Air alert in large parts of Ukraine

Kyiv After the evacuation of the last civilians from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine hopes that its wounded and soldiers will also be rescued. President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Saturday evening of a possible second phase of the evacuation, which is being prepared. Russian forces, meanwhile, continued to attack the factory, which is the last Ukrainian bastion in the largely devastated port city.

At the international level, efforts to help the attacked Ukraine continue on Sunday. The group of seven leading Western industrialized countries (G7) wants to discuss new sanctions against Russia.

to the military situation

In the night of Sunday there was an air alarm in large parts of the country. The capital Kyiv and its surroundings were affected, but also Lviv in the west, Kharkiv and Donetsk in the east, Odessa in the south and other areas.

According to local reports, explosions could be heard in Odessa. It was initially unclear whether it was a question of Russian missile hits or defensive fire from the Ukrainian air defense. There were also explosions in the southern city of Mykolaiv.

Russian and Ukrainian troops are fighting fiercely in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. At least six Ukrainian civilians were killed there, the regional administration said on Saturday. In a village near Lysychansk, a bomb dropped from the air hit the school, under which the last bunker in the village was located. According to initial reports, two people died there.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian leadership is counting on recapturing the city of Cherson in the south of the country, which is occupied by Russian troops. “There will be no People’s Republic of Kherson,” said Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to President Zelensky, on Ukrainian radio. The area will be completely liberated, which will cost the lives of many Russian soldiers, Podoliak said.

Dramatic location in Azovstal

According to unanimous Ukrainian and Russian information, during a ceasefire in the fighting for the Azovstal steelworks on Saturday, the last civilians were rescued from their hiding places.

For the remaining soldiers, however, the situation is desperate. He can only hope for a miracle, wrote the commander of the 36th Marine Brigade, Serhiy Wolynskyj, on Facebook. “Here’s to higher powers finding a solution to save us!”

Observers assume that the Kremlin wants to take Azovstal as soon as possible so that it can announce the capture of Mariupol on Monday, the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Hitler’s Germany.

“We are now preparing the second stage of the evacuation mission, the wounded and doctors,” President Zelensky said in his evening video address. This is only possible if all sides stick to an agreement. “Of course we are also working on withdrawing our military.” However, Moscow has repeatedly announced that it intends to take the Ukrainian fighters captive even if they surrender.

Complaint about destruction of cultural monuments

The world commemorates the victory over National Socialism in World War II these days, said Selenski. But for him, the Russian approach shows “that it is impossible to defeat evil once and for all”. He lamented that 200 Ukrainian cultural heritage sites had been hit in the two-and-a-half month war of aggression. “Unfortunately, when people disregard other people’s rights, disobey the law and destroy culture, evil returns,” the president said.

According to the Russian military, 1.16 million people have been brought to Russia from the contested areas of Ukraine since the end of February. This included 205,000 children, said the Ministry of Defense in Moscow. Russia sees this as rescuing threatened civilians. Kyiv accuses Moscow of kidnapping people against their will and preventing them from moving to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Ukrainian pilots should learn to fly Western jets

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov wants his air force pilots to be trained on Western combat aircraft soon. This is already being negotiated, Resnikov said, according to information on Ukrainian television on Sunday. It’s time for Ukrainians to master the US A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack aircraft, for example. As further types he named the US fighter jets F-15 and F-16 as well as the Saab JAS 39 Gripen from Swedish production.

As Reznikov said, Ukrainian soldiers are already being trained by Britain on anti-aircraft weapons and artillery systems. He cited the Starstreak anti-aircraft missile as an example.

London promises big aid package

Britain pledged £1.3 billion (€1.52 billion) in military aid to war-torn Ukraine ahead of G7 deliberations. “The UK was the first country to recognize the scale of the threat and is sending arms to help Ukrainians defend themselves,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quoted as saying by the PA agency. The attack by Russian President Vladimir Putin not only caused unspeakable destruction in Ukraine. “It also threatens peace and security across Europe.”

Johnson announced part of the new £300m package last week. Among other things, anti-artillery radar, jamming devices for electronics and night vision devices are to be delivered for this purpose. London had previously pledged £1.5 billion in military and humanitarian aid.

This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:

That brings the day

On Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz will give a televised address on the end of the Second World War in Europe in 1945 and on the war in Ukraine. As the federal government announced, it is a special commemoration of May 8 because of the ongoing Russian attack on Ukraine this year.

As Germany’s highest-ranking representative to date, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas is traveling to Kyiv on Sunday. She follows an invitation from the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk. On behalf of the Bundestag, Bas wants to lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at the memorial to the murdered Ukrainian Jews in Babyn Yar. Bas also hopes to meet President Zelenskyy when the security situation allows.

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