PARIS — French and German defense companies are setting up local shops in Ukraine for arms maintenance — a first step toward manufacturing weapons in the country.
This week, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office gave the green light to a proposed joint venture between Rheinmetall, a German arms maker, and the Ukrainian Defense Industry, a Ukrainian state-owned defense group.
France’s Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu traveled to Kyiv this week with about 20 French defense contractors — reportedly including Thales, MBDA, Nexter and Arquus — to facilitate partnerships with Ukrainian officials.
On Friday, the Ukrainian capital hosted the Defense Industries Forum, an arms fair attended by 165 defense companies from 26 countries.
At the event, Ukrainian officials metdirectly with defense companies to sign contracts without going through Western governments, explore joint production opportunities and provide specific input about their needs on the ground in the fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.
The goal is to “boost co-production and cooperation to strengthen Ukraine and our partners,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said earlier this week.
The arms fair is taking place as Western armies, especially in Europe, are reaching the limit of what they can give to Ukraine from their own stocks. For the past few months, Ukraine has sought to ramp up its own arms industry, in part because U.S. elections in 2024 could mean a return of Donald Trump as president. The former leader has hinted at not providing much support to Kyiv if he wins a second term.
As Kyiv prepares for a long war, capitals such as Paris are seeking to shift from donations to contracts and cooperation with the private sector.
French pivot
In the past week, French officials have started to hammer home a new message: France can no longersustaingiving weapons to Ukraine and will insteadplug Ukrainian officials into the country’s defense industry.
According to a government report, France delivered €640.5 million worth of weapons to Ukraine in 2022, including 704 missile launchers and portable anti-tank rocket launchers, 562 12.7mm machine guns, 118 missiles and missile launchers, and 60 armored fighting vehicles for free.
“We can’t continue to take resources from our armed forces indefinitely, otherwise we’ll be damaging our own defense capabilities and the training levels of our troops,” Lecornu told French TV Sunday.
Ukrainian servicemen ride on a T-64 tank during a military training exercise in Kyiv region | Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images
Creating bridges between Ukrainian officials and French companies will “create long-term solidity, a more contractual relationship for ammunition and maintenance,” he told lawmakers two days later.
In Kyiv this week, French defense contractors did ink deals with Ukraine for artillery, armored vehicles, drones and mine clearance — including for cooperation in the war-torn country.
According to Le Figaro, French firm Arquus signed a letter of intent Thursday to ensure the maintenance of armored personnel carriers on the ground, and could install a production facility in the future. Nexter CEO Nicolas Chamussy — the manufacturer of the Caesar self-propelled howitzer — also told the French outlet it was looking for a local partner to create a joint venture for maintenance.
French startup Vistory will build two 3D-printing factories to make spare parts, according to La Croix.
Germany, Sweden and UK
France’s shift comes on the heels of similar plans with British arms manufacturer BAE Systems and the Swedish government.
In August, Kyiv and Stockholm signed a statement of intent to deepen cooperation “in production, operation, training, and servicing” of the Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90) platform, manufactured by a Swedish branch of BAE Systems. A few days later, BAE Systems announced it would set up a local entity to ramp up production of 105mm light artillery guns.
The German competition authority’s decision this week to green-light Rheinmetall’s joint venture with the Ukrainian Defense Industry — which will be based in Kyiv and operate exclusively in Ukraine — paves the way for a partnership designed to maintain and service military vehicles. It will also include “assembly, production and development of military vehicles.”
Both parties also hope to eventually develop military systems jointly, “including for subsequent export from Ukraine.”
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger expressed a desire to manufacture the company’s next generation Panther tank in Ukraine — up to 400 per year. Although still a prototype, the new tank would be the successor of the company’s Leopard 2 main battle tank.
Laura Kayali reported from Paris. Caleb Larson reported from Berlin.
LONDON — Britain is in talks to move more training and production of military equipment into Ukraine, U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said.
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, which took place following a briefing with Chief of the General Staff Patrick Sanders on Friday, Shapps said he had been “talking today about eventually getting the training brought closer and actually into Ukraine as well.”
“Particularly in the west of the country, I think the opportunity now is to bring more things ‘in country,’ and not just training but also we’re seeing [U.K. defense firm] BAE, for example, move into manufacturing in country,” he said.
“I’m keen to see other British companies do their bit as well by doing the same thing. So I think there will be a move to get more training and production in the country,” Shapps said.
The U.K. and other NATO members have so far avoided setting up a military presence in Ukraine to reduce the risk of a direct conflict between the defense alliance and Russia.
Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of Russia’s security council, suggested that British soldiers training Ukrainian troops in Ukraine would make them legitimate targets for Russian forces. The move would “turn your instructors into legal targets for our armed forces,” Medvedev said on Telegram. “Knowing full well that they will be mercilessly destroyed. And not as mercenaries, but precisely as British NATO specialists.”
Shapps traveled to Kyiv last week where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Talking about Russian attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea, Shapps said: “It’s important that we don’t allow a situation to establish by default that somehow international shipping isn’t allowed in that water.”
KYIV — Mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group are back fighting on the front line in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian military official told POLITICO on Wednesday.
Several hundred fighters from the group once ruled by now-dead warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin were spotted fighting in the ranks of different Russian military units on the eastern front, said Colonel Serhiy Cherevatyi.
