Richard Eliezer jailed for 1.5 years over Brigadier J murder

Bharada Richard totaling or Bharada E in the verdict hearing at the South Jakarta District Court/PHOTO: Capture screen/Rizky Adytia-VOI

The South Jakarta District Court judge, on Wednesday, sentenced defendant Richard Eliezer (Bharada E) to one year and six months in prison in the premeditated murder case of Brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat (Brigdir J).

"Sentenced the defendant Richard Eliezer with imprisonment for one year and six months," Chief Judge Wahyu Iman Santoso stated during the trial at the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday.

He noted that Eliezer was legally and convincingly proven guilty of violating Article 340, subsidiary Article 338 juncto Article 55, paragraph (1) 1st of the Criminal Code.

In drafting the decision, the judges took into account aggravating and mitigating factors, while the incriminating aspect was that Eliezer's close relationship with the victim was not valued.

"(In terms of) the mitigating factor, the defendant is a witness to the perpetrators, who cooperated," judiciary panel member Alimin Ribut Sujono stated.

In presenting his considerations, Judge Sujono said the panel of judges concluded that Eliezer had deliberately intended to kill Brigadier J.

This conclusion was motivated by Eliezer's series of actions, such as answering, "Ready, Commander" on having received an order to shoot Brigadier J on the left side of his chest, Sujono stated.

"The series of activities reflected the defendant's inner attitude that was none other than showing intention to kill the victim," he remarked.

Moreover, Sujono stated that the other elements had been fulfilled, especially those of planning in advance and taking other people's lives.

Nonetheless, the panel of judges granted Eliezer the status of justice collaborator that further impacted the judge's decision.

Sujono explained that Eliezer was not the main actor, thereby making it possible for him to obtain the justice collaborator status.

"His honesty, courage, and determination to reveal this case deserved a justice collaborator status or a witness who is willing to cooperate," he remarked.

Eliezer's sentence was lighter than the demands of the public prosecutor on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.

Earlier, during a trial at the South Jakarta District Court, the public prosecutor’s team demanded a 12-year prison sentence to be handed down to Eliezer.

"Sentence the defendant Richard Eliezer Pudihang Lumiu with a prison term of 12 years," prosecutor Paris Manalu stated while reading out the charges before Chief Judge Wahyu Iman Santoso on January 18.

“The court declares that the defendant Richard Eliezer has been legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing the crime of premeditated murder. The court sentences the defendant Richard Eliezer to one year and six months in prison,” the presiding judge Wahyu Iman Santoso read out the verdict in today's hearing at the South Jakarta District Court, February 15, 2023.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD stated that the South Jakarta District Court handed an objective verdict to defendant Richard Eliezer (Bharada E) in the case involving the premeditated murder of Brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, also known as Brigadier J.

Mahfud MD conveyed the remarks while speaking to reporters at the Parliament building in Jakarta on Wednesday.

"I think the panel of judges has been really objective amidst internal and public pressure," the minister declared.

He said he believed that the sentencing of Eliezer has fulfilled the public’s sense of justice.

He further said he felt grateful and ecstatic over the verdict given by the judges. The judges have shown nationalism and integrity, he added.

“Therefore, we should congratulate (them). I don't know, I do not take sides, but today, I feel grateful and happy that we have nationalist and integrated judges," he remarked.

The South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday sentenced Eliezer to one year and six months in prison over the murder of Brigadier J.

Eliezer's sentence was lighter than the 12-year prison term sought by the public prosecutor on January 18, 2023.

"Sentenced the defendant Richard Eliezer with imprisonment for one year and six months," Chief Judge Wahyu Iman Santoso said during the trial at South Jakarta District Court.

Eliezer was legally and convincingly proven guilty of violating Article 340, subsidiary Article 338 juncto Article 55, paragraph (1) 1st of the Criminal Code, he added.

