07/13/2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 01:27 Netherlands give the green light for NATO expansion +++
Netherlands agrees to Sweden and Finland joining NATO. The first chamber of parliament – comparable to the Bundesrat – in The Hague accepts a corresponding legislative proposal with a large majority. The law is thus ratified in an expedited procedure. The second chamber had already approved it last week.
+++ 23:37 Zelenskyj sees progress thanks to western artillery systems +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is optimistic about the further course of the war in view of Western arms aid. “The occupiers have already experienced very well what modern artillery is. And they will no longer have a secure hinterland anywhere on our soil that they have occupied,” says Zelenskyj in his current video address. Thanks to the activities of Ukrainian partisans in the occupied territory, the Russians are now afraid of the Ukrainian army, says Zelensky. They also lack “the courage to admit defeat and withdraw troops from Ukrainian territory.” Despite high losses, they could only continue fighting thanks to the “inexhaustible stocks of old Soviet weapons”. Ukraine is able to defend itself and rebuild the country.
+++ 22:17 number of dead in Chasiv Yar rises to 45 +++
In the small town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, the death toll after a Russian rocket attack on a house has risen to 45. Nine people have been rescued from the rubble since the attack on Saturday, the civil defense in the Donetsk region said. Kyiv speaks of a civilian residential building. The Russian army, on the other hand, claims to have attacked a building used for military purposes. On Tuesday, a woman was also injured as a result of artillery fire in the city of Sloviansk. Other towns in the area, such as Bakhmut and Soledar, were also under attack. At least five people were also injured in neighboring Kharkiv as a result of Russian attacks, said military governor Oleh Synyehubov.
+++ 21:36 Kremlin critic Yashin faces ten years in prison for “discrediting the army” +++
The Russian authorities have launched criminal proceedings against Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin for spreading allegedly discrediting false reports about the army’s deployment. If convicted, Yashin faces up to ten years in prison. Yashin belongs to the liberal opposition and was one of the last outspoken critics of the war against Ukraine still at large in Russia. In the spring he was already fined several times for disparaging the army. He is currently serving a 15-day detention for alleged resistance to state authority. Yashin was originally supposed to be released on Wednesday night.
+++ 21:02 Separatists in Donetsk lift moratorium on the death penalty +++
In eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region have lifted a moratorium on the death penalty. Separatist leader Denis Puschilin signed a corresponding decree, as reported by the Russian state news agency Tass. Last month, the separatists sentenced to death three foreigners in the ranks of the Ukrainian army as mercenaries, two Britons and a Moroccan. The three men are currently awaiting a decision in the appeals process. According to the separatists, the verdicts are expected to be handed down later this month. If the decision of the first instance is not overturned or the accused are exchanged, they face the risk of being shot. According to media reports, other foreigners are being held by the separatists.
You can read earlier developments of the Ukraine war here.