+++ 08:24 SPD foreign politician Roth calls for quick decision on tank deliveries +++
SPD politician Michael Roth argues that Germany is quickly coordinating with NATO and the EU on further deliveries of arms and tanks to Ukraine. Germany has already delivered heavy weapons, says the chairman of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee on Deutschlandfunk. He respects the federal government’s decision to coordinate closely with partners. No one has yet provided the Western armored vehicles and tanks requested by Ukraine. “But such agreements are not set in stone. And that is why we should now sit in the EU, in NATO, especially with the United States, and clarify: what else can we offer so that Ukraine too … has a possibility of liberating the territory conquered by Russia “. German tanks are also under discussion. “I am in favor of finally clarifying this with our partners so that we can now support Ukraine even more broadly.”
+++ 07:52 General staff: Ukrainians suffer numerous war crimes +++
In the areas reconquered by Russia, Ukrainians find numerous traces of war crimes and many areas mined. According to the Ukrainian Army General Staff, up to 200 war crimes are recorded every day. Furthermore, the risk of mines in the liberated towns and villages is high. A total of more than 70,000 square kilometers in ten regions are undermined or dangerous due to unexploded ammunition.
+++ 07:31 China wants to expand cooperation with Russia +++
China’s withdrawal from Russia is not yet in sight, on the contrary: Beijing is ready to continue “strategic cooperation” with Moscow, to protect “common interests and to promote the development of the international order in a more just and rational direction”, he said. Beijing affirmed Communist Party foreign affairs representative Yang Jiechi spoke with Russian ambassador to Beijing, Andrei Denisov, according to the ministry. Under the “strategic leadership” of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, China-Russia relations are “always on the right track,” Yang said during the meeting. Putin and Xi plan to meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan this week.
+++ Satellite images of 07:05: Russians flee near Cherson +++
Ukraine is also apparently making better progress in recapturing the occupied areas in the south of the country. For Information from the US Institute for the Study of War Russian troops fled their positions in the city of Kyselivka, 15 kilometers north of the city of Cherson. Satellite images confirmed rumors that vehicles belonging to units of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic had almost disappeared from Kyselivka. The soldiers fighting on the Russian side retreated to the Dnieper River. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Russia to maintain its positions around Cherson City because Russian supply routes are also cut off.
+++ 06:49 Insider: Selenskyj speaks to the IMF about giga credit +++
According to insiders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva about a new loan later in the day. It is a comprehensive funding program, explain two people familiar with the Reuters news agency issue. Ukraine is seeking a loan of $ 15-20 billion. Such a large amount is considered unlikely to be approved by the IMF. The IMF board discussed the offer of $ 1.4 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine at an informal meeting on Monday.
+++ 06:34 US Secretary of State Blinken praises Ukraine’s “significant progress” +++
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken praises “significant progress” in Ukraine’s counter-offensive to recapture Russian-occupied territories, particularly in the country’s northeast. During a visit to Mexico City, Blinken told reporters that these advances are mainly “the result of the extraordinary courage and resilience of the Ukrainian military and people.” However, it is too early to predict the exact outcome of the counteroffensive. Russia still has “substantial forces” in Ukraine, as well as equipment, weapons and ammunition, Blinken said. Russia uses them not only against the Ukrainian armed forces, but also against civilians and civilian infrastructure.
+++ 06:13 Ukrainian army makes fun of opponents after fighter-bomber accident +++
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has released a video purporting to show the launch of two Russian Su-25 fighter-bombers over the Crimean peninsula. Shortly after take-off, one of the planes crashes. The accident would have happened on Sunday. “Incompetence at all levels”, taunts the Ukrainian ministry. “The weapons in the hands of the Russians are a danger, mainly to themselves.”
+++ 04:34 The leading candidate of the Italian right Meloni promises to join the sanctions against Russia +++
Just two weeks before the parliamentary elections in Italy, the first candidate of the right-wing alliance leading the polls, Giorgia Meloni, has promised that Italy will abide by sanctions against Russia. “Things will not change under a right-wing government,” says Meloni in what will probably be the only discursive duel with center-left candidate Enrico Letta. Former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, an ally of Meloni, recently questioned the effectiveness of the sanctions. His League signed a cooperation pact with Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party in 2017.
+++ 03:11 Flashing confident for the Ukrainian offensive +++
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken states that the Ukrainian armed forces have made “significant progress” in their counter-offensive. “Their action has been very systematically planned and, of course, supported by the United States and many other countries to ensure that Ukraine has the necessary equipment to carry out this counter-offensive,” Blinken said at a press conference in Mexico. The Ukrainian offensive against Russian forces is still in its infancy, but significant progress has already been made. Given Russia’s losses, Russia can and should put an end to this, Blinken said.