In arriving at their decision, the judges took aggravating and mitigating factors into account, and the incriminating aspect was that Richard Eliezer's close relationship with the victim was not valued.

"(In terms of) the mitigating factor, the defendant is a witness to the perpetrators, who cooperated," judiciary panel member Alimin Ribut Sujono said.

Video of The US Military Helicopter Crash in Alabama

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency confirmed that the helicopter was a UH-60 "Black Hawk" military helicopter. The Federal Aviation Administration also confirmed that a military helicopter was "involved" in a crash but declined to provide details on its origin or destination, referring questions to the military.

A Black Hawk military helicopter crashed on Wednesday in Madison County, Alabama, officials have confirmed. Huntsville Emergency Medical Services confirmed to local media that there were no survivors of the crash.

Unconfirmed media reports have stated six individuals were aboard the military chopper; however, authorities have yet to confirm the tally.

The crash reportedly took place just before 3 p.m. CST (21:00 GMT) just off of Highway 53 near an intersection with Burwell road, just north of Huntsville, Alabama. According to BNO News, no cars were hit by the falling helicopter.

Redstone Arsenal, aka Team Redstone, a nearby Army logistics center, base and airfield, said that the military helicopter did not come from their arsenal.

"Redstone Arsenal leaders are aware of reports of a helicopter incident near Highway 53 in Huntsville. First responders are on scene, and Redstone Arsenal is in full support of local authorities in their active investigation. Initial investigations have determined that the incident is not connected to Redstone Arsenal assets, and we will continue to support community authorities as the situation develops," Team Redstone said in a statement.

Redstone Arsenal is roughly 11 miles away from the crash site. No agencies have taken responsibility for the helicopter at press time.

Video shows Black Hawk helicopter falling out of the sky near Huntsville, Alabama, killing everyone on board pic.twitter.com/5UR7WOjZDh

— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) February 16, 2023

BNO News posted video of the crash captured by a nearby doorbell security camera. The helicopter drops from the sky vertically while slowly spinning. It falls behind some houses and out of sight. Moments later, a black cloud can be seen rising on the horizon.

A video shared by a Twitter user shows authorities on the scene while motorists wait in their cars. A massive black cloud can be seen at the wreckage site

A short video of the helicopter crash in Harvest (north of Huntsville) from Savanna Terry pic.twitter.com/v1T5vk4gq5

— James Spann (@spann) February 15, 2023

Both Highway 53 and Barnwell road are closed while officials investigate and clear the scene. Drivers are being asked to use alternative routes until further notice.

Moscow Slams Nordics for Sweeping Nord Stream Blast Under Carpet as Hersh Warns of Dire Costs for US

©Photo : Nord Stream 2 AG

Last week, bombshell reporting by veteran US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed that the Biden administration was directly responsible for September’s attacks against the Nord Stream network, which cut off a major Russian route for energy deliveries to Germany, and undermined Europe’s energy security.

Denmark and Sweden have failed to respond to Russian overtures to discuss the Nord Stream blasts for nearly six months now, with their behavior constituting nothing short of a “boorish” attempt to hide Washington's responsibility for the sabotage attack, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

“For half a year now they've been as silent as a fish on ice, and since September neither the Swedes nor the Danish have responded to official letters of our prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, who very politely offered to appoint some kind of contact person with whom it would be possible to hold talks, since [the attack] took place in the territorial waters of their exclusive zones, and the pipelines are the property of a Russian company,” Lavrov said, speaking to reporters on Wednesday.

“If since September the head of the Russian government is waiting for a reply from the absolutely independent sovereign states in question, if our ambassadors remind the prime ministers of these countries about once a month that they've been contacted, at least tell him 'yes mister prime minister, we have received your appeal but we're busy at the moment'.

But we haven't got even that. I think this is boorishness. But this boorishness masks the total failure of attempts to obscure the responsibility of the collective West, led by the United States, for this sabotage, for organizing this terrorist act,” the Russian top diplomat added.

