MOSCOW POLICE DETAIN 60 AS GERMANY PLEDGES €1BN TO UKRAINE
Police in Moscow detained around 60 people at an authorised Communist Party rally on Sunday after demonstrators began chanting anti-Kremlin slogans, according to the party and Russian rights group OVD-Info. The rally marked the anniversary of Russia's 1993 constitutional crisis, when a confrontation between then-president Boris Yeltsin and lawmakers led to the military shelling of Moscow's parliament building. Protesters chanted slogans including "Freedom for political prisoners", "For fair elections" and "Down with the Tsar", a phrase understood as a reference to Vladimir Putin. OVD-Info said police began making arrests more aggressively as the rally shifted towards open anti-Kremlin sentiment.
The detentions came as German chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Kyiv and announced a further €1bn in military aid, including long-range strike weapons, combat drones and satellite technology, as well as funding for joint production of drones to intercept Russian jet-powered drones. Merz also pledged €350m towards repairing Ukraine's energy infrastructure ahead of winter. German officials said executives travelling with Merz signed 14 agreements with Ukraine worth about €6.6bn, including deals with Diehl Defence for IRIS-T air defence missiles, Hensoldt for radar equipment and Quantum Systems for jet drone interceptors. Merz said the support reflected Germany's own interest in European security and accused Russia of cyber-attacks and disinformation campaigns targeting European democracy, an allegation Russia has called baseless.
Air raid sirens and explosions sounded across Kyiv during the visit, and Russia struck the capital's North Bridge over the Dnipro River, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said, with the bridge having also been hit the previous day. A Russian strike later hit Kharkiv, killing one person and injuring six others, according to mayor Ihor Terekhov. President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed Russia may have shared jet-drone technology with North Korea. Zelensky has previously said Ukraine will strike Russian oil refineries following bombardments of Ukrainian cities.