Mayor Klitschko has warned of further attacks on Kyiv. By the end of August, around 952,000 refugees from Ukraine had been registered in Germany. Lukashenko announces the formation of a joint force with Russia. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war in the ticker.
More on the course of the war in Ukraine
9.46 a.m .: According to British information, Russia also used Iranian combat drones in its massive rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities. The Shahed unmanned missiles are slow and fly very low, making them easy for air defense to hit, the Ministry of Defense said in London on Wednesday. However, there is a “realistic possibility” that Russia may have had some success with the use of several drones at the same time, it said, citing intelligence findings.
Russian troops have been using the Iranian drones, including Shahed-136 kamikaze drones, since at least August, the ministry said. “Despite a reported range of 2500 kilometers, the Shahed-136 has only a small explosive payload.” Therefore, it is unlikely that the drone will achieve the desired effect.
With Russian warplanes having limited effect because of Ukraine’s anti-aircraft defenses, the Russians continue to lack an aerial attack weapon that offers a reliable, sustained and accurate strike capability. This is one of the most important gaps in the Russian war against Ukraine, it said in London.
8:09 a.m .: According to the authorities, eight people have been arrested because of the explosion on the Crimean bridge, which is strategically important for Russia. “To date, five Russian citizens and three citizens of Ukraine and Armenia have been arrested in connection with the criminal proceedings,” the press service of the Russian secret service FSB said on Wednesday, according to the Interfax news agency. The FSB reported that the attack was organized by the Ukrainian military intelligence service. Its boss Kyrylo Budanov is named as the organizer.
On Saturday morning, an explosion shook the 19-kilometer bridge that connects Russia and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014. Around seven and a half months after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the building, which is strategically and symbolically important for Russia, was severely damaged. According to official information from Moscow, four people died.
A day later, President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of carrying out a terrorist attack. Since the beginning of the week, Russia has been massively bombing Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. This is considered a response to the explosion at the bridge. The Ukrainian side celebrated the destruction of the bridge, but did not officially accept responsibility for the alleged attack.
Wednesday, October 12, 7:43 a.m.: Immediately before a meeting of NATO defense ministers, Lithuania spoke out in favor of Ukraine joining the alliance. “Over the past seven months, Ukraine has shown that it can effectively defend itself against Russia and curb Moscow’s expansionism and revisionism,” Deputy Defense Minister Margiris Abukevicius told Die Welt (Wednesday).
Abukevicius said Ukraine had proven that it would make the NATO alliance stronger. Lithuania has always supported Ukraine’s NATO membership. “Ukraine is part of the Euro-Atlantic community,” the Deputy Minister continued. It is only a matter of time before the country will be a member of the EU and NATO.
At the end of September, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted his country’s application for accelerated NATO membership. At the time, the proposal was initially met with reluctance from the majority of NATO member countries.
On Wednesday the defense ministers of the NATO countries will discuss further support for Ukraine in the fight against Russia in Brussels. Among other things, the meeting should deal with further arms deliveries to Ukraine.
5:20 p.m .: The Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyj has asked the G7 countries to support Ukraine in building an air defense system against Russian attacks. Zelenskyy addressed the heads of state and government of the G7 countries in a video conference on Tuesday and called on them to step up their efforts and “help financially to build a protective umbrella for Ukraine”.
“Millions of people will be grateful to the G7 for such help,” said the Ukrainian President. Russia bombed Ukrainian cities across the country on Monday, primarily targeting the energy supply infrastructure.
Zelenskyj further said that the Russian head of state Vladimir Putin could escalate the situation even further. “The Russian leader, who has reached the end of his reign, still has opportunities for further escalation,” Zelenskyy warned. This is “a danger for all of us”.
4:38 p.m .: Ukraine has received the first of four promised IRIS-T SLM air defense systems. The weapon system was handed over on Tuesday near the Polish-Ukrainian border. This is reported by the “Spiegel”.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had already promised the system at the beginning of June. It can be used to defend against incoming missiles at an altitude of up to 20 kilometers and at a distance of up to 40 kilometers. According to Scholz, the defense system makes it possible to protect “an entire city from Russian air raids”. The Bundeswehr does not have this system, Iris-T SLM is supplied by the German manufacturer Diehl.
