In the third week of the war, Russia has expanded its attacks in Ukraine to the west of the country, and troops could soon reach the capital Kyiv. In view of the dramatic situation, the European Union wants to provide a further 500 million euros for the supply of weapons and equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces.
Meanwhile, fears of biological and chemical weapons being used in the conflict are growing. The UN Security Council wanted to deal with the issue on Friday. In view of the faltering negotiations between the warring parties, the USA, other G7 countries and the EU want to introduce new sanctions.
Combat operations also in western Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that air bases in the western Ukrainian regional capital Ivano-Frankivsk and in Lutsk in the north-west of the country were put out of action with “high-precision weapons” on Friday night. Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk are located north and south of the city of Lviv, not far from the Polish border, to which many Ukrainians initially fled the fighting.
In the east of the country, according to military information from Moscow, pro-Russian separatists took control of the city of Volnowacha. According to Russian information, it had been surrounded since February 28. Initially, there was no confirmation from the Ukrainian side. The information could not initially be verified independently.
The Southeast Ukrainian Port city of Mariupol is blocked according to Russia. “All bridges and access roads to the city have been destroyed,” said Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev of the Russian Defense Ministry, according to the Interfax agency. He claimed that Ukrainian “nationalists” had mined the main roads and were opening fire indiscriminately. “In doing so, they are forcing the population to stay in their homes.” Several hundred thousand residents are stuck in the city. The Mariupol City Council put the number of civilians killed at 1,582, while UN statistics so far show around 560 documented cases of civilian deaths.
British government experts say Russian troops are likely to attack the Ukrainian capital in the coming days. “Russia will probably try to regroup its forces for renewed offensives,” according to an assessment by the London Ministry of Defense published on Friday.
A nuclear research center is said to have been shelled again in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine. According to the state nuclear supervisory authority, Russia is said to have fired on the same nuclear research facility on the northern outskirts of the city for the second time on Thursday evening. It was initially unclear what the consequences of the damage would be.
More arms deliveries – no EU membership of Ukraine
The EU now wants to provide an additional half a billion euros for the supply of weapons and equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces. This was announced by EU Council President Charles Michel on Friday after consultations with the heads of state and government in Versailles, France. A first package of 500 million euros had already been approved at the end of February. The EU states also want to increase deterrence against Russia by significantly increasing their defense spending.
However, the heads of state and government of the EU states clearly dampened Ukraine’s hopes of rapid EU accession.
The statement from the EU summit early Friday morning said: “Ukraine is part of our European family.” However, no concrete commitments were made with regard to rapid EU accession. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and his colleagues merely promised Ukraine to further strengthen ties and deepen the partnership in order to support them on their European path.
people on the run
From embattled cities in the Ukraine Almost 100,000 people have been evacuated in the past two days alone, the Ukrainian President said Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video speech. He accused Russia of shelling the escape corridor and a gathering point for people fleeing Mariupol on Thursday.
Overall, the number of people who have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion has surpassed 2.5 million, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR on Friday. According to this, more than 1.5 million people from Ukraine were in Poland, a good 225,000 in Hungary, 176,000 in Slovakia and a good 282,000 in other European countries. According to the Federal Police, almost 110,000 war refugees have come to Germany so far.
In addition to the refugees, the UNHCR estimates that 1.85 million people have been displaced from their homes in Ukraine as a result of the acts of war.
Because of the war in Ukraine, the fear of supply crises and food shortages is growing – also beyond the war zones. Ukraine is the world’s fifth largest wheat supplier. Many countries would have difficulties in supplying themselves with agricultural commodities, said Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir after a video conference with his counterparts from the G7 countries. This threatens the supply in parts of the world.
Media in Russia under pressure – ARD and ZDF want to report again
In Russia, however, the pressure on social networks and media is growing. The Attorney General wants to have the Facebook group Meta banned as an “extremist organization”. The background is a decision by the US company, which also includes services such as Instagram and WhatsApp, to allow calls for violence against Russian troops in Ukraine. Facebook itself has not been accessible in Russia for days. Instagram is now blocked too.
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The German television stations ARD and ZDF, on the other hand, want to report from their studios in Moscow again soon. They want to report “on the political, economic and social situation in Russia” again, but “report on the military situation in Ukraine” from other locations.
Reporting was temporarily suspended over the weekend. The reason was a change in the law in Russia, according to which the dissemination of alleged false information about the Russian armed forces can be punished with high fines and up to 15 years in prison.
Gerhard Schröder talks to Putin – no agreement with Scholz
For talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Ukraine war Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder traveled to Moscow. Corresponding reports from the news portal “Politico” and the “Bild” newspaper were confirmed by the German Press Agency. According to dpa information, a first meeting between Schröder and Putin took place on Thursday. It was initially unclear whether more were planned. The federal government had previously said that the trip had not been agreed with her.
According to Russia, the UN Security Council should deal with biological weapons allegedly manufactured by the USA in Ukraine in an emergency session on Friday. International fact-checkers have long since refuted Moscow’s claim. The US speaks of “propaganda” and a possible pretext for Russia to use weapons of mass destruction in the US Ukraine war to use.
More sanctions against Russia
The US government and the EU want to initiate further punitive measures against Russia because of the Ukraine war in coordination with each other and with the G7 partners. For example, Russia is to be denied trade policy benefits within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the future, which would abolish equal treatment, for example in the case of tariffs and other regulatory measures.
On the US side, in addition to a ban on the export of luxury goods to Russia, import bans on Russian goods such as vodka, seafood and diamonds are also planned. In addition, further sanctions are to be imposed on Russian oligarchs.