06/13/2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:17 Union faction complains that the German defense budget is too low +++
Regardless of the pressure to save, the Union faction in the Bundestag is calling for a significant increase in the defense budget. “The much-vaunted turning point is slowly but surely being buried by the traffic light,” says the deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Johann Wadephul, of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. Wadephul criticizes plans to achieve NATO’s two percent target primarily by including investments from the 100 billion euro special fund for the German armed forces. According to Wadephul, a Bundeswehr that is growing thanks to the special fund can only be financed in the long term by a parallel increase in the defense budget. After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would “invest more than two percent of gross domestic product in our defense every year.”
+++ 05:53 governor: dead in rocket hit in residential building in south-east Ukraine +++
According to official information, a residential building in the south-eastern city of Kryvyi Rih was hit in new Russian attacks. “There are dead and wounded,” writes the military governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lysak, on Telegram. The head of the local military administration, Olexander Wilkul, had previously reported an impact on a five-storey building and wrote that there were probably still people under the rubble.
+++ 05:23 head of the Atomic Energy Agency travels to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant +++
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, will travel to Ukraine later in the day. After talks in Kiev, a visit to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is planned, where Grossi wants to get an idea of the situation after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. The dam was destroyed a week ago, causing huge amounts of water to leak out of the reservoir, which is also used to cool the plant’s six reactors. The reactors of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, occupied by Russia, have been shut down for months. However, the fuel in the reactor cores and in the storage pools must still be constantly cooled to prevent core meltdown and the release of radioactivity into the environment.
+++ 04:30 Ukraine: Russian air raid on Kiev repelled +++
According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian airstrike in the Kiev region has been repelled. Ukraine’s air defense systems destroyed all missiles aimed at the capital, military officials say. “There is still no information about casualties or damage,” Serhiy Popko, head of the city’s military administration, said on Telegram.
+++ 03:31 night air raids on Kiev +++
In the Kiev area, air defense systems are deployed again during the night to ward off Russian attacks. This is announced by the military administration of the region via Telegram. Air raid alarms were also sounded in other regions of Ukraine around 3 a.m. local time.
+++ 01:39 USA worried about possible arms exports from North Korea +++
The US expresses concern about possible arms sales from North Korea to Russia. Despite statements to the contrary by the government in Pyongyang, North Korea delivered a shipment of weapons, including infantry missiles and missiles, to the Wagner mercenary group in November 2022, a US State Department spokesman says. “We fear that the DPRK is planning to supply more military equipment to Russia.” Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is the official name of North Korea. In March, the United States said Russia was trying to get additional weapons from North Korea in exchange for food aid. They imposed sanctions on a person who allegedly tried to broker North Korean weapons to Russia. North Korea seeks closer ties with Kremlin and defends Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
+++ 00:44 Duda urges Ukraine to join NATO +++
Poland’s head of state Andrzej Duda is appealing to the NATO member countries to offer Ukraine a perspective in the defense alliance. “Ukraine is waiting for a clear signal about a clear prospect of NATO membership,” says Duda. This is the expectation of the Ukrainian leadership and the soldiers defending the country attacked by Russia. He hopes that the forthcoming NATO summit in Vilnius will bring the “light at the end of the tunnel” that Ukraine is longing for, Duda continued.
+++ 23:57 Pistorius: Will not be able to replace every failed tank +++
Against the background of current reports about destroyed Leopard 2 tanks in Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has announced further military aid for the country. “We won’t be able to replace every tank that breaks down now,” says the SPD politician on “RTL Direkt”. “But what we are doing (…), we will continue to deliver more Leopard 1 A5 tanks that have been repaired from July onwards. And by the end of the year that will be over 100,” Pistorius continued. Unfortunately, it is part of the nature of war that weapons and tanks are destroyed and people are killed. “That’s why our support for Ukraine is so important.”
+++ 23:16 Zelenskyj: “The fights are tough, but we are making progress” +++
After the recapture of several villages in eastern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj speaks of the success of the previous offensive actions against the Russian armed forces. “The fighting is tough, but we’re making progress, and that’s important,” says Zelenskyj in his evening video message. A meeting with generals on the situation in the front area was about the “successes” but also questions about where reinforcements were needed at the front to break through Russian defenses. Zelenskyj praises that Russian prisoners of war are being taken. That helps to expand the reserves for an exchange for your own soldiers from Russian captivity. Measures to stabilize the situation in the liberated areas were also discussed with the military leadership. Work is underway to provide the necessary weapons and ammunition there.
+++ 22:25 USA: “Too early” for speculation about the outcome of the counter-offensive +++
Washington is confident that Ukraine will successfully retake the lands confiscated from Russia. However, it is still too early to say exactly where Ukraine’s counter-offensive will lead, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference. The US is determined to provide Ukraine with the best possible support so that they can be successful on the battlefield. Blinken promises a “robust” package of political and practical support for Kiev at the forthcoming NATO summit in Vilnius.
+++ 22:06 Ukraine: Have already recaptured seven villages +++
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian armed forces have already recaptured seven villages since the counteroffensive began. This is shared by the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Hanna Maliar, on Telegram with. Reports about the recaptured villages of Makariwka, Neskuchne, Blahodatne, Novodarjiwka and Storozheve were already known. Maliar now also reports successes in Lobkove and Levadne. “The area brought under control was 90 square kilometers,” writes the deputy minister.
+++ 21:38 Wagner mercenary fights for Russian rebels on Kiev’s side +++
A former Russian Wagner mercenary has joined the anti-Kremlin RDK volunteer corps in a fight against the Russian army. During a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine, ex-Russian private army mercenary Wagner Vladislav Ismailov decided to join the rebels, RDK video showed. “After due verification, we will be happy to give Vlad the opportunity to fight in our ranks,” writes the volunteer corps on Telegram. On Monday, Prigozhin called Ismailov a “traitor” in his Telegram channel and threatened him with a “punishment that should correspond to the Wagner traditions”.
The events of the previous day can be found here.