By June, the federal government approved around 350 million for German armaments in Ukraine. During his visit to Kyiv, Melnyk expects Scholz to promise that tanks will be delivered. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war here in the ticker.
1:23 p.m .: After she was critical of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin dismissed a prominent lawyer from the civil service. By decree on Monday, Putin removed Natalya Poklonskaya from her post as deputy head of Rossotrudnichestvo – an organization affiliated with the Russian Foreign Ministry that, among other things, campaigns for Russia’s interests in other ex-Soviet states.
Poklonskaya, now 42, suddenly became famous after Russia’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014 – as a prosecutor general who rendered loyal services to the Kremlin. In Ukraine, she was accused of being a traitor. Later she was a member of the Russian parliament and ambassador in Cape Verde, Africa.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, however, Poklonskaya spoke of a “disaster”. Addressing the Russians – but also to the Ukrainians – she also said: “Please stop! It seems to me that we have gone too far and it is time to find courage for the future on our own and not into the laying hands of those who are armed.”
She later described the letter Z, used as a propaganda symbol for Russia’s war against Ukraine, as emblematic of “tragedy and sadness for both Russia and Ukraine.” After these statements, the state organization Rossotrudnichestvo, for which Poklonskaya worked for only a few months, announced “consequences”.
9.37 a.m .: The former Russian Prime Minister and current exile opposition leader Mikhail Kasyanov has warned of the devastating consequences for peace in Europe if Ukraine, which had been attacked by Russia, lost the war. “If Ukraine falls, the Baltic states will be next,” Kasyanov warned in a video interview with the AFP news agency. He appealed to the West not to make any concessions to Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin.
Kasyanov emphasized that he “categorically” rejects French President Emmanuel Macron’s assessment that Putin should not be “humiliated”. He is also extremely critical of demands that Ukraine cede areas to Russia in favor of a peace settlement with Moscow. “What did Putin do to deserve this?” Kasyanov asked. “I think that’s wrong and I hope the West won’t go that route.”
5:30 a.m .: The Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk expects Chancellor Olaf Scholz to promise the delivery of German tanks to Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv. “Unfortunately, without German heavy weapons, we will not be able to break Russia’s massive military superiority and save the lives of soldiers and civilians,” Melnyk told the German Press Agency.
“The Ukrainians expect that Chancellor Olaf Scholz, during his visit to Kyiv, will announce a new aid package for German armaments, which should include Leopard 1 main battle tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles that must be delivered immediately.”
Melnyk said it was disappointing how slowly Germany was delivering arms to Ukraine. Six million rounds of ammunition have arrived since May 3, but no more weapons. “Therefore, we hope that the traffic light government will finally step on the gas pedal to massively increase both the scope and pace for Ukraine to repel the Russian major offensive in Donbass.”
5:04 a.m .: In the first three months of the Ukraine war, the federal government approved the delivery of weapons and other armaments worth 350.1 million euros to the country attacked by Russia. This emerges from a response from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection to a request from the Left MP Sevim Dagdelen, which is available to the German Press Agency.
From the first day of the war, February 24, to June 1, the government gave the go-ahead for the delivery of weapons of war for 219.8 million euros and other armaments such as helmets and protective vests for 85.2 million euros. In addition, there are weapons and equipment for the Bundeswehr for 45.1 million euros, which were approved in a simplified procedure from April 1st. There is no breakdown into weapons of war and other armaments for this.
State Secretary Udo Philipp points out in the letter to Dagdelen that the material in question is mostly used by the Bundeswehr and that its “current value” has been calculated – not the sometimes much higher new value.
04:38: Unknown hackers placed a message against the war in Ukraine on the Russian state television website. On the streaming portal “Smotrim.ru” on Sunday evening, for example, next to photos of destruction in Ukraine “Putin destroys Russians and Ukrainians! Stop the war!”, as reported by numerous Internet users on the Internet.
Russian state television later admitted to a hacker attack on “Smotrim” and the website of the news program “Vesti”. As a result, “unauthorized content with extremist calls” was displayed for less than an hour.
In Russia, the war of aggression in Ukraine is officially called a military special operation. Deviating from the official line is punishable as spreading alleged false information about Russian armed forces.
On Monday night, the “Smotrim” website again showed links to propaganda material, for example about the “liberation” of the embattled eastern Ukrainian industrial region of Donbass and the award of the “Hero of Labor” award by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
In the embattled areas of eastern Ukraine, Russian troops continued to try to advance toward cities like Bakhmut, Slovyansk and Lysychansk, Zelenskyy said. In the strategically important city of Sievjerodonetsk, “literally every meter is fought for”. According to information from Saturday, Ukrainian troops controlled around a third of the city at the time.
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