Ukraine reports fierce Russian attacks in Chernihiv and Donetsk region

Istanbul, Dusseldorf What does a “reduction in military action” mean? The world is puzzling over this after the Russian negotiating delegation announced exactly this after talks with Ukrainian participants on Monday evening in Istanbul.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently wants to shut down hostilities around the capital Kyiv. Images also show how some Russian combat units in the region may have retreated.

However, British military experts consider it “highly likely” that Russia will shift its combat capability from northern Ukraine to the south-east of the country. The offensive in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions should now be stepped up there. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, made a similar statement. The aim is apparently to encircle the Ukrainian troops in the area.

According to the Russian military, they have destroyed two ammunition depots in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. The Ukrainian army stored ammunition for its rocket artillery in the town of Kamianka, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said.

A total of 64 Ukrainian objects were destroyed within 24 hours, including a unit of Ukrainian special forces in the Mykolaiv region. The information cannot be independently verified.

Attacks on Ukrainian cities

The governor of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine reported heavy Russian artillery shelling of residential areas in the town of Lysychansk. “Some skyscrapers were damaged,” Serhiy Gaidai wrote on Telegram. “Many buildings have collapsed. Rescue workers are trying to save those who are still alive.” This information cannot be independently verified.

The Chernihiv region is also still under fire from Russian troops, according to its governor, despite Russia’s announcement that it would reduce military activities there. “Do we believe the announcement? Of course not,” writes Wiatscheslav Tschaus on the Telegram messenger service. Tschaus adds: “The enemy in the Chernihiv region shows the ‘reduced activities’ with attacks from the air on Nizhyn and throughout the night on the (city) of Chernihiv.”

According to the governor there, there are long-range attacks in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Almost all cities along the demarcation line are under fire, says Pavlo Kyrylenko on Ukrainian television. The situation could get worse as Russian troops focus on attacks in the region. The demarcation line separates the areas under Ukrainian control from the territory held by pro-Russian separatists. The information cannot be independently verified.

According to the Ukrainian government, three humanitarian corridors are planned in the south-east of the country for Wednesday. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereschuk announced that these were escape routes from the cities of Berdyansk on the Azov Sea and Melitopol.

Buses would drive to the embattled cities. Private cars could join the convoy of buses on the way back. In addition, relief supplies would be brought to the cities. In addition, a corridor had been agreed for civilians to flee from the nuclear power plant city of Enerhodar to Zaporizhia.

According to Vereshchuk, proposals for humanitarian corridors for 97 settlements in 9 regions were handed over to the Russian delegation at the talks in Istanbul the day before.

Johnson considers shipments of larger weapons

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is apparently considering sending larger weapons to Ukraine. The London newspaper Times wrote on Wednesday, citing unnamed insider sources. Johnson warns that the Russian president could become “more unpredictable and vindictive”.

“Not only does the Ukrainian army retain control of major cities, it is even forcing the Russians to retreat. With that, our support needs to change,” a source in the British Cabinet said.

According to the report, Johnson would like to work to ensure that the United States provides Ukraine with anti-ship missiles and more advanced air defense systems. So far, London has mainly sent anti-tank missiles and other missiles to Ukraine in support.

Meanwhile, the United Nations is setting up an independent commission to investigate possible war crimes in Ukraine. The panel will be led by the Norwegian Erik Moses, one of the three appointed human rights experts.

Lavrov travels to China

In the meantime, Russia and China are moving closer together in the tensions surrounding the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. For the first time since the invasion began, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in person on Wednesday in Tunxi, southeast China’s Anhui Province, with his counterpart Wang Yi, who welcomed him as an “old friend.”

Both sides emphasized the quality of the relationship and the desire to expand cooperation.

Current reporting on the crisis:

According to the government in Moscow, China condemns the western sanctions against Russia. The foreign ministers of Russia and China on Wednesday described the punitive measures as illegal and counterproductive, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Four million refugees

Meanwhile, the number of people fleeing Ukraine has risen to over four million. Since the Russian invasion began on February 24, 4.02 million people have fled the country, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. In addition, according to estimates by the United Nations, around 6.5 million people are fleeing within Ukraine.

By far the largest number of those who have fled abroad (2.34 million) have so far been counted in Poland, followed by Romania (609,000). Hundreds of thousands have also arrived in Moldova, Hungary and Slovakia.

More than 280,000 arrivals were counted in Germany. Since there are no fixed border controls and people with a Ukrainian passport can enter the country for 90 days without a visa, the total number of refugees from Ukraine in Germany is likely to be significantly higher overall.

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