11/17/2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 02:14 Federal government finances transport of Ukrainian wheat donation +++
The German government supports a Ukrainian wheat donation to Ethiopia. Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir from the Greens told the newspapers of the Funke media group that they are financing the ship transport with 14 million dollars (around 13.5 million euros). The grain donated by the Kyiv government could feed 1.6 million people in the country for a whole month. That deserves “the greatest respect” and therefore Germany’s support, said Özdemir. According to the report, the 25,000 tons of wheat are to be transported from the port of Odessa to Ethiopia via the United Nations World Food Program. Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter, but has struggled to ship the grain out of the country since the Russian war of aggression began.
+++ 00:58 Czech Republic wants to train up to 4000 Ukrainian soldiers +++
The Czech Republic has decided on a training program for up to 4,000 members of the Ukrainian armed forces. The cabinet of the liberal-conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala gave the go-ahead. Accordingly, five four-week training cycles are planned on the territory of the EU and NATO member states, in each of which up to 800 soldiers from the Ukraine attacked by Russia can take part. Both chambers of parliament still have to agree to this, but this is considered certain given the majority situation. The program is scheduled to start later this year. According to its own statements, the country has already exported armaments worth more than 1.9 billion euros to Ukraine this year.
+++ 00:11 United Nations call for de-escalation after rocket impact +++
After the deadly rocket hit in Poland, the United Nations are calling for de-escalation. The incident was “a frightening reminder of the absolute need to avoid any further escalation,” UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the United Nations Security Council in New York. “There is no end in sight to the war,” she said. As long as it lasts, the risk of a “possibly catastrophic” further spread of the war remains. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia was ultimately responsible, even if all the facts about the incident are not yet known, “This tragedy would never have happened had it been for Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the recent There have been no rocket attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.” Russia’s UN ambassador Vasily Nebensia accused Ukraine and Poland of wanting to provoke a direct conflict between Russia and NATO. The representatives of China and India again called for an end to the violence.
+++ 23:26 Hungary criticizes Selenskyj’s statements about the rocket impact as irresponsible +++
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy still has doubts about the Ukrainian origin of the rocket crater in Poland, Hungary criticized his statements as irresponsible. “In such a situation, world leaders speak responsibly,” said Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. “The Ukrainian president was wrong when he immediately blamed the Russians. That’s a bad example.”
+++ 22:49 Scholz urges prudence after the rocket hit Poland +++
After the rocket hit Poland, Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged prudence. “This is necessary in view of such a war. War is taking place in Europe, right on our doorstep,” said the SPD politician in the ZDf “heute journal”. “And that’s why it’s important that we do everything we can to ensure that, on the one hand, Ukraine is supported – including with weapons and for as long as it is necessary – but at the same time we prevent an escalation into a war between NATO and Russia.” According to ZDF, the interview was conducted in the morning before the chancellor left the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.
+++ 10:15 p.m. Rocket on NATO territory: Russian army leadership could not be reached +++
US Chief of Staff Mark Milley tried in vain to contact his Russian counterpart Valeri Gerasimov after the missile hit Poland. Milley says in Washington that all his staff’s efforts to reach the chief of staff have been unsuccessful. However, Milley emphasizes that he was able to speak to the Ukrainian army chief Valery Saluschnyj and other European generals several times. A rocket hit the Polish border area with Ukraine on Tuesday. It is currently assumed in the West that it was a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile that was used to defend against massive attacks by the Russian military. Immediately after the explosion that killed two in the NATO country of Poland, media reports also spoke of a possibly Russian missile. The US government always emphasizes the importance of direct contacts with Moscow in order to defuse crisis situations.
+++ 21:40 Russian IT company pretends to be a US company +++
According to the Reuters news agency, code from the company Pushwoosh, which claims to be a US company but is based in Russia, can be found in thousands of apps in the online stores of Apple and Google. Pushwoosh offers code and data processing assistance to software developers. They can use it to create profiles of users’ online activities and thus send customized notifications. Customers included the US military, which, however, stopped using it in March for security reasons. In fact, in the US, the company claims to be an American company in official documents and on social media, but its headquarters are in Novosibirsk.
+++ 21:05 Two dead in Poland: Washington sees the last responsibility in Moscow +++
The US government sees responsibility for the deadly missile strike in Poland ultimately with Russia – even if it should be confirmed that the explosion was caused by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile. “The world knows that Russia bears ultimate responsibility for this incident,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in Washington. “Ukraine had – and has – every right to defend itself,” said a spokeswoman for the National Security Council. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doubts that it was a Ukrainian projectile.
+++ 20:35 US general does not believe in complete expulsion of the Russians +++
The highest-ranking US general, Mark Milley, warns against exaggerated hopes of a short-term military victory for Ukraine. Despite the setbacks, Russia still has significant combat power in Ukraine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said at a press conference. “The likelihood of a Ukrainian military victory – defined as kicking the Russians out of all of Ukraine, including their claimed Crimea – is not very high militarily.” But there could be a political solution. “It’s possible,” says Milley. Russia is “on its back at the moment”.
Read more about this here.
+++ 20:10 Kadyrov takes young Ukrainians to Chechnya for re-education +++
The ruler of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, apparently has young people from the occupied areas of Ukraine brought to Chechnya, where they are to undergo a “military-patriotic” re-education program. 200 “difficult teenagers” from Luhansk and Donetsk have already been brought to Chechnya, writes the autocrat in his Telegram channel. “I’m delighted that the young guests are so interested in the work of the University of the Russian Special Forces and in the military trade in general,” writes Kadyrov, who often goes by the name of Vladimir Putin’s bloodhound. “Difficult Teens” is a code for children and young people in Russia who, according to the authorities, are prone to crime.
+++ 19:35 vice chief of Russian naval school found dead +++
A Russian naval officer involved in Vladimir Putin’s mobilization campaign for the war in Ukraine has been found shot dead. Colonel Vadim Boyko, the deputy head of a prestigious Russian Pacific Fleet naval academy in Vladivostok, was found in his office today with “multiple gunshot wounds,” the report reports exile Russian portal Meduza with reference to local media. According to the Baza Telegram channel, “Boyko must have shot himself five times in the chest.” Despite this inconsistency, the Pacific Fleet press department reported that he had committed suicide. According to the newspaper “Daily Mail” A month earlier, military commissar Roman Malyk lay dead over a fence in the same Russian region of Primorye. The police are investigating murder and suicide. “When officers start shooting themselves, something is wrong with the country and the civil service,” Meduza quoted a local TV executive as saying.
You can read earlier developments in the Ukraine war here.