The night of the war at a glance
Advance on Kyiv repelled – evacuation of Sumy continues
03/10/2022 06:21 am
Before the eagerly awaited meeting of foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia, both sides also fought in the war zone on Thursday night. Ukraine reported shelling on several major cities, and there was an air raid alarm in the capital Kyiv. A new attempt was planned for the morning to save people from embattled cities during a regional ceasefire.
New diplomatic efforts
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is staying in Antalya, Turkey, where he wants to explore all options for an end to the war with his Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov this morning. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu wants to mediate. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, wants to address the safety of nuclear facilities in Antalya.
As a condition for a cessation of fighting, Russia is demanding that Ukraine declare itself neutral in its constitution. In addition, Kyiv must recognize the annexed peninsula of Crimea as Russian and the separatist areas as independent. So far, Ukraine has largely rejected this. However, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has indicated a certain willingness to compromise. In the evening, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the other EU heads of state and government will meet at a summit in Versailles to discuss the situation.
The war events
According to Ukrainian information, a new attempt is planned for this Thursday to rescue people from cities in the Sumy region in the northeast via three escape corridors to the city of Poltava further west. A ceasefire is planned for these escape routes from 8 a.m. German time, the Sumy regional administration announced. Almost 50,000 people came out of the surrounded city of Sumy itself on Tuesday and Wednesday. Above all, the evacuation of the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol has been the subject of struggle for days. An attack on a maternity clinic there on Wednesday sparked horror – including among UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called for an end to the “senseless violence”.
The events of the war during the night remained confusing, especially since the information provided by the warring parties cannot be independently verified. Ukrainian authorities reported that Russian planes bombed the area around Sumy, including residential areas and a gas pipeline. The Ukrainian army spoke of attempted Russian attacks on the capital Kyiv and the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv, as well as attacks on the region around the city of Kharkiv in the east. But the Russian offensive was slowed down.
Ukraine hopes for further German arms deliveries
Ukraine is hoping for more arms deliveries from Germany, as Ambassador Andriy Melnyk told the German Press Agency. The German armaments industry made proposals to the Ministry of Defence. “We expect a positive decision.” Despite a clear refusal by the US government, Melnyk is not giving up hope of delivering MiG-29 fighter jets. “The fact is that we need these planes as soon as possible to protect the airspace,” he said. Poland had agreed in principle to make the planes available to the United States with the ultimate goal of bringing them to Ukraine. The US government refuses because it fears NATO involvement in the war. Chancellor Scholz is also against it.
“Freeze for Freedom”
The federal government is opposed to stopping Russian energy supplies – because Germany is simply too dependent on them. But even then, the Ukrainian Ambassador Melnyk increased the pressure. In view of the high number of war victims among the civilian population, saying no to an import ban is “morally unacceptable.” The EU has imposed massive sanctions on Russia. However, cutting off billions in gas, oil and coal supplies is not one of them. However, former Federal President Joachim Gauck said on ARD: “We can also freeze for freedom.” Even without the import ban, Germany will have to prepare for a recession and even higher prices as a result of the war – the head of the German Institute for Economic Research, Marcel Fratzscher, told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. In view of the burdens, Germany should give up the debt brake for the next few years.
Refugee teachers for refugee children
A huge task is facing Germany – as well as other EU countries – including the care of refugees from Ukraine. According to the UN, more than two million people have fled Ukraine since the war began on February 24, and more than 80,000 war refugees have been registered in Germany. Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) wants to use refugee teachers from Ukraine to look after the children in schools and daycare centers, as she told the Funke media group. The head of the Federal Employment Agency, Detlef Scheele, promised refugees unbureaucratic support when looking for work in an interview with the editorial network Germany.
What is important today
The Russian-Ukrainian foreign ministers’ meeting in Antalya is scheduled to begin in the morning, and the informal EU summit in Versailles in the afternoon (5:30 p.m.). Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) travels to Poland for talks on refugees. German bishops want to pass a declaration on the Ukraine war at their spring conference. The refugee children are a topic at the Conference of Ministers of Education in Lübeck.
You can read all the other developments of the day in our live ticker on the Ukraine war.