Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel warns against calling Putin’s nuclear threat in Ukraine a “bluff”. Meanwhile, the IAEA does not see the danger of a nuclear accident in Zaporizhia as averted. And Putin commented on Russian losses for the first time. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war in the ticker.
7.30 a.m .: In view of the Russian threats of a possible use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine conflict, US President Joe Biden has warned of the danger of an “apocalypse”. The risk of a nuclear “apocalypse” is as high as it was at the time of then-President John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Biden said on Thursday (local time) at a Democratic fundraiser in New York. Meanwhile, Moscow accused Ukraine of “calling for the start of a new world war”.
In a televised speech on September 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons. According to experts, these would most likely be attacks with tactical nuclear weapons. Their explosive power is less than that of strategic nuclear weapons. However, Biden warned that a tactical nuclear attack still carries the risk of widespread impact.
Putin “does not joke” when he threatens to use tactical nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, Biden said. His threats are a consequence of the defeats of the Russian army on the battlefields in Ukraine.
Friday, October 7th, 7:02 a.m .: Former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) warns against dismissing threats in the Russian war against Ukraine as a bluff. The attack on Ukraine was a “profound turning point,” Merkel said on Thursday evening at a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” in Munich. And one “where we would all be well advised to take words seriously and deal with them seriously and not dismiss them as bluffs in the first place”. She again emphasized that a lasting peace in Europe could only come about “with the involvement of Russia”. “As long as we haven’t really managed to do that, the Cold War isn’t really over either.”
Merkel praised the position of Germany, the EU and NATO to restore Ukraine’s sovereignty. “I think this can go hand in hand with always thinking about what seems so unthinkable at the moment, namely how a future security architecture can be developed within the framework of international law,” Merkel’s speech manuscript says.
Merkel, who is now 68 years old, did not run for the Bundestag elections last year after 16 years as chancellor. After initially avoiding any statement on the war in Ukraine, Merkel now appears as a speaker from time to time. In doing so, she has often spoken out about Putin, especially recently – and there are good reasons for that. Merkel wants to publish her memoirs in autumn 2024, as her publisher recently announced.
On the subject: It is no coincidence that Merkel is suddenly talking so much about Putin
9:04 p.m .: According to experts, the risk of an accident at the Russian-occupied Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia is not banned. “We keep saying what needs to be done, which is to prevent a nuclear accident, which is still a very, very clear possibility,” said International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi on Thursday in Kyiv. The plant is shut down due to fighting in the region.
To secure the plant, a nuclear safety and protection zone is to be built around the power plant. According to Grossi, he is negotiating this with Kyiv and Moscow. He then wanted to travel on to Moscow. Talks there were held at a “very high management level”, as Grossi said. It was unclear whether he would meet President Vladimir Putin.
Grossi stressed that the IAEA does not comment on military matters. His on-site team is exclusively there to ensure the safety of the system with the local employees. The IAEA team will now be expanded from two to four. However, he stressed that annexation of the surrounding area – and Russia’s nationalization of the nuclear power plant – are illegal under international law. For the IAEA, Zaporizhia is a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
5:01 p.m .: Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged views with teachers on Thursday, hinting at the severity of recent Russian losses in Ukraine. “We assume that the situation in the new areas will stabilize,” Putin said in a televised video call with selected Russian teachers. The Guardian, among others, reports on this.
The new areas refer to the four areas in eastern Ukraine that Putin illegally annexed by decree this week. Ukraine had recently reported great successes in the counter-offensive. In the last few days alone, more than 400 square kilometers of territory in the Cherson region have been recaptured, said the spokeswoman for the Ukrainian military command South, Natalia Gumenchyuk, on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Ukraine had already reported breakthroughs in the Luhansk region, which is also claimed by Russia. Several settlements have already been liberated and the Ukrainian army has hoisted the Ukrainian flag there. Luhansk was previously almost entirely under Russian control.
Putin did not admit that Ukraine was successful with its counter-offensive. However, his statement allows the conclusion that the situation in eastern Ukraine is currently unstable from Russia’s point of view, according to the British media.
1:09 p.m .: Egon Ramms, a.D. NATO general, warns against speaking of a turnaround in the Ukraine war. When asked whether the Russian front was already on the verge of collapse, he replied that it was still too early for that. “The Russians still have enough forces in Ukraine,” Ramms told ZDF. Achieving a collapse “will require many more combat operations and will cost many more lives.”
