09/19/2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 02:05 Bundeswehr: number of conscientious objectors tripled +++
The number of conscientious objectors in the German Bundeswehr is increasing significantly. “In the current year, 657 applications for conscientious objection have been received by the Federal Office,” a spokesman for the Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks told the editorial network Germany. For the whole of last year, the number was only 209. It had more than tripled by the end of August. In view of the Russian attack on Ukraine and a possible escalation, many applicants justify their refusal by saying that they did not expect a military conflict.
+++ 01:05 Too many hurdles: Lambrecht against new conscription +++
Despite the changed threat situation, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht rejects the reintroduction of conscription. “A conscription debate is of little use to us in the current situation,” the SPD politician told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “It takes time to train soldiers – less than a year makes little sense. And the question of military justice, which the Federal Constitutional Court has called for, is not so easy to answer. Compulsory military service should also include women and should ultimately not only include women affect one in four in a cohort.” Lambrecht points to another hurdle: “We don’t have enough barracks, trainers or equipment for tens of thousands of conscripts.”
+++ 00:04 oligarch in focus: raid on Selenskyj promoter +++
According to media reports, the Ukrainian authorities have searched the ski resort of billionaire Ihor Kolomojskyj in the Carpathians in the course of corruption investigations. Among other things, documents were confiscated in connection with a corruption scandal involving the oil and gas company Ukrnafta, which was worth millions, according to the Internet portal Zn.ua, citing informants at the anti-corruption authority NABU. For a long time, the oligarch was considered a supporter of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Kolomojskyj said he had “not heard anything” about a search at his ski resort. According to the media report, it is about the illegal appropriation of property from the oil company Ukrnafta worth the equivalent of more than 300 million euros.
+++ 23:01 “calm before the storm”: Selenskyj announces continuation of the offensive +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced new attacks on Russian-held territory in Ukraine. “Perhaps it seems to some of you that after a series of victories there has been silence, but this is not silence,” Zelenskyj said in his daily video address in the evening. Rather, it is the preparation for the next offensive, the aim of which is the recapture of Mariupol, Melitopol and Cherson. According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine will not only focus on the areas it controlled before the Russian attack in February. The 44-year-old announced that the territories of the Moscow-backed separatists in the east of the country and cities in Crimea, which had been annexed by Russia since 2014, would also be recaptured. “Because all of Ukraine must be free.”
Read more about this here.
+++ 22:10 According to Baerbock, battle tanks can only be advanced multilaterally +++
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reiterated that the decision to supply battle tanks for Ukraine can only work together internationally. “None of the international partners is currently taking the step,” says the Greens politician on the ARD program “Anne Will”. “We cannot take the step alone.”
+++ 21:26 report: Ukraine continues to strive for F-16 jets and other weapon systems +++
According to a report in the “politico” medium, Ukraine continues to hold talks with the United States about the possible delivery of F-16 fighter jets, the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system and Gray Eagle drones. The country has recently scaled back high-profile calls for these weapons, but behind the scenes the push for weapons that could turn the tide of the war has not stopped, the report says. “Politico” summoned based on information provided by Ukrainian government advisers, Pentagon officials and US defense industry executives. Accordingly, both sides discussed the delivery of all three weapon systems and the associated development of long-term financing agreements.
+++ 8:09 p.m. Ex-Chancellor Schröder: As a negotiator, you must “not slam the door loudly” +++
According to a media report, ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder criticizes European heads of state. “I would have expected that, in the tradition of the European policy of detente, at least an attempt would be made to bring the war to an end,” Schröder told the news portal “The Pioneer”. The Russian attack on Ukraine was nevertheless wrong. “The fact that the war was started is a mistake on the part of the Russians. I always said that.” There are never reasons for a war, but there are “geopolitical explanatory patterns”. When asked about his cautious criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war of aggression against a sovereign country, Schröder said: “You can’t play a role in possible negotiations if the first thing you do is walk away and slam the door loudly.”
+++ 19:26 Kyiv wants to have formed a bridgehead on the east bank of the Oskil river +++
According to the Ukrainian military, they were able to cross troop units on the Oskil River and thus formed a bridgehead for further action to the east. “The Ukrainian Armed Forces have crossed the Oskil River. Since yesterday, Ukraine has also controlled the left bank,” the press office of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Sunday via video on its Telegram channel. The information cannot be verified independently. The video shows a tank crossing the river and being greeted on the other bank by Ukrainian soldiers. In their counter-offensive at the beginning of September, the Ukrainian forces in the Kharkov region advanced as far as the Oskil. Behind, retreating Russian troops established a new front line and repulsed several attempts by Ukrainians to cross the river. Establishing a beachhead on the east side of the Oskil would be a strategically important achievement for Ukrainian troops.
You can read earlier developments relating to the Ukraine war here.