(new: Sjewerodonetsk, Selenskyj-Draghi, Truss, etc.)
Kyiv (dpa-AFX) – The federal government wants to support Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia, in the reconstruction with emergency aid in the millions. Aid should not wait until the war is over, said Development Minister Svenja Schulze on Friday in the heavily damaged Kiev suburb of Borodjanka. The SPD politician visited Ukraine as the second member of the federal government since the start of the Russian war of aggression, which entered the 93rd day on Friday. The heaviest fighting is currently raging in the east of the country.
The pro-Russian separatists declared the capture of the town of Lyman in the Donbass – according to Ukrainian data on Friday evening, however, fighting continued. The city of Lyssychansk, which was still controlled by Ukrainians, was in danger of being surrounded. The city of Sievjerodonetsk, which was particularly heavily fought, is almost completely surrounded by Russian troops, according to the local military administration. According to official figures, around 1,500 people have been killed in Sievjerodonetsk since the beginning of the war.
Schulze assures civil aid – appeal to Putin
Development Minister Schulze told journalists in Borodjanka that 185 million euros for emergency aid measures had already been approved. Specifically, apartments and power lines are to be built. “The Ukrainians simply need water and electricity. Those who have fled within Ukraine need a roof over their heads, the children must be able to go to school again, and support is needed for all of that,” said Schulze. Germany will remain a partner in the years to come. “But we mustn’t wait until the war is over, we have to start helping and building up again now.”
After Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), the minister traveled to Ukraine as the second member of the federal government since the start of the Russian war of aggression on February 24. Kremlin chief Wladimir Putin urged them to enable grain deliveries through the Ukrainian ports and blamed him for the imminent famine in many countries around the world. She dismissed the Russian narrative that Western sanctions were provoking a global hunger crisis.
Ukraine, considered the granary of Europe, is able to export far less wheat as a result of the war. In addition, supply chains have been disrupted by the fighting. Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi spoke to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the grain crisis after he had discussed it with Putin. However, no solution emerged.
Scholz: Putin wants to go back to the law of the stronger
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the “Putinian narrative” that the West was responsible for the hunger crisis that had been triggered must be refuted. At the Catholic Day in Stuttgart, the SPD politician again condemned the Russian war of aggression and stressed that Germany felt obliged to support Ukraine. “We have decided to help the victims of this war of aggression,” said Scholz. “Putin’s war is directed against a peace order that arose from the commitment ‘Never again’ after two devastating world wars. He wants to go back to the rights of the stronger.”
Pro-Russian separatists report successes in Donbass
Thanks to the massive use of artillery and air force in the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, Russian forces have made faster progress in the past few days than in the previous weeks. According to their own statements, the pro-Russian separatists gained control of the city of Lyman in the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian General Staff, on the other hand, reported on Friday evening fighting for the city. However, the Ukrainian presidential adviser Olexy Arestovych had already described the strategically important town as lost on television the evening before.
Lyman is located to the west of the metropolitan area around the major cities of Sievjerodonetsk and Lyssychansk, which is still controlled by Ukrainian troops. The Russian armed forces have been trying to conquer this area for weeks. With the fall of Lyman, supplying the Ukrainian military in the area will become more difficult.
Military administration: Eastern Ukrainian Sieverodonetsk almost surrounded
According to the local military administration, Sievjerodonetsk in the Luhansk region is already two-thirds besieged by Russian troops, but is not yet completely surrounded, said the head of the local military administration, Olexandr Strjuk. The defenders continued to put up fierce resistance. On the other hand, according to the Moscow state news agency Ria Novosti, the pro-Russian separatists claimed that the ring was completely closed around the city.
Around 90 percent of the buildings in the city are damaged, according to Strjuk, and 60 percent would have to be completely rebuilt. He had previously announced that around 1,500 soldiers and civilians had been killed in Sievjerodonetsk since the beginning of the war. Many people have fled. Of the once 130,000 inhabitants, only about a tenth is now there.
Politicians: Another 70 bodies found in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol
According to a local politician, dozens of other bodies have been found in the port city of Mariupol, which has now been taken by Russian troops. Rescue workers discovered a total of around 70 lifeless bodies on a former factory site, wrote city council deputy Petro Andryushchenko in the Telegram news service. People were buried under the rubble when Russian occupiers shelled the building, he wrote. This information could not initially be checked. Mariupol has become a symbol of the brutality of Russia’s aggressive war.
British Minister: Ukraine must be supported in the long term
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss sees no end to Russian aggression against Ukraine any time soon. “We have to be ready to support Ukraine in the long term,” the conservative politician said after meeting her Czech counterpart Jan Lipavsky in Prague. You have to make sure that Ukraine wins the war and Russia withdraws./lkl/DP/he