Ukraine war in Newsblog | Military intelligence chief of Ukraine: Liberation later this year

Day 426 since the beginning of the war: The head of the Ukrainian military intelligence service believes that the occupied territories can still be liberated in 2023. Moscow is placing a Uniper subsidiary under state supervision. All information in the blog.

3:53 a.m.: The Russian embassy in London has accused Britain of turning Ukraine into a “radioactive dump” by using ammunition containing uranium. “With all the resulting serious consequences for the health of local residents and the environment in the region,” criticized the embassy on Twitter. The British Ministry of Defense had previously announced that it would use ammunition with a depleted uranium core.

12:35 a.m.: Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov has met with the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Kadyrov announced this on Telegram. “We discussed very important issues of an international nature. We always have something to talk about with Yevgeny, after all we have many similar interests and often do joint tasks that cannot be discussed on the phone.” The sanctions imposed by the West were also discussed. Kadyrov described this as absurd. However, he did not want to give any further details about the conversation.

12:10 a.m.: The head of the Ukrainian military intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov, sees the decisive battle in Ukraine drawing closer and expects the areas occupied by Russia to be liberated. “Soon we will attack, we will liberate everyone, we will liberate everything, we will destroy the enemy,” Budanov said in an interview with the Ukrainian news portal RBC.

A capture of Crimea would then be the end of the war, even if other areas such as the Donbass were also under Ukrainian control. The aim is to return to the 1991 borders. It is impossible to end the war without solving the territorial problems. “Ukraine will never give up its territory,” said the intelligence officer. He also sees it as possible that this goal can be achieved this year. Russia has made progress only in Soledar since December and is still fighting in Bakhmut. There, Russia gained a tactical advantage with large losses.

11:22 p.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin has placed the Russian subsidiaries of energy suppliers Uniper from Germany and Fortum Oyj from Finland under state supervision. According to a decree published on Tuesday, this is a necessary response to the threat of nationalization of Russian assets abroad. However, Uniper had already written off its shares in the Russian subsidiary before the coercive measure.

Moscow has described the freezing of Russian assets in the West as a reaction to the war of aggression against Ukraine as an “unfriendly act that violates international law”. According to the decree, should the Russian state, Russian companies or private individuals abroad be expropriated, or even be in danger, Moscow will then take over control of companies from the relevant foreign country.

10:35 p.m.: All boat and ship travel has been banned in the embattled Cherson region in southern Ukraine. The order is for the safety of the civilian population and will initially apply until martial law expires, according to a statement from the regional administration on Tuesday. Exceptions are made only for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and water protection experts. The area borders the Black Sea and is divided by the Dnipro River. The river, which is several hundred meters wide, currently also forms the front line to the Russian-occupied part of the area.

A week ago, the Russian occupiers in Henichesk on the Azov Sea confiscated more than two dozen motor boats for military use.