There were reports of heavy explosions in the city in north-eastern Ukraine during the night.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Monday night brought heavy explosions in the cities of Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine and Mykolayiv on the south-western Black Sea coast. Other Ukrainian cities could also become targets again. The ruler of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, is threatening to do so.
“There will be an offensive … not only on Mariupol, but also on other places, towns and villages,” Kadyrov says in a video published on his Telegram channel. First Luhansk and Donetsk will be “completely liberated”, then Kyiv and all other cities will be taken.
Meanwhile, according to Ukraine, 2,824 people have been brought to safety through humanitarian corridors. Among them were 213 residents of the city of Mariupol, which was besieged by Russian troops, said Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
In view of the strong military threat from Russia, Sweden and Norway are apparently ready to join NATO this summer. According to British newspaper The Times, US officials told the paper that the Nordic countries’ NATO membership was “a topic of conversation and the subject of several sessions” at last week’s talks between NATO foreign ministers. Sweden and Finland also took part. Russia made a “massive strategic mistake” by invading Ukraine.
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Zelensky takes Russia to court for denying facts
In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed Russia’s political course. The country does not have the courage to admit its misguided policy in relation to the neighboring country.
“They are afraid to admit that for decades they have taken wrong positions and spent colossal resources to support human zeros they wanted to build as future heroes of the Ukrainian-Russian friendship,” Zelensky said Sunday night.
The Ukrainian President speaks every night in a video speech.
(Photo: dpa)
Moscow’s attempt to build up its own people in Ukraine did not work. Because these people “were only trained in stuffing money from Russia into their own pockets”. And to cover up these mistakes, new mistakes were made. But in doing so, Russia deprived itself of all political instruments and finally started this war.
In addition, Russia is trying to shift the blame for everything onto Ukraine. “They grabbed Crimea, we are supposedly to blame for that,” Zelenskiy said. “They have destroyed every normal life in Donbass, we are allegedly to blame for that. They’ve been killing people in our country for eight years, they say it’s our fault.”
This also applies to the destruction of what Selenski says is the strongest economic region in Eastern Europe and the destruction of the lives of millions of people. “And finally they started a large-scale war against us, and again it’s our fault.” And all this out of “sheer cowardice,” Zelensky summed up.
More coverage of the Ukraine war
“And when cowardice increases, it turns into a catastrophe,” said the head of state. “When people lack the courage to admit mistakes, to apologize, to adapt to reality, they turn into monsters,” he said, referring to the leadership in the Kremlin. “And if the world ignores this, the monsters decide that the world must adapt to them.” Nevertheless, the day will come when Russia will have to admit the truth.
Selensky sometimes addressed his people in very drastic terms. While Ukraine is trying to hold accountable “every bastard who came into our country flying the Russian flag and killed our people,” Russia is trying to shirk responsibility, he said.
Economic output plummets
Economists are now making their first forecasts of the effects of the war on Ukraine’s economic output. According to calculations by the World Bank, economic development in the country could almost halve.
The World Bank announced on Sunday that gross domestic product (GDP) would fall by around 45 percent compared to the previous year. However, the organization qualified that “the extent of the economic slump” would depend on “the duration and intensity of the war”. In January, before the start of the war at the end of February, the World Bank had forecast economic growth of around three percent for Ukraine.
The country’s economy was also partially destroyed by the war.
(Photo: AP)
“Many aspects of Ukraine’s economy are collapsing,” the World Bank said. The impact of war, flight and displacement on poverty in Ukraine would also likely be “devastating,” it said. Measured against the statistical poverty line of $5.50 a day for countries with comparable incomes, the proportion of Ukraine’s population living in poverty is likely to skyrocket from 1.8 percent to 19.8 percent, the World Bank warned.
“The scale of the humanitarian crisis triggered by the war is staggering,” said World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde. Ukraine needs “massive financial support immediately,” Bjerde demanded.
Economic forecasts for Ukraine are currently associated with a very high degree of uncertainty because nobody can predict how the war will continue.
Today: Nehammer travels to Moscow
Karl Nehammer is the first EU head of government to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Austria’s Chancellor will speak to the head of the Kremlin this Monday afternoon, government spokesman Daniel Kosak announced on Sunday evening. The Kremlin confirmed the meeting.
Kosak said the Austrian head of government’s trip had three goals: The war had to stop. That sounds banal, but it is the most important thing. The Ukrainian government is also expecting a “big battle” in the east of the country in the coming days. For this purpose, agreements for humanitarian corridors would have to be made. Thirdly, Nehammer wants to speak to Putin about the war crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine. These would have to be clarified by an independent international party.
According to the German Press Agency, it was said from those close to the Austrian Chancellor that he was acting in concert with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
With agency material
More: The economic historian Tooze pleads for a quick energy embargo against Russia and explains why that would not be a total economic loss for Germany