+++ 02:17 Hofreiter: “He should deliver the” Leopard “wagons as soon as possible” +++
Green politician Anton Hofreiter advocates swift delivery of German “Leopard” tanks to Ukraine. “Sooner or later we will not be able to avoid supplying Ukraine with modern Western tanks,” he told Mediengruppe Bayern. Russia has largely destroyed the Ukrainian arms industry. At the same time, the old Soviet tanks offered little protection against Russian attacks. “I think we should deliver the main Leopard tanks as soon as possible to prevent Ukrainian soldiers from dying unnecessarily.”
+++ 01:29 US military: many occupants of the Kharkiv area have returned to Russia +++
According to the US military, many of the Russian soldiers who are withdrawing from the Kharkov region have left Ukraine. Most of these troops have crossed the border and returned to Russia, says a senior US military official. Ukraine has made large gains in the territory near Kharkiv. The US representative does not provide figures.
+++ 00:07 The second power line for the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant works +++
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, occupied by Russian troops, has been reconnected to two backup power lines. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), one line can power the cooling system of shutdown reactors, while the second is in reserve. The sixth and final reactor has been shut down and now requires less electricity for cooling. The situation in and around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, in the middle of the combat zone, is still precarious, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi points out. The four main lines have been destroyed and the plant does not supply electricity. “A nuclear safety and security zone is urgently needed,” he says.
+++ 23:14 Selenskyj urges rapid delivery of anti-aircraft weapons +++
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine has recaptured 6,000 square kilometers of areas previously occupied by Russia in its counter-offensive since early September. The soldiers “liberated” this area in the south and east and would “keep advancing,” Zelenskii said in his evening video speech. After the Russian missile hit the power grid in Ukraine, he called for faster delivery of anti-aircraft weapons. Aid from international partners to Ukraine must be increased, the President said. “Together we can overcome the Russian terror”. Germany has promised Ukraine the state-of-the-art Iris-T air defense system. Ukraine hopes for a quick delivery. According to reports from Kiev, the first unit will be sent by the end of the year.
+++ 22:28 Ukraine: bodies with signs of torture found near Kharkiv +++
Ukrainian authorities discovered four bodies with “traces of torture” in a recaptured village in eastern Ukraine. Initial investigations indicated that people found in Zalisnychne, in the Kharkiv region, were killed “by Russian soldiers during the occupation of the place,” the regional prosecutor wrote on Facebook. Three of the bodies were found on private property, one in a factory near the train station. He is under investigation for murder and “violations of martial law”.
+++ 22:00 Ukrainians comb areas for collaborators +++
During their eastward advance, Ukrainian troops seek collaborators of the Russian occupying power in the recaptured areas. In addition, the mines would be cleared, the Ukrainian general staff announced in its report on the situation in the evening. It does not provide further information on the advance of the Ukrainians, who largely defeated Russian troops in the Kharkiv region. The photos show Ukrainian soldiers in Sivatohirsk, Donetsk region, on Monday. So far there has been no confirmation that the city with an important Orthodox monastery has been taken.
+++ 21:40 Ukraine: the counter-offensive is in the “third phase” +++
According to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, the Ukrainian counter-offensive is the “third phase” of Kiev’s plan to regain the occupied territories. In an interview with the French newspaper “Le Monde”, Reznikov says that in the first phase Ukraine tried to prevent Moscow from further attacks, in the second phase it was a question of “stabilizing” the front lines. The army leadership developed its plan against the Russian war of aggression on the basis of arms deliveries from Western partners. With US-supplied Himars missile systems, Kiev has started cutting off Russian supply lines.
+++ 21:04 “betrayal of one’s own country”: Crimean leadership bans pro-Ukrainian songs +++
The leadership of the Crimean peninsula, annexed to Russia, wants to stop the use of pro-Ukrainian slogans and the singing of songs critical of Russia. Videos of such incidents appeared at official events, says the head of the Crimean administration Sergey Aksyonov in Simferopol. Anyone who organizes something like this or participates in it should be held accountable and fired, writes Aksjonov on Telegram. He also threatens “other measures within the law”. Such behavior is “treason against one’s country”. Anyone who supports Ukraine should go there. Unverified videos allegedly shot at summer concerts in the Crimea are circulating on the Internet.
You can read the previous developments related to the war in Ukraine here.
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