10/17/2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 00:29 Melnyk’s successor Makeiev: Will win the war against Russia +++
The designated new ambassador of Ukraine in Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, expects his country to win in the defense against the Russian invasion. “The German population supports Ukraine so strongly that I’m sure that we will win the war together with Germany and all other European partners! The faster, the better,” he told the “Bild” newspaper. He and his embassy team would “contribute enormously to victory every day,” he assured. His predecessor Andriy Melnyk returned to Ukraine at the weekend after almost eight years as ambassador to Germany.
+++ 23:53 Kyiv wants to expand grain exports despite threats from Moscow +++
Against the background of increasing threats from Moscow to end the grain agreement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasizes its importance for the fight against hunger. Although the war continues to hamper exports, Ukraine has exported nearly eight million tons of food by sea since the Grains Agreement came into force, Zelenskyy said in his daily video address. “That’s more than 300 ships. 60 percent of the amount went to Africa and Asia.” He announces that exports will be further expanded. Just a few days ago, Russia threatened to stop the grain deal and block the Ukrainian ports again.
Read more about this here.
+++ 23:01 Zelenskyj: Heavy fighting in Bakhmut and Soledar +++
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the fighting in the Donbass is concentrated in the two towns of Bakhmut and Soledar. Fierce fighting is taking place there, he says in his nightly video speech. Soledar is just north of Bakhmut, a target of Russian troops in recent weeks.
+++ 22:09 Ukraine: Russia blocks website for conscientious objectors +++
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia is blocking a website for soldiers who want to surrender. As reported by the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Russia is blocking the website of the Ukrainian state project “I want to live”, which was set up for soldiers who want to surrender to the Ukrainian army. As of October 4, the site had received more than 2,000 requests from the Russian military.
+++ 21:40 Minister: Time for Israel to support Ukraine +++
The alleged delivery of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia is also causing movement in Israel. The country could provide military aid to Ukraine in the future, Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs Nachman Shai wrote on Twitter. “There is no longer any doubt as to where Israel should be in this bloody conflict,” writes Shai. “It’s about time Ukraine received military aid, just like the US and NATO countries are doing.”
+++ 21:08 Military activities in Belarus are increasing +++
In the ex-Soviet republic of Belarus, against the background of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, its own military activities are increasing. “Now we have received all the weapons we should have received from the Defense Ministry and have stored them in the armories,” said the head of the Belarusian civil defense, Vadim Sinyavsky, on state television. At the same time, units were formed that could be used together with the military “to defend the fatherland,” Sinjawski assures. At the same time, the senior official speaks of around 5,000 underground facilities that could be used as bomb shelters in Belarus. The Belarusian border guard meanwhile announced that it had strengthened its units at the border “because of the increased reconnaissance activities in Ukraine”.
+++ 20:33 Ukraine ambassador calls for rapid arms deliveries from the USA +++
Ukraine is urging the US to “do everything it can to speed up arms deliveries” in the face of intensified Russian attacks. Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, told CBS News that air defense systems are a top priority for the country, but they are “difficult to produce and unavailable.”
You can read earlier developments relating to the Ukraine war here.