However, he appreciates the successful attacks by Ukraine and suspects “that the Russians may not have the prerequisites to continue the battle”. That starts with the supply and extends to the entire logistics such as ammunition and fuel. “If my combat vehicles stop moving, if I can no longer shoot, then I have no choice but to flee.”
He sees positive approaches for the future, but calls for further “support from the West. Ukraine must be able to continue to exploit what it has achieved in its offensive actions.” However, he does not want to speak of a turning point just yet, “because I don’t know what else might bring Putin into the fray”.
12:58 p.m .: A good seven months after the start of the Ukraine war, schools in Germany took in more than 193,000 refugee children and young people from the country attacked by Russia. The Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK) gave the number, which is based on reports from the federal states from the past week, on Thursday as 193,141. That was 2242 more than in the previous week.
So far, most students have found accommodation in North Rhine-Westphalia (36,558), Bavaria (29,014) and Baden-Württemberg (26,573). The numbers have risen steadily since the war began in February. According to information from educational and teacher associations, the development is further exacerbating the shortage of teachers in Germany. There are a total of around eleven million schoolchildren in this country.
12:27 p.m .: Hundreds of thousands of Russians have left their country for fear of military service in Ukraine – and sometimes left their cars at crowded border crossings. These vehicles should now be confiscated, MP Oleg Morozov told the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti on Thursday. “We urgently need to change the law so that decisions on the transfer of vehicles to state ownership can be made.” A confiscation could come into question if a car has not been picked up after a month, said the politician from the Kremlin party United Russia.
11.15 a.m .: The security authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia have recorded a total of 1058 related crimes since the beginning of the Ukraine war. Among them were 185 acts of violence, reported the “Neue Westfälische” from Bielefeld on Thursday, citing information from the State Criminal Police Office. Most crimes, namely 593, can be attributed to the pro-Russian camp.
In contrast, 200 crimes had a pro-Ukrainian background. In addition, 76 sexual offenses were committed, almost all against “victims associated with Ukraine”. A clear majority of the 95 victims are Ukrainian nationals.
9.35 a.m .: The chairwoman of the defense committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Thursday for talks. She will speak there with government officials and members of the Ukrainian armed forces, the MPs’ office said. The program also included a visit to places where there had been fighting to defend the country against the Russian attackers.
According to “Spiegel”, Strack-Zimmermann also plans to make inquiries about the Ukrainian need for western tanks. She considers the marten in particular to be a good alternative in the current situation. “The marten in particular was made to fight positions. That would be an additional piece of military equipment that is highly relevant in this phase.”
She denied claims that Ukraine’s soldiers could not operate such weapon systems. “The argument has a beard. That’s already been said about the tank howitzer and the cheetah. You could use the phase until winter to train Ukrainian soldiers on the martens.”
The FDP MP does not want to accept that the Bundeswehr cannot do without more tanks. “I definitely know that the industry is able to compensate 50 martens within a year and give them back to the army,” she told the “Spiegel”. She also distributed a dig at Chancellor Scholz. “We don’t always have to wait for others to take the first step.”
Strack-Zimmermann is one of those in the ranks of the traffic light coalition who have repeatedly and vehemently called for increased military support for Ukraine, including the delivery of battle tanks. It is her first visit to Kyiv, but she has already been to Ukraine with politicians from the SPD and the Greens.
8:24 a.m .: After his promotion to Colonel General, the notorious head of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has assured Russian President Vladimir Putin of his solidarity. The Chechen people will fully support the policies of the head of state anywhere in the world, he wrote on Telegram on Thursday morning. He had previously thanked for the third-highest military rank. He was “incredibly grateful” to the commander-in-chief for the “great appreciation”.
Kadyrov, known for his brutal leadership in Muslim Chechnya in the North Caucasus, has emerged as one of the most ardent supporters of war since Russia invaded Ukraine. After Russian defeats, he repeatedly sharply criticized his country’s military leadership and called for far-reaching consequences. On the night of Thursday he announced the deployment of more of his “special units” for the fight in Ukraine: “We have good guys (…). We send our volunteers every day.”
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