USA deliver multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine Heavy fighting in Sjewerodonetsk The developments in the Ukraine war in the stern ticker.
Day 98 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine: The Russian troops are apparently on the verge of taking complete control of the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk. According to the Ukrainian governor, most of Sievjerodonetsk is now under Russian control. Still, the Ukrainian defenders didn’t give up. 90 percent of the buildings in the city are damaged, of the once 100,000 inhabitants there are said to be 12,000 left. Meanwhile, the US has announced that it will equip Ukraine with heavy rocket launchers after all.
10.04 a.m .: Scholz agrees to Ukraine’s anti-aircraft system
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has promised Ukraine the delivery of a modern air defense system. In addition, the Ukrainian armed forces will be provided with a tracking radar that can spot artillery, says Scholz in the Bundestag.
9:00 am London: Russians have captured more than half of Sieverodonetsk
According to estimates by British secret services, after heavy fighting, Russia has now occupied more than half of the city of Sievjerodonetsk in eastern Ukraine. In the past two days, the fighting has intensified and the Russians have advanced further into the city center, according to an update from the British Ministry of Defense. Chechen fighters are also deployed.
7.44 a.m.: Russian troops establish themselves in the center of Sievjerodonetsk
According to Ukrainian information, the Russian military has established itself in the city center when it stormed the administrative center of Sievjerodonetsk. “The aggressor carried out attacks in the northern, southern and eastern urban areas of Sieverodonetsk, had success with individual units and is now nesting in the city centre,” the Ukrainian general staff said in its morning situation report.
West of the city, in the Bakhmut area, the Russians tried to push the Ukrainian defenders out of their positions at Bilohorivka and Vrubivka. There were also attacks at Komyshuvahka, Berestove and Nyrkove. All of these towns are located in the western rear area of Sievjerodonetsk. The Russian attacks are probably aimed at preventing the Ukrainians from an orderly retreat from the former city. This has been the administrative center of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine since 2014.
7:08 a.m.: Russian communists expel MPs who are critical of the war
The Russian Communist Party has expelled two MPs from the Far Eastern region of Primorye around the port of Vladivostok for calling for an end to the war against Ukraine. “These deputies have discredited our party with their initiative, so there is no place for them in our ranks,” says the leader of the Communist faction in the regional parliament, Anatoly Dolgachev, according to the daily newspaper Kommersant. The appeal by the two MPs attracted international attention because it showed that there is resistance to the war in Russian politics. It is not yet clear whether the two non-party members of parliament have to fear further disciplinary measures in addition to being excluded from the parliamentary group.
6.48 a.m .: Ukraine warns of toxic fumes after Russian attack on chemical plant
Russian troops have apparently hit a nitric acid tank in the heavily contested industrial city of Sievjerodonetsk in eastern Ukraine. Regional governor Serhiy Gajdaj is calling on the population to “have face masks soaked in soda solution ready” to protect themselves against toxic fumes. “Given the fact that there is a large-scale chemical production facility in Seyerodonetsk, the Russian army’s indiscriminate airstrikes in this city are just insane,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video message.
5.09 a.m .: Selenskyj calls for new sanctions against Moscow
In view of the advance of Russian troops in the east of his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the EU for the planned new sanctions package and at the same time called for new punitive measures. “Ultimately, there should be no significant economic ties between the free world and the terrorist state,” he said in a video speech. “We will work on new restrictions against Russia for this war.”
Thanks to the EU’s planned oil boycott, Russia will lose “tens of billions of euros” that can no longer be used to finance terrorism. At the same time, Zelenskyi reiterated his demands for the delivery of heavy weapons to the West.
5.25 a.m .: Heavy fighting in Sievjerodonetsk
In the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, Russian troops are poised to overthrow the last bastion of Ukrainian forces. If the embattled regional capital Sievjerodonetsk falls, Russia would have achieved one of its war aims: complete control of the Luhansk region. From there, the Russian troops and the Moscow-loyal separatists could advance further west to capture the strategically important cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region.
During the fighting in Sieverodonetsk, an incident occurred at a nitric acid chemical plant. The Ukrainian authorities spoke on Tuesday of a Russian airstrike on the plant. The pro-Russian separatists, on the other hand, announced that there had been an explosion there. A large plume of smoke could be seen in photos published by the Ukrainian governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajday, on his Telegram news channel.
3:25 a.m.: Biden: US not trying to overthrow Putin
US President Joe Biden has assured in a guest article for the “New York Times” that NATO is not aiming for a war against Russia. “We don’t want a war between NATO and Russia,” Biden said in the post. Nor did the US attempt to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, if Russia does not pay a high price for attacking Ukraine, it could lead to the end of the rules-based international order and catastrophic consequences worldwide.
“As long as the United States or our allies are not attacked, we will not intervene directly in this conflict, either by sending American troops to Ukraine or by attacking Russian forces,” stressed the US President. “We do not encourage or enable Ukraine to strike beyond its borders. We do not want to prolong the war just to inflict pain on Russia.”
2:21 a.m.: United States to deliver multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine
The US wants to equip the Ukrainian armed forces with multiple rocket launchers. A senior government official said that Ukraine should receive the Himar system with ammunition with a range of 80 kilometers. US President Biden ruled out the delivery of multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine on Monday that could reach targets in Russia. On Tuesday evening, however, he announced in an opinion piece for the “New York Times” that he would deliver “more advanced missile systems” to Ukraine. These would “allow for more precise hitting of key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine,” Biden wrote. However, he emphasized: “We do not encourage or enable Ukraine to strike beyond its borders.”
The Himar vehicle-mounted system can fire missiles with a range of several hundred kilometers. However, as the government representative pointed out, the US does not want to supply ammunition with such a long range. “These systems are used by the Ukrainians to repel Russian advances into Ukrainian territory, but they are not used against Russia,” the official said.
2.01 a.m .: Unicef: Five million children from Ukraine need humanitarian aid
According to the children’s charity Unicef, more than five million children from Ukraine are dependent on humanitarian aid because of the war in their home country. According to the UN organization in New York, around three million children in Ukraine need support after the Russian attack. In addition, there are around 2.2 million children who have since fled to other countries. At least 262 children have been killed since the war began on February 24, according to UNICEF. Hundreds of schools were damaged.
1.01 a.m .: Union politician Frei criticizes the government’s choice of words about the Ukraine war
The parliamentary director of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei, has accused parts of the federal government of being too reluctant to make statements about the Ukraine war. “The statements by the Green and Social Democratic ministers that Russia should not win are disappointing and insufficient,” the CDU politician told the “Bild” newspaper. The Union hopes and wants more: “That Ukraine wins this war.”
0.03 a.m .: Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister: Scholz’s calls to Putin “pointless”
The Polish government has criticized the phone calls between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We think it’s absolutely pointless,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek on the ARD program “Maischberger”. Instead of traveling to Kyiv, Scholz calls the Kremlin boss “quite regularly” – but that doesn’t do Ukraine any good. On the contrary, it helps Russia. The talks would bring nothing more than Putin’s new credibility.
With regard to arms deliveries, Germany must “finally do more” for Ukraine, Szynkowski vel Sek demands in the program, addressing both direct arms deliveries and ring exchange procedures. “We need concrete actions and not just words and declarations.” Nothing promised by the German side was kept.
