Russia appears to be recording significant losses in Ukraine

Kyiv According to British reports, the war in Ukraine is causing increasing losses on the Russian side. As the British Ministry of Defense announced, it is likely that a quarter of the deployed 120 battalions are now disabled.

Some of Russia’s elite units, such as airborne troops, also suffered significant losses, the ministry said on Twitter on Monday. “It will probably be years before Russia can raise these troops again.”

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described it as one of the tasks of western support for Ukraine and the sanctions that Russia should not be able to wage another war of aggression for years to come. This primarily affects the weakening of the Russian economy through sanctions. According to Ukrainian sources, Russia continued its attacks in the east.

There are also increasing reports of attacks or shelling on Russian territory. Two explosions occurred in the early hours of the morning in the southern Russian region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, the region’s governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on social media. There were no injuries or damage.

The Ukrainian government has not yet claimed responsibility for attacks on Russian territory. Both sides speak of very high losses for the other side. While Ukrainian authorities speak of 23,000 Russian soldiers killed, the Russian government says the number of dead on the Ukrainian side is similar. Reuters could not verify the information.

Lavrov: “Will not make actions dependent on a specific date”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov contradicted speculation that the Russian leadership wanted to be able to demonstrate successes in its invasion of Ukraine on May 9th.

The forthcoming anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II will not affect military operations in Ukraine, Lavrov said in response to a question on Italian television. “Our soldiers will not make their actions dependent on a specific date.” Russia also wants to prevent a nuclear war. Western media would misrepresent the warnings of nuclear war.

Lavrov also emphasized that Russia’s goal was not to bring about “regime change”, i.e. the overthrow of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selsensky, in Kyiv. A regime change is not a condition for peace. Previously, the Secretary of State distributed against the United States. He once again identified the USA as the cause of all evil.

According to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, NATO and the EU have apparently come to terms with the fact that the United States has the say on the international stage. Lavrov said so on Sunday evening in an interview with the Italian TV company Mediaset, which was also distributed by Tass.

He was convinced that all countries were of the opinion that one should only listen to the USA. “And both NATO and the European Union have come to terms with the fact that their ‘landlord’ is based in Washington,” Lavrov said. “And in Washington they decided that the world has to be monopolar now, they talk about that all the time.”

In the interview, Lavrov accused both the US and Canada of being responsible for training “neo-Nazi detachments” that found their way into the ranks of the Ukrainian army. By this Lavrov meant primarily the “Azov” regiment, whose remaining fighters were entrenched in the Azovstal plant in the port city of Mariupol.

Evacuation from steel mill

Zelensky, meanwhile, expressed his delight at the successful evacuation of civilians from the hard-fought Azovstal plant in the port city of Mariupol and hopes the rescue operation will continue on Monday.

“I hope that tomorrow (Monday) all the necessary conditions will be met to continue evacuating people from Mariupol,” Zelensky said in his daily video message on Sunday evening. “We will continue to do everything to evacuate our people from Azovstal and from Mariupol as a whole,” he said.

At the weekend, a bus convoy brought around 100 civilians from the Azowstal steelworks, which was besieged by Russian soldiers. The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were also involved. According to Ukrainian sources, around 1,000 civilians are said to be trapped in the bunkers of the steelworks alone. Russia speaks of about 2,500 people, including military and foreign mercenaries.

As a result of the Russian army’s invasion of his country, which has been going on for two months, Zelensky sees only losers on both sides. “The way they choose their targets proves once again that the war against Ukraine is a war of annihilation for the Russian army,” Zelensky said in his daily video address on Sunday evening. In addition to the attacks on civilian objects and residential areas, grain stores and farms are now being destroyed.

“What could be Russia’s strategic success in this war? Honestly, I don’t know,” Zelensky said. Destroyed people’s lives and burned or stolen property would do nothing for Russia. “It will only increase the toxicity of the Russian state and the number of those in the world working to isolate Russia.”

Reports: Russian attacks towards Zaporizhia repelled

According to their own statements, Ukrainian armed forces have repelled a number of Russian attacks in the direction of the large city of Zaporizhia in the south of the country and have stabilized the fronts south-east of the city.

The Unian agency reported on Sunday evening, citing the regional civil and military administration, that the pause in fighting that has meanwhile occurred is being used to consolidate the defensive positions. Russian units had repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to encircle Ukrainian troops east of Zaporizhia.

More Handelsblatt articles on the war in Ukraine

According to their own account, the Ukrainian security authorities also raised a ring of Russian agents. One of the spies even worked in the Ukrainian general staff, said Selensky’s adviser Oleksiy Arestovych on Monday night, according to the Ukrinform agency. He did not provide any information about the exact number of members of the spy ring.

However, Arestovych named one of their alleged goals. “These comrades should shoot down a passenger plane over Russia or Belarus and then blame Ukraine,” he said. Anti-aircraft missiles from Ukrainian stocks should therefore be used for this action.

The southern Russian city of Belgorod, not far from the border with Ukraine, was shaken by two heavy explosions on Monday night. So far there have been no reports of damage or casualties, said Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, according to the Russian state agency TASS.

However, there are reports on social media of lightning in the sky. Video footage and reports of alleged Ukrainian drones over Belgorod and the deployment of regional anti-aircraft defenses were circulated on Twitter, the authenticity of which could not initially be independently confirmed. Reports of alleged attacks by the Ukrainian military on targets in Russia have been mounting for days.

That’s going to be important today

Chancellor Olaf Scholz will comment on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The SPD politician is a guest on Monday evening at 7.20 p.m. on the ZDF program “What now, ….?”. At a special meeting in Brussels on Monday, the energy ministers of the EU countries will discuss how to deal with Russia’s freeze on gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. The talks should focus in particular on the question of security of supply.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz wants to travel to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to get an idea of ​​the situation and the support requests. The CDU spread a message from its chief of staff Jacob Schrot on Twitter, in which he wrote without naming a date: “Friedrich Merz is indeed planning a trip to Ukraine.”

According to information from “Bild” and “Tagesspiegel”, Merz wants to start this Monday. Merz emphasized that the Federal Criminal Police Office had been informed about his “possible trip” to Kyiv. “I did not request accompaniment by the Federal Criminal Police Office and the BKA did not offer it either,” Merz wrote on Twitter. There have been reports before. after which the BKA advised Merz to postpone the trip for security reasons.

Union faction vice Johann Wadephul (CDU) spoke in the ARD program “Anne Will” with a view to the planned trip to Merz from an important sign. CSU defense politician Florian Hahn called on Scholz to travel to Ukraine like the leader of the opposition. “Words must also be followed by deeds,” Hahn told the newspapers of the Funke media group (Monday). “Anyone who, like the Federal Chancellor, proclaimed the turning point and then went into hiding for weeks on end, leaves an uneasy feeling, not only among allies.”

The FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann emphasized in “Anne Will” how important it is to prepare well for such a trip. “But it’s not about who drives first, who drives last.” If you drive, then you have to bring something with you. “That means you have to be very specific.” You do not believe that the chancellor will be driven by the travel plans. Strack-Zimmermann, chairwoman of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee, recently traveled to Ukraine himself.

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