More than two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, attacks on battered Ukrainian cities are intensifying again. According to US President Biden, a “third world war” must be prevented. Developments at a glance.
In Russia’s war against Ukraine, the capital Kyiv is once again in the spotlight.
Further air raids are also being reported from the west of the country, not far from the border with Poland. Concerns about the nuclear ruins of Chernobyl and a research reactor in eastern Ukraine have meanwhile been given the all-clear for the time being.
Ukraine: Russian offensives “partially” successful
Around Kyiv there are Russian offensives on the northern city limits at Sazymya and in a southerly direction at Vyschenky, the Ukrainian general staff announced at night. These offensives were partly successful in some areas. In the capital Kyiv, flight alarms were triggered at least three times during the night. According to CNN, “minutes of” shelling could be heard in the city from afar on Saturday morning.
New airstrikes also in western Ukraine
Russian Air Force strategic bombers are said to have used cruise missiles in the cities of Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk and Dnipro. Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk are located north and south of the city of Lviv, not far from the Polish border. On Friday night, Russia expanded its attacks on western Ukraine. Rocket attacks were also reported from Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine. The information could not be independently verified.
According to Ukrainian military information, Russian troops are trying to blockade the north-east Ukrainian city of Chernihiv from the south-west. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a key water main in Chernihiv was damaged by shelling. As a result, the city with almost 280,000 inhabitants was without water supply.
Zelenskyi: Mayor kidnapping “sign of weakness”
In a video speech that night, Zelenskyy demanded the release of the mayor of the city of Melitopol, which was occupied by Russian troops. Pressure on mayors or their “physical elimination” will not help Russia take over Ukrainian cities. Such an approach is a “sign of weakness” of Russia. Kyiv announced on Friday that the mayor of southern Ukraine’s Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, had been kidnapped. This could not be verified independently. A video showed hooded people taking a man away from a central building.
Escape corridors planned in Sumy region
The evacuation of people from besieged and embattled cities is expected to continue on Saturday. Six escape corridors are planned for the Sumy region in the north-east of the country, said the head of the Sumy regional administration, Dmytro Schywytskyi, on Telegram on Saturday night. According to this, civilians from the cities of Sumy, Trostjanets, Lebedin, Konotop, Krasnopillja and Velika Pysarivka are to be brought to the central Ukrainian city of Poltava.
Overall, the evacuations continue to be sluggish. Around 3,800 people were evacuated on Friday, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, while hundreds of thousands remain trapped in cities like Mariupol surrounded by Russian troops. Residents of the northwestern Kyiv suburbs of Bucha, Hostomel, Vorsel and the village of Kozarovychi north of the capital were able to flee through humanitarian corridors, Vereshchuk said. There were no evacuations in Izyum, Mariupol and Volnowakha. The Russian side also reported renewed difficulties in evacuating civilians.
US President Biden: Must prevent World War III
According to President Joe Biden, a direct military confrontation in Ukraine between the US military and the Russian armed forces must be prevented so that a “third world war” does not occur. The US military and NATO partners will unite and defend “every centimeter” of alliance territory “with full force,” Biden wrote on Twitter. «But we will not wage war with Russia in Ukraine. A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III – and something we must strive to prevent,” the Democrat wrote. Ukraine is not a NATO member.
Some electricity is running again at the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant
At the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, technicians managed to repair part of the power lines. This was reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Friday evening, citing the Ukrainian operator. The power supply for the cooling of fuel elements was interrupted on Wednesday. However, the IAEA saw no security problem. Emergency generators provide electricity there. Despite the difficult situation, it was possible to deliver more diesel.
According to research center damage: No increased radiation
The all-clear has been given after Ukraine reported renewed shelling of a nuclear research center in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. According to a statement by the Ukrainian parliament on the situation at the nuclear facilities, no damage was found that would affect radiation safety. The power supply to safety-relevant systems has also been restored. On Friday evening, the Russian military accused Ukrainian forces of having “blown up” a building of the research center in order to “hide nuclear research”.
Further Interpol restrictions for Moscow possible
France believes it is possible to block Russia’s access to Interpol mechanisms after restrictions have already been introduced on Russian investigators. Russian authorities can no longer send inquiries directly to the member countries, but only via the Interpol headquarters. This was decided to prevent abuse of the system surrounding the Ukraine war. The French ministry announced on Friday that there were already suspicions of several such attempts at abuse.
That will be important on Saturday
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wants to find out more about the situation of war refugees in Moldova, which borders Ukraine. The Greens politician said before departure that she wanted to get a direct picture of how Germany could support Moldova even more comprehensively in this exceptional situation. “We will not allow the shock waves caused by Russia to spill over to other countries in Europe.”
Source: Stern
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