The day of the war at a glance
Moscow sees itself almost on target in Luhansk – Baerbock sets an example in Ukraine
05/10/2022 9:23 p.m
The German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, was shocked during her visit to Bucha and declared that the victims of the atrocities owed it to the perpetrators to be held accountable. But a visit to President Selenskyj and Kiev Mayor Klitschko are also on the agenda. Meanwhile, Moscow believes it is a big step closer to capturing the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk and is not letting up in the shelling of the Azov steelworks in Mariupol. The 76th day of the war at a glance.
Baerbock meets Selenskyj and visits Bucha
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was the first German government member to visit Kyiv. The Green politician got a picture of the destruction in the Kiev suburbs of Irpin and Bucha today. More than 400 bodies were found in Bucha after the Russian troops withdrew – some with their hands tied behind their backs. “We owe it to these victims not only to commemorate them here, but also to hold the perpetrators accountable and hold them accountable,” says Baerbock. She also announced the reopening of the German embassy in Kyiv with limited operations. At a meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, she made it clear that Germany wanted to do without any energy from the “aggressor” Russia in the future. “That’s why we’re reducing our dependency on Russian energy to zero – for good,” said the minister. In the evening she met the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It is of great value for the country that Germany shows solidarity with the Ukrainian people, Zelenskyj said at the meeting.
Foreign Minister: Solidarity with Kyiv will not diminish
Baerbock also assured Kiev’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko further support in the military sector and with reconstruction. At the meeting, Klitschko said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to prevent democratic development in Ukraine. He wants to build a Russian empire. “We don’t know how far he will go,” said Klitschko. “Your wartime visit is very important to us,” he told Baerbock. The mayor showed her a part of the city during a tour.
Dutch Foreign Minister in the bomb cellar
Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra was forced to spend some time in a bomb cellar during his visit to Kyiv because of an air raid alarm. The 46-year-old fled to safety the evening before a scheduled meeting with Mayor Vitali Klitschko when sirens warned of Russian airstrikes. Hoekstra had traveled to Kyiv by train with Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and had held a few appointments with her. Baerbock himself was reportedly not affected by the protective measure.
Scholz: No quick EU accession for Ukraine
After her return from Ukraine, the President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas, called for a speedy approach to Ukraine’s accession to the EU. During the debate, Chancellor Olaf Scholz pointed out that the EU negotiations with the six Western Balkan countries must have priority. Apart from that, the same standards and requirements would apply to all accession negotiations, he said when discussing whether the accession modalities for Ukraine should be shortened. The Federal Foreign Minister argued similarly. Baerbock promises Ukraine full membership of the European Union. But there can be “no shortcut” on the way there, said the Green politician in Kyiv.
More than 1000 soldiers are said to have entrenched themselves in the Azov steelworks
According to the Ukrainian government, more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers are still in the Azov steelworks in Mariupol, which was besieged by Russian troops. “Hundreds are injured,” said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. Some of the soldiers were “seriously injured” and had to be “urgently” taken out of the steelworks, said Wereshchuk. “The situation is getting worse every day.” She also rejected statements by two local officials that there were still around 100 civilians in the plant. “That’s not true,” she said. Meanwhile, there was heavy shelling by Russian troops. The area had been attacked from the air all night long, said the deputy commander of the Azov regiment, Sviatoslav Palamar, to the newspaper “Ukrajinska Pravda”.
Moscow claims to have already advanced to the Luhansk border
Luhansk governor Serhiy Hajday also reported on the heavy shelling. Accordingly, there were 22 attacks in the past 24 hours until morning. In the morning, sirens warning of air strikes could be heard in several Ukrainian regions, including Lukansk, Kharkiv and Dnipro. Russia has long talked about taking over the entire Luhansk region. Now they report that they have penetrated to the administrative borders of the Luhansk region. The small town of Popasna, which was heavily contested until recently, has now been “cleansed” of Ukrainian “nationalists,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov in Moscow. However, Governor Hajdaj clearly disagreed and described the Russian statements as “fantasy.
Ukraine suspends gas transit in Luhansk region
Due to the war, Ukraine will stop the transit of Russian gas in the Luhansk region in the east of the country from Wednesday. As a result, up to 32.6 million cubic meters of gas per day were lost – that is almost a third of the maximum amount that can be transported via Ukraine to Europe every day, the Ukrainian gas network operator announced on Tuesday. Due to the Russian occupation, it had become impossible to forward gas to other distribution stations via the Sochranivka point, it said. The operator referred to a case of “force majeure”.
US secret service: Donbass only an interim goal for Russia – Moscow is lagging behind schedule
According to US intelligence coordinator Avril Haines, Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for a “protracted conflict in Ukraine, in which he remains committed to achieving goals beyond Donbass.” Putin is determined to create a land connection to the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria in the east of the Republic of Moldova. Putin should therefore also declare martial law, the US intelligence director told the US Senate Armed Services Committee. Because Putin’s goals are greater than the capabilities of the Russian armed forces, it is “likely” that the president will embark on an increasingly “unpredictable and potentially escalating” path in the coming months. US military sources have now announced that Russia is at least two weeks behind schedule for its invasion of the Donbass region. This also applies to the south of Ukraine, says a high-ranking US military representative, who does not want to be named.
Pentagon: No indication of hypersonic missile use in Odessa
The US Department of Defense has no evidence of the use of hypersonic missiles in the recent Russian attacks on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa. He could not confirm the use of such weapons, a senior ministry official said in a telephone switchboard with journalists. Airstrikes on Odessa have increased in recent days. According to the Ukrainian military, the Russian air force had fired Kinzhal-type hypersonic missiles at the southern Ukrainian port during the night. The US Department official said there was no evidence of an attack on Odessa by ground forces or from the Black Sea. “Odessa is still firmly under Ukrainian control.”
Wave of resignations of governors in Russia
Five Russian regional heads have resigned within a few hours or no longer want to stand for re-election. Officially, they give their age and long tenures. Among them, for example, Sergej Schwatschkin from Tomsk in Siberia and his colleague Igor Wassiljew from Kirov, around 1000 kilometers north-east of Moscow. For many citizens, however, the wave of resignations caused astonishment and also speculation. Several users of the Telegram news service wondered whether the regional heads might no longer want to support the war against Ukraine that has been going on for two and a half months and the economic consequences for Russia’s provinces. Others speculated that the five politicians might not have been loyal enough to the Kremlin. So far there has been no evidence of this.
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