After Wagner was thrown into disarray following an aborted insurrection against the Kremlin in June led by Prigozhin — who subsequently died in a fiery plane crash in August — many of its troops were either welcomed to Belarus by its ruler Alexander Lukashenko or deployed to African countries where Russia has interests.
“Wagnerites were not hiding. Maybe they thought it would scare our soldiers. In fact, that showed Russia needs new meat for the grinder,” said Cherevatyi, deputy commander of Ukraine’s eastern group of troops for strategic communications. “Wagner as an organization was finished in Bakhmut. Now their more fortunate soldiers are sent to Africa, where there’s more money. The less fortunate ones are back to Ukraine.”
He added that Ukrainian wiretapping and reconnaissance had been used to confirm that former Wagner forces were back on the Donbas battlefield, but warned, “We know everything about them.”
Ukraine’s National Resistance Center previously reported that fewer than 1,000 Wagner mercenaries remained in Belarus as of September.
“Currently, 200 of them remain instructors in the special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Belarus. The rest are those who do not want to be recruited either to the new PMCs or to the Russian defense ministry,” the resistance center said, citing its sources on the ground.
Earlier, CNN reported that Wagner fighters are back in Ukraine, citing Ukrainian soldiers fighting around Bakhmut. Wagner’s Telegram channels have been quiet on Ukraine, currently posting news from Belarus, Niger, and Mali.
“I see nothing special in their return. Wagner is no longer a powerful force. Those who returned are far from being in a good fighting mood, as they know what to expect here,” Cherevatyi said. “Furthermore, they are now under the control of the Defense Ministry.
“They used to call themselves soldiers of fortune but now they are more like misfortune soldiers.”
Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Admiral Viktor Sokolov attends a ceremony marking 240th anniversary of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea May 13, 2023.
Alexey Pavlishak | Reuters
Mystery continues to surround the fate of the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, who Ukraine claimed it had killed in a missile strike on the Russian naval headquarters in Crimea.
Russia’s Defense Ministry published a video Tuesday in which Adm. Viktor Sokolov was seen attending a video conference with Russian defense officials — although it is unknown if that meeting actually took place that day or when the video was filmed. Neither Sokolov or the naval commanders speak during the video.
The plot thickened Wednesday when a television station run by the Defense Ministry published a second video purportedly showing Sokolov alive. The channel, Zvezda, posted the video on Telegram, calling it an “exclusive.” Posting an excerpt from the interview and attributing the comments to Sokolov, it said:
″The Black Sea Fleet is successfully carrying out the tasks the command has set to us, this includes the surface and underwater forces, the sea aviation, the coastal troops. You know these reports which are almost constantly on TV telling about the heroic deeds of our marines.” The post was translated by NBC.
Again, it’s unknown if the interview was filmed before or after Ukraine’s strike on the headquarters.
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Questions are being asked as to why Ukraine’s claims over Sokolov’s apparent death have not been referenced in either video, given that they offered ripe opportunities for Russia and Sokolov himself to rebuff the assertions.
A top British defense analyst questioned the authenticity of the first Russian video, saying it looks “odd” and was not conclusive evidence that Sokolov is still alive.
Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Viktor Sokolov (left) appears on the screen at the meeting that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held with ministry officials in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 26, 2023.
Russian Defense Ministry | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
“We’ve looked at the video, it’s not very clear and it jumps around quite a lot. We’ve located the person on the video who looks most like Sokolov, and it may be him, but it’s not a completely clear match,” defense and security analyst Michael Clarke told Sky News on Tuesday.
“It could be Sokolov, looking at previous photographs of him. On the other hand, there’s still no proof that this video is really current,” he said, adding that “there’s a lot of evidence that Sokolov was in the building that was hit on Friday by a couple of Storm Shadow missiles.”
“So, it is possible that Sokolov lives. But I think the Russians would have to produce more convincing evidence than this if they want to be taken seriously on this particular issue.”
Viktor Sokolov attends a ceremony marking the 240th anniversary of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea, on May 13, 2023.
Alexey Pavlishak | Reuters
Clarke noted that it was “odd that producing a rather vague video and saying he’s here somewhere, and leaving it to news organizations like us to try to work out who it might be, is less than clear in the message they were trying to send.”
The emergence of the video certainly puts Ukraine in an awkward position as it appeared to directly contradict Ukraine’s claims on Monday that its strikes on the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol on Friday had killed the commander and 33 other naval officers, as well as injuring more than 100 other personnel.
Ukraine did not say how it had counted the number of dead and injured and had not named any alleged victims.
After the video’s emergence, Ukraine conceded that Sokolov’s death had not been confirmed, saying it was still “clarifying information” around the attack, stating on Telegram:
“As is known, 34 officers were killed as a result of a missile attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. Available sources claim that among the dead was the commander of the Russian Army. Many still have not been identified due to the disparity of body fragments,” Ukraine’s special operations forces said.
“Since the Russians were urgently forced to publish an answer with an apparently alive Sokolov, our units are clarifying the information,” it added.
Earlier, the Kremlin said it had no comment on Ukraine’s claim that Sokolov had been killed in the attack.
Close followers of the war say the episode could reflect badly on Ukraine because it could cast doubts on other information it publishes or claims it makes in the war.
Sam Ramani, a geopolitical analyst and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, noted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that while many Ukrainian sources claimed that Sokolov was dead, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, had been more cautious in his analysis “and focused on injuries to other key personnel.”
It now looked “like Budanov’s cautious approach was correct,” Ramani said.
