Day 392 since the war began: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces a military response to Russian drone strikes. The IAEA is concerned about safety at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. All information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
Stoltenberg: “Putin plans for more war”
5.01 a.m.: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has promised the West that it will have to arm Ukraine with weapons to fight the Russian invasion for a long time to come. Russian President Vladimir Putin has no immediate plans for peace in Ukraine, he told the British newspaper Guardian (Thursday). “President Putin is not planning for peace, he is planning for more war.” The West must therefore be prepared to continue supplying Kiev with weapons for a long time to come.
Russia is increasing military industrial production for its “war of attrition” and is reaching out to “authoritarian regimes like Iran or North Korea” to get more weapons, Stoltenberg said. The fierce fighting for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine showed that Russia was prepared to “deploy thousands and thousands of soldiers and accept many casualties for minimal gains”.
Nuclear Authority: Safety at Zaporizhia NPP in Precarious State
2.30 a.m.: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to warn of a dangerous situation in the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, which is occupied by Russian troops. “Nuclear safety at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant remains in a precarious state,” said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Wednesday, according to a statement from his organization. He added: “I again call for commitment from all sides to ensure nuclear safety and protection of the power plant.”
For three weeks now, the nuclear power plant has only been supplied with electricity via a remaining external main power line, said Grossi. If it gets damaged, it will lead to a total failure of the external power supply. The last remaining emergency power line in the nuclear power plant, which has been damaged since March 1, remains switched off and is currently being repaired. “This shows again how endangered nuclear safety is in Europe’s largest nuclear power plant,” said Grossi.
Russian partisan group claims responsibility for fire in secret service building
12:45 a.m.: A Russian partisan group called “Black Bridge” has claimed on Telegram to have been involved in an explosion in a building of the Russian secret service FSB. Four people died in Rostov last week. Russian authorities had spoken of a short circuit. “The officials said that there was a short in the wiring and the fuel tanks exploded. They almost didn’t lie, but there are nuances,” the post reads. Allegedly, an accomplice of the movement had his fingers in the pie.
Zelenskyj after visiting the front: “There is hope”
12:03 a.m.: After a visit to the frontline areas in the east of the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of great suffering, but also of hope. “It is painful to see the cities in the Donbass, to which Russia has brought terrible suffering and ruin,” he said in his evening video address on Wednesday. There are “hourly air raid sirens, a constant threat of shelling, a constant threat to life.” But despite the severe destruction and suffering, there is hope in these areas. “You can feel them,” said Zelenskyj.
“We will do everything so that the blue and yellow colors can continue their liberation movement and normal life can return to our whole country, from Donetsk to the border,” he said, alluding to the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Selenskyj had visited the embattled Bakhmut and the city of Kharkiv.
Lack of device? Russia apparently takes old tanks out of storage
8:43 p.m.: Russia is said to have taken mothballed Soviet-era tanks out of storage. This is reported by the “Conflict Intelligence Team”, an independent group from Russia that conducts investigative research. The corresponding report refers to photos that are said to have been leaked to the portal.
