Ukraine war day 992: These are the key developments as the war begins its 992nd day.

Fighting

• According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Ukraine shot down 46 of 110 Russian drones that were launched overnight. Two Russian drones headed into Belarus, and another 60 were lost in Ukrainian airspace. In addition to guided aerial bombs, the Air Force reported that Russian forces launched three missiles during the nocturnal operation.
• Ukraine war day 992: According to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, 13 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight by Russian air defense systems in areas that border Ukraine.
• According to the US State Department, North Korean troops have started fighting alongside Russian forces. More than “10,000 DPRK [North Korean] soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia,” with the great bulk going to the Kursk region, where they have “begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces,” according to spokeswoman Vedant Patel.

International affairs

• According to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Russia’s expanding military and economic ties with China, North Korea, and Iran “are not only threatening Europe,” but also “threatening peace and security” in the Asia Pacific and North America.
• Strong ties between Moscow and Beijing are a stabilizing force in the world, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu told China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi in Beijing.
• According to the State Department, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Brussels to meet with counterparts from the European Union and NATO to discuss support for Ukraine.
• According to Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Ukraine is almost ready to establish three new joint ventures with European manufacturers of weapons in order to increase its production of munitions. Five joint ventures with Western weapons manufacturers, including German and Lithuanian firms, had already been established, she claimed.
• At her confirmation hearing at the European Parliament to become the next head of the EU’s foreign policy, Estonia’s former prime minister, Kaja Kallas, stated that China must pay a “higher cost” for its backing of Russia, which allows Moscow to continue its conflict in Ukraine.
• Ukraine war day 992: Former Russian President and deputy head of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev charged European leaders with attempting to drive the crisis in Ukraine “into an irreversible phase” and dangerously exacerbate it after Donald Trump, the former US president, was re-elected.
• Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was given a 15-year prison sentence for disclosing highly confidential US military documents to a group of gamers over the chat app Discord. Information about the usage of US equipment in Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion was among the leaks.

Russian affairs

• Moscow-controlled Ukrainian territory will be included in Russia’s estimations for this year’s grain harvest and the winter grain sown area, the country’s Ministry of Agriculture announced. The ministry predicts this year’s grain harvest will be 130 million tonnes, down 12 percent from 2023’s 148 million tonnes and 18 percent from the record 158 million tonnes in 2022, following months of unfavorable weather.
• According to the city’s executive governing board, the Helsinki Arena, the largest sports and events venue in the Finnish capital, would be forcibly taken from its sanctioned Russian owners.
• According to Russian media, a Russian Navy ship outfitted with the latest generation of hypersonic cruise missiles is conducting exercises in the English Channel and is currently performing missions in the Atlantic Ocean.
• In an attempt to increase the lagging birthrate as death rates are rising as a result of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Russia’s lower house of parliament overwhelmingly decided to outlaw “propaganda” advocating a childless lifestyle.
• Ukraine war day 992: After the mother of one of her patients publicly condemned a Moscow pediatrician for allegedly making disparaging remarks about Russia’s war in Ukraine, a Russian court sentenced her to five and a half years in a prison colony.