Shortly before Ukraine’s Independence Day, the United States warned of increased Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure and government buildings in Ukraine over the next few days. Referring to this warning from the State Department in Washington, the US embassy in Kyiv called on all US citizens on Tuesday to “leave Ukraine immediately” – using the available land connections.
Ukraine is celebrating its Independence Day on Wednesday, at the same time it is exactly six months since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine on February 24. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned over the weekend that Russia “could do something particularly disgusting and violent” this week. All public gatherings were banned in the city of Kyiv, and a curfew was imposed in the second largest city in the north-east, Kharkiv. ^(AFP)
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 967,546 refugees from Ukraine have come to Germany, at least temporarily, since the start of the Russian war of aggression on February 24. This emerges from the central register of foreigners, as the ministry reports. Of the refugees registered by August 21, around 36 percent are children and young people (351,061 people under the age of 18), most of them of primary school age. (Reuters)
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda arrives in Kyiv for talks. Duda will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and hold talks on military support and other aid, his office chief Pawel Szrot said. (Reuters)
According to British estimates, Russia is working on a temporary bridge after the Ukrainian shelling of strategically important bridges over the Dnipro River. Russian troops are believed to have started positioning barges over the weekend to construct a pontoon bridge right next to the damaged Antonivsky Bridge, the Ministry of Defense in London said on Tuesday, citing intelligence information. The bridge is of central importance for supplying Russian troops in the occupied southern Ukrainian city of Cherson.
In the past few weeks, both the Russian military and the local population have been dependent on a ferry, it said. “If Russia completes the improvised bridge, it will almost certainly increase the capacity of the crossing compared to the ferry.” However, a pontoon bridge is very vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks, the ministry stressed.
Because of Ukrainian attacks, the 1.3-kilometer-long Antonivsky Bridge has hardly been usable since the end of July. This threatens the supply of Russian troops in Cherson. (dpa)
According to the Ukrainian military, Russia is continuing its attacks in the area around the largest European nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia. The general staff announced on Tuesday that there had been artillery fire and airstrikes again. The US embassy in Kyiv warned that Russia could plan increased attacks on civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days.
The 31st anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union marks Wednesday – the same day that also marks the beginning of the Russian invasion six months ago. Fears of new attacks are also fueled by Russia blaming Ukraine for the deadly bombing of the daughter of a leading nationalist. Ukraine rejects this. (Reuters)
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine and the associated tensions with NATO, the number of military encounters with Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea has increased. “Yes, we definitely notice that: We have more incidents, as we call them,” said the inspector general of the German Air Force, Ingo Gerhartz, on Tuesday in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. Russian military aircraft approached NATO airspace and were then accompanied by NATO aircraft.
Since the beginning of August, the Luftwaffe has been securing NATO airspace over the Baltic States together with air forces from Hungary and Italy. Five Eurofighters are stationed in Ämari in Estonia and are ready for action around the clock. According to the Air Force, they are to be reinforced by Spanish fighter jets in the future. Another so-called alarm squad of the Luftwaffe to defend German and NATO airspace is currently ready in Lower Saxony.
Only on Friday did a reconnaissance aircraft, accompanied by combat aircraft, fly from Kaliningrad in Russia to the Baltic Sea region, said Gerhartz. “Then let’s go up.” However, the NATO machines stayed “at a distance”. Russian flight maneuvers in international airspace are “completely fine”. At the same time, it was signaled that NATO airspace was a “red line” that Russian aircraft were not allowed to cross.
At the same time, the German air force chief emphasized that NATO could defend security in the Baltic Sea region against any attacks “in an emergency”. In this context, he also referred to the planned accession of the hitherto neutral countries Sweden and Finland to the alliance. As a result, among other things, considerable air forces would be available in the region. Overall, NATO is a “strong alliance” with which it is better not to mess. (AFP)
The CDU foreign policy expert Jürgen Hardt has spoken out against a general ban on EU visas for Russians. “I believe that a general ban on issuing visas would not be the right way,” Hardt said on Deutschlandfunk on Tuesday. In his opinion, this would encourage the Russian propaganda legend that the EU and the Germans have something against Russia and do not respect and appreciate this country. Hardt pointed out that a visa stop would require uniform rules in the Schengen area. (dpa)
The Federal Government Commissioner for Integration believes that the reception and integration of war refugees from Ukraine has worked well so far and should therefore serve as a model. The SPD politician Reem Alabali-Radovan told the German Press Agency that with immediate access to the job market and integration course as well as services from a single source from the job centers, the arrival was successful overall. “This must be the blueprint for our migration and integration policy so that we are an immigration and integration country that is up to date.”
In this context, the Minister of State once again paid tribute to the commitment of the many volunteers who helped at train stations and in emergency shelters or made room in their own homes after the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine on February 24. Reliable perspectives for the war refugees are important, “because many will stay with us for months, years or even a lifetime,” said Alabali-Radovan. (dpa)
Ukrainian soldiers captured in the Mariupol battle have accused the Russian military of severe abuse after their release from captivity. In an online press conference on Monday, former Azov regiment fighters said, among other things, that prisoners had broken bones as a result of beatings. The information provided by the former soldiers could not be independently verified.
The men were captured after the Russian takeover of Mariupol in May and later released in a prisoner exchange. One of the released soldiers spoke of observing instances of “severe torture”.
Mariupol was finally under Russian control in May after weeks of fierce fighting. At that time, the last fighters of the Azov regiment had surrendered, who for weeks had put up fierce resistance to the Russian siege of the city in the huge Azov steelworks. The Azov Regiment is a former volunteer battalion, controversial for its links to far-right extremists and labeled by Russia as a “neo-Nazi” group.
In 2014, the combat group was formally integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard. At that time, Azov members took part in the fight against Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. “They stripped us and forced us to squat naked. If one of the boys raised his head, they hit him immediately,” said Ukrainian soldier and Azov fighter Denys Tscherpouko at the press conference on Monday. Former prisoner Vladyslaw Shaivoronok spoke of cases of “severe torture”: “Some had needles stuck into their wounds, some were tortured with water,” said Shaivoronok. (AFP)
