The war in Ukraine has been raging for exactly two weeks. The Russian soldiers are currently hardly gaining land, but the first evacuations are starting. A maternity clinic is hit by rockets in the particularly hard-fought Mariupol. Meanwhile, Ukraine receives humanitarian aid from China, but feels let down by the EU in terms of speedy membership and by Germany in terms of arms deliveries and export bans. The day of the war at a glance.
Rescue from embattled cities
The military fronts appeared largely static today, Wednesday, and no major gains in territory by the Russian army were announced. According to Ukrainian information, however, there were renewed attacks on several cities, resulting in deaths and many injuries. The evacuation of the civilian population from the embattled cities has meanwhile started. Ukrainian media published images from Irpin near Kyiv showing old and sick people being carried to safety on stretchers. Buses arrived at midday in the north-eastern city of Sumy, where intense fighting has been raging since the Russian invasion began. According to the deputy head of the presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the first vehicles with civilians left Enerhodar in southern Ukraine and Izyum near Kharkiv in the north-east.
According to the separatists in the Donetsk region, the agreed “humanitarian corridor” is still not working in the port city of Mariupol, where the situation has been particularly dramatic for several days. “People are leaving Mariupol on their own as soon as possible,” spokesman for the pro-Russian forces, Eduard Bassurin, told Russian state television. Ukraine blamed the attackers for this. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted: “Russia continues to hold more than 400,000 people hostage in Mariupol, blocking humanitarian aid and evacuation.” The evacuation of Mariupol has been fought for days. Several attempts have failed since Saturday. In the port city, a maternity ward was hit by rockets in the afternoon. According to Ukrainian sources, 17 employees were injured and many pregnant women had to be evacuated.
Some observers feared a catastrophe in view of the power failure in the ruins of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) gave the all-clear during the day. She sees “no critical impact on security in this case”. The Ukrainian energy company Ukrenergo had previously said that the electricity supply to the plant and its security systems had been completely cut off as a result of “the military activities of the Russian occupier”.
More fighters, prisoners, refugees, victims
According to the Ukrainian military, around 14,500 people have entered Ukraine in the past few days for combat use. The army said 12,000 of them were returning Ukrainians who wanted to join the national defense team. In addition, the government in Kyiv expects numerous foreigners who could form a so-called international legion. Supposedly 1000 Germans also belong to this legion.
Meanwhile, according to Ukrainian sources, around 400 protesters were arrested in the southern city of Cherson, which had been occupied by Russia. In many cities, Ukrainians have been taking to the streets for days, protesting against the presence of the occupying forces. So far there have been no incidents, and now the Russian military has apparently arrested people on a large scale for the first time.
The UN has so far documented 516 dead civilians in the Ukraine war. Among them are said to be 37 children. 50 children are among the 908 injured. According to Ukrainian sources, more than 1,000 civilians have died in Mariupol alone since the beginning of the war. The figures cannot be independently verified.
The number of refugees remains high. The refugee agency UNHCR has reported around 140,000 war refugees who have arrived in the countries neighboring the Ukrainians in the last 24 hours alone. Most of them, around 1.3 million people, are in Poland. A good 2.1 million people are said to have left Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
help from China
China wants to send aid to Ukraine. At the request of the government in Kyiv, the country, which is actually an ally of Russia, is planning to send food and everyday necessities worth 720,000 euros to Ukraine. At the same time, the government in Beijing is calling on the parties to the conflict to continue their talks. China could “contribute to calming the situation,” President Xi Jinping was quoted as saying.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has put together a support package of two billion euros for those affected by the Ukraine war. Citizens of the country at war as well as companies and other countries affected by the attack are to benefit from the grants and loans – for example by taking in refugees, as the bank announced.
EU: sanctions for Russians, setbacks for Ukraine
In view of the ongoing war, the EU states have agreed to extend the sanctions against Russia and its partner country Belarus again. As announced by EU foreign policy chief Borrell in Brussels, a total of 160 Russian MPs and oligarchs will be added to the sanctions list because they support or finance the Ukraine war. The 14 oligarchs affected include coal and fertilizer magnate Andrei Melnischenko, Aeroflot boss Mikhail Poluboyarinov, pipeline tycoon Dmitry Pumpiansky and Formula 1 team sponsor Haas, chemical magnate Dmitry Mazepin. His son Nikita, who drove for Team Haas, also appears on the sanctions list. Their assets in the EU are frozen and entry bans are imposed on them.
Elsewhere, the EU is keeping a low profile: Ukraine’s application for membership of the European Union. The heads of state and government of the EU countries are likely to disappoint Ukraine’s hopes of a speedy accession. A draft of the final declaration for the forthcoming EU summit merely indicates that the EU Commission has been asked to assess Ukraine’s application for membership.
No boycott of Russian energy
The federal government sees no further possibility for an immediate boycott of Russian energy supplies along the lines of the USA. The USA is an exporter of gas and oil, which cannot be said for Europe as a whole, stressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a joint press conference with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “And that’s why the things that can be done are also different.”
Meanwhile, fuel prices in Germany continued to rise sharply. According to Brussels, the EU gets a good 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia, and Germany even gets 55 percent. The EU Commission is urging the member states to reduce their demand for Russian energy by two-thirds this year and instead buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the USA, Qatar or Egypt.
The Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk then accused the German government of a lack of commitment in the Ukraine war. Berlin’s refusal to impose an embargo on gas and oil from Russia is like a “knife in Ukraine’s back,” the diplomat told Welt.
Dispute over fighter jets for Ukraine
Chancellor Scholz also rejected the Polish Foreign Ministry’s proposal to hand over combat aircraft to Ukraine. He referred to financial aid, humanitarian assistance and the delivery of individual weapon systems. “And otherwise it is the case that we have to think very carefully about what we are actually doing. And that certainly does not include combat aircraft,” said Scholz.
More articles on the Ukraine war
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Hundreds arrested in Kherson: blinking: Putin will never win hearts of Ukrainians
Empty shelves and no Netflix: sanctions are part of everyday life for Russians
“Act and speak clear words”: SPD leadership increases pressure on Schröder
War Day in Ukraine: Static Fronts, Dangerous Escape Corridors
Agile, powerful and expensive: MiG-29 – a flying legend
You can read all the other developments of the day in our live ticker on the Ukraine war.