According to the Ukrainian military, Russian troops continue to attack numerous cities and areas in the country.
(Photo: dpa)
new York Exactly a month after the Russian attack on Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on people around the world to protest against the war on Thursday. “Come in the name of peace, come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, freedom and life!” Zelensky said in a video address on the night. On the orders of President Vladimir Putin, Russia attacked the neighboring country on the night of February 24.
Thursday is also set to be a decisive day for western countries’ reactions to the war: NATO, the group of seven most important industrialized countries (G7) and the European Union (EU) will meet in Brussels. This is why US President Joe Biden came to Europe. According to his national security adviser, Jack Sullivan, the top-level deliberations are intended to herald the “next phase” of military support for Ukraine.
“On these three peaks we will see: who is a friend, who is a partner, and who sold out and cheated?” Zelensky said. We must work together and prevent Moscow from drawing NATO, EU or G7 members to the side of the war. Meanwhile, the fighting in Ukraine continued with the same intensity.
The military situation
According to the Ukrainian military, Russian troops continue to attack numerous cities and areas in the country – but have been prevented from advancing near the capital Kyiv. Russian troops were stopped near the Kiev suburb of Brovary, according to a report by the Ukrainian general staff published on Facebook on Thursday night. They failed to break through Ukrainian defenses to reach the north-western outskirts of Kyiv.
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In the area around the besieged city of Izyum, Russian units tried to break through the defenses of the Ukrainian forces in the villages of Donetsk, Topolske and Kamianka south of Izyum, it said. The fighting there continued.
Call for major protests worldwide on Thursday.
(Photo: dpa)
In the Donetsk region, the vast majority of Ukrainian units are under fire. In the area, Russian troops primarily wanted to capture the towns of Verkhnoterezke, Marjinka and the city of Mariupol. They also tried, without a fight, to pass the positions of Ukrainian troops and move forward.
In the Luhansk region, efforts have focused on the cities of Rubishne with 60,000, Sieverodonetsk with 100,000 and Popasna with 20,000 residents, the report said. At Popasna, they tried to advance further into the city with artillery support, but did not succeed.
Combat operations also continued in the north of the country. On Wednesday, Russian units fired artillery at the towns of Kalinowka, Horinka, Romanovka and the north-eastern outskirts of the capital Kyiv. Russian troops also mined areas in the area. The information cannot be independently verified.
According to the US Department of Defense, even a month after the start of the war, Russian forces have not seized air sovereignty in Ukraine. The US and its allies worked to provide the Ukrainians with more long-range anti-aircraft systems. The Ukrainians are using the current systems “very effectively”. That’s one reason “why we’re seeing quite risk-averse behavior on the part of some Russian pilots.”
Russian shelling in Kyiv killed Russian journalist Oxana Baulina, who worked for the independent investigative portal The Insider (theins.ru) on Wednesday. Since the beginning of the war there have been reports of at least six journalists killed.
>> Read here: All current developments in the news blog
Around 4500 evacuations from several Ukrainian cities
In Ukraine, more than 4,500 people were evacuated from besieged and embattled cities during the day. This was announced by the deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, on Wednesday evening (local time) on Telegram. The majority of them, almost 3,000 people, came from the port city of Mariupol to the city of Zaporizhia by private transport.
There were also other evacuations from the town of Huljajpole, the Luhansk region and three villages in the Kyiv region. According to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereshchuk, seven of the nine planned corridors worked. In two escape routes, buses were stopped by Russian units at checkpoints, she said in a video message on Wednesday evening. The information could not initially be independently verified.
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The Russian side said around 8,500 residents of Mariupol had been evacuated without the participation of the Kiev leadership. This was announced by Russian Major General Mikhail Mizintsev on Wednesday evening, according to the Russian agency Interfax. Russia and Ukraine routinely blame each other when humanitarian corridors don’t work.
From Russia it was also said that around 180 residents of two villages in the Belgorod region on the Ukrainian border were evacuated on Wednesday evening. This was reported by the Interfax agency on Thursday night, citing a mayor.
On Wednesday, the Russian side said a grenade had landed in Ukraine, prompting the authorities to declare a disaster. There was initially no confirmation of the incident from Ukraine.