The Institute for the Study of War said in analysis Tuesday that “the situation remains unclear at this time” and that it was “unprepared at this time to make an assessment about the authenticity of the Russian MoD’s footage of Sokolov or about Sokolov’s status on Earth.”
If it’s proved that Sokolov is alive, it will be a disappointing blow for Ukraine as it looks to disable the capabilities of Russia’s prized and historically important Black Sea Fleet in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The fleet supports Russia’s invading forces, launching attacks on Ukraine, and is important for Russia in guarding the strategically and economically important Black Sea trade route.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on the fleet in recent days with its strike last Friday causing significant damage to its headquarters. U.K. defense officials noted Tuesday that “a dynamic, deep strike battle is underway in the Black Sea.”
“This is likely forcing Russia into a reactive posture whilst demonstrating that Ukraine’s military can undermine the Kremlin’s symbolic and strategic power projection from its warm water port in occupied Sevastopol,” the U.K.’s Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update on X.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet warships take part in Russia’s Navy Day celebrations in the port city of Novorossiysk on July 30, 2023.
Stringer | Afp | Getty Images
It noted that attacks on the fleet in recent days “have been more damaging and more coordinated than thus far in the war” but noted that the “physical damage to the Black Sea Fleet is almost certainly severe but localised.”
“The fleet almost certainly remains capable of fulfilling its core wartime missions of cruise missile strikes and local security patrols” but it said that the Russian navy’s “ability to continue wider regional security patrols and enforce its de facto blockade of Ukrainian ports will be diminished.”
“It also likely has a degraded ability to defend its assets in port and to conduct routine maintenance.”
Ukrainian forces have been making slight gains in their counteroffensive against Russia. But as “The Economist” reports — this plan may only be a short-term solution in a long-term conflict. Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist, joins CBS News to discuss her recent trip to the war-torn country — and her conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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Here is the situation on Wednesday, September 27, 2023.
Fighting
Russia released a video reportedly showing Viktor Sokolov, commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, at a meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and other military top brass a day after Ukrainian special forces claimed he was among dozens of officers killed in an attack on the fleet’s Sevastopol naval base. Ukraine said it was clarifying information regarding Sokolov.
The United Kingdom’s defence ministry said “a dynamic, deep strike battle” was under way in the Black Sea after the Russian Black Sea Fleet suffered a series of major attacks.
Kyiv said its air defences destroyed 26 of 38 Russian drones fired overnight but that some of the drones hit the Danube River port of Izmail, damaging more than 30 vehicles and injuring two drivers during a two-hour attack. The drone barrage also prompted the temporary suspension of ferry services to Romania.
Russia, meanwhile, said it repelled several Ukrainian drone attacks over its Belgorod and Kursk regions.
Russian shelling killed at least two people in a village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and injured two others in the southern Kherson region, according to local authorities.
Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev said he visited troops at a firing range near the front line in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region on the orders of President Vladimir Putin. Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of the Kremlin’s Security Council, said troops showed “excellent combat qualities of will, firmness and a general attitude to victory”.
Diplomacy and politics
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said sanctions on Russia were not sufficient to halt its “aggression” and promised new Ukrainian action against the “terrorist state”.
Anthony Rota, the speaker of Canada’s Parliament resigned, days after he honoured a man who fought in a Nazi unit during World War II as Zelenskyy visited the House of Commons.
Alexey Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, lost his appeal against a 19-year prison term for a raft of charges including alleged “extremist activities” that were added to his existing sentence last month. Proceedings were closed to the media.
Five Bulgarians living in the United Kingdom charged with spying for Russia appeared in court via videolink for an initial hearing. The three men and two women were arrested in February and are accused of “conspiring to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy”, namely Russia, between August 2020 and February this year. They spoke only to confirm their names.
Weapons
Washington imposed new sanctions on five Russian and 11 Chinese companies for their role in supplying drone technology components for use in the war.
Estonia joined Germany in a joint procurement programme for ammunition for Ukraine increasing production capacity. Ammunition “is and will remain a crucial factor for Ukraine’s resilience”, said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.
Zelenskyy said more than 160 companies from 26 countries in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia would attend the country’s first defence industries forum later this year.
60 Minutes found the U.S. is financing more than weapons in Ukraine. The government is buying seeds for farmers, paying the salaries of 57,000 first responders and subsidizing small businesses.
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Ukraine’s military has said it is “clarifying” information received about the alleged assassination of Russian commander Viktor Sokolov, after Moscow released a video that appears to show him alive and well.
Kyiv claimed on Monday it killed Sokolov, the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, in an attack on the fleet’s headquarters in occupied Crimea last Friday.
But the Russian Ministry of Defense published a video on Tuesday that appears to show Sokolov participating in a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other Russian military leaders.
In the footage, a man resembling Sokolov appears to join the meeting via video conference. The nametape on his uniform reads Sokolov V. N. and his screen shows the Cyrillic letters “ЧФ,” the abbreviation for the Black Sea Fleet. CNN cannot confirm this is Sokolov, when the meeting took place or where his video appearance was filmed.
“Since the Russians were urgently forced to publish a response with Sokolov allegedly alive, our units are clarifying the information,” Ukraine Special Operations Forces said on Telegram Tuesday.
“Available sources claim that the Black Sea Fleet Commander is among the dead. Many have not yet been identified due to the fragmentation of body fragments,” the statement added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier on Tuesday refused to comment on the Ukrainian claim that Sokolov had been killed.
