Russian tank in the war zone.
(Photo: IMAGO/ITAR-TASS)
Dusseldorf Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the West to impose tougher sanctions on Russia. He called for an embargo on Russian oil and a complete exclusion of the Russian banking system from international finance.
If there is no “really painful sanctions package” and no deliveries of the weapons demanded by Kyiv to Ukraine, Russia will see this as “permission to advance,” Zelensky said in a video speech published on Thursday night.
At the same time, the Ukrainian President warned of a new offensive by the Russian military in eastern Ukraine. Moscow continues to build up fighting power in order to realize its ambitions in the Donbass region. The Ukrainian military reported further fighting and attacks from the region.
The government in Kyiv has already called on people in the Luhansk, Donetsk and Kharkiv regions to flee. She expects Russian troops withdrawn from the capital, Kyiv, to be deployed in the east. Selenski emphasized: “We will fight and not withdraw”.
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The Ukrainian President also called on the people of Russia to demand an end to the war. The killing of civilians in cities like Bucha occupied by Russian troops must be a decisive argument.
In a speech, Volodimir Zelensky also addresses the Russian population.
(Photo: dpa)
“No one in Russia who does not now demand an end to the war and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine has a future,” said Zelenskiy. Citizens should rather face the Russian repressive machine now than be “compared to Nazis” for the rest of their lives.
>> The current developments in the Ukraine war you can follow in our news blog
Ukraine: Eleven bodies found in Kiev suburb
According to Ukrainian sources, eleven bodies were found in a garage in the Kiev suburb of Hostomel after the withdrawal of Russian troops. The police discovered them on Wednesday, reported Ukrajinska Pravda, citing a telegram entry by former Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. Accordingly, the dead are said to be civilians who were killed by Russian soldiers. The information could not be independently verified.
Northwest of the capital, Hostomel and the nearby airfield had been heavily contested since the beginning of the war. Most of the original 16,000 residents fled. According to the local military administration, around 400 residents of Hostomel were missing.
Mayor of Kharkiv: No need for mass evacuation
After calls to flee eastern Ukraine in the face of a possible major Russian offensive, the mayor of Kharkiv is trying to calm down. Neither he nor the military currently considered it necessary to conduct a centralized evacuation from the country’s second-largest city, Ihor Terekhov said in a video message. The city of Kharkiv is well armed and ready for defense. However, the call for an evacuation applies to southern districts in the Kharkiv region.
Before the war, Kharkiv had around 1.5 million inhabitants. According to the regional administration, a large part of the residents left the city in the first weeks of the war. Kharkiv has been under almost continuous air and artillery attacks since the beginning of the Russian invasion in late February.
US to deliver more anti-tank weapons and drones to Ukraine
The United States wants to support Ukraine with additional Javelin-type anti-tank weapons. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that $100 million (91.3 million euros) that the US government had approved for further arms deliveries are to be used for this purpose. Talks are also being held with the Ukrainians about the delivery of more Switchblade drones. 100 of them have already been sent.
The Switchblades are mini-drones that can circle the ground for a long time to lurk and attack a target. Then they destroy themselves.
Other recent reports on the war:
UN body: Up to 47 million more starving
Because of the Ukraine war, the World Food Program expects tens of millions more people to live in hunger and poverty. “Depending on the duration of the war, between 33 and 47 million people could slide into hunger and poverty,” said the director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Germany, Martin Frick, the German Press Agency. Even before the war began, the number of people suffering acute hunger was at a sad record level of 276 million.
According to Welthungerhilfe, the food crisis will lead to new refugee movements from poorer countries. “We see very realistically in the countries where we work how dramatic the situation is. People will see no other option than to set off,” said Mathias Mogge, Secretary General of German Agro Action, to the Rheinische Post. The background is, among other things, the price jumps of up to 70 percent for grain, which has so far been imported to a large extent from Ukraine and Russia.
That will be important on Thursday
The foreign ministers of the 30 NATO countries are discussing further support for Ukraine and strengthening defense capabilities in the eastern alliance area this Thursday. At times, foreign ministers from the partner countries Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea also take part in the meeting.
In Germany, the prime ministers of the federal states are discussing with Chancellor Olaf Scholz how the costs of caring for Ukrainian war refugees should be shared. The meeting will also deal with how the registration and distribution of incoming Ukrainians to countries and municipalities can best be organized.
More: Franziska Giffey on refugee costs: “It can’t work like that”