Habeck sees oil embargo coming Ukraine reports killed civilians Lavrov advises Russia to focus on China The developments in the Ukraine war in the stern ticker.
Day 90 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Three months after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expects more difficult weeks for his country. Again he demands more weapons from the West so that Ukraine can defend itself.
Since the beginning of the war, the United Nations has registered more than 6.5 million people who have fled Ukraine – most of them to Poland. At least 3,930 civilian deaths have been documented, and the number of injuries confirmed by the UN is 4,532. The British secret service estimates that Russian casualties in Ukraine are already as high as those of the Soviets in Afghanistan.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) receives her Polish colleague Zbigniew Rau for talks in Berlin on Tuesday. The Foreign Office said it would be about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other international, European and bilateral issues.
7.25 a.m .: Russia is trying to take key positions in Donbass
According to the Ukrainian government, the Russian armed forces are trying to seize key positions in eastern Ukraine with heavy bombardments. The situation in the Donbass is “extremely difficult” because the Russians are trying to “eliminate everything alive,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday night. Russia is trying to encircle the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk. The Ministry of Defense reported fierce fighting around Bakhmut.
The fall of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region would give Russian troops control of a crucial hub that currently serves as the command center for much of Ukraine’s war effort in the east. “We have reached a point where we are in the process of making evacuations mandatory,” said the head of Bakhmut’s military administration, Serhiy Kalian. The governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Gajday, on the other hand, reported that the shelling in Severodonetsk was so heavy that evacuations were impossible.
7.24 a.m .: Ukrainian defense adviser calls main objective in Mariupol “achieved”
Despite the fall of the port city of Mariupol, an adviser to the Ukrainian defense minister sees the main military objective there as having been achieved. “The main objective was achieved in Mariupol. It was to hold back the Russian groups, (…) more than 20,000 Russian soldiers. And this was made possible thanks to the exploits of the defenders of Mariupol and the defenders who were later in Azovstal” , said Jurij Sak on Tuesday in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”. As a result, the Russian troops would not have been able to conquer other areas in eastern Ukraine.
Azovstal’s soldiers would have given Ukrainians time to regroup and receive more military aid from their international partners. “From this perspective, the goal was achieved,” says Sak. The last Ukrainian fighters at the Azov steelworks in Mariupol surrendered last week.
5.01 a.m .: Left-wing politician Pellmann admits errors in assessing NATO
Left-wing member of the Bundestag Sören Pellmann is campaigning for his party to correct its course on Russia and NATO. “If you ask outside today: Is NATO an important alliance?, quite a few will say yes,” said Pellmann of the German Press Agency. The fear of an escalation of the Ukraine war and the skepticism that arms deliveries would end the war are growing among the population. But: “The demand for a dissolution of NATO is currently not an issue.”
The Leipziger is East Commissioner of the left parliamentary group. He has publicly stated that he is considering running for the federal presidency of his party. At 12 p.m. he wants to make a statement in Berlin.
12:17 a.m .: Lavrov advises Russia to focus more on Eurasia
According to the Russian Foreign Minister, the West’s “dictatorial position” towards Russia is accelerating the development of his country’s economic relations with China. Moscow will only rely on itself and on those states that “have proven their reliability,” Sergey Lavrov said, according to the state agencies Ria and Tass on Tuesday night.
According to Lavrov, the future lies in the Eurasia region. In addition to China, he also named India and Iran as important partners. In his opinion, Russia should no longer rely on Western supplies. Rather, Russia will “seriously consider” whether it needs to resume relations if the West offers something.
12:12 a.m .: Ukrainians report three civilians killed
According to Ukrainian sources, three civilians were killed in Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine on Monday. Six other people were injured, the governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, wrote on Telegram. The Ukrainian army said it had destroyed eight tanks, one drone, six aircraft and other military equipment on the Russian side. A Russian missile is said to have been shot down in the Novoukrainka region. The information could not be independently verified.
According to Ukrainian information, Russia is expanding the command structures of the military police in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian general staff wrote on Monday evening that 19 so-called commander’s offices had been set up in the occupied regions of Cherson and Zaporizhia.
0.10 a.m .: Selenskyj calls for more weapons
After three months of war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded modern anti-missile weapons and combat aircraft from the West against Russian attacks. Many people “would not have died if we had received all the weapons we ask for,” said Zelenskyy in a new video message on Monday evening. Since the war began on February 24, his country has been the target of 3,000 airstrikes and nearly 1,500 rocket attacks. The vast majority of attacks were aimed at civilian objects.
All of Ukraine’s partners agree that his country’s fight against Russia serves to “protect the common values of all countries in the free world,” said Zelenskyy. That is why his country has a right to arms assistance. The situation remains difficult in eastern Ukraine, where the Russian army has concentrated its activities. He does not expect that Russia will give up the occupied territories in the Kharkiv region and other regions. “The coming weeks of war will be difficult,” he added.
12:04 a.m .: Habeck sees an oil embargo coming soon
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck sees an oil embargo against Russia, in his own words, “within reach”. There are only a few countries that are reporting problems – especially Hungary, said the Vice Chancellor on Monday evening in the ZDF “Heute Journal”. You can be considerate here. But then “something has to happen” in Hungary as well. Habeck added: “Well, I think within a few days we will also achieve the breakthrough.”
The EU Commission has proposed to end imports of Russian crude oil in six months because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. As a compromise, the Commission proposes giving Hungary more time. The proposal does not go far enough for the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
