Foreign fighters sentenced to death in Ukraine’s service Ukraine and Russia exchange more bodies Poland’s President criticizes Scholz and Macron for talks with Putin The news about the war in Ukraine in the star ticker.
Day 106 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Russian forces may be about to take control of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region. This is an important war aim of President Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls the bitter battle for Sievjerodonetsk one of the most difficult battles in the war with Russia. After more than three months of fighting, taking the strategically important city could mean a preliminary decision in the struggle for the Donbass region. Russia attacked the neighboring country on February 24.
8:45 p.m .: Well-known Russian nationalist questions the sovereignty of Lithuanians
The ultra-nationalist hardliner Yevgeny Fyodorov has publicly questioned the independence of the NATO state of Lithuania in the Russian parliament. As the legal successor to the Soviet Union, Russia would have to revoke the sovereignty of the Baltic state. As the “Spiegel” reports, the 59-year-old deputy calls for this in a draft law that he submitted to the State Duma for consideration. The ultra-nationalist considers even the State Council of the USSR set up by Mikhail Gorbachev to be illegal. Since there was also no referendum in 1990 and an allegedly prescribed deadline for the clarification of disputed issues had simply passed, Lithuania’s independence is illegal. The country must therefore be excluded from NATO, according to Fyodorov.
He also told the newspaper “Komsomolskaya Pravda” that Lithuania has “priority” compared to the other Baltic states because it is located between Russia and the enclave of Kaliningrad. It is possible that in the course of the conflict it will be necessary to create a corridor to Kaliningrad through Lithuanian territory. The Kremlin did not comment on the hardliner’s statements. The move is nonsensical under international law. According to former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis, the then Russian Parliament ratified the Lithuanian Independence Treaty in 1992.
8:26 p.m .: Kyiv announces twinning with Minsk
Because Belarus supports the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv has terminated its twinning with the Belarusian metropolis of Minsk. The city council of Kyiv decided this, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. “Minsk can hardly be called a twin city of Kyiv. So nothing prevents us from making the decision to revoke the status of the capital of Belarus,” emphasizes the former world boxing champion. Rockets are flying from Belarus to Ukrainian towns and villages, and Russian troops have also invaded Ukraine from there. The town twinning was concluded 25 years ago.
6:38 p.m .: Like Tsar Peter the Great, Putin wants to “take back” Russian soil
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin places the war he has ordered against Ukraine on the same level as the Great Northern War under Russia’s Tsar Peter I and speaks of a repatriation of Russian soil. Peter didn’t conquer the area around today’s metropolis of St. Petersburg from the Swedes, but rather won it back. “Apparently it’s our lot too: to bring them back and strengthen them,” Putin said, according to the Interfax news agency, drawing parallels to the war against Ukraine.
June 9th marks the 350th birthday of Peter the Great, who was the first Russian tsar to give himself the title of Emperor and who, by conquering northern Russia, secured access to the Baltic Sea – as a so-called “window to Europe”. Almost nothing has changed since that time, Putin now claims in a conversation with young companies in the run-up to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Even then, no European state recognized the area as Russian. “In addition to the Finno-Ugric tribes, Slavs have also lived there for centuries,” said the Kremlin chief.
6.30 p.m .: The harvest could collapse drastically
According to estimates by the Kiev government, the harvest in Ukraine next year could be up to 40 percent lower because of the Russian war of aggression. “We have lost 25 percent of the acreage,” said Deputy Minister for Agricultural Policy and Food, Taras Wyssotzkyj, the US broadcaster CNN. “In terms of quantities, of course it’s more.” He assumes that the harvest will decrease by 35 to 40 percent or around 30 million tons. The deputy minister accuses Russia of stealing 500,000 tons of grain in Russian-held areas of Ukraine.
5:34 p.m .: At least 13 dead after shelling of separatist area in Ukraine
At least 13 people were killed by rocket launchers in the city of Stakhanov in the eastern Ukrainian separatist region of Luhansk. “About 20 Uragan rockets hit the country,” Republican leader Leonid Passechnik told the Russian media. In addition, at least six injured were recovered from the rubble.
The Moscow-loyal separatists accused the Ukrainian army of shelling a residential area. Ukrainian positions are located about twelve kilometers from the industrial city. The information provided by the warring parties cannot be independently verified.
