Ukraine War: Zelenskyy promises liberation of Mariupol

International

Over a year after the start of the war in the Ukraine keep the fighting going. There is still a violent trench warfare for every meter in the town of Bakhmut. Despite numerous losses on both sides and the fact that the city would be almost uninhabitable, the Ukrainian leadership wants to hold on to the place. The reason for this is the strategic importance.

In our news blog you can read all the important news about developments in the Ukraine war.

17. March

7:01 a.m.: Zelenskyi promises liberation of Mariupol

Already at the beginning of the war, the Russian siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol began. On the anniversary of the bombing of the Mariupol theater, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Thursday that the city would be recaptured. There should also be a war crimes tribunal against Russians. “The day will come and we will liberate Mariupol,” said Zelenskyy in his daily video address. Military observers expect a Ukrainian offensive this spring. Armed aid from the West continues unabated, including with fighter jets from Poland.

March 16th

6:51 p.m .: Report: China is said to have delivered assault rifles to Russia

Chinese companies are said to have delivered around 1,000 assault rifles, drone parts and protective clothingreports the US magazine “Politico“. Between June and December 2022, deliveries are to Russia It is said to have been brought. “Politico” relies on data from the analysis company ImportGenius.

Russia is said to have also received drone parts and protective clothing from China.Image: Imago Images / Sergei Bobylev

A state-owned defense company that China North Industries Group Corporation Limited is said to have supplied the rifles to the Russian company Tekhkrim in June last year, according to the report. This should also do business with the Russian military.

10:59 a.m .: Scholz announces more continuous deliveries of weapons

Together with European partners Deutschland according to Chancellor Olaf Scholz to ensure that Ukraine continues Waffen and get equipment. This will help Kiev to hold out and defend itself, the chancellor said on Thursday in the Bundestag in a government statement for next week’s EU summit: “It is particularly important to quickly supply Ukraine with the necessary ammunition.” Together with the EU partners, Germany will decide on further measures for better and continuous supply at the European Council.

Olaf Scholz again commented on the arms deliveries to Ukraine.Image: www.imago-images.de / IMAGO/Fotostand

4.31 a.m .: Selenskyj sees Russian attack power on the verge of exhaustion

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia’s attack is on the verge of failure, thanks largely to Western aid. Weapons deliveries and other aid are all the more important at the moment. Constant pressure on Russia is still needed now that “Russian aggression is approaching the moment when it can break,” he said in his video address on Wednesday evening.

Volodymyr Zelenskyj again asked for weapons in his evening video speech.Bild: IMAGO / APAimages

March, 15

3:32 p.m .: Russia wants to recover US drones from the Black Sea

Russia’s military wants to recover the American reconnaissance drone that crashed over the Black Sea. “I don’t know if we’ll make it or not, but we have to try”, National Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev said on Russian television on Wednesday. The Russian army has the technical capabilities to do so, the military said.

Nikolai Patrushev, head of Russia’s National Security Council, claims his country has the technical capabilities for what is considered a difficult salvage operation at sea.Image: IMAGO/SNA

According to US information, the unmanned drone, which was on a routine reconnaissance flight, was intercepted and damaged by two Russian fighter jets on Tuesday before being brought down by the US military. Moscow denies that one of its planes touched the machine’s propeller.

One such American reconnaissance drone crashed over the Black Sea.Image: MH/AP / Massoud Hossaini

7.38 a.m .: Kiev defends US drones over the Black Sea

A drone dispute is currently causing a stir. The Ukrainian Air Force issued a statement following the military incident in the Black Sea. They defended the use of US reconnaissance drones there: “The Black Sea is not an inland sea of ​​Russia, as they have occupied the Sea of ​​Azov and consider it theirs,” said the spokesman for the Ukrainian air force, Yuriy Ihnat, on television in Kiev on Wednesday night. Because: Countries bordering the Black Sea are also NATO members, such as Turkey and Romania. The drones were therefore used on a legal basis.

The Black Sea borders both Russia and Ukraine. But Moscow did not like the use of drones at all. After the incident, Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov criticized that the crashed US MQ-9 Reaper drone was being used thousands of kilometers from home near the Russian border. He classifies this as a “provocation”. According to Russia, the drone collects data for the Ukrainian armed forces in order to strike against Russia. This is an “inadmissible activity,” said Antonov. The crash once again exacerbated tensions between Moscow and Washington.

Die USA had invoked international law that allows deployment over neutral waters. A new US drone is already in use in place of the one that crashed, Ihnat said in Kiev. The incident occurred on Tuesday southeast of Ukraine’s Snake Island in the Black Sea.

Apparently, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin leaned too far out of the window. In recent months he has made his political ambitions clear again and again. Above all, he emphasized the importance of his mercenary force in Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine.