06.08.2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:59 Ukrainian Army: Six Russian ammunition depots destroyed +++
The Ukrainian armed forces say they have destroyed six ammunition depots in southern Ukraine. As “The Kyiv Independent” reports, citing the army’s Southern Command, four T-72 tanks, two self-propelled howitzers, an artillery installation, a radar station and 22 armored and military vehicles were also destroyed. Two Russian checkpoints and a command post are said to have been hit. According to Ukrainian sources, a total of 79 Russian soldiers were killed.
+++ 06:31 explosions in Kharkiv +++
According to Ukrainian sources, explosions can be heard in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Mayor Ihor Terekhov writes this down Telegram. Rescuers have already arrived in the Slobodskaya district. “So far there is no information about the victims. I hope it stays that way.”
+++ 06:04 UN Secretary General: “Humanity is playing with a loaded gun” +++
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warns of the ongoing threat from nuclear weapons. “Humanity is playing with a loaded gun,” Guterres said at a commemoration event marking the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. “Crises with heavy nuclear overtones are spreading fast – the Middle East, the Korean Peninsula, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” In Japan, nuclear weapons were used for the first and only time in a war. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine fuels fears of a possible renewed use of nuclear weapons.
+++ 05:45: Altmaier calls Putin the greatest danger for Europe +++
Ex-Federal Economics Minister Peter Altmaier, in his own words, assessed Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin as the greatest security risk for Europe early on – but alternatives such as LNG terminals against dependence on Russian gas have failed primarily due to resistance from companies. “Above all, it is the greatest threat to political stability in Europe. And not just since the attack on Ukraine, but since the intervention in Georgia, the intervention in Syria and the annexation of Crimea,” says Altmaier the editorial network Germany. But NATO’s participation in the war was just as out of the question then as it is today. The crucial question was whether there could be a negotiated solution that would allow Putin to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity. “As is well known, that failed.”
+++ 04:52 survey: One in ten buys electric heating +++
Against the background of the Ukraine war and an imminent gas shortage, many Germans rely on electricity as an alternative for heating. In a survey by the comparison portal Verivox, ten percent of those surveyed stated that they had bought an electric heater in the past six months, i.e. a fan heater, radiant heater or radiator. 11 percent plan to do so and 19 percent are considering it. The survey was not only conducted among gas customers, but was representative of the population aged 18 to 69. The numbers are high, also because only about half of German households heat with gas.
+++ 03:54 tens of thousands of Ukrainians want to study in Germany +++
Around 21,000 Ukrainian school leavers and students want to go to university in Germany. That’s what the President of the University Rectors’ Conference, Peter-André Alt, says of the Funke media group. In addition, there are 10,000 students who have fled Ukraine but do not have Ukrainian citizenship. However, the numbers are volatile. This also has to do with the fact that some students have already returned to Ukraine. For the universities, however, the increased number of first-year students could pose a challenge in the fall. “We don’t yet know exactly what the pandemic could force us to do in autumn. Added to this are the sharply increased energy costs and the possible increase in student numbers due to the war in Ukraine.”
+++ 02:51 SPD boss: Schröder acts in his own interest +++
SPD co-chair Saskia Esken has sharply criticized former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder for his statements about Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s alleged willingness to negotiate in the Ukraine war. “Gerhard Schröder is not acting as an ex-chancellor, but as a businessman, and that’s how we should interpret his statements,” says Esken of the Funke media group. “With everything he does and says, he acts in his own interest and in that of his business partners.” Schröder has long been criticized for his closeness to Putin and the Russian oil and gas industry. At the end of July he was again visiting Putin in Moscow. He then claimed in an interview with ntv: “The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution.”
+++ 01:34 According to the Federal Network Agency, consumers must save more energy +++
According to the Federal Network Agency, the Germans have to save significantly more energy than previously assumed after recent cuts in Russian gas supplies. “If we don’t save a lot and don’t get any additional gas, we’ll have a problem,” said Klaus Müller, head of the authorities, in the “Welt am Sonntag”. Gas shortages can only be prevented if consumers save at least 20 percent. In addition, the transmission of gas to neighboring countries would have to be reduced by 20 percent, and 10 to 15 gigawatt hours of gas from other countries would also be needed.
+++ 01:07 nuclear power plant operator: reactor taken off the grid +++
According to the operator of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia, one of the reactors of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been shut down. Accordingly, a high-voltage line on the power plant site was previously damaged by artillery fire. Energoatom announced that no radioactivity had escaped. This means that two of the six reactors are now in operation. The nuclear power plant has been occupied by Russia since March, but will continue to be operated by the Ukrainian state-owned company Energoatom and its staff. While Energoatom and the Ukrainian government blame Russian troops for Friday’s shelling, Russia and the local Russian-installed city government blame the Ukrainian military. Read more about this here.
+++ 22:33 Selenskyj speaks of an act of terrorism +++ after the attack on the nuclear power plant site
After attacks near a reactor at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Russia to take responsibility for the “act of terrorism”. “Today the occupiers have created another extremely risky situation for all of Europe,” says Zelenskyj in his daily video address. “They twice attacked the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.” Any bombing of the plant is a shameless crime, “an act of terror”. According to the state operator Energoatom, three attacks had taken place on the site of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia near a nuclear reactor. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for this.
+++ 22:21 UEFA fines Fenerbahçe fans for shouting “Putin” +++
After Fenerbahçe fans shouted “Vladimir Putin” during the game against Dynamo Kyiv, UEFA fined the Turkish club. Fenerbahce has to pay a fine of 50,000 euros and is sentenced to a partial lockout of its fans on probation, the European Football Union announced. Should Fenerbahçe breach the conditions in the next two years, at least 5,000 places must remain empty at the next home game in European competition.
+++ 21:54 Pope Francis meets high Moscow church representatives +++
Pope Francis receives one of the highest officials of the Russian Orthodox Church for a talk at the Vatican. This feeds hopes that the relationship between the two important churches, which was tense as a result of the Ukraine war, could improve. The Holy See reports on the audience of Metropolitan Antony, the influential head of the Foreign Office of the Patriarchate of Moscow. He is considered number two and confidant of Patriarch Kirill – the head of the church had campaigned for the war in recent months. The Russian Orthodox Church says that Francis and Antony discussed “numerous topics” of Orthodox-Catholic relations, also “in connection with political processes in the world”.
+++ 21:34 USA are apparently planning another aid package for Ukraine +++
According to insiders, the United States wants to support Ukraine with another military aid package expected to be worth $1 billion. The package will include ammunition for long-range weapons and armored ambulances, according to three people familiar with the matter. According to previous plans, it contains ammunition for the HIMARS and NASAMS rocket systems. The official announcement is scheduled for Monday. US President Joe Biden has not yet signed the project.
You can read earlier developments of the Ukraine war here.