Biden landed in Brussels
US President Joe Biden arrived in Brussels on Wednesday evening. There are three summit meetings on the agenda for him this Thursday. The heads of state and government of NATO, the EU and the leading democratic economic powers (G7) are meeting in the Belgian capital. Biden attends all three summits.
The US President has arrived in Brussels.
(Photo: AP)
The allies want to discuss further support for Ukraine and new measures against Russia. Biden continues to travel to Poland on Friday, where a meeting with President Andrzej Duda is scheduled for Saturday. He also wants to visit US troops there.
Selenski is to be connected to the NATO summit via video. His advisor Mykhailo Podoliak called for modern anti-aircraft weapons if NATO did not want to block the skies over Ukraine for Russian planes. The strengthening of NATO’s eastern flank announced by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday is already a clear sign of Russia’s deterrence.
So far, NATO has permanently stationed multinational units in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as in Poland. The expansion of the presence means that in the future NATO troops will be present from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.
>> Read here: Joe Biden has found his role: as Europe’s best man
Diplomats should leave Moscow
Russia has declared several US diplomats in Moscow undesirable. A representative of the US embassy in Moscow was given a list of diplomats who would have to leave the country in response to the expulsion of 12 Russian representatives to the United Nations in New York at the end of February. The US side has also been told that any hostile action by the United States against Russia will receive an appropriate response, the ministry said.
A State Department spokesman in Washington confirmed receipt of the list. “This is the latest unhelpful and unproductive move by Russia in our bilateral relationship,” the spokesman said. Moscow should end the “unjustified expulsions”, he demanded. “Now more than ever, it is critical that our countries have the necessary diplomatic personnel on the ground to enable communication between our countries.”
Debate on the distribution of refugees
The admission of refugees from the Ukraine must not remain a German-Polish problem. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing demands this. “There is also a willingness to accept in countries that are not close to Ukraine. Transports to France, Spain, Greece, Denmark have to be organized – by train or plane,” said the FDP politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group, according to a preliminary report.
Thousands of refugees from Ukraine have been arriving at the main train station in Warsaw every day for weeks, waiting to continue their journey.
(Photo: IMAGO/Reichwein)
In Germany, further distribution centers would have to be set up in addition to Berlin, Hanover and Cottbus. Otherwise, many refugees would continue to come to Berlin because they have friends and relatives there and are most likely to see a perspective for themselves. A good system is needed to distribute the refugees in Germany and Europe.
The federal government is finding it difficult to estimate the extent of the flight movement from Ukraine to Germany. “It is still completely unclear how many women, men and children from Ukraine will seek refuge with us,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Wednesday. It is also still not known how many war refugees are already in Germany.
The federal police have registered the arrival of 238,932 war refugees. However, the actual number is likely to be significantly higher – Ukrainians are allowed to enter the country without a visa, and there are no regular border controls at the internal EU borders.
It is also unclear how the refugees will be distributed within the EU. The EU Commission rejected calls for mandatory quotas. Germany is one of the countries that are pushing for distribution throughout the EU.
Chernobyl wildfires extinguished
Several wildfires have been successfully fought in the restricted area around the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The Ukrainian nuclear regulatory agency has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the Chernobyl city fire brigade has put out four fires. This was announced by Director General Rafael Grossi on Wednesday evening. There was no information on the cause of the fire. Russian troops took control of the area around the nuclear power plant about a month ago. It was there in 1986 that the worst nuclear accident in the history of civilian use of nuclear power occurred.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko asks Munich City Council for help
That’s going to be important today
The Russian war against Ukraine occupies international politics with the three summits of NATO, G7 and EU in Brussels. The heads of state and government also have to deal with the question of Russian energy supplies. Putin ordered on Wednesday that “unfriendly states” like Germany would have to pay in rubles in the future. If Western countries back down, they would overturn their own sanctions against Russia’s financial system.
The interior ministers of the G7 countries are also meeting, and Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) is taking part in the consultations online. At the same time, she is meeting with the interior ministers of the German federal states. The focus is on the question of how the refugees from Ukraine can be distributed in Germany and the EU.
With agency material
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