The Ukrainian Special Operations Forces had earlier said Friday’s attack – the latest in a string of bold strikes on the occupied peninsula of Crimea – killed 34 people, including Sokolov.
Ukrainian Defense Intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said Russia was using Crimea as a “logistics hub” and that “the ultimate goal, of course, is the de-occupation of Ukrainian Crimea.”
Ukraine has increasingly been hitting strategic Russian targets in Crimea, the Black Sea region of southern Ukraine that has been occupied by Moscow since 2014.
Before Friday’s attack, Ukrainians had already carried out a series of strikes on Crimea. They hit a Russian military airfield at Saky, degraded Russian air defenses on the northwest coast, and carried out a missile attack on the main dry-dock and ship-repair facility in Sevastopol, crippling an attack submarine and a landing ship.
Russia appointed Sokolov as its new commander for its Crimea-based Black Sea fleet in August 2022, according to reports from state media outlet TASS at the time.
Sokolov had been serving as the Naval Academy chief since 2020. He served as the Northern Fleet deputy commander from 2013 until 2020. The change of command came amid heavy losses and a string of explosions at Russian military facilities in Crimea.
Poland’s Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek said Tuesday he has “taken steps” toward extraditing Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian Nazi veteran who was honored by Canadian parliamentarians last week.
During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Canada last Friday, House Speaker Anthony Rota introduced Hunka as a Canadian-Ukrainian war hero, prompting a standing ovation from parliamentarians.
But the tribute triggered a wave of criticism from Jewish organizations, advocacy groups and leaders across the world, because Hunka fought with the First Ukrainian Division — also known as the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division, which served under command of the Nazis in Adolf Hitler’s World War II fight against Russia’s Red Army.
“In view of the scandalous events in the Canadian Parliament, which involved honoring, in the presence of President Zelenskyy, a member of the criminal Nazi SS Galizien formation, I have taken steps towards the possible extradition of this man to Poland,” Czarnek said on X, formerly Twitter.
In a letter to Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance, a body that researches and investigates past crimes against the Polish nation, Czarnek asked it to “urgently examine” whether Hunka is wanted for crimes against Polish people of Jewish origin, adding that “signs of such crimes are grounds to apply to Canada for his extradition.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told media the situation was “extremely upsetting” and “deeply embarrassing” for Canada. Rota has since apologized and said he took “full responsibility” for the incident, but has so far refused to step down from his role.
“What happened on Friday is completely unacceptable,” Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly added Tuesday. “It was an embarrassment to the House and to Canadians, and I think the Speaker should listen to members of the House and step down.”
Canada’s Attorney General Arif Virani said he has not been contacted by the Polish government over the extradition request yet and that “commenting on early stages of an extradition process is not appropriate.”
“What I would say to you is that an extradition process is a sensitive matter that ultimately comes across my desk for a final decision,” Virani added. “Apropos of that, I can’t be commenting on an extradition matter until it actually appears in front of my desk because that would jeopardize the investigation.”
The commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Viktor Sokolov, died in Ukraine’s barrage on occupied Crimea last week, Kyiv said Monday.
“After the defeat of the headquarters of the Russian armed forces, 34 officers died, including the commander of the Russian armed forces. Another 105 occupiers were wounded. The headquarters building cannot be restored,” Ukraine’s special operations forces said Monday.
In an initial statement after the attack, the Russian defense ministry said it had shot down five incoming missiles and only one serviceman was killed, though the fleet’s headquarters were damaged.
But rumors about Sokolov’s death circulated online and Ukraine jumped Monday at the chance to confirm the speculation. POLITICO has not independently verified the claims.
Rumors of Admiral Viktor Sokolov’s death may have been greatly exaggerated.
Ukraine on Monday claimed to have killed Sokolov — the commander of Russia’s Black Sea naval fleet — in an attack on the port of Sevastopol last week. But on Tuesday, Sokolov appeared, apparently alive and well, in video footage of a Kremlin defense meeting, published by Russian state-owned newswire RIA Novosti.
In an initial statement after last Friday’s attack, the Russian defense ministry said it had shot down five incoming missiles and only one serviceman was killed, though the fleet’s headquarters were damaged.
But reports about Sokolov’s death circulated online and Ukraine jumped Monday at the chance to announce his killing and say that it had inflicted huge casualties on the Russians in occupied Crimea. POLITICO could not independently verify the Ukrainian claims.
Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn joins Major Garrett for this edition of “The Takeout” to discuss his latest documentary, “Superpower.” The film centers around Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy and his leadership during the early days of Russia’s invasion.
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America has pumped nearly $25 billion into Ukraine’s economy since the Russian invasion began. 60 Minutes went to Ukraine to learn how the money is being spent.
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The speaker of Canada’s House of Commons apologized Sunday for recognizing a man who fought for a Nazi military unit during World War II.
Just after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered an address in the House of Commons on Friday, Canadian lawmakers gave 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka a standing ovation when Speaker Anthony Rota drew attention to him. Rota introduced Hunka as a war hero who fought for the First Ukrainian Division.
Rota noted in his introduction that Hunka had fought in World War II “against the Russians.”
“In my remarks following the address of the President of Ukraine, I recognized an individual in the gallery. I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision to do so,” Rota said in a statement.
He added that his fellow Parliament members and the Ukraine delegation were not aware of his plan to recognize Hunka. Rota noted Hunka is from his district.
“I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world. I accept full responsibility for my action,” Rota said.
Hunka could not be immediately reached for comment.
Canadian lawmakers cheered and Zelenskyy raised his fist in acknowledgement as Hunka saluted from the gallery during two separate standing ovations. Rota called him a “Ukrainian hero and a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy pumps his fist at a Canadian-Ukrainian veteran who fought for a Nazi unit during World War II.
Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Zelenskyy was in Ottawa to bolster support from Western allies for Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion.
Vladimir Putin has painted his enemies in Ukraine as “neo-Nazis,” even though Zelenskyy is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office said in a statement that Rota had apologized and accepted full responsibility for issuing the invitation to Hunka and for the recognition in Parliament.
“This was the right thing to do,” the statement said. “No advance notice was provided to the Prime Minister’s Office, nor the Ukrainian delegation, about the invitation or the recognition.”
The First Ukrainian Division was also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division, a voluntary unit that was under the command of the Nazis.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies issued a statement Sunday saying the division “was responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable.”
“An apology is owed to every Holocaust survivor and veteran of the Second World War who fought the Nazis, and an explanation must be provided as to how this individual entered the hallowed halls of Canadian Parliament and received recognition from the Speaker of the House and a standing ovation,” the statement said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy receives a standing ovation in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill with Justin Trudeau on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.
Kilpatrick/Canadian Press/Bloomberg via Getty Images
B’nai Brith Canada’s CEO, Michael Mostyn, said it was outrageous that Parliament honored a former member of a Nazi unit, saying Ukrainian “ultra-nationalist ideologues” who volunteered for the Galicia Division “dreamed of an ethnically homogenous Ukrainian state and endorsed the idea of ethnic cleansing.”
“We understand an apology is forthcoming. We expect a meaningful apology. Parliament owes an apology to all Canadians for this outrage, and a detailed explanation as to how this could possibly have taken place at the center of Canadian democracy,” Mostyn said before Rota issued his statement.
Members of Parliament from all parties rose to applaud Hunka. A spokesperson for the Conservative party said the party was not aware of his history at the time.
“We find the reports of this individual’s history very troubling,” said Sebastian Skamski, adding that Trudeau’s Liberal party would have to explain why he was invited.
Karina Gould, leader of the government in the House of Commons, who posted a photo of herself holding Hunka’s hand while posing with him and Rota, said on social media,”I had no further information than the Speaker provided. Exiting the Chamber I walked by the individual and took a photo.”
“The Speaker has made it clear that he was responsible for inviting this individual to the House,” she wrote multiple times on social media. “The government played no role. It did not know he would be there. The PM did not meet him. I am deeply troubled this happened. I urge MPs to avoid politicizing this incident.”
The U.S. has sent more than $70 billion worth of aid to Ukraine since Russian troops crossed its border last year. But now a battle is brewing in Washington over the Biden administration’s request for over $20 billion more.
Many Republicans in Congress are opposed – hardliners in the House want to cut off all funding; others are demanding more oversight.
We went to Ukraine to get some answers for the people who are bankrolling the war: American taxpayers. How exactly is your money being spent? And who’s watching the weapons and the cash to make sure they end up where they’re intended?
Our first stop, a forest 15 miles from the front line in eastern Ukraine. These are U.S.-made Bradley fighting vehicles… steel-clad behemoths hidden beneath the canopy, in a makeshift workshop that’s difficult for Russian drones to spot.
Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade was only formed last year – but its soldiers have seen some of the deadliest fighting in this war.
The Bradleys’ armor was designed to protect American infantry troops moving through combat zones. Now it’s doing the same thing for Ukrainians.
Holly Williams: Wow. Look at that.
This machine survived a landmine – and shrapnel from a Russian missile.
Holly Williams: It’s done some damage, but it’s still in one piece. What happened to the guys who were inside? Are they safe?
Oleksandr Shyrshyn: Yeah, I suppose they are safe and they’re alive, yeah.
Lieutenant Oleksandr Shyrshyn shows Holly Williams a Bradley fighting vehicle.
60 Minutes
The U.S. has sent 186 Bradleys here at a cost of around $2 million a piece.
Holly Williams: So, it’s saving your guys’ lives—
Oleksandr Shyrshyn: Yes.
Holly Williams: Do any other vehicles save lives in that way?
Oleksandr Shyrshyn: In my opinion, and from my experience, this is the best vehicle I have ever seen.
Holly Williams: You’re all hidden here in the forest.
Lieutenant Oleksandr Shyrshyn is a former sales manager and a father of two – who enlisted on February 24th 2022… the same day Russia invaded his country.
Holly Williams: What are those U.S. weapons doing to the Russian military? What impact are they having?
Oleksandr Shyrshyn: We can destroy them faster. We can see them far away. They afraid, really. Even–
Holly Williams: They’re afraid of the American weapons?
Oleksandr Shyrshyn: Yeah, of course.
Holly Williams: How do you know that?
Oleksandr Shyrshyn: Sometimes we can take prisoners and they tell what people talking about inside their companies, their brigade.
The U.S. has spent just over $43 billion on military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded. That’s equivalent to about 5% of the American defense budget. European countries combined have contributed around $30 billion.
American rocket launchers are now reaching deep into russian-occupied ukraine… and the Patriot air defense system is shielding millions of Ukrainian civilians from airstrikes.
