08/17/2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 02:34 Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Melnyk praises Scholz for arms deliveries – and calls for more +++
The Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk praises Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the German arms deliveries to Ukraine, but at the same time demands missiles and fighter jets from the Bundeswehr. “I’m glad that Chancellor Olaf Scholz can proudly announce today: ‘Germany is the second largest military supporter of Ukraine after the USA.’ You can see the satisfaction in Scholz, he seems to enjoy this leading role – and I think that’s a good thing,” Melnyk told the newspapers of the Funke media group. According to Melnyk, it would be of enormous benefit to Kiev if Ukrainian pilots were given not only the Taurus guided missiles but also Tornado fighter jets as carriers of these high-precision systems from the Bundeswehr. “The Tornados will be gradually phased out over the next few years and replaced by American F35 jets. They will be scrapped and could easily be handed over to Ukraine.”
+++ 01:01 Ukraine is giving up hope of using the F-16 this year +++
According to Ukraine, it will not be able to use US-made F-16 fighter jets this year. “It is already clear that we cannot defend Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets this fall and winter,” Air Force spokesman Yuri Ihnat said on Ukrainian television at a fundraising gala. “We had high hopes for this plane to become part of our air defenses and protect us from Russian missiles and drone terrorism.” Ukraine has repeatedly asked its western allies for F-16 fighter jets. US President Joe Biden backed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 aircraft in May, but has not yet given a timeline for delivery. The West has repeatedly stressed that it does not want to provoke a direct confrontation between the US-backed military alliance NATO and Russia.
+++ 00:18 Mayor: 45,000 residents of Moscow are fighting in Ukraine +++
According to the mayor of Moscow, 45,000 residents of the capital are fighting in the Russian offensive in Ukraine. They made up a “considerable proportion of the fighters there,” says Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. At least 5,000 of the deployed Muscovites are professional soldiers. Russian and Ukrainian authorities rarely provide information on the number of fighters involved or the casualties suffered. At the beginning of August, former Russian president and deputy chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said Russia had recruited more than 230,000 additional soldiers since the beginning of the year.
+++ 22:19 Selenskyj: Ukraine increases drone production “significantly” +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasizes the importance of drones in defending his country against Russian war of aggression. “Drones are the ‘eyes’ and protection at the front. (…) Drones are a guarantee that people will not have to pay with their lives in cases where drones can be used,” says Zelenskyj in his evening video address . Ukraine is in the process of “significantly” increasing the production of unmanned objects. “In each brigade, the first thing the fighters ask about is drones, electronic warfare and military air defense,” says the Ukrainian head of state.
+++ 21:31 USA criticize attacks on Ukrainian Danube ports +++
The US condemns the Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports at the mouth of the Danube, which are important for grain exports. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin doesn’t care about global food security, says a spokesman for the US State Department. The attacks further escalated the global food crisis and kept food prices high. That was “unacceptable” and an escalation. It affects those who are particularly dependent on grain and Ukrainian farmers.
+++ 20:54 ex-commander of Russia’s invasion forces is dead +++
Russian Colonel-General Gennady Valeryevich Schidko has died at the age of 57 “after a long illness”. This is reported by the governor of the Khabarovsk region, Mikhail Degtarev, on Telegram. Shidko commanded the Russian invasion forces in Ukraine for several months in 2022. Last October he was replaced by General Sergei Surovikin, known as “General Armageddon”.
Here you can read more about it.
+++ 20:34 German ship crosses Ukrainian waters +++
Several hours after leaving the southern Ukrainian port of Odessa, the German cargo ship “Joseph Schulte” successfully crosses the Ukrainian part of the Black Sea. “I can confirm that the ship left Ukrainian waters,” said a spokeswoman for Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) in Hamburg. According to the ship information service Marine Traffic, the freighter is currently sailing in Romanian waters. The Hong Kong-flagged ship was previously stuck in Odessa for a year and a half because of the Russian war of aggression.
+++ 20:16 clergyman reports: This is how Moscow puts the Orthodox Church under pressure +++
Cyril I is a former KGB agent, Moscow’s patriarch and Putin’s confidant. He instructed his priests last year to pray for “victory” over Ukraine. Those who didn’t comply experienced repression – like Ioann Koval, who now preaches in Antalya.
You can read more about the events of the previous day here.