Day 392 since the beginning of the war: The NATO Secretary General warns of Russian plans for a war of attrition. Putin uses water as a weapon. All information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
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Selenskyj warns: War could last for years
8 p.m: The war could last for years if Europe doesn’t deliver weapons more quickly and sanctions against Russia are extended, warns Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “If Europe waits, evil has time to regroup and prepare for years of war,” he said, clearly frustrated, in a video conference with the EU summit.
The Ukrainian government has long complained that Europe is hesitant to deliver arms. European countries have promised Ukraine dozens of main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers, and ammunition deliveries are also to be accelerated. But Ukraine had recently increased the pressure on Europe to also deliver fighter jets.
Zelenskyi again called on the heads of state and government of the EU countries to deliver modern fighter jets to his country. Zelenskyy said he was grateful to Poland and Slovakia for the decision to provide Soviet MiG-29 fighter jets. “This will significantly strengthen the defense of our airspace. But we need modern aircraft.”
Slovakia: Four MiG-29 fighter jets arrived in Ukraine
2:25 p.m: Slovakia has delivered the first four of a total of 13 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. This was announced by Slovakian Defense Minister Naro Jad on Twitter on Thursday. “May they save many lives and help Ukraine defend its country and infrastructure from Putin’s aggression,” the minister said.
In addition to Slovakia, Poland has also announced plans to deliver MiG-29 jets. In the western alliance, they are the only states that want to provide fighter jets to Ukraine. Germany and the USA have repeatedly spoken out against fighter jet deliveries.
Hungary would not arrest Putin on national territory
2:39 p.m.: Hungary would not arrest Vladimir Putin on its territory. This was stated by Chancellor Gergely Gulyas at a press conference in Budapest on Thursday. The Russian President had been issued with an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC). “Hungary never proclaimed the ICC statute,” Gulyas said. It contradicts the Hungarian constitution. The President was therefore unable to countersign it, he added.
The ICC in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes in Ukraine last Friday. Hungary’s right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban maintains a relatively good relationship with the Kremlin ruler.
Hungary signed the Rome Statute of the ICC in 1999, ratified it in 2001 and deposited the relevant documents at the seat of the court in the same year. At the same time, changing conservative presidents failed to countersign the ratification law. The ICC regards Hungary as a signatory state and is therefore bound by the statute. The matter is controversial among Hungarian lawyers.
Zelenskyy visits recaptured Kherson region in southern Ukraine
1:26 p.m.: A day after a visit to the front near Bakhmut in the east of his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson, which was partly recaptured from Russia. “Working visit to the Kherson region. In the village of Posad-Pokrovskye, where houses and civilian infrastructure were damaged as a result of the Russian invasion,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on online networks on Thursday. He “spoke to the locals about their problems and needs.”
Pictures circulated by the President’s office showed the badly damaged town, which had been occupied by Russia until Russian troops withdrew in November. Accordingly, during Zelenskyj’s visit, the focus was on reconstruction in the Cherson region. The Ukrainian head of state also visited a power plant that had been severely damaged by Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy plants.