3:08 p.m .: According to the Kremlin, Russia is preparing for a longer war against the neighboring country because of the planned US arms deliveries to Ukraine. The delivery of anti-aircraft systems announced by the United States will make the “conflict longer and more painful for the Ukrainian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax agency. “The confrontation will continue,” Peskov said, referring to a meeting scheduled for Tuesday the Group of the Seven Leading Industrial Nations (G7) with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In particular, Russia sees the United States as a war party in Ukraine because the country not only provides weapons, but also intelligence and satellite data. In addition, Ukrainian soldiers in the West are being trained in NATO weapons, among other things.
The federal government and other NATO members emphasize that they are not a party to the war. The aid for Ukraine is seen as support for the right of self-defense of the country that is striving to join the EU and NATO.
1:18 p.m .: The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, has sharply condemned the Russian air raids on Ukraine. “That was the second worst day since the beginning of the war,” he said in an interview with RTL/n-tv. His hometown of Kyiv was also bombed on Monday morning. “A lot of my friends saw it. Many people died in the rush hour,” said the ambassador.
The attacks were expected – not only because of the attack on the Crimean bridge at the weekend, for which Russia blames Ukraine. “Putin does not need to be provoked. He does it all by himself and that’s the only war tactic he has,” says Melynk. He also sees Monday’s attacks as a reaction of frustration on the part of the Russian president. “His troops are losing on the battlefield and he exacts revenge on the civilians.”
The recent Russian shelling should also be a “warning signal” for the Germans to act differently.
12:57 p.m .: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban assumes that Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) could have prevented the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. At an event organized by the magazine “Cicero” and the “Berliner Zeitung” in Berlin on Tuesday, according to the official translation, he said that Merkel had already prevented a war in 2014 through her actions after the Russian annexation of Crimea. “What Angela Merkel did during the Crimean crisis was a masterpiece.” There was no war at the time because Germany’s diplomatic efforts isolated the conflict. “They didn’t let this go up and we all get involved.”
When asked whether he should be understood in such a way that, in his opinion, there would not have been a war against Ukraine with a Chancellor Merkel, Orban replied according to the translation: “Certainly.” The Hungarian Prime Minister had Merkel on Sunday during his multi-day meeting Stay in Berlin met. Nothing was initially known about the content of the conversation.
11:38 a.m .: As a result of the Russian rocket fire, Ukraine has reduced its electricity supplies to neighboring Moldova. As Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu reported on Telegram, the republic is currently getting 30 percent less electricity.
“We are in constant contact with Ukraine, the European Union and Romania in search of a solution to power the republic,” he wrote. During the Russian airstrikes on Monday, missiles and drones partially destroyed Ukraine’s power grid. Kyiv then declared that it wanted to temporarily suspend electricity exports to the European grid.
7.12 a.m .: Russia has failed in its attempt to have the vote in the UN General Assembly on its sham referendums held secretly. With 107 votes, the panel voted to hold the public vote expected on Wednesday. 13 states voted against and 39 abstained. Russia had argued that a secret ballot was necessary because of Western pressure, otherwise “it could become very difficult when the positions are presented publicly”. Meanwhile, Russia’s UN ambassador Wassili Nebensja complained about “dangerous polarization” at the UN and the formation of blocs that undermine international cooperation.
4:50 a.m .: To better protect NATO’s eastern flank, the Bundeswehr will support Lithuania’s defense with a combat troop brigade. In view of the security and protection needs of the eastern NATO partners, this sign of solidarity is extremely important and absolutely necessary, Brigadier General Christian Nawrat told the German Press Agency at the Lithuanian military base in Rukla. Lithuania borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia’s ally Belarus.
“We are aware of the importance of the order. It serves to reassure our Baltic allies and act as a deterrent against Russia,” Nawrat said. Germany is clearly on the side of its allies. Nawrat is commander of Panzergrenadierbrigade 41 “Vorpommern”.
After the Russian attack on Ukraine, NATO decided to increase protection of the eastern flank. Germany is to lead a combat troops brigade with 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers for Lithuania. Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised this during a visit to Vilnius in June.
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