March 29, 2024
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:31 Poland’s Prime Minister Tusk: A new era is beginning – the pre-war period +++
According to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the Russian invasion of Ukraine a good two years ago ushered in a new, warlike era in Europe. “I know it sounds devastating, especially for the younger generation, but we have to get used to the fact that a new era has begun: the pre-war period. I’m not exaggerating; that’s becoming clearer every day,” he told the “Welt” and European partner media. “I don’t want to scare anyone, but war is no longer a concept from the past. It is real, and it started over two years ago.”
+++ 06:09 Lavrov: Ukraine’s peace plan is pointless +++
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described Ukraine’s proposed peace plan as meaningless in an interview with the Moscow daily “Izvestia”. “We are definitely ready for talks, but not on the basis of Zelensky’s ‘peace formula’,” Lavrov said, according to the newspaper. A proposed peace summit will only be successful if its foundations are changed, including Russia’s participation. “How could a serious politician in Washington, Brussels, London, Paris or Berlin say that there is no alternative to the ‘Zelensky formula’,” Lavrov said.
+++ 05:45 Ukraine reports explosions in Dnipro +++
The Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne reports several explosions in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnytsky regions as well as in the city of Dnipro. The explosions were heard early in the morning. In addition, Russian cruise missiles have been spotted in Ukrainian airspace, said Suspilne. It is still unclear whether and which targets the missiles hit.
+++ 05:10 Former Chancellor Schröder warns SPD +++
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder warns the SPD leadership against wanting to erase him from party history. In a dpa interview, he complained that there was no longer even a picture of him to be found in the party headquarters on the floor where the chairmen have their offices. “That’s interesting. The SPD has to be careful about that too. You know where that was the case?” he asks and gives the answer himself. “In the communist parties of the past, of course, the respective leaders became leaders when they were gone , once erased from the party’s history.” Schröder has been friends with Russian President Vladimir Putin since he was chancellor from 1998 to 2005 and continues to work for the majority Russian companies on the Nord Stream pipelines through the Baltic Sea. Although he described the Russian attack on Ukraine as a “fatal mistake,” he nevertheless did not break away from Putin.
+++ 04:19 Faeser sees a blow against Russia’s propaganda apparatus +++
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser describes the uncovering of a large-scale influence operation as an “important blow to the Russian propaganda apparatus.” “Again we see the massive extent of lies and disinformation with which Putin’s regime wants to shake trust in our democracy, stir up anger and manipulate public opinion,” the SPD politician told “Spiegel”. It was “important that this influence operation was uncovered before the European elections.” According to Czech authorities, propaganda in Moscow’s interests was spread via the “Voice of Europe” website. The media company is also said to have served to covertly finance candidates in several EU countries.
+++ 03:15 Kiev urges India to move away from Russia +++
According to the Financial Times, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is calling on India to stand by Kiev and reconsider its relations with Russia. India’s close ties with Russia are based on a Soviet legacy that is fading, Kuleba said, according to the newspaper. As the minister explained, India can benefit from expanding trade and technology ties with Ukraine. He offered Indian companies a role in post-war reconstruction. Ukraine is now seeking to restore trade with India by resuming exports of agricultural products such as sunflower oil and purchasing more Indian goods itself.
+++ 02:19 Zelensky calls Speaker of the US House of Representatives +++
With a view to the aid package that has been blocked in the US Congress for months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has now turned directly to the Republican Chairman of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson. “I informed the Speaker of the House of Representatives about the situation on the battlefield, especially about the dramatic increase in Russian air terror,” Zelenskyj explained after a phone call with Johnson on the online service Telegram. “In this situation, the rapid passage of US aid to Ukraine by Congress is crucial,” Zelensky said, according to the minutes of the conversation, which he published on Telegram.
+++ 01:12 Russians attack near Dnipro +++
Russian forces attack infrastructure facilities in the Kamianske district near the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro early this morning. According to the region’s governor, Sergiy Lissak, at least one person was injured in the attack. “The enemy’s main target is our people and vital facilities of the population,” writes Lissak on Telegram.
+++ 00:11 Macron: G20 summit only with Putin if everyone agrees +++
According to French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin should only be invited to the G20 summit in Brazil in November if all participants agree. The meaning of the union of the 20 industrialized and emerging countries is that “there must be a consensus with the other 19 others, that will be the task of Brazilian diplomacy,” said Macron during a visit to Brasília. “If the appointment can be useful, then you have to make it. If it is not useful and leads to division, you should not make it,” Macron explained at a joint press conference with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
+++ 23:03 SPD politician Schwarz: Take historians’ fire letter seriously +++
The SPD member of the Bundestag and budget expert Andreas Schwarz pleads with the “Spiegel” for serious consideration of the criticism of five historians of the party’s Ukraine policy: “The letter should be taken seriously. We have to discuss it in the party and society. A look at the history books should be a reminder to us,” Schwarz tells the paper. He is one of the few Social Democrats in the Bundestag who are calling for the Taurus cruise missile for Kiev. Putin is “a brutal dictator” who relies on the rights of the strongest, Schwarz continues. “The Western world should therefore approach him with unity, toughness and strength. This is the only way to get him to the negotiating table.”
+++ 22:00 British develop new drones for Ukraine +++
The British company Evolve Dynamics is focused on developing drones for the Ukrainian military that can resist electronic warfare. This is reported by the Reuters news agency. Electronic warfare involves jamming the signals of attack or reconnaissance drones by overloading their receivers with false frequencies so that they cannot reach their target. The company is currently developing “alternative radio link algorithms” to circumvent electronic warfare.
+++ 21:22 Russia wants to upgrade Oniks cruise missiles +++
Russia intends to upgrade the Oniks missiles with new active homing devices so that they can engage Ukrainian ground targets with greater precision. This is reported by the TASS news agency. The Oniks are actually anti-ship cruise missiles, but are now also intended to be used against cities. The supersonic cruise missile P-800 Oniks (NATO: SS-N-26 Strobile) was designed in the 1980s but did not enter service until 2002. TASS quoted an unnamed source as saying that “work was underway to make Oniks missiles invulnerable to Ukrainian electronic warfare devices.”
You can read all previous developments here.