Holly Williams: Where would the Ukrainians be right now without U.S. weapons? How much of their country would they have lost?
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges
60 Minutes
General Ben Hodges: Without that sort of aid, I think Ukraine would’ve been probably overrun, defeated– certainly would’ve lost a lot more.
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges served as the commander of the U.S. Army in Europe. He retired in 2017 and is now an advisor to NATO. Hodges told us the Biden administration has failed to explain to Americans what they’re getting for their dollar in Ukraine.
General Ben Hodges: If you think about it, Russia– has been for decades, and still is, an existential threat for Europe and the United States. I mean, just listen to what their leaders say. Look at the thousand nuclear weapons. They clearly will keep going if they’re not stopped.
Holly Williams: It sounds like you’re saying stopping Vladimir Putin in Ukraine directly benefits every American.
General Ben Hodges: Absolutely. This– this war is about so much more than just Ukraine.
Holly Williams: Is this a high point for American foreign policy?
General Ben Hodges: It will be after– Russia has been defeated.
American taxpayers are financing more than just weapons. We discovered the U.S. government’s buying seeds and fertilizer for Ukrainian farmers… and covering the salaries of Ukraine’s first responders – all 57,000 of them.
That includes the team that trains this rescue dog – named Joy – to comb through the wreckage of Russian strikes looking for survivors.
Joy, a rescue dog, combs through the wreckage of Russian strikes looking for survivors in Ukraine.
60 Minutes
And the U.S. also funds the divers who we saw clearing unexploded ammunition from the country’s rivers – to make them safe again for swimming and fishing.
Russia’s invasion shrank Ukraine’s economy by about a third. We were surprised to find that to keep it afloat the U.S. government is subsidizing small businesses…
…like Tatiana Abramova’s knitwear company.
Holly Williams: These are Ukrainian towns – that’s Kyiv I recognize.
Tatiana Abramova: Yes, yah! It’s Kyiv.
Tatiana Abramova: Especially in the condition of war, we have to work. We have to pay taxes, we have to pay wage– salary to our employees. We have to work, don’t stop.
Holly Williams: Why does that help Ukraine win the war?
Tatiana Abramova: Because economy is the foundation of everything.
American officials from USAID – the agency in charge of international development – helped Abramova find new customers overseas. In the midst of war, her company is supporting over 70 families.
Tatiana Abramova: We realize that it’s the aid from government, but it’s the aid from the heart of every ordinary American person.
Holly Williams: How do you feel about that?
Tatiana Abramova: Grateful. Great.
Tatiana Abramova has a knitwear company in Ukraine.
60 Minutes
In total, America’s pumped nearly $25 billion of non-military aid into Ukraine’s economy since the invasion began – and you can see it working at the bustling farmers market on John McCain Street in central Kyiv.
The late senator is revered in Ukraine because he pushed the U.S. government to start sending arms to the country after Russia first invaded – back in 2014.
While in Kyiv, we learned that three of McCain’s former colleagues were also in town: Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. They don’t normally agree on much – together, though, they’re some of the staunchest supporters of U.S. funding for Ukraine’s resistance.
Sen. Lindsey Graham: They’re on track to break the Russian army, and the only way they could possibly lose is if we pull the plug on them.
The wreckage of Russia’s war machine was on display for Ukraine’s independence day celebrations – even as almost a fifth of the country remains under occupation.
Sen. Lindsey Graham: People ask me, “Is it worth it?” Here’s what we’ve gotten for our investment. We haven’t lost one soldier. We reduced the combat power of the Russian army by 50%, and not one of us has died in that endeavor. This is a great deal for America.
Holly Williams: You’ve previously said that it’s the best money we’ve ever spent. That still true?
Sen. Lindsey Graham: Since we helped Churchill stand up to the Nazis.
Holly Williams in Ukraine along with Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
60 Minutes
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: We have to have confidence that the dollars we’re spending are actually being spent in defense of the nation. All of that is important. But that’s why we’re here.
The senators – and other U.S officials – told us there have been no substantiated cases of American weapons being diverted.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal: The United States Department of Defense ought to be telling a story about oversight. We’re monitoring. We’re following every piece of equipment. There has been no diversion. No evidence of misappropriation. This is an American success story on aiding a partner fighting for freedom.
But Ukraine is a young democracy with a history of corruption. According to the monitoring group Transparency International, it’s ranked the second most corrupt country in Europe – only Russia scores lower.
Oleksandra Ustinova: We have to get rid of this cancer, which is corruption because otherwise, we’re not gonna survive.
Oleksandra Ustinova was an anti-corruption activist – and is now an outspoken member of Ukraine’s parliament.
She chairs a government commission that tracks all military aid coming to Ukraine.
Oleksandra Ustinova (inside a Javelin Warehouse): These Javelins provided by the United States…
She filmed this video for us, inside what she called a top-secret warehouse, storing American Javelin anti-tank missiles.
Oleksandra Ustinova: We have online databases with the serial numbers of every American piece of weapon that your embassy has access to. They can come, type in, let’s say, a javelin or a HIMARS and see in which brigade it is, and then go check it if they don’t believe.
Holly Williams: So, the U.S. officials are going to the frontline?
Oleksandra Ustinova: We are letting them. Sometimes they they may be sending people. Sometimes they are goin’ to– to the logistic centers to see whether it is there or not, whether it’s available.
