02/20/2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 03:57 Roth is skeptical about China’s announced peace initiative +++
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, Michael Roth, is skeptical about the peace initiative announced by China for the Ukraine war. “In principle, it is to be welcomed if China commits to international law and wants to play a constructive role in ending the war,” he told the editorial network Germany. In fact, however, China supports the Russian regime politically and economically. “I am therefore skeptical as to whether China, which is ambivalent about the Russian war of aggression, also understands a just peace as meaning that the aggressor Russia should not be rewarded.”
+++ 02:15 a.m. Armed Forces Commissioner Högl calls for simplifications for the allocation of armaments +++
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Högl, is pushing for long-term financial commitments from politicians for the armaments industry and a simplification of the award procedure. “The industry now has to build up production capacities as quickly as possible, and for this they also need commitments from politicians that this will be financed – beyond the federal budget for 2024,” Högl told the editorial network Germany. In any case, the defense budget must be increased by ten billion euros beyond the 100 billion special fund. “We need the money, but also better processes and structures. Everything has to happen much faster.” This applies to the new procurement and the replacement of the device that will be handed over to Ukraine. “We have to simplify the legal hurdles, the legal provisions. It starts with European public procurement law.”
+++ 00:38 Kiev issues new sanctions against the Moscow stock exchange +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is imposing new sanctions on Russia’s financial sector in a bid to weaken the aggressor’s wartime economy. Accordingly, not only representatives of the banking system in Russia are subject to punitive measures, but also the Moscow Stock Exchange. “Today our state took a new step in sanctions against all those who feed the Russian aggression,” says Zelenskyj. The sanctions are the basis for allies in the West to also issue such punitive measures.
+++ 22:20 Zelenskyj speaks of heavy Russian losses in the Donbass +++
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia is suffering high losses in the fighting in eastern Donbass. The situation there is “very complicated,” he says in his evening video address. Ukraine is inflicting “extraordinarily high losses” on the invaders. Selenskyj names several places in the region where heavy fighting has been raging for months. The information cannot be independently verified. A Russian statement is not available.
+++ 21:31 Kharkiv: Russia shells residential buildings +++
According to the regional administration, several people were injured in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. Russian troops shelled houses in the village of Lypzi, writes the governor of Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, at Telegram. Two women were injured. Other places like Volchansk were also fired upon by Russia. The governor speaks of two other injured civilians – a woman and a man. In addition, several buildings were damaged, including a fire station in Dvorichna.
+++ 21:04 Russian governor: girl killed by Ukrainian shelling +++
In the Russian border region of Belgorod, a 12-year-old is said to have been killed by artillery fire from the Ukrainian side. The governor of Belgorod Vyacheslav Gladkov, writes on Telegram, in the village of Novaya Tavolshanka, a grenade exploded near the girl. Independent media reports that several houses and cars were damaged in the shelling. The authorities in the border regions, including Kursk and Bryansk, have repeatedly complained of shelling from the enemy side since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Many people have died, there have been injuries and there has been destruction. Here you can read more about it.
+++ 20:35 Bütikofer doesn’t think China’s peace plan is meant to be taken seriously +++
The Green MEP and China expert Reinhard Bütikofer describes the paper announced by Beijing on a peace initiative for Ukraine, which has been invaded by Russia, as insubstantial. “This is not a serious initiative. If China really wanted to protect Ukraine’s national sovereignty and its territorial integrity, it should have urged Russia to withdraw its troops from the country. But that won’t happen,” Bütikofer told the editorial network Germany. President Xi Jinping has clearly sided with Russia and intensified cooperation with Russia. “Not a trace of distance.”
+++ 20:01 Ukrainian parliamentarians boycott OSCE Assembly +++
Ukrainian MPs will boycott the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on February 23-24 in Vienna over Russia’s participation. That’s what a delegate, Yevheniya Kravchuk, from the presidential party Servant of the People, says on Ukrainian television. “We will not take part in the official events of the Parliamentary Assembly, none at all,” she said. In general, the German OSCE Secretary General, Helga Maria Schmid, spoke out against excluding Russia from the organization in order to keep diplomatic channels open.
+++ 19:24 Esken is skeptical about the higher defense budget +++
SPD party leader Saskia Esken reacts cautiously to the demand by Defense Minister and party colleague Boris Pistorius for ten billion euros more a year for the Bundeswehr. “Ten billion euros is a lot of money. At the same time, the coalition partner FDP insists that we return to the debt brake and budget consolidation,” Esken told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. “We have set up a special fund of 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr in order to be able to guarantee our national defense and alliance capability. It is now important that the procurement department in the Ministry of Defense is enabled to use this money in a targeted manner. Then we will talk further.” Pistorius wants an additional ten billion euros for the defense budget in addition to the 100 billion euros special pot for 2024 and the budgets for the following years. Here you can read more about it.
+++ 18:43 Moscow accuses Kiev of planned nuclear provocation – no evidence +++
The Russian Defense Ministry accuses the Ukrainian leadership of preparing a nuclear provocation in the war zone – without presenting evidence. In a statement, Russia’s military leadership claims that Kiev would then blame Moscow for the “gross violation” of nuclear safety. However, the Ministry does not explain how this allegation came about, nor is there any evidence for it. According to Russian information, next week Kiev will accuse Moscow of indiscriminate bombing of nuclear facilities and radioactive pollution of the environment. For this purpose, some containers with radioactive substances were transported from a European state – not named. The material should be used to stage contamination of radioactive dangerous objects. Ukraine, in turn, repeatedly accuses Russia of wanting to trigger a nuclear catastrophe with rockets flying past nuclear power plants.
You can read earlier developments in the Ukraine war here.