05.03.2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 00:13 Kiev estimates Russian losses in Bakhmut at 500 men per day +++
According to information from Kiev, the Russian military suffered enormous losses in the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. “Russian losses amount to up to 500 dead and wounded every day,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov told Bild am Sonntag. The Russian soldiers are merely “cannon fodder” in the “meat grinder tactics” used by Moscow. The information on the loss figures cannot be checked independently.
+++ 22:20 Ukraine investigates 171 cases of sexual violence by Russian soldiers +++
The public prosecutor’s office is investigating 171 cases of sexual violence against Ukrainian women by the Russian military. This was announced by the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, at a panel discussion in Lviv, as reported by the news portal “Ukrainska Pravda”. “Behind these numbers are not only women among the victims, 39 are men,” said Selenska accordingly. 13 of the victims were minors. How many other victims are “suffering in silence, especially in the occupied territories” is unknown, she continues. Sexual violence is a “deliberate psychological and physical weapon against Ukrainians”.
+++ 22:05 Selenskyj wants to cooperate more closely with the EU +++
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj wants to significantly expand cooperation with the European institutions in the current year. “The task is to actively prepare everything for our country’s membership in the European Union, increase arms sales to Ukraine and strengthen sanctions against Russia,” the 45-year-old said in his daily video message on Saturday. Today’s legal conference “United for Justice” in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv was not just about investigating Russian crimes, but also about rehabilitation for the victims of violence, Zelensky said. They should be given the chance to return to their normal lives.
+++ 21:40 Ukraine wants to use half a billion dollars in Russian assets for reconstruction +++
Ukraine wants to use confiscated Russian assets worth $460 million (€432 million) for reconstruction, the Kyiv Independent reports. Accordingly, the government will use the confiscated assets of two Russian banks, MR Bank and Prominvestbank, to rebuild the country, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a conference today.
+++ 21:12 Kiev: Russia has lost over 150,000 soldiers +++
According to Ukrainian figures, Russia has lost more than 150,000 soldiers since the war began. This emerges from a listing by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Moscow’s armed forces have also lost over 3,400 tanks and almost 6,700 armored vehicles. In addition, over 300 fighter jets were shot down.
+++ 20:44 IEA boss: “Russia has lost the energy battle” +++
After the West turned away from Russian oil and gas, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, sees Russia permanently weakened. “Russia has lost the energy battle,” Birol told the French newspaper Liberation. Oil and gas exports have fallen by 40 percent since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. And that’s just the beginning, because the Russian oil and gas fields are technically and geologically complex. They needed the technological support of international experts. “However, they withdrew from Russia.” Russia cannot simply replace Europe, once the largest customer, with Asia, said the IEA boss. “Trading energy is not the same as selling onions.” Russia’s role in international energy affairs will be far less important in the future, Birol said.
You can read earlier developments in the Ukraine war here.