Lavrov characterized the sabotage of Nord Stream a “final solution to the German gas issue” by its overseas partners. “Just as they are now trying to resolve the 'Russian question,' so did they want to resolve the 'German question,' so that Berlin would never try to play any kind of independent role in the foreseeable historical perspective," Lavrov said, recalling how competitively-priced and dependable Russian energy had enabled Germany to become Europe's leading economy.

“Germany was not just humiliated, but was put in its place – the place of a satellite of the United States, with Washington deciding whether the country can ensure its economic development, meet the social needs of its citizens through the use of gas coming through a pipeline which Berlin partially paid for itself.” The Biden administration doesn't seem to “give a damn about what hardship will befall many countries, including their close allies,” Lavrov emphasized.

Lavrov suggested that the modern history of Europe has shown that whenever Russia and Germany enjoy good relations and are able to cooperate economically, in logistics and even militarily, Europe enjoys calmer, more peaceful times, to the irritation of forces across the ocean or across the English Channel, who seek to command Europe's destiny.

1984-Style Blackout on Hersh Revelations

Commenting on Hersh’s bombshell reporting on the Nord Stream blasts, and the media blackout in coverage of the story except to attack or smear the veteran investigative reporter, Lavrov compared Western governments’ behavior to a “trend” straight out of a George Orwell novel in which the state keeps media firmly under control.

“Look at the reaction in the West to Hersh’s precise, fact-based revelations in connection with the explosions of Nord Stream 1 and 2,” Lavrov said. The Russian diplomat pointed out that if Moscow was to be blamed, for instance, for the disruption of an oil pipeline between Canada and the US, the media would be forced to write about it non-stop. But with Hersh’s story – grounded in facts, the reaction has been zilch.

Lavrov urged the foreign press to conduct fact-based investigations into the costs being borne by European economies after the rejection of Russian energy, and to dig more closely into the details of the revelations uncovered by Hersh.

Consequences

As the potential implications of his reporting for international politics continue to reverberate, Hersh said Wednesday that he expects the “enormous” political consequences of the US attack on Nord Stream to last for many years, “looking even at the potential of countries walking out of NATO.”

The investigative journalist, who has an unimpeachable reputation for accuracy and over 60 years of journalistic experience under his belt, has also blasted his detractors for their cowardice, pointing out that despite his long careers with both the New York Times and the Washington Post, “neither paper has run a word this point about the pipeline story, not even to quote the White House’s denial of my reporting.”

The Russian mission to the United Nations plans to organize a Security Council meeting on the attack on Nord Stream on February 22, citing “new information” about the attack unveiled in Hersh’s reporting.

'Sounds like a confession': Lavrov on Stoltenberg’s remark about war in Ukraine since 2014

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has effectively admitted that the West brought Russia hawks to power in Kiev and supported them in waging a war against Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the State Duma on Wednesday.

This was how Russia’s top diplomat commented on a remark by the NATO chief who said the almost year-long conflict in Ukraine had not changed the alliance fundamentally, as the bloc had been preparing for it since 2014.

"Thus, he confessed that they had placed Russophobes, and neo-Nazis in power [in Ukraine] and [that] they have been providing support to them in their war against Russia," Lavrov concluded.

Watch Russian Bear Bombers Patrol Off Alaska Amid America’s Balloon Mania

© Photo : Russian Defense Ministry

Several Russian strategic bombers and fighter jets were intercepted by North American air defence forces as they flew over international airspace near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) said, in routine incidents unrelated to tensions over the war in Ukraine.

The aircraft, which were identified on Monday, did not enter U.S. or Canadian airspace and did not pose a threat, the joint U.S.-Canadian centre said in a statement dated Feb. 14.

It added that the Russian flights were in no way related to the mysterious spate of airborne objects shot down by the U.S. military over North America in the past few weeks, the details of which remain unknown.

