Moscow expels German diplomats – USA promises Kyiv hundreds of millions of dollars

Kyiv, Moscow, Berlin The Russian government expelled 40 German diplomats on Monday. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow justified this with an allegedly unfriendly policy on the part of Berlin. Germany and other western countries had imposed tough sanctions on Russia after the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24.

The West’s diplomatic ties with Moscow are becoming fewer and fewer. In April, after war atrocities in the suburbs of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Berlin had already expelled 40 Russian diplomats from Germany who are said to have been working here as suspected spies.

In Ukraine, on the other hand, the diplomatic representations of many countries, which were thinned out at the beginning of the war, are being increased again. After a visit to Kyiv, US Ministers Antony Blinken (foreign) and Lloyd Austin (defense) announced that US diplomats would return to Ukraine next week.

Austin also said that the United States would do everything it could to give Ukraine “as much as possible, as quickly as possible”. At a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he received important information about what the country needs. He will discuss these on Tuesday at the meeting with the defense ministers of NATO partners and allies at the US military base in Ramstein.

During their visit to Kyiv, the two ministers announced additional military aid to Ukraine worth 322 million dollars. In addition, Ukraine will receive additional ammunition worth 165 million dollars, it said. The US government has pledged a total of $3.7 billion in military aid since the beginning of the war. Blinken said Russia was missing its war goals and Ukraine was succeeding.

Attacks on fuel depots in Kremenchuk

Fierce fighting continues in the war zone. The Russian Defense Ministry said Russian forces had fired rockets at a refinery and fuel depot near the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk. The Moscow military report spoke of 19 further rocket attacks on Monday night against military targets in Ukraine. Russia also reported fires at two of its own oil depots near the border with Ukraine.

The Ukrainian side said several rockets had landed in the west and in the center of the country. Five railway stations were also hit, said the head of the Ukrainian railways, Oleksandr Kamyshin, on the company’s Telegram channel. “Russian forces continue to systematically destroy railway infrastructure.”

According to estimates by the Ukrainian military, the bombing of the rail network is intended to interrupt arms deliveries from abroad. “They are trying to destroy the supply lines for military-technical support from partner countries,” the Ukrainian military command said on Facebook.

Ukraine is relying on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to rescue trapped civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, according to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. According to Ukrainian information, around 1,000 civilians are said to be staying in the steelworks, including women and children. According to Russian sources, about 2,500 Ukrainian gunmen and foreign mercenaries are also hiding there.

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Ahead of Guterre’s trip to Moscow and Kyiv, the UN expressed confidence: “We feel there is a moment of opportunity and this is the time to seize it,” spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York on Monday. Guterres is scheduled to speak with the Russian leadership on Tuesday and is expected in Kyiv on Thursday.

Union puts pressure on arms deliveries

In Germany, the Union is putting pressure on the traffic light coalition in the dispute over the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine. As announced, the largest opposition faction presented a proposal for a Bundestag resolution. It calls for the German arms deliveries to be intensified “immediately and noticeably in terms of quantity and quality”.

Green Party leader Ricarda Lang said there weren’t too many differences between the application that the traffic light government was preparing and that of the Union: “I think we’re very much in agreement that Ukraine needs our support, and that that includes arms deliveries he follows.”

More Handelsblatt articles on the war in Ukraine

The armaments company Rheinmetall is said to have applied to the federal government for the delivery of 88 Type 1A5 Leopards to Ukraine, the newspaper “Welt” reported on Monday, citing documents available to it. “For reasons of confidentiality, we generally do not comment on any pending proceedings,” said the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The Russian attack has claimed the lives of at least 3,818 civilians, according to Ukrainian sources. The British government also assumes that around 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war. This figure was given by Defense Secretary Ben Wallace on Monday in Parliament in London. “In addition to the death toll, there are equipment losses, and overall, multiple sources suggest that more than 2,000 armored vehicles have been destroyed or captured so far,” Wallace said. At least 530 tanks, 560 armored personnel carriers and 530 armored personnel carriers are included. “Russia has also lost more than 60 helicopters and fighter jets,” Wallace said.

Ukraine reports significantly higher Russian losses. According to this, almost 22,000 soldiers were killed and 181 combat aircraft, 154 helicopters, 884 tanks and 2258 armored personnel carriers were destroyed. Moscow reported on March 25 that 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed.

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