as the hamlets of Maryino and Mukhin were subjected to two artillery attacks, during which seven munitions were fired, and were attacked by 21 drones, 18 of which were shot down and suppressed. There were no consequences.
7:10 During the past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed five Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles:
three UAVs over the territory of the Republic of Crimea and
one UAV each over the territories of the Kursk and Bryansk regions.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Vladimir Dobrynin
[REGNUM] Unexpectedly for many, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez showed demonstrative concern for Ukraine, publicly promising it a billion euros of Spanish generosity. But money alone will not do in this matter. In Europe, there is talk of sending troops to Ukraine.
No sooner had the sounds of the latest speech about military support for Ukraine died down at the London meeting of the heads of 12 European countries than the Spanish TV channel LaSexta immediately began to find out whether Spanish politicians from the parties represented in parliament agreed with the idea of sending troops.
95.2% of Socialist MPs, 87.5% of the leftist Sumar party, and 77.2% of the opposition People's Party voted in favor of sending military units to Ukraine.
The right-wing populist group Vox came out strongly against this initiative - 77.8% of its deputies rejected the proposal to send troops, while only 20.4% were in favor. However, given the small number of right-wing "ultras" in Congress, the final percentage of those who supported sending troops to Ukraine was simply overwhelming - 81.7%.
True, one can assume that the opinion of ordinary Spaniards will differ greatly from what the deputies showed, but the television people did not poll the street on this topic.
In an interview with the Telecinco (Fifth Button) television channel, the head of Spanish diplomacy, José Manuel Albarez, expressed a reserved attitude towards the possibility of sending troops to ensure peace in Ukraine.
This measure, according to the head of the Spanish Foreign Ministry, is part of the points agreed upon this Sunday at a meeting of Western leaders in London under the leadership of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and in the presence of the head of the Kiev regime, Volodymyr Zelensky. Agreed upon, but not yet approved, Albarez emphasized.
“It seems to me premature to talk about peacekeeping forces when there is still no peace and when we still do not know whether what some call peace is just a ceasefire that will become chronic, or, even worse, just an intermediate stage between two wars,” the minister said rather confusingly on Monday.
Prime Minister Sánchez declined to comment on the recent talks between the "coalition of the willing," as the Spanish press calls the group of European dignitaries meeting in London. This behavior gave opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who leads the Popular Party, the opportunity to take another jab at his political rival.
"In the current circumstances, we are forced to insist that the Prime Minister disclose to the members of Congress both the content of the initiatives to establish peace in Ukraine and specify what is meant by the 1 billion euros he recently promised in aid to Kiev, " El Periodico quotes Feijóo as saying. "We must know where our government is leading us."
The publication's correspondent Ivan Khil believes that "Pedro Sanchez is trying to remove the issue of sending troops to Ukraine on a peacekeeping mission from the agenda at the European level. And here he has to fight against the Starmer-Macron tandem, who again and again insist on the need to introduce a NATO peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine."
It was not possible to find confirmation of the Spanish Prime Minister’s peaceful attitude in other publications in the kingdom.
"In Moncloa (the seat of the Spanish government. - Ed.) they assure that they are not avoiding debates in parliament on the topic of participation in the NATO peacekeeping mission, " an anonymous source in the government assured Gil. "But they simply believe that the time has not yet come. There is no point in talking about anything until an agreement on at least a ceasefire in Ukraine is signed."
Other government sources give the impression that peace on the terms demanded by European countries is still a long way off. Even if talks take place in the short term, they say, the debate over troop deployment will be nuanced, starting with whether peacekeepers will operate under the flag of the North Atlantic alliance, the United Nations or the EU.
Foreign Minister Albarez assured that Spain will be "among those who write history" as a "leading actor" in the decisions taken, and not as a secondary player "uncritically joining the consensus."
For this reason, he "did not close the door" to sending Spanish troops to Ukraine on a "peacekeeping mission." However, he would like to stress that the current discussion is "political and diplomatic, not military and implementation-oriented."
In connection with the issue of sending troops to Ukraine, Spanish politicians are also discussing the EU and NATO directives calling for each of the alliance member states to increase their defense spending to 2% of annual GDP. Madrid “still aims to achieve this figure by 2029.” In other words: we’ll try sometime later. There is no money here and now.
Sanchez intends to take steps to strengthen European defense "in the face of the threat posed by Putin." At the same time, the Spanish Prime Minister expects that both Spain and the EU as a whole will be able to achieve this "outside the national budgets." That is, by creating another fund of hundreds of billions of euros, which will have to be borrowed from somewhere and then gradually repaid.
Such debts may have to be repaid over several decades, some experts believe.
They also do not rule out that the same thing could happen to this fund as happened to the billions with which the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, “on behalf and on behalf” of the European Union and “in one person,” purchased several billion doses of the so-called anti-Covid vaccine from Pfizer.
The court, the prosecutor's office and a team of investigative journalists are now working to clarify the details of this operation.
Several small parliamentary factions representing small parties in Spain are not thrilled with the “two percent prospect” (and also with the proposed introduction of troops into Ukraine).
For example, the once-powerful but now dwarfed Podemos party called for Spain to leave NATO. Others, such as the Catalan ERC and the Basque EH Bildu, took a less radical stance, merely questioning the need for increased defense spending. Vox simply declared that it would not accept the idea of sending Spanish troops “beyond NATO’s eastern border.”
ElPeriodico's anonymous experts independently expressed a unanimous opinion that Sánchez will bet on dragging out the troop-sending talks, possibly in the hope that the situation will somehow resolve itself.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/06/2025 11:45 Comments ||
Top||
#2
IMO
For 30 year the European tail been wagging the American dog.
And, since Europeans have a hatred of the Jewish state programmed in them on genetic level, that cost my country a lot of blood.
So, I do hope they send they soldiers to Ukraine. And I do hope that Russians treat them as previous invaders.
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