Ukraine war in the live ticker: +++ 03:39 Lithuania: Europe must increase its ability to defend itself +++

February 17, 2024

Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 03:39 Lithuania: Europe must increase self-defense capabilities +++

According to the Prime Minister of Lithuania, Europe must increase its ability to defend itself. Regarding the military threat from Russia, Ingrida Simonyte says in an interview with ARD-Tagesthemen that Russia’s attack on a NATO country is a question of “political will and military capabilities.” There is a political will and “readiness for a long-term confrontation with NATO.” In the West there has been “discussion for far too long about whether Russia actually poses a threat or whether the Baltic states have just imagined it.” The development of the next five years will depend heavily on “how things develop in Ukraine in 2024.” Now we would see “what it means that we don’t have enough industrial capacity in Europe to support Ukraine,” says Simonyte, referring to the lack of ammunition and weapons production. The European ability to defend itself must be increased.

+++ 02:23 Pistorius relies on congressional approval of US arms package +++
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has expressed confidence that the USA will continue to supply Ukraine with weapons. “I still assume that the funds will be approved,” the SPD politician told ZDF at the security conference with a view to the US House of Representatives. This still has to approve the billion-dollar military aid for Ukraine. Pistorius says he will again campaign for approval at a meeting with US congressmen in Munich on Saturday.

+++ 00:45 Civil rights activists: Over 100 arrests at Navalny commemorations in Russia +++
After the death of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, Russia’s police are taking tough action against grieving supporters. In several Russian cities, more than 100 people were arrested at commemorative events late on Friday evening, according to the civil rights organization Ovd-Info. Arrests were reported in the capital Moscow, the Baltic Sea metropolis of St. Petersburg and six other cities, among others. People came to lay flowers in memory of Navalny, who, according to official information, died at the age of 47 in a prison camp in the far north of Russia. According to media reports, journalists were among those arrested.

+++ 23:47 Ukraine reports capture of several soldiers during fighting in Avdiivka +++
According to Kiev, Russian forces captured several Ukrainian soldiers during fierce fighting over the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. The Ukrainian general Oleksandr Tarnavskij writes in the online service Telegram that the Ukrainian soldiers have withdrawn from some positions and taken up new positions “where necessary”. “Unfortunately, several of our soldiers were captured during one of these operations,” Tarnavskij added.

+++ 22:20 Steinmeier calls Navalny a courageous defender of democracy +++
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expresses his condolences to the family of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who died in custody. According to the statement, Steinmeier wrote to Navalny’s wife Julia that he was horrified to learn of her husband’s death. With Navalny, the world is losing a courageous defender of democracy. “With all his strength, he campaigned for a democratic future for Russia. A future that Putin’s regime wants to prevent with brutal power.” He wishes Navalny’s friends and survivors “a lot of strength from the bottom of my heart in this dramatic situation,” writes Steinmeier.

+++ 21:57 “Insane war”: Kremlin classifies billionaire Oleg Tinkow as a “foreign agent” +++
The Russian government classifies exiled billionaire Oleg Tinkow as a “foreign agent.” The 56-year-old founder of the Tinkoff Bank spread “false information” about the Russian government and spoke out against the “special military operation in Ukraine,” the Justice Ministry in Moscow said. Tinkow gave up his Russian citizenship in 2022 because he “did not want to be associated with a fascist country” that had “started a war with its peaceful neighbor” and was killing innocent people every day. He calls on other prominent Russian businessmen to follow his example. Tinkow had previously sharply criticized the Russian offensive in Ukraine and described it as a “crazy war.”

+++ 21:46 More than 1,000 people at Navalny’s memorial in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin +++
More than 1,000 people commemorate Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who died in custody, in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin. At around 6:30 p.m., 1,100 people gathered in front of the embassy building on Unter den Linden boulevard, says a police spokeswoman. The number of people has grown steadily since midday (see entry 2:21 p.m.). In Latvia’s capital Riga and in the capital Tallinn in neighboring Estonia, demonstrators also marched with banners in front of the Russian embassies. They lit candles and held up posters with a photo of Navalny or inscriptions. One read in capital letters: “Putin is a murderer.”

+++ 21:29 “Don’t give up!” – Russians are encouraging themselves with old Navalny statement +++
After the death of Alexei Navalny, critical Russians on social networks are encouraging themselves with an earlier statement by the Kremlin opponent. On Instagram, Telegram and It asks Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opponent: “Alexei, if you are arrested and put in prison, or if the unthinkable happens and they kill you, what message will you leave to the Russian people?” Navalny then replies: “In the event that I am killed, my message is very simple: Don’t give up!” The film “Navalny” won an Oscar for best documentary in 2023. At the time of the interview quoted, Navalny was recovering from a poison attack that he had barely survived.

+++ 21:16 Ex-world chess champion Kasparov: Putin publicly murdered Navalny +++
Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov comments on the death of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny announced by the Russian authorities. Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to kill Navalny quickly and secretly with poison and failed, “and now he has murdered him slowly and publicly in prison,” writes Kasparov, who lives abroad Network After his return from Germany, where he was treated, he was arrested at the airport in Russia and later sentenced to 19 years in a camp, among other things on charges of extremism. Kasparov explains: “He was killed because he exposed Putin and his mafia for the crooks and thieves that they are.”

You can read all previous developments here.