Ukraine war in the live ticker: +++ 06:05 “The task is extremely difficult” – Russian reports on mine search in Azowstal +++

Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:05 “The task is extremely difficult” – Russian reports on mine search in Azovstal +++

Russian soldiers search the premises of the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol for mines and booby traps placed by both Ukrainian and Russian troops. “The task is extremely difficult, the enemy has laid their own land mines and we have also laid anti-personnel mines to block them. We still have about two weeks of work ahead of us,” says a Russian soldier, whose only name is his combat name ‘Babai ‘ indicates. The mines are blown up in a controlled manner and the streets of the steel mill are cleared of rubble with bulldozers. “Over 100 explosive devices have been destroyed in the last two days. The work continues.” Russia said on Friday that the last Ukrainian fighters from Azovstal had surrendered. Ukraine has not yet confirmed this development.

+++ 04:52 Bushman worried about Mariupol prisoners of war +++
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann is concerned about the prisoners of war in Mariupol. “Russia’s massive violations of international law are completely unacceptable – but they also fill us with great concern with regard to the population of Ukraine and the soldiers who have now been taken prisoner,” the FDP politician told the “Rheinische Post”. “War is a bloody beast, but not a rule-free state,” warns the minister.

+++ 03:53 Baltic States end electricity imports from Russia +++
The Baltic States have stopped importing electricity from Russia. “This is an important step on our way to energy independence,” says Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys. “By refusing to import Russian energy resources, we are refusing to finance the aggressor.” On Friday, the Nord Pool energy exchange sent a message to the Russian energy supplier InterRao that it was barred from trading in the Baltic States due to international sanctions. Latvia imported its last Russian electricity in early May, while Lithuania and Estonia stopped purchasing electricity on Sunday. Russian electricity accounted for 17 percent of Lithuania’s electricity imports last year.

+++ 02:28 pro-Russian mayor injured in explosion +++
The Moscow-appointed mayor of the southern Ukrainian city of Enerhodar was wounded in an explosion. He has confirmation that pro-Russian mayor Andrei “Shevchik and his bodyguards were injured in the explosion,” Dmytro Orlov, Ukraine’s elected mayor of Enerhodar, told Telegram. They are in the hospital “with injuries of varying severity.” Otherwise no one was injured. Enerhodar is the location of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russian troops took control there at the end of February. Across the Dnieper River and dozens of kilometers to the north, Zaporizhia is still held by Ukraine.

+++ 01:24 Merz criticizes slow delivery of weapons +++
The CDU chairman Friedrich Merz again criticizes the course of the federal government in arms deliveries to Ukraine. “The Federal Republic of Germany has not delivered any heavy weapons to this day,” says Merz in the ZDF program “Berlin direct”. Others have been doing more for a long time. “If everyone behaved like the Federal Republic of Germany, the Russian army would have taken Kyiv long ago.” The opposition and representatives of Ukraine have repeatedly accused the German government of being hesitant to deliver heavy weapons.

+++ 00:09 Selenskyj praises relations with Poland +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasizes the good relations with neighboring Poland. They stand on a sincere basis, “without quarrels and old conflict legacy,” says Zelenskyj in a video message. This is a historic achievement. Poland’s President Andrzej Duda became the first foreign head of state to speak in Ukraine’s parliament on Sunday since the Russian invasion began. He spoke of the intention to conclude a Polish-Ukrainian friendship agreement. According to Zelenskyj, Ukraine wants to introduce joint customs controls with Poland – this is “the beginning of our integration into the common customs area of ​​the European Union”.

+++ 23:08 CDU external expert: Scholz plays on time when delivering weapons +++
The CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter criticizes the course of the federal government in the delivery of heavy weapons. In the ARD talk show “Anne Will” he accuses Chancellor Olaf Scholz of being hesitant and playing for time. “German industry already made it clear on February 28 that they could very quickly upgrade around 100 Leopards and around 100 Marders. No order to date.” When asked why the chancellor isn’t doing this, Kiesewetter says: “I think he’s playing for time.” The CDU politician adds: “The longer this war lasts and we don’t deliver, the more difficult it will be for Ukraine. The louder the talk about a ceasefire, meaning a freeze on Russian profits, becomes all the louder.” Kiesewetter continued: “I’m afraid that the Chancellor doesn’t want Ukraine to win this war. Wins in the sense that the Russian troops are driven out of the country.”

+++ 22:25 Ukraine: Another Russian pontoon bridge destroyed +++
At least eight people were killed by Russian shelling on Sunday, according to Ukrainian sources. According to the Ukrainian military, at least seven people were killed and eight injured in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. At least one person was also killed in a rocket attack on Malyn northwest of Kyiv, according to the Unian agency. The Ukrainian military reports eleven repelled attacks by Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. During the week more than 200 Russian military vehicles were destroyed and 3 airplanes. According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, a Russian military pontoon bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk was again destroyed. A Russian tank was also destroyed.

+++ 22:01 Austria freezes 254 million oligarchs +++
In Austria, 254 million euros have so far been frozen by Russian oligarchs in connection with EU sanctions. The funds were parked in 97 accounts, as reported by the Chancellery in Vienna. The Directorate for State Security and Intelligence also found five entries in the land register which, according to the Chancellery, were apparently used to conceal assets. It is said that the investigation of suspected cases is made considerably more difficult by international company constructs, trust companies and straw men. “When Russian oligarchs or their organizations support the war against Ukraine, they are complicit in the atrocities that are happening there,” says Chancellor Karl Nehammer. “With these measures, we are hitting the oligarchs exactly where it hurts: with their money.”

+++ 21:30 Zelenskyj: Every day 100 Ukrainians will die on the Eastern Front +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda that 50 to 100 Ukrainians die every day on the front in the east of the country. Apparently he is referring to soldiers and not civilians.

+++ 21:02 Putin stationed 50 new ICBMs +++
Russia intends to put about 50 new Sarmat-type ICBMs into service by the end of autumn. The rockets (NATO code name: SS-X-30 Satan 2) are to be manufactured in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, as the head of the Roskosmos space agency, Dmitri Rogozin, reports to the Interfax agency. At the end of April, Russia carried out a test launch of the ICBM at the Plessetzk spaceport in northern Russia. The Sarmat has a range of 18,000 kilometers and can be equipped with nuclear warheads. This allows Russia to attack both the North and South Pole and reach targets worldwide. The first units are to be stationed in the Siberian Greater Krasnoyarsk District. Against the background of the war against Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin used the rocket launch in April to threaten the West.

+++ 20:32 Putin advisor: Russia still ready for negotiations with Ukraine +++
According to an adviser to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, Russia is ready to resume talks with Kyiv. However, he sees Ukraine under pressure, says Vladimir Medinski on Belarusian state television, according to the Interfax agency. Medinsky, who previously led the negotiations for the Russian side, does not rule out a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But this requires “serious preparation”, such as documents that the presidents can then sign. There was initially no reaction to the statements from the Ukrainian side.

You can read earlier developments in the Ukraine conflict here.

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