Russian attacks at Bakhmut continue

Bachmut

The city has been at the center of the heaviest fighting for weeks.

(Photo: dpa)

Kyiv According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian armed forces have the situation on the country’s fronts under control. Nevertheless, the military reports of continued Russian attacks in the east of the country – with a focus on Bakhmut.

“We have every area on the front line under control,” Zelensky said in his nightly video speech on Wednesday. However, the people behind the fronts would continue to suffer from the Russian attacks.

“Deliberate terror,” Zelensky said of Russian artillery attacks on towns and villages behind the fronts in southern and eastern Ukraine.

“In most of our country, where we have managed to provide relative safety, they (residents) may not understand what life is like for people living in the border areas with Russia and in the south of our country,” said Zelensky. Although the people there are not at the front, they are still directly involved in the war. “Where Russia is constantly trying to destroy everything the people have, constantly – and that’s no exaggeration.”

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Meanwhile, the Russian military continued its attacks in eastern Ukraine unabated on Wednesday, according to reports from the Ukrainian general staff.

Kiev: Russian attacks near Bakhmut continue

The city of Bakhmut, which had been fought over for weeks, was once again the focus of the heaviest fighting, as the Ukrainian army command announced in its daily situation report. Russian units are already pressuring the city from three sides.

Volodymyr Zelensky

“We have every area on the front line under control.”

(Photo: dpa)

A series of Russian artillery and air strikes were also reported from around the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. There were also civilian casualties in rocket attacks, it said. No further details were given. The Ukrainian air defense shot down two Iranian-made kamikaze drones in the region.

Russian attacks were also reported from Kremenchuk, southeast of Kiev. The governor of the Poltava region, Dmytro Luni, reported that “civilian and critical infrastructure objects” were hit near Kremenchuk. For the time being, he did not provide any further information on possible victims or damage.

Reports of explosions in Crimea

Several explosions were registered in Russian-occupied Crimea on Wednesday evening. The detonations were heard in Yalta, Bakhchisarai and Gurzuf in the south of the peninsula, social media reported. There were no official statements on this.

US should sound out readiness for China sanctions among allies

According to insiders, the United States is exploring the possibility of new sanctions against China with close Western allies. It is about measures in the event that China provides military support to Russia in the war against Ukraine, several government officials told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday.

The explorations are still at an early stage. They should serve to gain the support of the G7 group of seven leading industrialized countries in particular, in order to coordinate support for possible measures. In addition to the USA, the G7 includes Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Great Britain. Exactly which sanctions could be involved remained open.

China’s role in the Ukraine war should also be a topic at the meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on Friday.

The US Treasury Department, which is in charge of imposing sanctions, declined to comment on the information on Wednesday. The United States has repeatedly said in recent weeks that China is considering arms sales to Russia. The government in China has rejected this.

China and Belarus: Demand peace deal in Ukraine

China and Belarus have called for a peace deal in Ukraine as soon as possible. The state-run Belarusian agency Belta reported on Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko also expressed their deep concerns about the development of the armed conflict at a meeting in Beijing.

Belarus and China are interested in preventing the crisis from escalating, it said. They are also prepared to work to restore peace and order in the region.

Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

(Photo: AP)

Xi said in a televised statement that China is keen to strengthen trust and cooperation with Belarus amid the unstable international situation. Both countries have avoided criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the past. A week ago, China’s foreign ministry called for a ceasefire and peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in a twelve-point plan.

EU could increase incentives for ammunition supplies to Ukraine

Countries like Germany could get significantly more EU money in the future if they quickly deliver urgently needed ammunition to Ukraine. In a discussion paper published on Wednesday, the EU Commission proposes that member states reimburse up to 90 percent of the costs from EU funds in the event of prompt deliveries. So far, the reimbursement rate for such applications has usually been significantly lower.

The states are required to make 155 millimeter caliber artillery ammunition available quickly, according to the paper that is available to the German Press Agency and about which the “Spiegel” initially reported. The transfer must be made from existing stocks or orders pending delivery.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had already called on the defense ministers of the EU states to expand ammunition deliveries last week. The background was concerns that Ukraine could soon lack urgently needed types of ammunition.

According to a background paper from Estonia, Russia fires an average of 20,000 to 60,000 rounds of artillery ammunition per day, while Ukraine only fires 2,000 to 7,000 rounds per day.

This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:

That brings the day

A good year after the Russian attack on Ukraine and the associated reorientation of German security policy, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to take stock of the situation on Thursday in the Bundestag. His government statement is entitled “One year of turning point”.

On February 27, 2022 – three days after the start of the war – Scholz announced a 100 billion program to upgrade the Bundeswehr in a special session of the Bundestag. The day before, the first arms deliveries to Ukraine for the defense against Russia had been decided.

>> Read also: One year after the Chancellor’s turning point speech – where does the Bundeswehr stand?

A good year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the foreign ministers of the G20 group of leading economic powers want to discuss the future of international conflict resolution this Thursday in New Delhi. Before the meeting, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for a clear signal against Russia’s war of aggression.

It is eagerly awaited whether Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will cause a scandal at the meeting in New Delhi, as at the recent G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali. At that time he left the hall after his speech and no longer listened to the comments of his critics.

More: Don’t miss any developments in the Ukraine war – everything new in our news blog

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