new York New airstrikes shook various cities and regions of Ukraine during the night. According to Ukrainian media reports, Russian attackers targeted Kyiv, Lutsk, Rivne and Kharkiv. A fuel depot was hit in Lutsk in north-western Ukraine in the evening. Air alerts had previously been raised in all regions of the country.
An adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke of “inhumane” tactics used by the Russian armed forces. Mykhailo Podoliak wrote on Twitter that Russia would block humanitarian corridors and besieged cities. The port city of Mariupol was also hit again.
“The Russians no longer have a language, humanism or civilization,” wrote Podoliak. “Only rockets and bombs to wipe Ukraine off the map if possible.”
The President of Ukraine himself described the situation in Mariupol in drastic terms in his nightly video address: “All entrances and exits to the city of Mariupol are blocked,” he said. “The port is mined.”
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It is impossible to bring food, medicine and water there. Even the destruction by the Russian army in Chechnya cannot be compared with the situation in Mariupol.
Meanwhile, Ukraine reckons Russia may soon escalate its attacks. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russian military is supplying their launch pads in Belarus with new projectiles. The rockets are intended for the units with the “Iskander” weapon system set up near Kalinkavitchy, it said. The information could not be independently verified.
The Ukrainian President reports every night via video message.
(Photo: dpa)
However, in the vicinity of the city of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian army has also recorded successful counterattacks. Russian troops were pushed out of several towns on Sunday, regional military chief Oleg Synegubow said on Telegram. “We are driving the occupiers back towards the (Russian) border,” he said.
A residential building was hit during Russian air raids on the village of Oskil in the Izyum district. A family of four was killed, Synegubov wrote. The information could not be independently verified.
Negotiations continue
In Turkey, negotiations on peace in Ukraine are to start at the beginning of the week. An exact date has not yet been set. The Turkish President’s Office announced on Sunday evening that the meeting should take place in Istanbul.
The Turkish President had previously spoken to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin on the phone. In it, Recep Tayyip Erdogan apparently asked his counterpart for a ceasefire and an improvement in the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
According to Zelensky, the Ukrainian side wants to continue to insist on its territorial integrity and sovereignty. Effective safety guarantees are a must. Ukraine’s goal is peace and a return to normal life in its own country as soon as possible.
Scholz at Anne Will
The Chancellor answered questions from ARD presenter Anne Will on Sunday evening. The main topics were the Ukraine war and Germany’s energy supply. Olaf Scholz spoke out against an embargo on energy imports from Russia and referred to the economic consequences.
At the same time, he dismissed accusations that Germany was supporting Russia’s financing of the aggressive war in Ukraine. “Russia currently cannot do anything with the money it has in its accounts because of our sanctions,” said Scholz on Sunday evening.
The Chancellor was a guest on the ARD talk show Anne Will in the evening.
(Photo: dpa)
Germany’s dependence on Russian energy imports will be eliminated “quite quickly”. With coal, if everything goes well, this could happen quickly this year, Scholz announced. This can also happen very quickly with oil.
And for gas, plans that had been in the drawer for a long time have “now been activated”. The technical infrastructure is being created at great speed in order to be able to import gas from other suppliers.
The Chancellor issued a warning to Putin. First, he warns the Russian President against using chemical weapons in Ukraine. “That would have the harshest consequences, and we agree that we will of course react with dramatic measures,” said Scholz. Like NATO before him, Scholz did not want to comment on the details of such consequences.
According to Scholz, Germany also wants to do more for defense. This concerns, on the one hand, a commitment to NATO’s two percent target and, on the other hand, investments in rearmament in the country. The federal government is currently examining the purchase of a missile defense system. “That’s definitely one of the things we advise, and for good reason,” said Scholz. Earlier, politicians in the traffic light coalition had brought up the purchase of an Israeli missile defense system for Germany.
>> Read about this: Olaf Scholz at Anne Will – the federal government is examining the acquisition of a missile defense system
EU threatens dispute over refugee distribution
In view of the huge flow of refugees from Ukraine, the European Union is threatened with a new dispute over the distribution of those seeking protection. The interior ministers of the 27 EU countries will discuss the joint approach this Monday (2:30 p.m.) in Brussels.
Germany and Poland had previously addressed the EU Commission with an urgent appeal for help. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is pushing for quotas for the distribution of refugees within Europe. However, EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson had already rejected such demands.
A girl who fled Ukraine waves from a bus window. More than 3.8 million people have fled Ukraine since the war began.
(Photo: dpa)
According to the UN, more than 3.8 million of the more than 44 million Ukrainians have left the country since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine. More than two million have arrived in Poland alone, and according to the Ministry of the Interior around 267,000 refugees have been registered in Germany.
“It’s safe to say that our countries are now making most of the efforts to take in people from Ukraine and offer them protection,” the letter from Faeser and her Polish colleague Mariusz Kaminski to the European Commission said. “It is clear that our resources and reception capacity will not be sufficient to cope with the growing influx of people.” Monday’s meeting is the second emergency meeting of interior ministers called at short notice since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine on 24. February.
With agency material.
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