"In an ongoing race, Ukraine tries to repair faster than Russia bombs," is the title of a large NPR report on how Ukrainians are resisting Russian missile attacks on substations. It begins with a description of the work of a group of DTEK electricians who are replacing the power cable in Kyivʼs Teremky. Not at the substation ― journalists were forbidden to work there, as extra details can help the aggressor country, but this repair is also directly related to Russian shelling. A group of local residents gather around the repairmen, who praise them, saying that they, like the military, reliably resist the Russians. One of the locals, Tetyana Tolstobrova, assures that she has already prepared for the blackout: she and several of her friends have united and are organizing spontaneous "points of invincibility" in the homes of those who have electricity. Kyiv residents and electricians interviewed by journalists are optimistic about the winter, although the manager of DTEK admitted that it is already difficult to find equipment for repairing high-voltage networks. However, it seems that the latest Russian shelling this Monday caused less damage to Ukraine than the previous ones.
In the first days after Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, official Berin promised to finally bring his defense spending to 2% of GDP, as required by NATO standards. However, if last winter it was meant that the army budget would increase immediately, now the Germans are talking much more flexibly, writes Politico. As the representative of the German government, Steffen Hebestreit, admitted, the desired indicator will not be achieved either this year or next year ― one can be "cautiously optimistic" that Germany will begin to meet this criterion in 2025. And the defense budget for 2023 will even be slightly smaller than this yearʼs ― by €300 million, despite the fact that it is about €50 billion in total. Because of this, in particular, the delivery of 35 American F-35 fighter jets to the Bundeswehr is delayed, because the contract has faced "delays and additional payments." At the same time, German government officials further claim that they are "doing everything in their power to support defense."
Meanwhile, the Scandinavian countries decided to jointly coordinate military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine ― because each of them allocates more and more money to Kyiv. According to Defense News, the governments of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark are considering the possibility of creating a joint control center for the provision of this aid, which would facilitate logistics and allow faster delivery of what it needs most to Ukraine. "Ukraine still needs our support to defend itself. It is important that we continue to help as best we can. The war, unfortunately, looks like it will last a long time. Our continued support for Ukraine is essential," Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen said in this regard. His country recently handed Ukraine its tenth aid package dated February 24 -- this time itʼs $58.5 million and includes sniper rifles, mortars, ammunition and winter fighting equipment and clothing. As a matter of fact, ammunition for cold weather conditions has attracted the attention of all Scandinavian countries, which have already helped Ukraine with $2 billion.
US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor and former US Deputy Secretary of State David Cramer call to support Ukrainians this winter at any cost in a column on The Washington Post. They are focusing on humanitarian aid due to Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. "This is not the first time that Russia is trying to commit genocide against Ukrainians. Joseph Stalin organized the Holodomor, which killed about half a million Ukrainians in 1932-1933. The world did nothing." At the same time, the USA has considerable experience in supporting its allies even in extremely difficult situations, the authors of the column write. Recalling, for example, the USSR blockade of West Berlin in 1948, when roads, railways and canals were blocked there. Hundreds of thousands of residents of the western part of the city were cut off from the supply of electricity, coal and food. The Soviet authorities hoped that the Allies would wave their hand at the enclave and that Moscow would gain control over it. Instead, the US and Britain organized a large-scale airlift that lasted 18 months ― and during peak activity, a cargo plane landed there every 45 seconds. Realizing that the Allies would not leave people to their own devices, the Kremlin surrendered. Now the situation is similar, it is going on in a column ― but it is simpler, because the Ukrainians are actively pressuring the Russians at the front and are taking many successful steps to liberate their land. All that remains is to help them survive the winter.