DrThe mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, has warned of further Russian aggression if Ukraine stops fighting. „This war will continue to spread if Ukraine abandons its resistance to Russia,” Klitschko said in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung newspaper.The Daily MirrorPutin wants to rebuild the “Soviet Empire.” “My message to Germany is: A large part of Germany also belongs to the Soviet Union. Putin worked for years as a KGB agent in East Germany. Putin’s Russia will go as far as we allow it to go. Ukraine also defends European values.
Regarding the left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht’s calls for peace negotiations and her reference to the Kremlin’s threats to use nuclear weapons, Klitschko said: „The Russians threaten their nuclear button like terrorists. And do not negotiate with terrorists.”
In the interview, the mayor reiterated that Russia must first withdraw all forces from Ukraine before negotiations can begin. Regarding possible settlements, he said: “We are ready to discuss and find compromise solutions, but at the moment a quarter of Ukraine is occupied by Russian units. Handing over regions like Luhansk or Donetsk to Russia is unacceptable.
Klitschko described the situation in the besieged town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine as very difficult. “We receive information that 1,000 Russians die there every day, but human lives do not really matter to Putin. He has huge reserves and sends new units without stopping. Our side also suffers huge losses. Every day there are dozens of cases when we lose our soldiers,” Klitschko explained. I’m always at funerals.”
All developments in the live stream:
09:39 – Scholz announced the continuation of arms deliveries to Ukraine
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Social Democratic Party) announced the delivery of more weapons to Ukraine in cooperation with other EU countries. Schulz said Thursday in the Bundestag during a government statement on next week’s EU summit that Germany will ensure, together with its European partners, that Ukraine receives weapons and equipment so that it can hold on and defend itself.
„It is especially important to quickly provide Ukraine with the necessary ammunition,” Schultz said. „At the European Council, we will decide to take further action with our EU partners in order to achieve better and continuous supply.” Germany is ready to open its procurement projects to other member states. Germany is already providing extensive arms aid to Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia.
09:00 – current forward track
08:49 – London: The Russian offensive in Wohledar is losing momentum
According to British intelligence services, the Russian offensive on the eastern Ukrainian city of Wohlidar may have slowed down. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in its daily briefing on Thursday that the attack was part of a series of failed and very costly Russian attacks in the past three months.
The Russian setbacks are due, among other things, to the successful Ukrainian deployment of a system known in English as the Remote Anti-Armor Mine System (RAAM). According to information, anti-tank mines can be deployed at a distance of up to 17 kilometers from the launch site. In some cases, the British said, Ukraine dropped these units over and behind advancing Russian units, causing chaos as the Russian forces retreated.
07:16 – „We have video evidence of all this,” the US Chief of Staff threatens the Russians
After a US military drone crashes over the Black Sea, the US government may want to release footage of the accident. „We are still reviewing the videos and images to see what we can release,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Washington (local time) on Wednesday. The United States can use this material to substantiate its claim that a Russian fighter jet collided with a US military drone in the accident. The Russians denied responsibility for the incident and accused the Americans of provocation.
According to American information, the drone collided with a Russian fighter jet in international airspace over the Black Sea on Tuesday. The US military said two Russian fighter jets had begun an intercept maneuver. One of the fighter jets hit the propeller of the American drone. The United States complained that the Russian pilots behaved „unprofessionally”, „unsafely” and „recklessly”.
„We have video evidence of all of this,” said Mark Milley, the US chief of staff. In response to a question about whether the Russian pilots acted on purpose, he said that the interception maneuver and aggressive action was done on purpose by the Russian side. It remains to be seen if the fighter jet deliberately hit the plane and forced it to the ground.
5:29 am – Moscow accuses the United States of spying after the drone crash
According to information from Moscow, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told his American colleague Lloyd Austin that the increase in US intelligence activities against Russia was one of the reasons for the drone incident over the Black Sea. The Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, after the two ministers spoke about a phone.
The Defense Department also warned that it would respond „proportionately” to any future US „provocations”. She added that Russia „is not interested in such a development of events, but will continue to respond proportionately to all provocations.” The United States accused Russia, on Tuesday, of crashing one of its Reaper reconnaissance drones by colliding with a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea. Russia denies premeditated action.
05:00 – Zelensky: Continuous pressure on Russia is required
Thanks to Western help, Zelensky believes Russia’s offensive is about to fail. But he demanded that continued pressure on Russia is necessary. In his video address, Zelensky also addressed the decisions made on Wednesday at another meeting of the so-called Ramstein format. Arms shipments to Kiev are coordinated via this coordination — named after the US Air Force base at Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate, which has been the site of several meetings with Ukraine. He indicated that it was decided to provide ammunition and anti-aircraft weapons. Recently, reports of ammunition shortages have increased from both sides.
04:00 am – Strack-Zimmermann accuses Russia of extortion in the grain deal
The chair of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, has accused Russia of extortion over the grain deal with Ukraine. „Russia now wants to blackmail the West according to the slogan: if we don’t impose certain sanctions, if some things are not mitigated, we will prevent ships from sailing again,” the FDP politician said on the Podimo podcast. of things”., which is produced by the dpa news agency. 190 million people have relied on the convention.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative agreement came in July 2022 brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and provides for the release of Ukrainian ports for grain exports, among other things. It was initially valid for 120 days and was once extended by 120 days – this is still in effect through Sunday.
„Kick-off” is WELT’s daily news podcast. Top topic analyzed by WELT editors and today’s dates. Subscribe to the podcast at SpotifyAnd Apple PodcastAnd Amazon MusicAnd Google Podcast or directly via RSS feed.