Ukraine war in the live ticker: +++ 03:28 Russia reports drone attack on oil refinery +++

March 17, 2024

Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 03:28 Russia reports drone attack on oil refinery +++

According to authorities, one person was killed in another attack on an oil refinery in Russia. The refinery in Slavyansk in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar was attacked with a drone early in the morning, the regional authorities said via Telegram. A fire that broke out on the refinery site has already been extinguished. The person probably died of a heart attack.

+++ 02:54 CDU defense politician Güler: SPD risks Ukraine defeat +++
In the dispute over the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles, CDU defense expert Serap Güler accuses the SPD of withholding support for Ukraine for party tactical reasons. “The security and defense policy of this country is now being made at the SPD party headquarters and is being sacrificed to party political interests,” the Bundestag member told the German Reaction Network. “The SPD is currently paying particular attention to the poll numbers. For party tactics, they are risking that Ukraine will lose this war. We have to do everything we can to get Ukraine off the defensive.”

+++ 01:17 Macron: Will ask Russia for a ceasefire during the Olympic Games +++
France will call on Russia for a ceasefire during the Olympics, according to its President Emmanuel Macron. “We will ask for it,” Macron said in French in an interview published by a Ukrainian journalist on her YouTube channel and broadcast on Ukrainian television. According to an interpreter, the interviewer had previously said that there had to be such a demand and that Russia had to agree to it. “It’s always been like this,” says the woman. The Olympic Games will take place in Paris from July 26th to August 11th.

+++ 00:32 Macron does not want to rule out ground troops operations +++
French President Emmanuel Macron reiterates his controversial statement about the possible deployment of Western ground troops in Ukraine. In an interview with the newspaper Le Parisien, he says that perhaps “on-site operations” will be necessary at some point “to counter the Russian armed forces.” But he doesn’t want that and won’t take the initiative, he adds. Macron first said at the end of February that sending Western ground troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out. His statement was met with irritation and rejection by many allies – including the federal government.

+++ 23:12 Drones set course for Odessa +++
As the Ukrainian Air Force reports, Russian drones are moving from the Black Sea towards Odessa. A drone is also on its way from Zaporizhzhia towards Dnipro. There is a missile alert in Chernihiv and Poltava.

+++ 22:10 Zelenskyj praises the new drone range: “From now on we will always have our own power in the sky” +++
Ukrainian President Zelenskyj sees the extended range of Ukrainian combat drones as an important military strengthening for his country. “In these weeks, many have already seen that the Russian warfare system has weak points and that we can reach these weak points with our weapons,” he said in his evening video message. The president is apparently referring to successful drone attacks on Russian refineries located more than 1,000 kilometers east of Ukraine. Zelensky thanks the defense industry and the military for achieving this long-range capability. “From now on, Ukraine will always have its own clout in the skies.”

+++ 21:29 Wagenknecht party advocates recognizing Russian election results +++
The Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) is in favor of recognizing the results of the presidential election in Russia. “There is no point in doubting the legitimacy of the Russian election,” says Klaus Ernst, vice-chairman of the BSW group in the Bundestag, to the “Tagesspiegel”. “That just deprives yourself of your own influence.” One should also not act as if the election was “completely meaningless,” says Ernst. The SPD foreign politician Ralf Stegner, however, emphasizes the undemocratic character of the election. “We have to take note of the election in Russia, knowing full well that it is not a democratic election,” the SPD man told the “Tagesspiegel”. “The opposition to Putin is in camps or prisons.” But Stegner also says that Putin has strong support among the population in his country. “There are no popular uprisings against Putin.”

+++ 21:05 Ukrainian secret service: Trying to help paramilitaries +++
According to the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, pro-Ukrainian paramilitaries are gaining strength. They are now a force, says Kyrylo Budanov on Ukrainian television. The Russian units helped Ukraine from the first day of the war. “We try to help them as much as we can.” The government in Kiev claims that Russian militias like the Free Russia Legion are acting on their own. But it stands to reason that their weapons, including tanks, come from Ukrainian stocks. Shortly before the start of the presidential election, attacks by pro-Ukrainian fighters intensified in the Russian border regions of Belgorod and Kursk. Moscow said on Friday that all attacks had been repelled.

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+++ 20:28 Foreign Office calls attacks on Odessa perfidious +++
The Foreign Office condemns the recent Russian rocket attacks on Odessa. Russia has once again attacked innocents and civilians in the southern Ukrainian port city, “Putin has over 20 dead on his conscience this time, including rescue workers,” writes the ministry on X. “Such perfidious attacks are an integral part of the Russian war of aggression.” According to Ukrainian authorities, a medic and a civil defense employee rushed to the site of the explosion after the first explosions on Friday morning and were killed in a second rocket attack. More than 70 people were injured in the attacks, which hit residential buildings, among others.

+++ 19:51 Returning officer insults those responsible for protest actions +++
According to authorities, there were several protests and attempts to disrupt the presidential election in Russia. In 20 cases, people poured liquids into ballot boxes to make the ballot papers unusable, said election director Ella Pamfilova. There were also eight attempts at arson at polling stations. The head of the authority insults those responsible as “scumbags” and threatens them with prison sentences of up to five years. Pamfilova claims that Ukrainian secret services and masterminds in Western countries are behind the interference attempts, without substantiating her claims. The election, in which President Putin wants to be confirmed in office, is criticized as a farce.

You can read all previous developments here.