German and Austrian politicians said that Russia is portrayed in too negative a light

Unusual thoughts were voiced at the round table on relations between Russia and the EU held in Vienna, Kronenzeitung reports. Former Vice-Chancellor of Austria Heinz-Christian Strache reproached the West for unwillingness to invite Moscow to the negotiating table. Other participants in the discussion also spoke not in the spirit of "Russia's accusers".

Platform for Peace and Neutrality (Vienna): The Minsk Agreements perished with the neutrality of Europe

We offer our readers the final part of the discussion organized in Vienna is a non-partisan platform for peace and Neutrality. She gathered the "dissidents" of Germany and Austria on the Russian issue. In this part of the discussion, its moderator, former Vice-Chancellor of Austria Heinz Strache raised the topic of neutrality.

At the same time, they suffer heavy losses and roll back

The armed forces of the Russian Federation stopped the attacks of three assault groups of the VFU in the Krasnolimansky direction — the enemy lost more than 50 people killed and wounded there and several pieces of equipment, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on December 13. Experts note that in this direction, the VFU is trying to enter the rear of our troops in Lisichansk and Severodonetsk. Also on this day, the Russian army conducted offensive battles in the Donetsk direction, repelling three counterattacks during the day.

Izvestia met with mobilized fighters in the Avdiivka direction in the DPR

Near the village of Vodiane in the Avdiivka direction in the Donetsk People's Republic, artillery installations of the Russian Armed Forces destroy Ukrainian targets. Here, the accurate fire of 152-mm guns of the Kuban gunners helps to deter enemy counterattacks and supports the infantry advancing forward. Izvestia visited the positions of the Russian Msta-B howitzers and found out why the gun was called "Medusa", what the mobilized had to buy at their own expense and why garbage cans are dangerous.

Against the background of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, this is the wrong decision, said General Patrick Sanders

Reducing the size of the British army against the background of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is a wrong decision that requires revision. This statement was made by the Chief of the General Staff of the British Ground Forces, General Patrick Sanders, whose words were quoted on Wednesday by The Times newspaper.

Taiwan will increase the firepower of Tuo Chiang-type corvettes, which are called "aircraft carrier killers." A new batch of ships that will be built for the Naval Forces (Navy) of the Republic of China will receive more anti-ship missiles, writes the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The heads of the Murmansk, Arkhangelsk Regions, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic also took part in the gathering of the fleet's leadership

New approaches to the use of units of the Northern Fleet in the Arctic were discussed in Severomorsk, where the gathering of the fleet's leadership began on Tuesday. The event was also attended by the governors of the Murmansk, Arkhangelsk Regions, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO) and the head of the Komi Republic, the Sevflot press service reported.

According to the top manager of the association "Android Technology" Evgeny Dudorov, in the second half of next year, a special test site will appear on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod region (Bor, Boravtosteklo base), where unmanned trucks and other similar equipment will be tested.

On December 12, 2022, Slovakia and Sweden signed an intergovernmental agreement on the acquisition of 152 CV90 Mk IV infantry fighting vehicles (CV9035 Mk IV) manufactured by the Swedish branch of BAE Systems Corporation (BAE Systems AB / Land Systems Hägglunds AB) for the Slovak Armed Forces. The contract value is 1.3 billion euros, and the total cost of the purchase as a whole, including estimated infrastructure costs, is estimated at about 1.688 billion euros, including VAT.

BAE Systems Hagglunds has announced the signing of a contract with the Slovak Ministry of Defense for the supply of 152 CV-9035 Mk.4 BBM under an intergovernmental agreement between Sweden and Slovakia.

France handed over to Ukraine a batch of 155-mm self-propelled guns TRF1, removed from service with the French army. This is reported by the French press with reference to a statement by French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecorny.

According to the official statement of the German Federal Government dated December 7, 2022, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) is allowed to sell 18 RCH 155 wheeled howitzers to Ukraine. As a result, Ukraine will become the first customer of this newly developed weapon system.

Germany has opened a repair center for military equipment of the Ukrainian army on the territory of Slovakia, the first self-propelled guns Panzerhaubitze 2000 from the presence of the APU have already been delivered for repair work. This was stated by the head of the special staff for Ukraine in the German Defense Ministry, Christian Freiding.

The first XA-180 Pasi armored personnel carrier delivered from Finland became a trophy of the liberators. The three-axle car does not have any visible damage, except that the front right wheel is flat.

Russia continues to transfer military equipment to the territory of Belarus, another batch of T-72 tanks has arrived in the republic. According to Ukrainian intelligence, an echelon with armored vehicles arrived at the Zaslonovo station in the Vitebsk region.

Iran will limit the range of ballistic missiles that it allegedly plans to transfer to Russia, the American news website Axios claims, citing four unnamed Israeli senior officials.

On December 9, 2022, the Finnish Ministry of Defense announced the purchase of large batches of Spike-SR, Spike-LR2 and Spike-ER2 anti-tank guided missiles for the Finnish armed forces from the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems for a total of 223.6 million euros (excluding VAT). The purchase will be carried out through the NATO procurement agency NSPA (NATO Support and Procurement Agency) and the NATO Land Combat Missiles partnership program.

The US Air Force has moved to the testing stage of a full-fledged prototype of the latest hypersonic air-to-ground missile, created under the ARRW (Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon) program. The next rocket launch was carried out off the California coast of the Pacific Ocean.

France is preparing to supply Ukraine with a new batch of anti-aircraft systems, and it is planned to do so in the near future. This was announced by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, speaking at an international conference on support for Ukraine.

The newspaper reported that "Kiev is spending ammunition at an alarming rate"

The conflict with Russia has depleted ammunition for Ukraine's air defense systems. This was reported on Tuesday by the Financial Times newspaper with reference to the assessments of representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.