07/31/2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:10 Thuringia’s interior minister warns of lateral thinkers +++
Thuringia’s Minister of the Interior Georg Maier warns that the gas crisis will give lateral thinkers and right-wing extremists additional momentum. “Solidarity with Ukraine is declining significantly,” he told the editorial network Germany (RND). “And the increased gas prices will hit people hard. That gives extremists a chance to mobilize people. We have to keep that in mind.” In this context, Maier also criticizes the Prime Minister of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer. “What Michael Kretschmer is doing is not helping the cause,” said Maier. “Because nobody in the federal government would refuse negotiations. But Russia has no interest in negotiations at the moment. Giving a different impression is nonsense.”
+++ 04:52 Mayor: Mykolaiv is under massive fire +++
According to Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych, explosions caused by cluster munitions were heard in the city overnight. This is reported by the Ukrainian newspaper “Kyiv Independent”. Accordingly, he asked the residents to stay in shelters.
+++ 23:52 UN to investigate prison shelling with 53 dead +++
Russia says it has invited experts from the United Nations and the Red Cross to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shelling of a prison that killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russia wants an independent investigation, the Defense Ministry said. Russia blames Ukrainian rocket fire on the prison in the town of Olenikova, in the pro-Russian separatist-controlled Donetsk region. Ukraine has said Russia shelled the prison to cover up the mistreatment of prisoners. According to the separatists, 53 inmates died in the shelling on Friday. Numerous others were injured.
+++ 22:22 Ukraine calls on citizens to leave the Donbass +++
Ukraine is choosing to evacuate its citizens around the embattled city of Donetsk in the east of the country, says President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people would have to leave the combat zone in the Donbass region. The main fighting is currently concentrated in eastern Ukraine. Russia’s declared goal is at least control of the two regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
+++ 21:59 after the prison attack: Selenskyj calls on the UN and the Red Cross to act +++
After the attack on a prison in eastern Ukraine that killed dozens, Ukraine is calling on the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to act. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to both organizations: “They must protect the lives of hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war.” According to Ukrainian sources, Russia is responsible for the attack, but Moscow denies it. Zelenskyj calls the shelling of the detention center in Olenivka in eastern Ukraine, which is occupied by pro-Russian separatists, a “deliberate mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war”. The UN and the ICRC, which “guaranteed the life and safety of our soldiers” when the fighters withdrew from the Azov steelworks in the port city of Mariupol, must now react.
+++ 21:25 Ex-astronaut Reiter considers the continued operation of the ISS possible without Russia +++
Former astronaut Thomas Reiter expects operations to continue even after Russia has left the International Space Station. On the one hand, it is “terrible” when a major partner breaks away from the major project, says Reiter on Bayerischer Rundfunk. On the other hand, it is “certainly not impossible to continue operating the station without the Russian segment”. The Russian space agency Roskosmos announced on Tuesday that Russia would no longer participate in the operation of the ISS after 2024. Roskosmos boss Yuri Borisov says he assumes “that we will start building a Russian space station at this point”.
+++ 20:40 Russia is to bring technical equipment to Cherson on a large scale +++
The Russian army is apparently transporting technical equipment to the Kherson region on a large scale. After the Ukrainian troops achieved successes there and, among other things, made bridges near the city of Cherson unusable for Russian supplies, the Russian military is now trying to bring numerous materials into the region. Videos show how, among other things, excavators and floating bridges are transported by train. The pictures are said to have come from the Crimean Peninsula. The British secret service recently reported that Russia now wants to secure supplies for the Cherson region via floating bridges.
+++ 19:50 chief for nuclear waste disposal against longer nuclear power plant runtime +++
The President of the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management, Wolfram König, speaks out against extending the service lives of nuclear power plants. “Such an assessment would not only have to take into account the safety of the nuclear power plants, but also the disposal of the radioactive waste,” writes König in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”. “In both cases, the costs to society as a whole for continued operation of the systems would be considerable.” Maturity extensions would not just be an additional mortgage for disposal, König continues. “The societal consensus that has been achieved with great difficulty would also be fundamentally questioned.”
+++ 19:15 Ukraine reports partial Russian breakthrough near Bachmut +++
According to the Ukrainian general staff, Russia has achieved a partial success in the Donbass near the town of Bakhmut. Accordingly, Russian troops are to penetrate the suburbs of the settlement of Semyhiria and entrench themselves there. Bachmut is a town with around 74,000 inhabitants. It is considered one of the key objectives of the Russian troops in the conquest of the Donetsk region and as an intermediate destination on the way to the major cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
+++ 18:48 after prison shelling: relatives protest against terror supporters Russia +++
Relatives of fighters from the Azovstal Steel Works in Mariupol gather in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv to protest against Russia and demand its recognition as a terrorism-sponsoring state. The families recall that the last defenders surrendered to the Russian army and are considered prisoners of war. The United Nations and the International Red Cross had previously assured that their protection was guaranteed by Russia. The day before, a prison in which fighters from Azovstal may have been detained was hit by shelling. More than 50 fighters die, more than 70 are injured. Russia accuses Ukraine of being responsible for the shelling. Ukraine denies the allegation. In the entry at 4:05 p.m., military expert Thomas C. Theiner gives good reasons why Ukraine cannot be responsible for the attack.
+++ 18:22 USA expresses condolences to Ukraine over dead prisoners of war +++
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offers his condolences to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba after the attack on a camp with Ukrainian prisoners of war that killed 50 people. In a phone call on Friday, Blinken reiterated the US determination to hold Russia accountable for atrocities committed by its forces against the people of Ukraine. This is reported by the US Department of State. Blinken also tells Kuleba of his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, underlining “the unwavering support of the United States for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine”. The US Secretary of State and his Moscow counterpart Lavrov spoke on Friday for the first time since Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine began.
+++ 17:52 USA, Great Britain and Finland conduct military exercises +++
During a military exercise in Finland, soldiers from the future NATO member train alongside units from the USA and Great Britain. A total of 750 soldiers are taking part in the four-day “Vigilant Fox” exercise, including 150 British army and air force members, according to the Ministry of Defense in London. The British troops, who are otherwise stationed in NATO member country Estonia, were flown to Niinisalo in western Finland in Chinook helicopters. “Exercise ‘Vigilant Fox’ has demonstrated the strength and compatibility of our forces with those of US and Finnish allies and reaffirmed our commitment to the defense and security of the Baltic Sea region,” said British Secretary of State James Heappey.
You can read earlier developments of the Ukraine war here.