06/03/2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:03 Russian Pacific Fleet starts exercises with over 40 ships +++
With up to 20 aircraft and more than 40 ships, the Russian Army’s Pacific Fleet is holding a week-long series of exercises. This is reported by several Russian news agencies, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense. She is also said to be involved in search operations for enemy submarines. Ukraine is thousands of miles west of the exercise site in the Pacific.
+++ 05:26 Ukrainian civilians are waiting in a bunker under the chemical plant +++
According to both Ukrainian and Russian sources, civilians are hiding in bunkers under a chemical plant in the war-torn city of Sievjerodonetsk in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian administration of the Luhansk region, which was almost lost to Russia, speaks of around 800 people in the Azot (nitrogen) factory. “These are locals who were asked to leave the city but refused. There are also children there, but not very many,” Governor Serhij Hajdaj told US broadcaster CNN. Despite the advance of Russian troops in the city, the factory continues to be defended by Ukrainian soldiers. A spokesman for the pro-Russian Luhansk separatists accused Ukrainian gunmen of luring civilians into the plant and using force to prevent them from leaving. This was reported by the agency Tass.
+++ 04:37 Military Commissioner Högl: The atmosphere in the troops has changed +++
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Högl, notes that the mood among Bundeswehr soldiers has changed as a result of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. “The servicewomen and men watched what was happening there with great seriousness and professionalism. “It can get serious for them, it can sometimes happen quickly, and they always have to be ready for action,” says the SPD politician to the “Rheinische Post”. Soldiers in Lithuania felt the threat very directly. However, it also affects all units that could be relocated.”Air surveillance in Romania or Poland, for example, the units with Patriot missiles that have been relocated to Slovakia – that’s happening and it doesn’t affect them only those who reinforce the eastern flank, but also those who could be considered for this,” the military commissioner learned from the troops.
+++ 03:55 Merz: Union will agree to special funds even with a few traffic light deviants +++
CDU leader Friedrich Merz makes it clear that the Union will vote in favor of the Bundeswehr’s special fund if only a few coalition MPs oppose the project. “If the traffic light factions are fully behind the decisions, we have no reason not to agree as a whole,” Merz told the editorial network Germany (RND). “It’s not about whether one or two MPs from the Greens or SPD refuse – but we are not replacing half of the SPD parliamentary group. His announcement that the special fund would only be supported by part of the Union parliamentary group was for the case,” that there is massive resistance to the special fund in the coalition factions,” says Merz. “If it doesn’t exist, the question is settled.”
+++ 02:48 Selenskyj speaks of partial success in Sievjerodonetsk +++
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian armed forces have achieved a partial victory in the fight against the Russians in the city of Sieverodonetsk. However, the military situation in the Donbass has not changed overall in the past 24 hours, says Zelenskyj in his nightly video message.
+++ 01:55 Open letter: EKD should freeze relations with the Russian Orthodox Church +++
Theologians and politicians are calling on the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) to freeze relations with the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church because of its partisanship in the war of aggression against Ukraine. The hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church “with its war legitimacy” and the rejection of inalienable human rights create “a spiritual and spiritual basis for an autocratic state power with revisionist and dictatorial traits,” according to the open letter reported by “Welt”. Since the war of aggression is being waged with their blessing, the Moscow leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church is “an essential part of the Russian war machine”. The first signatories include the former head of the Stasi records authority, Marianne Birthler, the former Thuringian Prime Minister Christine Lieberknecht, the GDR civil rights activist Markus Meckel and Petra Bahr, regional bishop of the Evangelical Church in Hanover.
+++ 00:58 “For life in freedom”: Baerbock gives Ukraine long support +++
100 days after the start of the war, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock pledged solidarity and further arms deliveries to Ukraine. In a guest article for the “Bild” newspaper, the Greens politician writes: “We will continue to support Ukraine. Until there are no more Butschas. So that things are normal again for the people of Ukraine, what for such a matter of course for us: A life in freedom.” Additional arms deliveries were also part of the support: “Putin is counting on perseverance – and on our exhaustion.” The fate of Bucha threatens every village. “That’s why we have to continue to support Ukraine right now. Also with weapons, because Putin can’t be stopped with words.”
+++ 00:11 Selenskyj thanks for foreign arms deliveries +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanks the US and other allies for recent pledges to deliver modern weapons. In his current video speech, he mainly mentions the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers from the USA. “These weapons will really help save the lives of our people and protect our country,” Zelenskyy said. He also thanked Sweden, which promised anti-ship missiles, among other things, on Thursday. The EU’s new sixth package of sanctions against Russia with an extensive oil embargo is also a help. “The world is finally giving up Russian oil,” says the Ukrainian president. For Ukraine, Friday marks the 100th day of the Russian-imposed war.
+++ 23:38 Habeck expects major disputes over the costs of the war +++
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck expects major social debates about the costs of the war in autumn and winter. “We will experience a dramatic increase in heating costs,” says “Maybrit Illner” on ZDF. “Whether the political measures will then be sufficient to maintain social peace and the feeling that things are fair in this country will be the decisive question of the autumn and winter. I’m not quite sure about that,” he explains the question of whether Germany could run out of steam in supporting Ukraine and sanctions against the aggressor Russia. According to Habeck, the longer the war lasted, the more habitual effects could set in in this country. Other topics, including the Bundesliga, could suppress outrage at Russian aggression and atrocities.
+++ 23:06 Bundestag votes on Friday on historic rearmament +++
The Bundestag decides on Friday about the 100 billion euro special fund for the Bundeswehr. This requires an amendment to the Basic Law, which must be approved by a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The traffic light coalition is therefore dependent on votes from the Union. After the Bundestag decision, the Bundesrat would also vote on the amendment to the Basic Law on Friday next week. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced the special fund at the end of February after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is intended to eliminate massive equipment shortages in the Bundeswehr. Plans include the acquisition of modern F-35 fighter jets, new corvettes for the Navy and successors to the Marder infantry fighting vehicle and the Fuchs troop carrier.
+++ 22:33 Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia calls for Germany’s technological independence +++
As a consequence of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) is calling for Germany’s future dependence on authoritarian regimes to be comprehensively avoided. “For all systemically important goods and technologies,” Germany must become independent, says Wüst after consultations with the prime ministers of the federal states. This not only applies to energy, but also to the health sector. Chancellor Olaf Scholz also took part in the deliberations.
+++ 22:17 Russian central bank warns of rising inflation +++
According to the central bank in Moscow, the recent slowdown in the rate of inflation in Russia may not be sustainable. According to a report by the central bank, inflation could rise again, since opposing one-off effects are less effective. There is more of a risk of higher inflation.
+++ 21:58 Chad declares a food emergency due to high food prices +++
Chad has declared a state of emergency because of rising food prices as a result of the Ukraine war. The head of the military junta in power in the African country, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, points to the “constant deterioration in the food and nutrition situation” and warns of “increasing danger to the population” if humanitarian aid is not provided. As a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine, world grain prices have risen sharply. The United Nations warns that 5.5 million people in Chad – more than a third of the population – could be in need of humanitarian aid this year. The World Food Program estimated in March that 2.1 million people in Chad will be affected by “severe food insecurity” by June.
You can read earlier developments of the Ukraine war here.