March 25, 2024
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 03:29 Air strikes: Ukrainian power generator loses 50 percent of its capacity +++
Ukraine’s largest private energy investor DTEK has lost about half of its generation capacity following a massive Russian attack on Ukraine’s power grid on Friday. Serhyj Kovalenko, CEO of the distribution company Yasno, said this on Ukrainian television. The repairs will take months. Power shortages in summer cannot be ruled out. The US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suspects that Russia is attacking the Ukrainian power grid to hit Kiev’s defense industry.
+++ 02:11 Aggressive Russia: Faeser sees Germany as “significantly” threatened +++
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser sees Germany as being significantly threatened by aggressive behavior by the Russian government. “We are actually experiencing a new dimension of threats from Russian aggression,” says the SPD politician to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “We see attempts to exert influence through lies, through massive disinformation. But espionage is also at least as active,” says Faeser. Russia also wants to “destabilize the West through migration.”
+++ 01:05 Merz: Taurus dispute a “communications disaster” +++
CDU leader Friedrich Merz warns against playing into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin with public disputes over arms deliveries: “We are the only country in the entire Western world that publicly discusses arms deliveries in this way,” Merz told the newspapers Funke Media Group. Instead, the Europeans would have to talk to the Americans behind closed doors about continued support for Ukraine and make joint decisions. “Constant public discussions and arguments in the coalition only play into Putin’s hand in terms of security policy.” Merz accuses the traffic light government of having caused “a real communications disaster” in the debate over the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles.
+++ 00:01 Ukraine activists call for boycott of Milka Easter bunnies +++
Shortly before Easter, Ukrainian activists in Germany are calling on Rewe and Edeka to ban Milka chocolate from their shelves. This should apply until Milka’s US parent company Mondelez withdraws from the Russian market, according to a letter from the Vitsche organization, which is available to the editorial network Germany (RND), to the managing directors of the supermarket giants. Despite promises to reduce operations in Russia, Mondelez continues to operate three factories in the country. The letter should be sent to Rewe and Edeka this Monday.
+++ 22:58 Kühnert: Ukraine needs weapons for reconquests +++
According to SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich, the Social Democrats are criticized for thinking about freezing the war with Russia. Secretary General Kevin Kühnert says on ZDF that his SPD supports extensive aid for Ukraine. The country needs this in order to be able to regain territories. Kühnert had previously defended his party comrade against criticism, including from the traffic light coalition. “Rolf Mützenich did not demand that the war be frozen now. He reminded us that smart, forward-looking politics must also think about diplomatic initiatives in addition to arms deliveries. And he pointed out how this has happened in comparable international conflicts in the past is,” said Kühnert.
+++ 21:33 Polish army declares it will not fire Russian missiles +++
According to a spokesman, the Polish army decided not to shoot down a Russian cruise missile that penetrated deeply into Polish airspace for a few seconds in order to protect its own civilian population. The danger of falling parts from the destroyed cruise missile or interceptor missile was too great, said Lieutenant General Jacek Goryszewski the Polish radio station RMF24. The spokesman explained the trajectory of the Russian missile over Polish airspace by saying that Russia was trying to attack targets in western Ukraine from the west. Ukraine has geared its air defense in the region to the usual Russian attacks from the north and east. Russia apparently tried to get around this. The cruise missile is said to have penetrated Polish airspace for 39 seconds and up to two kilometers deep before finally impacting Ukraine.
+++ 20:49 Zelensky: Russia has fired 190 rockets and 700 glide bombs on Ukraine since Monday +++
In his evening speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once again described the extent of Russian air strikes since Monday: During this time, Russia fired 190 missiles, 140 Shahed drones and 700 glide bombs on Ukraine. In view of the extensive damage to civilian infrastructure, the President thanked everyone who helped restore power, especially in the badly affected city of Kharkiv. Zelensky also praised the attacks on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and the oil facilities in Russia. Zelensky did not mention the terrorist attack on visitors to a concert near Moscow in around four and a half minutes. Kyiv denies any involvement.
You can read all previous developments here.