Russian troops continue their campaign to capture the city of Avdiyivka in eastern Ukraine. The head of the military administration of Avdiyivka, Vitaly Barabash, said that Ukrainian troops have established control over the village of Stepove, northwest of the city. “Yesterday and the day after yesterday, our side carried out very serious stabilization actions. Now Stepov is completely under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” said Barabash. The popular Russian military blog Rybar wrote that Russian troops had captured new territories around the village 5 km from Avdiyivka, and the Institute for the Study of War said geolocated images show Moscow troops occupying improved positions.

Basic information about the war in Ukraine, day 651, LIVETEXT:

08:05 Police in Nepal have arrested 10 people who they say extorted huge sums of money from unemployed youths for tourist visas and then sent them to serve illegally in the Russian army.

The announcement came after Nepal asked Moscow this week not to recruit its citizens into the Russian army and to send any Nepali soldiers from its armed forces back to the Himalayan country after six of its citizens who served in the Russian army were killed

Kathmandu District Police Chief Bhupendra Khatri said the detainees illegally charged up to US$9,000 from each person and sent them to Russia on “visit (tourist) visas”, mainly through the United Arab Emirates. Then they were recruited into the Russian army. “That’s the thing.” people smuggling … organized crime,” Khatri added. (Reuters)

10 people are in custody after being detained in recent days on a tip-off. “We are talking to government lawyers about this case and we will represent them in court,” Khatri told Reuters. He did not say when they will appear in court. This was stated by Khatri

07:44 Russian forces launched 48 Shahed attack drones last night from two directions: Cape Chaud in Crimea and the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on Telegram on Wednesday morning.

According to the source, 41 drones were shot down, fighters, anti-aircraft missile units and mobile fire groups of the Armed Forces were involved in the actions.

Most of the “Shaheed” were shot down by the mobile fire groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the quoted source said, without specifying what happened to the downed drones or whether they were damaged in the attack.

07:02 Warning of NATO Secretary General: “We should expect bad news from Ukraine.”

Despite the fact that Ukrainian forces have achieved many successes in confronting the Russian military, the war has now reached a stalemate, despite the Ukrainian counteroffensive. “These are important victories, even if they did not move the front line,” said Jens Stoltenberg.

A brief summary of recent events:

• Mykhailo Podolyak, President Zelenskyi’s advisor, said that there is no reason to consider dismissing Valery Zaluzhnyi from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
• Ukraine has opened an investigation into contracts for the purchase of weapons for its armed forces, Oleksandr Klymenko, head of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), announced on Tuesday.
• The American magazine Time is preparing to announce its Person of the Year 2023. The shortlist also includes Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping.
• Russian nuclear power giant Rosatom on Tuesday unveiled a new reactor designed to power its future nuclear icebreaker, which is crucial to Moscow’s polar ambitions.
• Portraits of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, US President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg were displayed as targets for children learning to shoot weapons at a children’s festival in the Russian city of Tomsk.
• The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) uncovered three more corruption groups that helped men evade the draft in exchange for payments of $5,000 to $12,000.
• Vladimir Putin will pay a working visit to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the Kremlin spokesman said on Tuesday.
• Oleg Tatarov, the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, rents a 600-square-meter villa from a man who is said to have connections with businessmen close to ex-pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. Who is Oleg Tatarov, who is suspected of corruption, but is tolerated by the President of Ukraine.
• Viktor Orbán sent a letter to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in which he asks the EU to stop trying to include the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine on the agenda of the summit in Brussels next week.

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• Tuesday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro