Russia occupies Mariupol port

Berlin According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops are stepping up their activities in the east and south of the country. They tried to compensate for their losses, the bombing and artillery attacks continued, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video message on Thursday night. A major Russian offensive is expected shortly.

The USA and the European Union (EU), including Germany, therefore want to continue to massively arm Ukraine. The fact that President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was uninvited by the Ukraine leadership was met with even more incomprehension and criticism.

According to the Russian army, the port of the largely destroyed Ukrainian city of Mariupol is now completely under its control. The commercial port was “liberated” by Ukrainian Azov militants, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. The remaining Ukrainian troops are “blocked and deprived of the opportunity to escape from the encirclement”.

There was no confirmation of this from the Ukrainian side. According to the US war research institute Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Russian troops will “probably” conquer the city in the coming week, as it was said on Thursday night.

The crew of the Russian missile cruiser “Moskva” (“Moscow”) has meanwhile been completely evacuated, according to information from Moscow. The ship of the Black Sea Fleet was badly damaged by the “detonation of ammunition as a result of a fire”, the Russian agency TASS reported on Thursday night, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense.

A few hours earlier, it had been said from Kyiv that the missile cruiser had been hit by a Ukrainian anti-ship missile. The warship is said to have a crew of more than 500 sailors, according to Ukrainian sources. The course of events cannot be independently verified.

Ukrainians are clearing mines in the north

Russian troops are said to have left large quantities of unexploded explosive devices in the north of the country, according to Ukrainian sources. Tens of thousands of unexploded shells or mines are in the area, Zelenski said. Mine clearance continues. The current military situation is not significantly different from that of the past few days. Russian troops increased their activities in the east and south. This could not be independently verified.

In view of the expected large-scale Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, the US and the EU together are providing more than 1.2 billion euros for arms deliveries to Kyiv. The US has announced that it intends to transfer up to $800 million in additional arms and ammunition to Ukraine.

These include artillery, armored vehicles and helicopters. US President Joe Biden said after talks with Zelenskiy that the new deliveries should support Ukraine, especially in view of the feared large-scale attack in the Donbass region.

While Germany continues to support Ukraine, criticism of Ukraine’s uninviting of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier continues. “The Federal President is Germany. And that’s why his invitation by President Selenski is an invitation from Germany,” said Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) to the newspapers of the Funke media group (Thursday).

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“Unfortunately, I have to say it this way: The Ukrainian side made a diplomatic mistake.” Zelenski said on Wednesday evening that there had been no requests from the Federal President for a visit. When asked whether he or Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) would travel to Ukraine, Habeck said: “Now we should all make sure that we solve the problem and don’t escalate it. That’s what phones were invented for.” Meanwhile, according to the US news portal Politico, the United States may also want to send a high-ranking representative to Kyiv.

Selenski praises Poland and the Baltic States

The Ukrainian President, meanwhile, praised Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia for their commitment to his country. The visit of the presidents of the “four states – friends of Ukraine” on Wednesday was useful and fruitful, said Zelenskiy.

It was the presidents of those countries that had helped Ukraine from day one, who had no hesitation in supplying arms to Kyiv and had no doubts about sanctions against Russia. They promised Kyiv further military and humanitarian aid and promised to work for Ukraine’s admission to the EU.

Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) spoke out vehemently against German deliveries of heavy weapons to Ukraine. “We would cross a line if we deliver tanks or planes or even set up a no-fly zone. This line must be maintained,” said Kretschmer of the “Rheinische Post” (Thursday). Germany is doing an enormous amount, but must not become a party to the war.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reacted furiously to the arrest of pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk in Ukraine and made serious allegations against Kyiv. “Some freaks calling themselves the ‘Ukrainian government’ say they want to beat a confession out of Viktor Medvedchuk, sentence him ‘quickly and fairly’ and then exchange them for prisoners,” Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel.

He presented no evidence to support his claims. According to the authorities, Ukrainian secret service forces had arrested Medvedchuk in Ukraine the day before. Zelensky later offered to trade the Putin confidant for Ukrainian soldiers in Russian captivity.

The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, also accused Kyiv of using torture methods, but without providing any evidence.

That’s going to be important today

In Berlin, the discussion about the delivery of heavy weapons from Germany to Ukraine continues. In addition, the trip by German politicians to the Ukrainian capital is causing an ongoing debate.

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