Oleksandra Ustinova
60 Minutes
That may be true now, but a report from the Pentagon’s Inspector General last year found the U.S. government was unable to monitor weapons transfers in the early months of the war, in part because the American embassy’s staff was evacuated. Criminal groups in Ukraine stole some weapons and equipment from the country’s military, though they were later recovered by Ukrainian intelligence services…
Ustinova claims that today systems are in place to make sure that never happens again.
Holly Williams: So, what are the stakes for Ukraine in making sure that U.S. supplied weapons don’t go missing?
Oleksandra Ustinova: I can tell you that this is the number one priority for us because– we’re not stupid to shoot ourselves in the leg. We understand w– we would never made it without the United States, and we’re not gonna make it without the United States.
An American hotline for Ukrainians to report misuse of assistance from USAID saw a tenfold increase when these posters went up across the country earlier this year… American officials are now investigating four criminal cases involving non-military aid… and 170 Ukrainian government officials – including high-ranking military officers – have been charged in corruption cases so far this year, for crimes like embezzlement and accepting bribes.
Ustinova told us, she considers that good news.
Oleksandra Ustinova: If we didn’t have anyone arrested, then that would be a question when people see all these corruption scandals, but nobody goes to jail.
Holly Williams: So this life or death battle that Ukraine is fighting has made people here less tolerant of corruption?
Oleksandra Ustinova: Yes. 100% of the Ukrainian budget now is being spent on the army. It’s someone’s bulletproof vest, it’s someone’s helmet, or someone’s– armed vehicle that was not there in time to save the lives. I think this tolerance is close to zero because they understand that now corruption kills.
Ukraine is losing U.S. weapons on the battlefield. But Lieutenant Shyrshyn told us that’s the only way they’re losing them.
Holly Williams: Has anything gone missing?
Oleksandr Shyrshyn: In my situation, in my company, in our battalion, I don’t know the case like this.
As the war grinds towards its third year, Ukrainians are dying in trenches, in the streets of their cities and in their own homes. The country’s fighting for its survival, bankrolled in large part by U.S. taxpayers. The outcome may be decided by America’s willingness to keep paying.
Holly Williams: Some Americans say, “We’re very sympathetic to you Ukrainians, but we’re going through tough times at home, and we just can’t afford to keep on supporting you.”
Oleksandr Shyrshyn: Ukrainians pay with their lives. And I believe and I hope that their lives cost much more than money, much more than taxpayers’ money.
Produced by Erin Lyall. Associate producer, Eliza Costas. Edited by Peter M. Berman.
Ukraine on Saturday morning launched a second missile attack on Sevastopol on the occupied Crimean Peninsula, a Russian-installed official said, a day after an attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet that left a serviceman missing and the main building smoldering.
Sevastopol was put under an air raid alert for about an hour after debris from intercepted missiles fell near a pier, Gov. Mikhail Razvozhayev wrote on the messaging app Telegram. He later added that another missile fragment fell in a park in northern Sevastopol, parts of which had to be cordoned off. Ferry traffic in the area was also halted and later resumed.
Loud blasts were also heard near Vilne in northern Crimea, followed by rising clouds of smoke, according to a pro-Ukraine Telegram news channel that reports on developments on the peninsula. Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, has been a frequent target for Ukrainian forces since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine’s second missile attack in two days on Sevastopol
Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, told Voice of America on Saturday that at least nine people were killed and 16 others wounded as a result of Kyiv’s attack on the Black Sea Fleet, which is based in Sevastopol, on Friday. He claimed that Alexander Romanchuk, a Russian general commanding forces along the key southeastern front line, was “in a very serious condition” following the attack.
Budanov’s claim couldn’t be independently verified, and he didn’t comment on whether Western-made missiles were used in Friday’s attack. The Russian Defense Ministry initially said that the strike killed one service member at the Black Sea Fleet headquarters, but later issued a statement that he was missing.
Ukraine’s military also offered more details about Friday’s attack. It said the air force conducted 12 strikes on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters, targeting areas where personnel, military equipment and weapons were concentrated. It said that two anti-aircraft missile systems and four Russian artillery units were hit.
What is the significance of Sevastopol in the war?
Crimea has served as the key hub supporting Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Sevastopol, the main base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet since the 19th century, has had a particular importance for navy operations since the start of the war.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted naval facilities in Crimea in recent weeks while the brunt of its summer counteroffensive makes slow gains in the east and south of Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War said. Military experts say it is essential for Ukraine to keep up its attacks on targets in Crimea to degrade Russian morale and weaken its military.
U.S. to provide Ukraine with long-range ATACMS ballistic missiles
ATACMS — Army Tactical Missile System — have a range of up to 190 miles and can be launched from the HIMARS mobile rocket launchers the Ukrainian military has already received.
The missiles will allow the Ukrainian military to strike at Russian supply lines and command posts well beyond the front lines.
American officials had balked at sending the missiles to Ukraine, out of concern that drawing from stockpiles could undermine U.S. military readiness and the possibility Russia would view the move as escalatory.
New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez has been indicted on bribery charges. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s latest missile attack on Russian-occupied Crimea has struck a blow against Russian power. All that and all that matters in today’s Eye Opener.
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Ukraine said Saturday its bold strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the Crimean city of Sevastopol had left dozens dead and wounded “including senior leadership.”