4 p.m.: Separatists sentence foreigners to death in Ukrainian army
The Supreme Court of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) sentenced to death three foreign fighters in the ranks of the Ukrainian armed forces as mercenaries. According to the Russian news agency TASS, the death penalty will be imposed for “all crimes taken together”. The accused are two Britons and one Moroccan. You can still appeal the verdict within one month.
In Russia there is a moratorium on the death penalty. In the separatist republics, however, this moratorium does not apply. According to media reports, the execution could be carried out by shooting.
3:32 p.m .: VW stops co-manufacturing in Russia – severance pay for employees
The VW group is withdrawing from production at the Russian assembly plant in Nizhny Novgorod on the Volga and is offering employees severance pay if they quit themselves. The background to this is that the site has previously been jointly produced with the car manufacturer Gaz – whose co-owner Oleg Deripaska is on western sanctions lists in connection with the Ukraine war. Initially, there was a temporary exemption for continued operation, which was not recently extended, according to Wolfsburg. The Russian daily newspaper Kommersant had previously reported on the latest developments.
3:29 p.m .: Stoltenberg welcomes an increase in the number of Bundeswehr troops in Lithuania
In a conversation with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the planned dispatch of more German soldiers to Lithuania and the 100 billion program to upgrade the Bundeswehr. Stoltenberg tweeted this after a video conference with the Chancellor in preparation for the June 28-30 NATO summit in Madrid. The German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said: “The Federal Chancellor and the Secretary General agreed that the summit should send out a signal of the alliance’s determination and unity.”
3:02 p.m .: Von der Leyen calls for sustainable reconstruction of Ukraine
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for sustainable post-war reconstruction in Ukraine. “We will rebuild Ukraine. That is not only in our interest, but also our moral obligation,” said the 63-year-old in Rome in a panel discussion at the start of the “New European Bauhaus” festival. “But if we do it, then we’re doing it right.” According to von der Leyen, a debate was scheduled for Thursday afternoon with the mayor of the city of Mariupol, which was badly damaged by the war, and Ukrainian architects. .
2:33 p.m .: EU candidate Ukraine? Recommendation of the EU Commission probably on June 17th
The EU Commission is expected to issue its recommendation next Friday (June 17) on whether Ukraine should be granted EU candidate status. A spokesman for the Brussels authority said the college of commissioners would hold an orientation debate on Monday. It will also deal with the membership applications from Moldova and Georgia. The spokesman emphasized that the plan is not yet final. According to the recommendation of the EU Commission, the EU summit on June 23rd and 24th will discuss Ukraine’s application.
1.45 p.m .: Almost five million refugees from Ukraine registered in Europe
According to the UN, almost five million Ukrainians have been registered as refugees across Europe since the start of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. “The war in Ukraine has triggered one of the biggest refugee crises in the world,” said the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Geneva. A data portal of the UN organization on the situation in Ukraine shows that a total of 4,816,923 Ukrainians in 44 European countries have been counted as refugees since February 24. In fact, many more people probably left the country: According to UNHCR data, more than 7.3 million border crossings from Ukraine took place up to June 7, and a further 2.3 million border crossings into the country were recorded. According to UN officials, people re-entered for a variety of reasons, including meeting family members, checking their belongings, helping others escape, and returning to work.
1:24 p.m .: Zelenskyj demands the exclusion of Russia from the World Food Organization
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls for Russia’s expulsion from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). During a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Zelenskyy said: “What is Russia doing there if it is starving at least 400 million and possibly up to a billion people?” Kyiv accuses Russia of having caused the global rise in grain prices with the war of aggression against Ukraine. Moscow, on the other hand, blames the western sanctions against Russia.
As a result of the Ukraine war, dozens of container ships are currently stuck in Ukrainian ports and are being blocked by the Russian military. As a result, Ukrainian exports of wheat, sunflower oil, fertilizer and other goods cannot be processed as usual. The export is also made more difficult by sea mines in the Black Sea. According to Zelenskyjs, there are currently up to 25 million tons of grain on heaps. In autumn, the number could rise to 75 million tons.
12:58 p.m.: Kyiv – Every day “up to a hundred killed Ukrainian soldiers”
Ukraine records “up to a hundred soldiers killed and up to 500 wounded” every day in battles with the Russian army. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Thursday that the situation on the front lines in the eastern Donbass region was difficult. “The Kremlin continues to exert massive pressure, stumbles, encounters strong resistance and suffers heavy losses,” Reznikov said in a statement published online.
