02/12/2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:11 Zelenskyj fires leading security officer for corruption +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired a top security official for bribery. Zelenskyi also promises to continue his efforts to ensure a clean government. Fighting corruption is a prerequisite for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
+++ 05:10 Ukraine: Armed forces hold the front in Donetsk +++
The Ukrainian armed forces are holding their positions along the front line in Donetsk, according to their commander-in-chief. “We are keeping the defense reliable. In some areas of the front we managed to regain previously lost positions and gain a foothold,” Supreme Military Commander Valeriy Zalushnyy said in a Telegram message. Russia carries out about 50 attacks in Donetsk every day. He adds that Ukraine continues to hold the city of Bakhmut and is trying to “stabilize” the front line around the city. “Fierce fighting continues in the Wuhledar and Marjinka area.”
+++ 02:55 DIHK boss: Ukrainian women could help out in daycare centers +++
The President of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), Peter Adrian, proposes pensioners and Ukrainian women as temporary workers in day-care centers in order to improve the care services. “The day-care centers need needs-based care from half past six in the morning to nine in the evening. We can only do that if we also use workers in the day-care centers who may not meet all the training criteria,” says Adrian of the “Bild am Sonntag”. According to the head of the DIHK, there are many among the Ukrainian refugees who could help out without any problems, and many pensioners would also be willing to work by the hour in off-peak times.
+++ 01:54 NATO: Stoltenberg is not aiming for a further contract extension +++
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg intends to give up his post in autumn of this year as planned. “He has no intention of seeking another mandate extension,” said his spokeswoman Oana Lungescu. Stoltenberg’s mandate has already been extended three times and he has been in office for almost nine years. Recently there has been repeated speculation that the 63-year-old’s term of office could be extended again against the background of the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine.
+++ 00:51 Faeser calls for fairer distribution of refugees from Ukraine +++
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser calls for a fairer distribution of refugees from Ukraine within the EU. “Should there be another large flight from Ukraine, the refugees in Europe must be better distributed,” Faeser told “Bild am Sonntag”. “Our Eastern European neighbors in particular should be relieved. Poland has so far taken in over 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees, Spain 160,000. It can’t stay like this.” The minister rejects an admission limit for women and children who have fled Ukraine: “Eight out of ten refugees came to us from Ukraine last year, more than a million people. They were able to save their lives from Putin’s cruel war. For the refugees You can’t define an admission limit for women and children from Ukraine.”
+++ 20:53 Ukraine reports shooting down of Russian fighter plane near Bakhmut +++
The Ukrainian border guards said they shot down a Russian warplane on Saturday. The incident is said to have happened in the heavily contested Bachmut. A member of the border protection units hit the plane with a western, shoulder-launched anti-aircraft weapon, it is said. The fighter jet was probably a Su-25. Because no parachute jump was observed, the pilot was probably “demilitarized”. The wording alludes to Kremlin propaganda that the Russian invasion aims to “demilitarize” Ukraine.
+++ 20:49 Moscow uses unmanned sea drone for the first time +++
The video is only 18 seconds long, but it should give Ukraine a headache. Apparently, Russia has a new ability to destroy Ukrainian infrastructure. Apparently, near Odessa, the Russian Navy is attacking with an unmanned sea drone.
You can read earlier developments in the Ukraine war here.