"NORAD had anticipated this Russian activity ... Two NORAD F-16 fighters intercepted the Russian aircraft," it said.

The United States also frequently carries out surveillance operations that do not enter other countries' airspace and such flights are a common part of military operations.

The US military was placed on heightened alert this month after the shootdown of a Chinese weather balloon off the coast of South Carolina. In the days that followed, US jets have been scrambled repeatedly to shoot down several more unidentified flying objects over American and Canadian airspace.

A pair of Tupolev Tu-95MS (NATO designation ‘Bear’) bombers completed a seven-hour patrol over the Chukchi Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk on Wednesday, the Russian military has indicated.

The nuclear-capable strategic bombers were escorted by Sukhoi Su-30 fighters from the Eastern Military District.

The Chukchi Sea borders on northern Alaska and the Russian Far Eastern region of Chukotka, while the Sea of Okhotsk is sandwiched between Russia’s Sakhalin Island and Kamchatka – the Russian peninsula that juts out into the northern Pacific Ocean.

Footage of the flight provided by the MoD shows Tu-95MSs and Su-30s taking off from an airbase, ascending to high altitudes, and then returning to base.

Wednesday’s flight followed a similar patrol by Tu-95MSs in the Bering Sea separating Russia and Alaska, and a flight over neutral waters in the Barents and Norwegian Seas by a pair of Tupolev Tu-160 White Swan bombers, on Tuesday. The latter flight is said to have lasted over 13 hours.

The MoD emphasized that “all flights by aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.”

A British tabloid touted Wednesday’s Bear flight a possible attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to “taunt” the US “in a show of strength to the West” amid the Chinese balloon-related paranoia which has gripped Washington and US media in recent weeks.

The strategic bombers which make up the aerial prong of Russia’s nuclear triad operate regularly over neutral waters in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans, as well as the Black and Baltic Seas.

The turboprop Bear bomber is a veteran mainstay of Russian strategic and maritime patrol aviation, and has been around for well over 60 years. Despite its age, the Tu-95 is still deemed to pack enough of a deterrent punch to get the job done – namely, to release its conventional or nuclear payload, which can include guided or cruise missiles fired at standoff ranges well beyond any air defenses, and safely return to base. The Tu-95MS is an upgraded version of the Tu-95 designed to carry the Kh-101 subsonic air-launched cruise missile, which has an operational range of up to 5,500 km. The Russian military plans to continue operating Bears until at least 2040.

Lavrov: Russia’s Updated Foreign Policy Concept to Focus on Suspending West’s Monopoly

©Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

Russia's new foreign policy concept will focus on the need to end the West's monopoly on shaping the framework of international relations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"In our updated foreign policy concept, we will talk about the need to end the West's monopoly on the formation of the framework of international life, the framework should henceforth be determined not in its selfish interests, but on a fairly universal basis of a balance of interests, as required by the UN Charter, which enshrined the principle of the sovereign equality of all states," Lavrov said during his speech at the State Duma.

The purpose of the West's hybrid war against Moscow is to turn Russia into a rogue state, Lavrov said.

"The United States and its satellites are carrying out a full-out hybrid war against us today, which has been in preparation for many years, using Ukrainian national radicals as a battering ram. The purpose of this war is not hidden — not only to defeat our country on the battlefield, destroying the Russian economy, but also to surround us with a cordon sanitaire, turn us into a kind of rogue state" Lavrov said.

The minister added that all West's attempts to isolate Russia have failed.

"Attempts to isolate Russia have failed, and our enemies have to admit it," the minister concluded.

Russia is delaying the payment of fees to organizations that discriminate against Moscow's interests, Lavrov said.

"We delay the payment of fees to organization where our interests are discriminated against. This happened, for example, in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, where an illegitimate mechanism contrary to the convention was introduced," Lavrov said.

The minister added that Russia is currently reviewing all its obligations to international organizations.

