Ukraine updates: Kyiv hits Russian railway deep in Siberia

Members of a parliamentary inquiry in the German state of Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania said Russia tried to obtain NATO data on the Baltic Sea region during the planning permission phase for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Several members of the panel said Russia tried to acquire coordinates for NATO submarine diving exercise areas in the waters near its shores. 

The inquiry is investigating an organization registered as an NGO and using the title "Climate Foundation MV," the initials for the German state Mecklenburg Vorpommern. However, the nominally Swiss-based enterprise was funded in large part by Nord Stream 2 and Gazprom.

It was helping pave the way for the Nord Stream 2 construction in the German state where the pipeline ended. The project was put on ice amid Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and later the pipeline was damaged in an apparent act of sabotage.

Politicians from several of Germany's major parties commented on the case on Friday. They said that only very generalized NATO information was forwarded to Russia, but, nevertheless, Green party politician Hannes Damm said it could have "endangered Germany and NATO's security." 

Among other things, the inquiry is seeking to ascertain how much influence the "climate foundation" could have had on the state's government at the time, a coalition led by Social Democrat Manuela Schwesig with the Christian Democrats as junior partners.

Nord Stream 2's known donations to the foundation totaled some €20 million (roughly $22 million). 

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Friday boosting troop numbers by 15%.

The army said the move to recruit nearly 170,000 new soldiers was due to "threats" associated with the Ukraine offensive.

"The increase in the full-time strength of the army is due to growing threats to our country linked with the special military operation and the continuing expansion of NATO," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The ministry said the order doesn't imply any "significant expansion of conscription," adding in a statement that the increase would happen gradually by recruiting more volunteers.

The decree would bring the overall number of Russian military personnel to about 2,200,000, including 1,320,000 troops.

It is the second such expansion of the army since 2018.

The previous boost of 137,000 troops, ordered by Putin in August 2022, put the military's numbers at about 2 million personnel and about 1,150,000 troops.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Friday for changes to improve Ukraine's system of mobilization — the assembling and readying of troops and supplies for war.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said a meeting of the military command had discussed scenarios to improve the country's military position against Russia next year.

"In particular, this concerns the issue of mobilization. Everyone in Ukraine understands that changes are needed in this domain," he said.

"This is not simply a question of numbers, of who can be mobilized," he said. "It's a question of a time frame for each person who is now in the military, for demobilization and for those who will join the military. And it's about conditions."

"There were several proposals today and I am awaiting comprehensive solutions," he added.

The issue of altering and fine-tuning the process of mobilization and recruitment to improve the prospects of Ukraine's fighting force has been under public discussion for some time.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was not prepared to "review its goals" in Ukraine, in a press conference during the second day of a European security conference, which has been somewhat overshadowed by anger over his participation. 

"We aren't seeing any signals from Kyiv or its masters about their readiness to seek any kind of political settlement," Lavrov told reporters while attending the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

"We see no reason to review our goals," he said.

The two-day foreign minister meeting took place in North Macedonia, a NATO country. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the faster construction of fortifications in areas under pressure from Russian troops, especially in eastern Ukraine. 

"In all major sectors where reinforcement is needed, there should be a boost and an acceleration in the construction of structures," Zelenskyy said in a nightly video address late Thursday, after touring Ukrainian positions in the northeast. 

"This of course means the greatest attention to the Avdiivka, Maryinka and other sectors in Donetsk region. In Kharkiv region, this means the Kupiansk sector and the Kupiansk-Lyman line."

Ukraine regained control of the city of Kupiansk from Russian occupation in September last year. But with fighting still raging in eastern Ukraine for more than 21 months, the front line is now almost 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) away from the city. 

During his visit to the frontline region of Kharkiv earlier in the day, Zelenskyy awarded medals to several officers and recalled the losses that Ukrainian forces had suffered.

"Everyone knows that this is the highest price and therefore I ask you to take care of yourselves, your comrades, officers and soldiers," he said. 

Swiss authorities said an estimated 7.7 billion Swiss francs ($8.81 billion; €8.08 billion) in financial assets belonging to Russians have been frozen as part of sanctions over Moscow's war in Ukraine. 

The latest figure marks a slight increase from last year, when the Swiss government said it had blocked 7.5 billion francs.

Switzerland, which is adopting EU sanctions against Russia, has long been a popular destination for Russian elite to store their assets. 

The country's historic neutral stance has come under pressure since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that Russian troops are making gains on the Ukrainian front.

"Our servicemen are acting competently and decisively, occupying a more favorable position and expanding their zones of control in all directions," Shoigu said.

"Russian troops are effectively and firmly inflicting fire damage on the Ukrainian armed forces, significantly reducing their combat capabilities," he added. 

A snowstorm last week seemed to slow down the fighting, but on Wednesday, Ukraine's army said that Russia had "doubled its artillery fire and airstrikes" and ramped up attacks in eastern Ukraine. 

However, Ukraine has said that its forces are holding on. A recent British intelligence report said that recent weeks had "likely seen some of the highest Russian casualty rates of the war so far."

The eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka has been a major flashpoint in recent weeks, with Russian troops surrounding it from almost three sides. 

Olena Shuliak, chairwoman of a parliamentary committee overseeing regional development and urban planning in Kyiv, said that more than 170,000 buildings across Ukraine have been destroyed or damaged since Russia launched the war more than 21 months ago. 

"According to preliminary estimates by the Kyiv School of Economics, more than 170,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed by the hostilities so far," Shuliak wrote, according to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.

The figure reportedly includes over 20,000 residential buildings, 3,500 educational institutions and 420 large and medium-sized companies, as well as 344 bridges and crossings and 25,000 roads.

Ukraine's air force said on Friday that Russian forces launched overnight attacks on the south and east of the country with two X-59 missiles and 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones. 

The air force added that it shot down 18 of the drones and one missile over southern regions.

According to Ukrainian officials, the attacks were launched from southwestern Russia and
Russian-occupied Crimea.

Ukraine is still waiting for its allies to provide modern aircraft like F-16 fighter jets to help in the fight to take back territory from Russia. For now, the army and air force have to make do with equipment that has been flying since the Soviet era.

DW's Max Zander met up with a helicopter crew ahead of a mission in eastern Ukraine. Watch the full report below: 

As speculation about Ukraine war "fatigue" proliferates, NATO was keen again to emphasize that Kyiv has alliance members' backing "as long it takes." But what else is going on behind the scenes? DW reports on the latest NATO foreign ministers meeting earlier this week. 

fb/wmr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)