12.10 p.m .: Germany could expropriate Russian oligarchs in certain cases
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann has openly advocated expropriating Russian oligarchs and using their assets to rebuild Ukraine. A distinction must be made between state and private assets, says the FDP politician on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Luxembourg. In the case of private assets, there is the possibility of “skimming off” assets. The prerequisite is that it is proven in court that suspects were involved in war crimes or illegal warfare. Buschmann says Russia is responsible for terrible war damage in Ukraine. The reconstruction of the country will cost a lot of money. “Ukraine will not be able to do this alone.” Therefore, it must be discussed how to involve Russia in it. Last month, the EU Commission proposed that circumventing sanctions be defined as a criminal offense in all EU countries. In such cases, oligarchs should be able to be expropriated.
11:21 a.m .: Governor – Ukraine could quickly end fighting in Sieverodonetsk with new weapons
According to the regional governor, Ukraine could quickly regain control of the embattled city of Sievjerodonetsk in the east of the country with Western weapon systems. Once the Ukrainian army has long-range artillery “to fight duels with Russian artillery, our special forces can clear the city in two to three days,” says Luhansk governor Serhiy Gajdaj in a published interview. The United States and Britain recently announced the delivery of multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine, capable of attacking targets up to 80 kilometers away. The Ukrainian armed forces in Sievjerodonetsk are still “highly motivated” and the units are “all holding their positions,” Gajdaj said. Russia is constantly attacking the areas controlled by Ukrainian troops with artillery.
10.35 a.m .: Russian army shells chemical plant in Sievjerodonetsk
According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops in eastern Ukraine are continuing their attacks on residential and industrial areas in the heavily contested city of Sieverodonetsk. Four people were killed as a result of the shelling of the Azot chemical plant, wrote the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajday, on the social network Telegram. According to Ukrainian sources, the facility is used by hundreds of civilians as an air raid shelter. However, there is currently no threat of a comparable encirclement by Russian troops as was the case until recently in the port city of Mariupol. The accusation that the Ukrainians lured the civilians into the Azot cellars and then mined the area is repeatedly voiced by the Russian and pro-Russian side. There is no evidence for this. Russia already occupies more than 90 percent of the Luhansk Oblast, in which Sieverodonetsk is located. The information provided by the warring parties often cannot be independently verified.
9.01 a.m .: NATO Secretary General cancels visit to Berlin at short notice
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has canceled his planned visit to Berlin today at short notice. This was announced by the Federal Ministry of Defense. A NATO spokesman in Brussels said on request that Stoltenberg was ill and would make the planned visit to Germany “not personally, but from afar”. In conversation is a video conference. The Federal Press Office cancels a planned press conference by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Stoltenberg before the originally planned meeting at noon in Berlin. In the afternoon, Stoltenberg should have met with Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht. According to the NATO spokesman, Stoltenberg suffers from shingles, which can occur after contracting Covid 19. Stoltenberg therefore works from home. Shingles is a contagious viral disease that causes a rash. Stoltenberg was infected with Corona in mid-May.
8.45 a.m .: Lauterbach wants to help the seriously injured in Ukraine
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wants to offer German help in treating the injured during a visit to Ukraine today. The SPD politician announced this on Deutschlandfunk. On the one hand, this involves treatment in Germany, but also the care of the injured in the war-torn country itself. Lauterbach specifically mentioned help for people with severe burns and for people who lost limbs in the war. The trip is taking place at the invitation of the Ukrainian Minister of Health.
At the beginning of the war, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), Development Minister Swenja Schulze (SPD) and Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) also visited there.
7.40 a.m .: Scholz and Lambrecht receive NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg in Berlin
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) receives NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Federal Chancellery today (12.00 p.m.). The focus of the meeting is the preparation of the NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June. According to the German government, the effects of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine on Euro-Atlantic security will also be discussed. A joint press statement is planned at the beginning of the meeting.
In the afternoon (3 p.m.) Stoltenberg meets Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD). According to her ministry, the talks will deal with a variety of current topics, including the planned reinforcement of NATO’s eastern flank, NATO’s new strategic concept and Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership. A press statement is also planned before the start of the interview.