Lavrov says West violates its OSCE commitments by cancelling Russian media

Western steps to cancel Russian and Russian-language media are a gross violation of commitments made by Western countries within the OSCE, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday at a working meeting with the heads of foreign media outlets accredited in Russia.

The top diplomat noted that Russia regarded such actions as "intolerance to pluralism of opinion". "From the legal point of view, this line of abolition of Russian and Russian-language media blatantly violates the commitments that (Western countries) have undertaken within the OSCE to ensure media freedom and equal access to information for the population of all OSCE countries," Lavrov said.

He also recalled the words of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who had earlier stated that Western countries were banning Russian media in order to "protect freedom of speech". Lavrov pointed out that the initiative to ensure freedom of speech in 1990 was voiced by the very France that restricted the work of RT and Sputnik.

"I would like to point out an interesting fact: the main initiator of such an obligation to ensure access to information in 1990 was France, the same France that kicked RT and Sputnik out of the Elysee Palace years ago, declaring them instruments of Russian propaganda," the top diplomat said.

Russian air defenses intercept eight US-made HIMARS rockets in Ukraine operation

HIMARS multiple launch rocket system
©EPA-EFE/TOMS KALNINS, archive

Russian air defense forces destroyed 11 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles and eight rockets of US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Wednesday.

"In the past 24 hours, air defense capabilities shot down eight rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and also destroyed 11 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Sofiyevka, Popovka, Golikovo, Novokrasnyanka, Kremennaya, Zhitlovka and Chervonopopovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

Russian air defense systems shot down an American AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile in the sky over Makiivka in the DPR

Russian troops eliminated eight Ukrainian subversive groups in the Kupyansk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kupyansk direction, eight subversive/reconnaissance groups of the Ukrainian army were eliminated in areas near the settlements of Krakhmalnoye, Masyutovka, Pershotravnevoye and Timkovka in the Kharkov Region and Novosyolovskoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

The Ukrainian military suffered about 100 casualties in the Kupyansk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"The enemy’s losses in that [Kupyansk] direction in the past 24 hours totaled as many as 100 Ukrainian personnel killed and wounded, two armored combat vehicles, four motor vehicles and a D-30 howitzer," the spokesman said.

In the area of the settlement of Veterinarnoye in the Kharkov Region, Russian forces wiped out an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian army’s 113th territorial defense brigade, the general added.

"In the Kupyansk direction, army aviation and artillery of the western battlegroup inflicted damage on amassed manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 14th mechanized brigade and 103rd territorial defense brigade in areas near the settlements of Dvurechnaya and Kotlyarovka in the Kharkov Region," he said.

Russian forces eliminated roughly 65 Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Krasny Liman direction, army aviation and artillery of the battlegroup Center inflicted damage on units of the Ukrainian army’s 67th and 92nd mechanized brigades and 25th airborne brigade in areas near the settlements of Chervona Dibrova and Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Yampolovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

"As many as 65 Ukrainian personnel, an infantry fighting vehicle, two armored combat vehicles, three motor vehicles, two Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers and a Grad multiple rocket launcher were destroyed in that area in the past 24 hours," the general specified.

Russian forces destroyed roughly 190 Ukrainian troops in their advance in the Donetsk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Donetsk direction, as many as 190 Ukrainian personnel, two infantry fighting vehicles, an armored personnel carrier, three motor vehicles, a Msta-B howitzer and a US-made M777 artillery system were destroyed in the past 24 hours during the continued offensive and artillery fire of the southern battlegroup," the spokesman said.

Russian forces supported by artillery and heavy flamethrower systems struck Ukrainian army units near Ugledar and Novosyolka in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems of the battlegroup East inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army units in areas near the settlements of Ugledar and Novosyolka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

The enemy’s losses in those areas in the past 24 hours amounted to over 60 Ukrainian personnel, two tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, two armored combat vehicles, D-20 and D-30 howitzers, and also a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, the general specified.

