War in Ukraine: Ukrainian President Selenskyj orders general mobilization

An overview of the situation after the first day of the war:

– President Zelenskyj has ordered general mobilization.
– Men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country.
– At least 137 Ukrainians were killed during the first day of fighting, according to the President.
– It is feared that Kiev could fall to Russian troops during the night.
– Nothing is known about fights at the moment.
– The airspace over Ukraine is completely under Russian control, they say.
– The EU passed more severe sanctions against Russia.
– An exclusion from the international payment association Swift was not among them.

The colleagues on the early shift will keep you up to date here from 5 a.m.
Good night!

The CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen is surprised that the exclusion of Russia from the Swift association is not decidedalthough this is constantly announced.
https://twitter.com/n_roettgen/status/1496980487784513549

The Central Bank of Russia has guaranteed banks affected by Western sanctions all their transactions in rubles as in foreign currencies. The central bank and the government pledged all support to the banks in a statement Thursday evening in Moscow. All banking transactions with customers in rubles would continue as usual. The payment of credit balances in foreign currencies is also guaranteed. The US and EU have imposed sanctions on seven major Russian banks over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The US Holocaust Museum has condemned Russian President Putin’s announcement of a “denazification” of Ukraine. The museum condemns the misuse of the term. “Valdimir Putin misrepresented and misrepresented the history of the Holocaust by falsely claiming that democratic Ukraine must be ‘denazified,'” the statement said.

US government sees Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “prime target for Russian aggression”. “President Zelenskyy embodies in many ways the democratic aspirations and ambitions of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price told CNN on Thursday evening. Therefore, he remains a prime target for the Russians. In this context, Price also pointed out that the US government had been warning for weeks that Russian saboteurs were already in Ukraine.

In view of the threat from Russia, SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil is pushing for greater military deterrence. “I am firmly convinced that we must also spend more money on the Bundeswehr,” said Klingbeil on Thursday evening on the ZDF program “Maybrit Illner Spezial”. This was also laid out in the coalition agreement. “If military conflicts take place two hours from Berlin, we will look at the value of security very differently,” stressed Klingbeil. “It will now be a matter of strengthening the Bundeswehr, strengthening NATO, strengthening the security policy debate.” The SPD leader acknowledged that Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to win the war against Ukraine. “But I think he made a big mistake in the medium or long term,” said Klingbeil. “NATO is stronger than it has been for a long time. The security policy debate will change fundamentally in Germany.“

https://twitter.com/eucopresident/status/1496950779332096000?s=20&t=JuJrMjIfJTZm5S7_tRHUEw

The Munich historian Michael Wolffsohn does not believe in a large-scale expansion of the war of aggression against Ukraine launched by Russia. “The Ukraine war will not become a world war”, he told the “Bild” newspaper. Such a move would be “the end of the world” – and the presidents of Russia, the USA and China would know that. “But Ukraine will perish as a state. Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz and their parties are also to blame for this, because they fed the monster Putin,” said Wolffsohn. “Our traffic light coalition approved 5,000 helmets and a 300 million loan as a burial gift for Ukraine. Pure cynicism.” From 1981 to 2012, the scientist was a professor of modern history at the Bundeswehr University in Munich.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, accused the German government of “coldness and indifference” after the Russian attack on his country. “Every request to help us now was simply rejected. That’s very sad. I can’t understand: how can you remain so cold-hearted and stubborn,” said Melnyk on the ZDF program “Markus Lanz”. He was received “by some ministers” on Thursday and called for military equipment and fuel for the army. “The answer was: In our estimation, you, the Ukrainians, have maybe a few hours. It doesn’t make any sense to help you at all now,” said Melnyk. “This policy, this hesitation, leaves us as sacrificial lambs to be slaughtered.”

In response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner has demanded more funds for the Bundeswehr. “We have to face the fact that our armed forces have been managed for wear and tear for many, many years“said the FDP chairman on the ARD program “Maischberger”. German politics must learn “that alliance defense is also a political priority”. According to the financial planning of the old federal government, the funds for the Bundeswehr would have fallen in the coming years Lindner said, “Declining defense spending is no longer in keeping with the times.” It was clear to him even before today that “the funds for the Bundeswehr must be increased.”

Within a few hours, the Russian armed forces advanced to the greater Kiev area. According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops captured a military airfield near the capital after fierce fighting. According to intelligence information, the Ukrainian capital could still be taken during the night. IThere was a curfew in Kiev and the streets were deserted. Observers reported an “eerie calm”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put the death toll on the Ukrainian side on the first day of the war against Russia at 137 people. In addition, 316 people were injured in the fighting, he said in a video speech.

The longstanding military policy adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), ex-Brigadier General Erich Vad, assumes that the war in Ukraine will end soon. “Putin will win this war because the Russian armed forces are modern, well equipped, because they also have multiple superiorities, because they have a strategic starting point against which one simply cannot defend oneself,” he said on the ZDF program “Maybrit Illner Special”. “From a military point of view, the matter is over. And my assessment is that it will only be a matter of a few days and no more,” said the retired brigadier general. “Unless Putin takes the step into western Ukraine,” he said. “He can expect massive resistance here.” In that case, there could be a protracted “Afghanistan-style guerrilla war.” However, the Russian President will avoid this. “That’s why I don’t think he will occupy the entire country.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered a general mobilization. The head of state signed a corresponding decree, the Unian agency reported, citing the presidential office in Kiev. The order is valid for 90 days and provides for the drafting of conscripts and reservists. It had previously become known that men between the ages of 18 and 60 were not allowed to leave Ukraine.