Russia has been waging a war of aggression in Ukraine for three weeks now. Kharkiv is particularly competitive.
(Photo: Reuters)
Kyiv After three weeks of war, flight and expulsion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a direct appeal to Germany this Thursday. The 44-year-old is said to speak via video link in the Bundestag in the morning.
During the night, Ukraine reported renewed fighting with Russian attackers, including near the capital Kyiv. There is still great concern for the people in the besieged and partially destroyed port city of Mariupol.
Thousands of people flee in private cars
The mayor of Mariupol, Vadim Bojchenko, reported overnight via the Telegram service that people could now leave the city in private cars. Within two days, around 6,500 cars left Mariupol. But there is no ceasefire, people fled under fire.
On Wednesday there was a devastating bomb attack on a theater building in Mariupol. Bojchenko said there were more than 1,000 people there, it was “another tragedy”. The civilians are said to have taken shelter in the building. Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the attack.
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The Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry, that thirteen buses carrying around 300 refugees from Mariupol have arrived in the Russian region of Rostov.
The military situation
Regarding the actual war, the Ukrainian army reported during the night that two more Russian Sukhoi Su-35 and Su-30 combat aircraft had been destroyed over the Kyiv region.
>> Read about this: The current developments in the Ukraine war in the Newsblog
On land, Russian units concentrated primarily on securing their territory gains. There are efforts by Russian troops to advance south of the city of Izyum, probably to continue an offensive towards Sloviansk. However, they are not successful in this.
In the south, Russian units tried to move the remaining equipment after a Ukrainian attack on the Russian-controlled airfield near the city of Kherson, sources said. According to Ukrainian military information and media reports, the airfield has recently been attacked several times by Ukrainian artillery, destroying dozens of helicopters.
The Russian Navy is also still blocking shipping in the north-western part of the Black Sea. The Russian military, in turn, claimed that the crews of 70 foreign ships were stranded there because of Ukrainian-mined waters.
Zelensky asks the US: “We need you now”
Last Saturday, Ukraine’s Maritime and River Transport Authority said 94 foreign-crewed ships and hundreds of seafarers had been blocked in the waters of Ukrainian ports since the start of the war.
The humanitarian situation in Izyum in the northeast of the country, which is besieged by the Russian army, is considered catastrophic. According to Ukrainian information, the Svyatohirsk Ascension Monastery was recently damaged in fighting in the area. The information provided by both sides cannot be independently verified.
Zelensky adviser: Russia wants to buy time and is planning a new offensive
An adviser to the Ukrainian President Zelenskiy has warned against hopes for an early peace solution in the war with Russia. If the Russian leadership now says that it is interested in a peaceful solution, this is a deceptive maneuver, said Alexander Rodnyansky on Wednesday evening in the ARD program “Maischberger”. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had previously said that the federal government would do everything possible to give the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia a chance.
The Handelsblatt also reports on the Ukraine war:
Russia’s goal is to buy time and to stir up hope among the people of Europe that there can be peace, Rodnyansky said. During this time, Russia wants to recruit new troops and then start an offensive again. “That’s a typical deception, very well thought out.” The Russian state leadership knows that many people in Germany also hope for peace. “This regime only understands strength,” emphasized Selenski’s adviser.
Zelensky himself said in a video message published that night that his priorities in the negotiations with Russia were clear: “An end to the war, security guarantees, sovereignty and the restoration of territorial integrity.” Zelensky again demanded more pressure from the West: a no-fly zone over Ukraine is necessary, plus the delivery of air defense systems, aircraft, lethal weapons and ammunition, and a new package of sanctions against Russia.
>> Read about this: Ukraine and Russia are apparently negotiating concretely: the 15-point plan should bring agreement
Biden promises further support for Ukraine
US President Joe Biden announced further arms deliveries and military aid for Ukraine in the millions. A $800 million (€730 million) aid package includes anti-aircraft missiles, drones and thousands of anti-tank weapons, Biden said in Washington.
Left to right: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and Chief of Staff Mark Milley.
(Photo: AP)
Germany and other NATO countries have also supplied weapons and imposed sanctions. However, on Wednesday evening, Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) again spoke out against NATO involvement in the war and against escalation scenarios.
>> Read about this: US President Biden promises Ukraine anti-aircraft systems and drones
Polish Prime Minister calls on Scholz and Biden to travel to Kyiv
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called on Chancellor Scholz and other heads of state and government to pay a solidarity visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. He called on Scholz, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron and all EU heads of government to go to Kyiv as well, he told the “Bild”.
“They should look into the eyes of women and children and help them save their lives and their independence. There they fight for the values of Europe and the western world.” The Ukrainian capital has been shelled since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression on February 24th.
>> Read about this: Prime Ministers of Poland, Czech Republic and Slovenia send strong signal of solidarity
Concern for the safety of Ukraine refugees
According to the UN, more than three million people have fled Ukraine. The International Organization for Migration said it was concerned about the risk of human trafficking and sexual exploitation and abuse. There is an increasing threat to the personal safety of the people fleeing, the IOM said in Geneva.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz also pointed out the dangers, especially for refugee women, in the ARD “Tagesthemen”. “Above all, we have to register the refugees, and we have to register those who take in refugees, because we can already see that abuse may also be committed here with women who come to us,” said Merz. Germany must know who is coming to the country. And the people would have to be distributed in Germany and the European Union.
Journalist does not want to leave Russia after protest on live TV
The Russian TV journalist, who held a poster protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine during the news on state television, does not want to leave her country despite fears for her safety. “We will stay in Russia,” said Marina Ovsyannikova in an interview with “Spiegel” about herself and her two children – she has a 17-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter.
She is very worried, but: “I am a patriot, my son (is) a much bigger one. We definitely don’t want to leave, we don’t want to emigrate anywhere.” She knows: “My life has changed forever, I’m only slowly realizing that. I can’t go back to my old life.”
The editor of Russian state television held a protest poster against the war in Ukraine into the camera on Monday evening’s main news channel One. Talking about a war is forbidden in Russian state media. The state leadership calls the action in the neighboring country a “special military operation” to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.
>> Read about this: TV editor gets away with a fine for the time being – further proceedings are imminent
That will be important on Thursday
After Selenski’s speech to the Bundestag planned for the morning (9 a.m.), the parliament will deal, among other things, with the accommodation of the Ukraine refugees.
In the afternoon (2 p.m.) Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also discuss how to deal with the refugees and the energy prices that have risen since the beginning of the war with the prime ministers of the federal states. Before that, he will receive NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for talks (11:30 a.m.) in the Chancellery, also with a view to the special summit of the heads of state and government of the alliance countries next week.
The UN Security Council is holding an emergency session in New York to discuss possible war crimes committed by Russia. On Wednesday, US President Biden publicly called Russia’s President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” for the first time.