Russian forces destroyed two Ukrainian howitzers in the Kherson area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kherson direction, a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer and a D-30 howitzer were destroyed in counter-battery fire," the spokesman said.

Russian forces struck 87 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions in the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"Army aviation, missile troops and artillery of the Russian group of forces struck 87 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 112 areas," the spokesman said.

In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 385 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 208 helicopters, 3,132 unmanned aerial vehicles, 404 surface-to-air missile systems, 7,875 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,020 multiple rocket launchers, 4,101 field artillery guns and mortars and 8,388 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, the general specified.

Russian army controls 20 communities in Kharkov Region

©AP Photo/Libkos

About 20 communities in the Kharkov Region are under the control of Russian forces, the head of the military-civilian administration Vitaly Ganchev said on Wednesday.

"We know that about 20 communities are already under the control of our armed forces. In addition, there are some communities in the gray zone," he said on the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

Russian tank crews working in the Avdeevka direction are studying the weaknesses of NATO tanks that the West is going to transfer to Kyiv, a tanker of the First Slavic Brigade with the call sign "Garik" told RIA Novosti

He also stated that the rest of the communities that had been under the control of Russian forces earlier would be systematically liberated. Fierce hostilities are in progress on the engagement line. The Ukrainian army is constantly bringing in reserves.

On January 31, Ganchev told TASS that the situation in the Russian-controlled communities of the Kharkov Region was difficult, as they were constantly under fire.

On September 10, 2022, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the regrouping of troops stationed in the Balakleya and Izyum districts of the Kharkov Region in order to step up efforts in Donbass. The region’s military-civilian administration announced evacuation, including to the territory of Russia.

Ukraine’s military creating multilayered defenses in Krasny Liman area, says LPR

"In the Krasny Liman area, the enemy is erecting new fortifications and building multilayered defensive lines. Not only servicemen and military equipment but also civilian municipal enterprises from the city of Kharkov are being involved in the engineering work," he said.

The Ukrainian military is also using agricultural machinery of private farms in the engineering work, he added.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on February 14 that artillery, combat aircraft and heavy flamethrower systems of Russia’s battlegroup Center had eliminated as many as 100 Ukrainian personnel and a multiple launch rocket system in the Krasny Liman area in the past 24 hours.

Special operation, 14 February. Main:

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces are striking in the Kupyansk, Krasnolimansk, Yuzhno-Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, the Ministry of Defense reported

▪️ Deliveries of military aircraft to Ukraine are not an urgent issue, but discussions are underway, NATO Secretary General said. The Pentagon chief said in turn that there were no announcements yet about the provision of fighter jets by Washington to Kyiv.

▪️ Kiev, with the support of the West, intends to accuse the Russian military of "radioactive contamination of large areas of Ukraine" as a result of their actions at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 2022, the Russian humanitarian headquarters said

▪️ Germany will supply Kyiv with 2 IRIS-T air defense systems in the coming months, and will also begin production of ammunition for the Gepard ZSU transferred to Kyiv, the country's Ministry of Defense said

▪️ Kyiv will receive Leopard tanks in March, said the head of the Polish Ministry of Defense

An ambulance driver from Bashkiria with the call sign "Ramses" had a reservation from mobilization, but decided to join the army in order to fulfill his duty. Now he is participating in the assault on Avdiivka as part of the Pyatnashka brigade.

The United States is considering transferring confiscated weapons and ammunition to Ukraine that were smuggled to rebels in Yemen but were intercepted, writes the Wall Street Journal

▪️ Ukrainian troops are not going to give Artemovsk without a fight yet, Pushilin said. Fierce fighting is going on in the southeastern part of Vugledar, but there are successes, he added.

▪️ The United States notes the advance of Russian forces in the Artemovsk region in recent days, but believes that even its fall for Kyiv will not affect the outcome of the situation in Ukraine, the White House said.

All the settlements of the Kharkiv region, which were under the control of Russia until September, will now be systematically released, the head of the regional administration said