The attack on Friday is perhaps the most dramatic example yet of the confidence with which Ukraine is going after Russian facilities in occupied Crimea – and shows the vulnerability of critically important infrastructure on the peninsula.
In a statement on Telegram, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said a special op dubbed “Crab Trap” was timed to strike while senior members of Russia’s Navy were meeting, and that the attack left dozens of dead and wounded “including the senior leadership of the fleet.” No names have been given and CNN has not independently verified the claim.
Sevastopol is the largest city in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukraine has not given up hope of reclaiming it.
“The daring and painstaking work of the Special Operations Forces enabled them to hit the Black Sea Fleet headquarters ‘on time and with precision’ while the Russian Navy’s senior staff was meeting in the temporarily occupied city of Sevastopol,” it said in the statement.
“The data was transmitted to the Air Force for strike. The details of the attack will be revealed once it is possible. The result is dozens of dead and wounded occupiers, including the senior leadership of the fleet,” the statement read.
It added, “We are moving further!”
Attacks have strategic and symbolic importance
No further details or any evidence as to specific casualties among Russia’s Black Sea Fleet have so far been provided by Ukraine.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has to date only said that a Russian soldier was missing after Friday’s missile attack, which local authorities said left the naval HQ damaged scattered debris hundreds of meters away.
The incident was the latest in a string of attacks targeting Russian facilities in Crimea.
The Ukrainians have hit a Russian military airfield at Saky, degraded Russian air defenses on the north-west coast, and carried out a missile attack on the main dry-dock and ship-repair facility in Sevastopol, crippling an attack submarine and a landing ship.
The attack on Saky caused unspecified but “serious damage” at the airfield, according to sources in Ukraine’s Security Services (SBU).
In the wake of Friday’s attack, Ukraine’s Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksii Danilov warned that the Russian Black Sea Fleet could be “sliced up like a salami” in potential future strikes.
There are plenty of reasons for Ukraine to target Crimea. It’s politically a sign that despite the slow progress on the front lines in its counteroffensive, Ukraine can still inflict serious damage on the Russian military. Targets such as the Crimea bridge have considerable symbolic value as well as strategic purpose.
It’s also part of a broader effort – in Crimea, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk – to hit Russian logistics, fuel, maintenance and command centers, in order to disrupt their ability to supply the front lines.
Poland’s prime minister has told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to never “insult” Poles again, returning to harsh rhetoric towards Kyiv after the Polish president had sought to defuse a simmering dispute between the two countries over the issue of Ukrainian grain imports.
Zelenskyy angered his neighbours in Warsaw – a key military ally against Russia – when he told the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week that Kyiv was working to preserve land routes for its grain exports amid a Russian blockade of the Black Sea, but that “political theatre” around grain imports was helping Moscow’s cause.
“I … want to tell President Zelenskyy never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the UN,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told an election rally on Friday, according to the State-run news agency PAP.
Earlier on Friday, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said the dispute between Poland and Ukraine over grain imports would not significantly affect good bilateral relations, in an apparent move to ease tensions.
“I have no doubt that the dispute over the supply of grain from Ukraine to the Polish market is an absolute fragment of the entire Polish-Ukrainian relations,” Duda told a business conference. “I don’t believe that it can have a significant impact on them, so we need to solve this matter between us.”
Duda’s comment followed after Prime Minister Morawiecki was reported as saying that Poland would no longer send weapons to Ukraine amid the grain dispute.
“We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons,” Morawiecki said on Wednesday, according to a local media report.
Poland is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on October 15, and Morawiecki’s ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party has come in for criticism from the far right for what it says is the government’s subservient attitude to Kyiv.
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said in an article by Politico that Poland wanted to see “a strong Ukrainian state emerge from this war with a vibrant economy”, and that Warsaw “will continue to back Ukraine’s efforts to join NATO and the EU”.
However, speaking to reporters in New York, Rau said that while Poland had not changed its policy towards Ukraine, there had been a “radical change in Polish public opinion’s perception” of the countries’ relationship.
Asked by the PAP news agency what it would take to improve this perception, Rau said repairing the atmosphere would require a “titanic” diplomatic effort.
Slovakia, Poland and Hungary imposed national restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports after the EU executive decided not to extend its ban on imports into those countries as well as fellow EU members Bulgaria and Romania.
The countries have argued that cheap Ukrainian agricultural goods – meant mainly to transit further west and to ports – get sold locally, harming their own farmers.
Speaking in Canada on Friday, Zelenskyy did not mention the tension with Poland but said that when Ukraine lacked support, Russia was strengthened.
“You help either Ukraine or Russia. There will be no mediators in this war. By weakening assistance to Ukraine, you will strengthen Russia,” Zelenskyy told reporters after a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“And a powerful Russia and what to expect from it… I think history in books and witnesses has long since answered this question. If someone wants to take a risk, fine, weaken assistance to Ukrainians,” he said, according to a statement posted on the Ukrainian president’s website.
“To be frank and honest, freedom, democracy and human rights must be fought for,” he added.
The Kremlin said on Friday that it was watching the situation between Kyiv and Warsaw closely, adding that tensions would inevitably grow between Kyiv and its European allies as the dispute over grain escalates.
“We predict that these frictions between Warsaw and Kyiv will increase. Friction between Kyiv and other European capitals will also grow over time. This is inevitable,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“We are, of course, watching this closely,” Peskov said, calling Kyiv and Warsaw “the main” centres of Russophobia.
