Duisburg After negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on a ceasefire failed again, the countries’ negotiators postponed further talks to this Tuesday. The interruption until Tuesday is a technical break for talks in working groups and a “clarification of individual definitions,” explained Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak.
Ukraine demands an end to the war and a withdrawal of Russian troops. Moscow is demanding that Kyiv recognize the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea as Russian territory and the eastern Ukrainian separatist areas as independent states, and that Ukraine declare its neutrality.
On Monday afternoon, Russia threatened to seize major cities in Ukraine and launch attacks on population centers. “At the beginning of the operation, the Russian President instructed the Defense Ministry to refrain from an immediate attack on major population centers, including Kiev,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow on Monday, according to the Interfax agency.
The Ministry of Defense is now “not ruling out the possibility while maintaining the greatest possible security for the civilian population,” said the Kremlin spokesman. The Putin regime continues to rely on the propaganda with which Russia had already started the war: Peskov explained that “nationalist formations” had allegedly placed “military equipment” in residential areas. This leads to civilian casualties. Putin calls the invasion of Ukraine a “special military peacekeeping operation”.
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In addition, the ministry launched attacks against suspected whereabouts of foreign fighters in Ukraine. “We know all the locations of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine. Targeted attacks will continue to be carried out against them,” said ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov on Monday evening, according to a statement.
On Sunday, the Russian military attacked the Yavoriv military training area in western Ukraine, not far from the Polish border, killing many foreign fighters, according to their own statements. Kyiv later contradicted this account and spoke of “pure Russian propaganda”. According to Ukrainian sources, at least 35 people were killed and 134 injured in the attack north-west of Lviv. The information provided by the warring parties could not be independently verified.
Battles near Kyiv and around nuclear power plants
According to Ukrainian sources, the site of the Antonov Aircraft Works in Kyiv, known for its cargo planes, was shelled on Monday. “The occupiers shelled the Antonov plant,” the city administration announced on the Telegram news channel. Rescue workers are on site. At first it was unclear whether there were injuries or deaths. The “strana.news” portal published photos and videos that are said to show a huge cloud of smoke over the factory. Details were not initially available.
According to the US government, the Russian military is making only slow progress in advancing on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. In places, the soldiers are about 15 kilometers away from the city center, a senior US defense official said on Monday.
Moscow confirmed in the evening that Russia’s military had destroyed “a large ammunition depot for multiple missile systems” at the Antonov plant. The company says it builds both cargo and passenger aircraft. The plant is located in the north-west of Kiev. There is said to be heavy fighting north and east of Kyiv. The information provided by both sides cannot be independently verified.
According to the Ukrainian operator Ukrenerho, the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant is again without power. The line that supplies the plant and the nearby town of Slavutych north of Kyiv was damaged by Russian forces, Ukrenerho said. There was initially no comment from the Russian side.
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According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops blew up parts of an ammunition depot not far from the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. The explosion happened near the ruins of a military training center, Ukrainian nuclear power operator Enerhoatom said on Telegram on Monday. The information could not be independently verified. The staff at the power plant have meanwhile stopped working, Enerhoatom said. It is not yet known whether the radiation exposure has changed as a result of the incident.
At the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, which was occupied by Russian troops, there was recently a lack of clarity as to who was responsible for operation and safety. Enerhoatom reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the nuclear power plant was “under the control of the commander of the Russian armed forces”. The Russian state-owned company Rosatom, on the other hand, denied having taken over operational control in an exchange with the IAEA.
First evacuations in Mariupol
According to a media report, the Russian Defense Ministry also announced the start of a mass evacuation of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The Interfax news agency reports that their blockade has been lifted. The message has not yet been verified.
A woman walks past a burning apartment building after it was shelled in Mariupol.
(Photo: AP)
From Ukraine it was said on Monday evening that after several failed evacuation attempts, the first civilians are said to have managed to escape from the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol. More than 160 private cars left the city for the city of Berdyansk, more than 70 kilometers to the west, the Mariupol City Council said on Telegram.
A convoy with relief supplies, on the other hand, is still on the way to Mariupol. Buses that are supposed to take larger numbers of civilians have not yet arrived either. In the past few days, the convoy had had to turn back several times in the direction of Berdyansk due to ongoing fighting.
Even evacuation attempts failed again and again, despite agreed fire breaks and escape corridors. Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for this. The humanitarian situation in Mariupol, surrounded by Russian troops, is considered catastrophic. The people in the city on the Azov Sea have been stuck without electricity, heating and water for days. According to Ukrainian information, ten escape corridors from particularly hard-fought towns and villages were planned nationwide for Monday.
The shelling by Russian troops continues to prevent humanitarian aid for the city of Mariupol, according to Ukrainian sources. A convoy that tried to deliver relief supplies and bring women and children to safety on Monday failed to get through, as it did last week, says Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereschuk. However, some civilians could have left the besieged port city by car.
Scholz and Erdogan call for a ceasefire
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan exchanged views on the Ukraine war on Monday. Together they called for a ceasefire in the Russian war in Ukraine. “We are completely in agreement that there must be a ceasefire as soon as possible,” said Scholz on Monday during his first visit to Turkey.
Ukrainians flee to Poland
There must also be safe corridors for civilians immediately. Erdogan emphasized: “We will continue to strive for a permanent ceasefire.” There was agreement that diplomatic efforts must be continued.
According to the UN, a total of around 2.7 million people from Ukraine have sought refuge abroad. So far, 1.77 million people have sought safety in Poland. This was announced by the border guard on the short message service Twitter. The number of war refugees in Germany is also increasing: 146,998 people have been registered, the Federal Ministry of the Interior announced.
US raises full trade embargo
In order to stop the war in Ukraine, the US on Monday evening discussed a complete trade embargo against Russia. US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told CNBC that the US government could do this to Russia. Also, the US could block Russia’s access to international waters.
The EU member states meanwhile agreed on a fourth sanctions package against Russia. Details were not initially given on Monday evening.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:
According to diplomats, the sanctions include an import ban on steel and iron, a ban on investments in oil companies and the energy sector, and an export ban on luxury goods, including cars worth more than 50,000 euros. French EU Presidency office says Russia’s trade status as ‘most favored nation’ will be revoked.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that Ukraine’s economy could shrink by 10 percent this year because of the Russian invasion. That’s according to a fund report prepared ahead of the IMF’s $1.4 billion pledge.
Based on data from other countries at war, Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) could plummet by as much as 25 to 35 percent. Ukraine has an external financing gap of $4.8 billion, and the country’s financing needs are likely to increase. Public debt is expected to rise to 60 percent of GDP this year from 50 percent in 2021.
With agency material
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