6.35 a.m .: Military experts – Russia is surprisingly bad at cyber warfare
So far, Russia has had far less success with methods of digital warfare in Ukraine than many expected. Cybersecurity experts expected devastating, large-scale cyberattacks on Ukraine, says General Karol Molenda, head of Poland’s National Cybersecurity Center. But Ukraine was prepared and “withstood the attacks of Russia”.
Lithuania’s chief of cybersecurity, Colonel Romualdas Petkevicius, told AFP that Russia appeared unable to “wage a coordinated cyber and kinetic war”. There is cyber activity all over Ukraine right now, “but I don’t think it’s very well planned.”
5.10 am: Governor of Luhansk – Russia controls most of the city
After heavy fighting, the Russian army controls most of Sievarodonetsk. This was announced by the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajday, in his Telegram channel. “As for the industrial zone (of Sieverodonetsk), our defenders are holding there. But the fighting is not only going on in the industrial zone – the fighting is taking place in the city.” However, the situation in the industrial zone is not like in the city of Mariupol, where the fighting took place right at the Azovstal plant. “As of today, there is no danger of encirclement,” said Hajdaj. More than 90 percent of the Luhansk region is occupied by Russia.
4.20 a.m .: Zelenskyy – Sievjerodonetsk decides on the Donbass
President Zelenskyj describes the battle for Sievjerodonetsk as trend-setting for the struggle in the east of the country. “Syeverodonetsk remains the epicenter of the clashes in Donbass,” he says in a video message. The Ukrainian military is inflicting noticeable losses on the enemy there. “This is a very brutal and difficult battle. Perhaps one of the most difficult of this war (…) In many ways the fate of our Donbass will be decided there.”
3.05 a.m .: Poland’s President criticizes Scholz and Macron for talks with Putin
Polish President Duda criticizes Chancellor Scholz and French President Macron for continuing talks with Putin. “These talks are useless,” explains Duda in a “Bild” interview. The situation is similar to that of Adolf Hitler in World War II. “And did anyone talk to Adolf Hitler like that during World War II?” asks Duda. “Did someone say that he has to save face? That one has to do it in such a way that it is not humiliating for Adolf Hitler?” He doesn’t know such voices.
2:15 am: Arctic Council – Russia remains isolated
Because of the war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia remains isolated in the Arctic Council. “We intend a limited resumption of our work in the Arctic Council on projects that do not involve the participation of the Russian Federation,” say the remaining members Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Canada, Norway and the USA.
At the beginning of March, the governments of the countries announced that they were suspending their participation in Council activities. Russia currently chairs the Arctic Council. The body is considered the most important forum for cooperation in the region around the North Pole. Germany has observer status. “Decisions made on behalf of the Arctic Council that are adopted without our country are illegitimate and violate the intended principle of consensus,” criticized Russia’s Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov.
1.50 a.m .: Envoy Zelenskyjs expects EU candidate status for Ukraine
After talks in Berlin, Zelenskyy’s special envoy for the prospect of EU membership is confident that his country will receive candidate status for the European Union. If the EU Commission makes a corresponding recommendation in the coming week, he assumes that the 27 member states will agree at their summit meeting on June 23rd and 24th in Brussels, says the Minister for Regional Development, Oleksiy Tschernyschow, of the dpa. He also expects approval from Germany. The federal government has so far been reluctant. It usually takes many years from candidate status to EU membership.
1:08 a.m.: Reports of dead and injured in Russian attacks
According to the authorities, several civilians were killed or wounded in attacks on Ukrainian locations. The governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, blames Russia for four dead and five injured in the government-controlled part of the region in the east of the country. “The situation remains difficult. The front line is under constant fire,” said Kyrylenko. The Ukrainian army speaks of seven repelled Russian attacks in the Donbass. 31 fighters were killed and several armored vehicles were destroyed. The Russian military destroyed about 20 houses as well as two schools and a train station when shelling Ukrainian locations. The information is not independently verifiable.
12:30 a.m.: Ukraine and Russia exchange more bodies
According to authorities in Kyiv, Ukraine and Russia handed over the bodies of 50 soldiers to the other side. According to the Ukrainian Ministry for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories in Kyiv, 37 “heroes” who took part in the defense of the Azovstal plant were among the Ukrainians killed. The fighters held the fort at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol until Kyiv gave up the city in May. According to Ukrainian information, the exchange took place along the front line in the Zaporizhia region in the south of the country.
