Updated on 06/15/2022 at 20:57
- Ukraine can look forward to more weapons from the West – including several rocket launchers.
- While the president of France indicates that he is counting on negotiations in the future, the former president of Russia questions the continued existence of Ukraine as a whole.
For its defense against Russian attack, Ukraine has received new arms delivery commitments from the US and Germany. US President Joe Biden announced more weapons deliveries worth a billion dollars after a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. The United States also provided an additional $225 million (about €217 million) in humanitarian assistance to the country. Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) has pledged to deliver three Mars II multiple rocket launchers.
For weeks, Ukraine has come under increasing pressure in costly fighting in the east of the country – and has repeatedly demanded significantly more heavy weapons from the west. NATO also wants to help Ukraine, for example, with the switch from Soviet to Western weapons systems. The city of Severodonetsk is currently the focus of fighting. Hundreds of civilians are believed to be at the Azot chemical plant – an evacuation planned by Moscow initially failed. Russia attacked its neighbor on February 24.
Macron bets on negotiations
Ahead of his long-awaited trip to Kyiv, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a clear political signal from Europe to Ukraine. There are reports that he will travel to Ukraine with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) this week. Macron also said that everyone in Europe wanted a ceasefire and a resumption of negotiations. At some point, hopefully, when Ukraine wins and fighting ceases, negotiations will have to be negotiated.
Fewer rocket launchers from Germany than planned
With the promise of three multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine, Germany is delivering less than initially planned. In early June, on the sidelines of a general debate in the Bundestag, government circles said that Germany would hand over four of the multiple rocket launchers. According to the Bundeswehr, the missiles used by Germany have a range of up to 84 kilometers, and Ukraine is expected to receive “several hundred” of them. Training for Ukrainian soldiers in these systems is scheduled to begin in June. The systems could then be delivered “in late July or early August,” as Lambrecht said.
NATO plans to strengthen the eastern flank
Two weeks before a NATO summit in Madrid, plans to strengthen the eastern flank are taking shape. According to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, a decision must be made to bolster existing multinational battle groups with additional combat units and expand air, maritime and cyber defense. In the event of a threat, quick reinforcements should also be possible. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was invited to Madrid.
Even less gas arrives in Germany
Russian energy group Gazprom is again reducing maximum volumes of gas supply via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from the Baltic Sea to Germany. As of Thursday morning, only a maximum of 67 million cubic meters will be pumped through the pipeline every day, Gazprom announced. The state-owned company once again justified this step with delays in repair work by the “Siemens company” – that is, the energy technology group Siemens Energy. The wholesale price of gas has increased significantly. Gazprom had already announced a reduction in the maximum delivery quantity on Tuesday. In the opinion of the Minister of Economy, Robert Habeck (Greens), it is a “strategy to destabilize and raise prices”.
Civilians continue to resist at Azot chemical plant
With the help of an escape corridor, civilians were supposed to be able to leave the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk, but the planned action by Moscow failed, according to pro-Russian separatists. As the Ukrainian side was firing grenade launchers and tanks from the factory premises, no one was able to get there safely, a separatist official said. More than 500 civilians are suspected at the industrial plant; separatists suppose it could be as many as 1,200 people.
Medvedev expresses doubts about Ukraine’s continued existence as a state
Former Russian President Medvedev has questioned Ukraine’s continued existence as a sovereign state – and thus has caused a stir. Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote on Telegram that he had read that Ukraine wanted to conclude contracts for the supply of US liquefied gas for two years. Then he added: “Just one question: who said that in two years Ukraine will still exist on the world map?”
Moscow: Western military technology destroyed
According to the Russian military, it destroyed an ammunition depot supplied by NATO countries in western Ukraine. In the Lviv region, rockets, among other things, were used to destroy M777 howitzers, the Defense Ministry said. In the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk, a large number of weapons and military technology from the US and European countries were destroyed at the railway facilities. Military equipment was destroyed in air strikes, including in the Kharkiv region, he said. 300 Ukrainian fighters were also killed in the operations. The information could not be independently verified.
Ukrainian children in care allegedly taken to Russia
In Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, children are said to have disappeared from homes. According to the UN Human Rights Council’s commission of inquiry, he received information about this during his visit to Ukraine. Reports “that children who were housed in institutions in temporarily occupied areas were brought to Russia” need to be investigated, said Commissioner Jasminka Džumhurin. They heard that these children would be granted Russian citizenship and adoption processes would begin. According to Džumhurin, the commission was initially unable to examine the reports. (br/dpa)
Updated on 06/13/2022 at 08:17
According to the Ukrainian military intelligence service, the Russian military is preparing for a longer war. The Russian military’s planning has been extended by another 120 days until October 2022, military experts at the US Institute for the Study of War reported. on Saturday with reference to information from the deputy director of the secret service Wadym Skibizkij.