06/05/2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:37 Woidke sees high hurdles for security of supply in the event of an oil embargo +++
Brandenburg’s Minister-President Dietmar Woidke still sees obstacles to the desired security of supply in the event of an oil embargo against Russia. The Federal Government and the Prime Ministers’ Conference agree “that energy security must be guaranteed in all parts of Germany at all times,” says the SPD politician. “That’s the big challenge facing the federal level – especially now in the area of fuel supply with the oil embargo, which is supposed to come into force at the beginning of next year. There’s still a lot of work to be done.” Because of the war in Ukraine, the EU heads of state and government had agreed that the EU would no longer import tanker oil. Crude oil can therefore flow via pipelines, but the federal government also wants to end this import. This particularly affects the PCK refinery in Schwedt in Brandenburg, which is connected to the “Druschba” (“Friendship”) pipeline. It is majority owned by a German subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Rosneft.
+++ 06:03 Ramelow calls for state supervision of Russian-controlled refineries +++
Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow is calling for targeted relief for people on low incomes in view of the high energy prices. “We shouldn’t be watering society as a whole again,” he told the Tagesspiegel newspaper. “Those who are now being hit the hardest by high energy prices, meaning those who have the highest net loss percentage, need a lot more help.” According to Ramelow, the new proposals by Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil on climate money are a step in the right direction. “But the FDP will probably want to slow that down too.” The Prime Minister is also calling for increased action against Russian-controlled oil refineries in Germany. “You have to put the refineries that are in Russian hands under state supervision and then regulate the market price.”
+++ 05:38 Heavy explosions in Kyiv +++
In the early morning, violent explosions occur in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. An eyewitness told Reuters news agency that smoke could also be seen in the city after the explosions. Earlier, air raid sirens could be heard across much of Ukraine, including in the Kyiv region.
+++ 04:05 Ukraine reports success in counter-offensive +++
Ukraine says it has recaptured part of the embattled city of Sieverodonetsk in a counteroffensive. Moscow, on the other hand, reports that Russian troops are making progress in the city. The reports cannot be independently verified. The mayor of Seyerodonetsk, Oleksandr Strijuk, said on state television that street fighting continued throughout the day on Saturday. “The situation is tense and complicated. … Our military is doing everything it can to get the enemy out of the evict the city,” he says. But there is a shortage of food, fuel and medicine.
+++ 03:15 Nouripour wants Ukraine to win the war +++
Green Party leader Omid Nouripour says Ukraine’s goal is victory in the war against Russia. “The Ukrainians must regain their sovereignty, their territorial integrity and their freedom,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “We will not recognize an inch of occupied Ukrainian soil.” When asked whether Ukraine should win the war against Russia, Nouripour answered “yes”. He adds: “But we’re not telling Ukraine what to do. If they want to retake these territories, then we support them. And if they want to negotiate, then we support them too.” When asked whether the delivery of main battle tanks to Ukraine is a red line, Nouripour says: “We have to strike a balance between the two goals: avoiding the war’s delimitation and helping Ukraine. Change the measures that are necessary for this almost weekly. I would be wary of red lines.”
+++ 02:18 sanctions from Moscow could cost taxpayers billions +++
The Kremlin’s sanctions against Gazprom Germania and its subsidiaries threaten to burden German taxpayers and gas consumers with additional costs of more than five billion euros a year. This is reported by the “Welt am Sonntag”. Because Russia no longer delivers to the German company, a replacement must be procured. Part of the resulting additional costs are to be passed on to the energy suppliers and thus the end customers from October in the form of a gas surcharge, the newspaper writes. Corresponding information from the newspaper had been confirmed by several industry representatives. Moscow had stopped supplying the German Gazprom subsidiary with a decree dated May 11 because the federal government had placed the company under trusteeship. Since then, the Federal Network Agency, as the responsible trustee, has had to procure replacement gas on the market so that the company can continue to fulfill the supply contracts with German municipal utilities and regional suppliers.
+++ 01:07 President of the African Union announces trip to Kyiv +++
After his talks with Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin about global supply shortages due to the Ukraine war, the President of the African Union, Senegal’s head of state Macky Sall, also wants to hold talks in Kyiv. “Yes (…), I will also travel to Kyiv,” Sall told journalists upon his arrival at the summit of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) in Accra. This is “important to contribute to a return to peace”. Sall did not give details of his travel plans.
+++ 23:40 Selenskyj accuses Russia of destroying cultural sites +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accuses Russia of massive destruction of cultural monuments, churches and other religious sites during his war. That’s reason enough to exclude the country from UNESCO, the cultural and educational organization of the United Nations, says Selenskyj in his video address in Kyiv. 113 churches have already been destroyed or damaged. At the end of May he had already demanded that Russia be excluded from UNESCO. Since the war began on February 24, Russia has fired more than 2,500 rockets at Ukraine, Zelenskyy complains. “Our heroes stand their ground and do whatever it takes to inflict maximum casualties on the enemy.”
+++ 22:06 Russian region Bryansk: One injured after Ukrainian shelling +++
In Russia, according to the Bryansk region, a village on the border with Ukraine has again been shelled from the neighboring country. When the village of Sluchevsk was shelled, a man was injured and two houses caught fire. This was announced by the governor of the region, Alexander Bogomas, in his Telegram news channel. He accused Ukrainian forces of shooting at the village. The injured resident had to be taken to a hospital. The fires have been extinguished. The village with a total of 150 inhabitants is therefore about one kilometer from the border with Ukraine. On February 24, Russia began a war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine and since then has repeatedly complained about attacks on its own territory.
+++ 21:33 Lavrov expects increases in revenue for Russia in oil and gas sales +++
According to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russia expects significant additional income from energy exports this year due to higher oil and gas prices. “Considering the price level formed as a result of Western policy, we do not have budgetary losses. On the contrary, this year we will significantly increase earnings from the export of our energy resources,” Lavrov said, according to his ministry, to a Serbian TV channel in Bosnia-Herzegovinina. After the oil embargo decided by the EU, Russia will sell the raw material to other customers.
+++ 21:02 Russians and Ukrainians with contradictory claims to Sieverodonetsk +++
Both sides have reported successes in the battle for the city of Sieverodonetsk in eastern Ukraine. Russia is throwing its “full weight” into the battle for the city, said the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gajday, on Saturday. However, the Ukrainian forces “are now pushing them back”. Moscow, on the other hand, said Ukrainian units were withdrawing from the city. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian volunteer brigade reported the death of a German fighter in its ranks.
+++ 20:28 ports in Ukraine blocked: African states are buying more Argentinean wheat +++
Argentina set a record for wheat exports in the first half of the business year – and according to the industry, exported more wheat to Africa because of the war in Ukraine. This was reported by the Argentine newspaper “La Nación”, citing the grain exchange in Rosario. According to a report by the grain exchange, between December 2021 and last May more than 12.7 million tons were delivered abroad, a record for this period. According to the analysis of the grain exchange in Rosario, among other things, the importance of Africa as a buyer has increased. “African countries usually receive wheat from Russia or Ukraine, especially the countries in northern sub-Saharan Africa,” it said. Russia’s war against Ukraine has prompted several of those countries to buy Argentine grain. Although Brazil is still the main destination of Argentina’s wheat shipments, Africa’s share of shipments is increasing sharply.
You can read earlier developments of the Ukraine war here.