Victorious news of 462nd day of war: military creates ‘nightmare vehicle’ elusive to drones; Ursula von der Leyen urges to give Ukraine long-range weapons

President of the European Commission urged to provide Ukraine with long-range weapons

In her speech at the GLOBSEC 2023 security forum, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen called for providing Ukraine with long-range weapons.

"The immediate need – you know it – is the military assistance to sustain the efforts of the Ukrainian armed forces. This is why we have just proposed an ammunition production act – we call it ASAP. We want to push our defence industry to ramp up production of badly needed 155-millimetre and 152-millimetre artillery shells. And those who can, should provide long-range artillery and weapons systems that can help Ukraine level the battlefield gap in range to the invading forces," said von der Leyen.

Soldiers of the 56th Brigade with volunteers create a ‘nightmare vehicle’ for infantry

The 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade of Mariupol showed what a "nightmare vehicle" looks like, which is almost invisible to enemy drones. Today, a cluster of occupiers' equipment was destroyed in one volley from the "nightmare vehicle".  

The vehicle was created by soldiers and volunteers to provide precision fire and support for infantry operations. 

"War is mobile and the one who responds faster to the needs of combat – gains the advantage," explains the brigade commander. "We now have a tool to nightmare the enemy at a new level: at a distance, suddenly and painfully. The ‘nightmare vehicle’ is extremely agile and compact, almost invisible to enemy drones, and with accurate intelligence, it is capable of delivering an effective missile strike on enemy manpower and equipment. This is not a large and powerful multiple launch rocket system, but such small machines do not allow the enemy to relax for a moment, hitting places where the invaders do not expect it."

Ukrainian Armed Forces destroy two enemy reconnaissance UAVs and two electronic warfare stations

Over the last day, Ukrainian defence aviation carried out nine strikes on the areas where enemy personnel and military equipment were concentrated.

"Our defenders destroyed two enemy reconnaissance UAVs," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. "Missile and artillery units hit one control centre, an artillery unit at a firing position, two ammunition depots and two electronic warfare stations over the course of the day.

Ukraine’s Naftogaz gas company agrees to restructure Eurobonds

Oleksiy Chernyshov, Chairman of the Board of Naftogaz, said that the company had managed to agree on the restructuring of Eurobonds maturing in 2022/2026. 

"Today, during the meeting, we presented detailed proposals for restructuring to investors, approved by the company's management and supervisory board," Chernyshov wrote on his Facebook page.

It is important that we have managed to find the most optimal solutions for both investors and our group of companies in close dialogue with all Eurobond holders." 

Further, the relevant proposals are subject to approval by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as a shareholder of Naftogaz Group.

As a reminder, in July 2022, the government defaulted on Naftogaz's Eurobonds, although the company had funds on its accounts to pay interest on the bonds. 

Ukraine receives $1.25 billion from the United States

The state budget of Ukraine has received $1.25 billion in grants from the United States, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine reports. 

"Grant support from the United States under the World Bank's PEACE in Ukraine project is an important part of ensuring humanitarian and social spending during a full-scale war. The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, together with the World Bank and USAID SOERA teams, is helping to optimise and strengthen the monitoring, verification and reporting systems of the Government of Ukraine on the use of donor funds provided by partners," said Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhii Marchenko. 

The grant funding will be used to reimburse the state budget expenditures, namely: the payment of state social benefits to families with children, salaries for education employees, salaries for healthcare providers under the medical guarantee program, etc.

In total, since the beginning of the year, Ukraine has already received USD 6 billion in direct budget support grants from the United States.