The situation at an overview: Kyiv expects new Russian offensive

The Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj has accused Russia of planning a new offensive. There are no signs that Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and his surroundings prepared for the end of the war and seriously consider a diplomatic solution, said Selenskyj in his evening video address. “On the contrary, there are many signs to prepare new attack operations.”

After the record number of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine in the past three days, there was again aerial arm in the east and south of the country on Tuesday night. The Ukrainian Air Force warned on Telegram about attacks in the regions of Sumy, Kharkiw, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolajiw and over the Black Sea in the direction of the port city of Odessa. According to this, Schahed drones are said to have been in use. Ukrainian media reported explosions in Sumy, which is located near the border with Russia.

It was initially not foreseeable whether the attacks were as violent as in the previous nights. On weekends and on Monday night, Russia had massively attacked Ukraine with drones and cruises. According to Kiev information, a maximum of attacks since the beginning of the war was recorded. Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for more than three years.

According to the Ukrainian general staff, Ukraine is also under pressure on the front. In the evening reporting report, 141 Russian advances are mentioned during the day. The Russian troops started more than a third – namely 53 – in the Pokrowsk area. The city, with around 60,000 inhabitants before the war, is considered strategically important because of its location and has been attacked by the Russian armed forces for months. In the meantime, Pokrowsk is almost completely destroyed. Nevertheless, the Russians hardly make any progress here.

Military experts also warn of the Russian offensive

In the opinion of military experts, however, the situation is problematic for the Ukrainians. The Russian troops have made a breakthrough between Pokrowsk and Torezk, which now also threatens the city of Kostjantyniwka. This would make Putin closer to his goal of fully conquering the Donetsk area.

In addition, military experts warn of a possible Russian offensive in the north of Ukraine. After the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the West Russian region of Turks, the Sumy area is considered a possible target area for a Russian push in the summer offensive. Putin had recently explained again to want to make a 30 -kilometer border strip in Ukraine a buffer zone.

Selenskyj sees Russian attacks as a mockery of Trump

Selenskyj’s information shows the Russian leadership with its war efforts its contempt for all those who tried to peace. This statement is likely to refer to US President Donald Trump, who has presented himself as a mediator for a peace solution since taking office in January.

The Ukrainian head of state called the major attacks of the Russian armed forces on cities in his country with ballistic rockets, marching air bodies and more than 900 drones in the past three days senselessly from a military point of view. They only served to destroy. In this context, Selenskyj once again called for the pressure on Moscow to increase with further sanctions.

Trump had recently criticized the attacks of the past few days. He accused Putin of going crazy and threatened with sanctions. In the Kremlin, this was coolly dismissed as the “emotional overload” of the US President. Putin only does what Russia is necessary, said his spokesman Dmitri Peskow.

Criticism from the SPD of Merz ‘Weapons in the Ukraine War

The abolition of the restrictions announced by Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) for the use of German weapons against Russian territory in the Ukraine War causes criticism in the SPD. The social democratic foreign politician Ralf Stegner called the step “not helpful”. Everything that is expanding the war is wrong, he told the Editorial Network Germany (RND). “Rather, I find it right to strengthen the diplomatic efforts.”

The Kremlin also reacted to the Merz area. These are “rather dangerous decisions when they existed,” said Kreml spokesman Dmitri Peskow.

Merz had said in Berlin on Monday that the weapons delivered from Germany to Ukraine no longer apply, regarding the range and thus the use against Russian territory. “There are no longer any reach restrictions on weapons that have been delivered to Ukraine, neither by the British nor the French, nor by us, nor are the Americans,” he said. The hot that Ukraine can now also “defend itself by attacking military positions in Russia, for example. It couldn’t do that until some time ago.”

The statement means a change of course to his predecessor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Last year he had allowed German weapons to be used such as the multiple rocket launcher Mars II against positions on the Russian territory for the region around the competitive city of Charkiw. As a result, he had subsequently spoke out against an additional abolition of the operating restrictions, unlike important alliance partners such as Great Britain and France.