Bundestag votes for “long-range weapon systems” – uncertainty about Taurus

According to official reports, at least one person has been killed by Russian shelling in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Nine more people, including four teenagers, were injured in the village of Kostiantynopilske, the military governor of the Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin, wrote on Telegram. He added that 13 enemy shells hit the town and published photos of destroyed houses. Earlier in the day, the Russian army announced that it had captured another location in Donetsk – after recently occupying the city of Avdiivka.

Against the backdrop of ongoing protests by Polish farmers on the border with Ukraine, the government in Warsaw wants to provide more protection at border crossings. “We will include the border crossings with Ukraine and certain road and railway sections in the list of critical infrastructure,” announced Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The practical consequence of this should be that traffic at the border can flow without delays or hindrances, said Tusk.

The protests by Polish farmers are directed against EU agricultural policy, but also against the import of cheap agricultural products from Ukraine. On Tuesday, farmers blocked traffic junctions across the country and dumped grain from Ukrainian freight wagons at the Medyka border crossing. Tusk sharply criticized the fact that anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian slogans had appeared during the farmers’ protests.

Latvia has decided to ban imports of grain and other agricultural and feed products from Russia and Belarus. The parliament in Riga voted on Thursday for a ban on the import of such goods from the two neighboring countries, which in the future will no longer be allowed to be imported from third countries to remain in the Baltic EU and NATO country. Transit via Latvia should still be possible.

According to parliament, the change in the law is intended to prevent Russia and Belarus and their companies from generating additional income from exporting their products to Latvia, which can be used to finance the war in Ukraine.

The Bundestag has called on the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to provide Ukraine with “additionally necessary long-range weapon systems” for the defensive campaign against Russia. A corresponding motion was passed in the Bundestag on Thursday with the votes of the SPD, Greens and FDP. 382 MPs voted in favor, 284 against, and there were two abstentions.

However, there is still no clarity on the issue of supplying Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. For many politicians from the Greens and FDP, “long-range weapon systems” also include the Taurus missiles. The deputy parliamentary group leader of the SPD, Gabriela Heinrich, said in the Bundestag that the wording in the application “does not necessarily” mean the Taurus. A motion from the CDU/CSU opposition explicitly mentioning Taurus rockets had previously been rejected.

Ukraine is urgently asking for Taurus cruise missiles with which it wants to cut off supplies for the Russian troops at the front. Critics of the Taurus delivery, however, fear that the missiles could hit Russian territory, which would potentially drag Germany into the conflict. In their application, the three traffic light factions struggled for a long time over the wording about Taurus – the SPD ultimately prevented the cruise missiles from being explicitly mentioned.

Russian troops have taken the village of Pobieda in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow. The armed forces have also advanced in other areas of the region. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry contradicted the Russian account. The Ukrainian troops repelled attacks near the village and continued to “keep the enemy at bay.” The fiercest fighting is currently taking place in this area.

The Ukrainian army says it has killed several dozen Russian soldiers in the occupied part of the Kherson region. A spokeswoman said on television that up to 60 occupiers had been hit by rockets at a training area. The army did not comment on the weapon system used. The information cannot be verified and the Russian side did not comment.

The Bundestag has rejected the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. A motion from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group did not receive a majority. A further proposal from the traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP on the topic is scheduled to be voted on later in the day. This requires the federal government to supply additional, long-range weapon systems. However, the Taurus cruise missiles are not explicitly mentioned.

Around 1.15 million Ukrainians recently lived in Germany – a share of 1.4 percent of the total population. The Federal Statistical Office reported this on Thursday in Wiesbaden with reference to a special evaluation based on preliminary data that reflects the status of October. According to the information, 61 percent of the people who immigrated from Ukraine in 2022 and 2023 were female, and around a third are minors.

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called on Russia to immediately end the war in Ukraine. At the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro, the Green politician made her appeal directly to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, who was sitting three seats away from her. Baerbock said: “If you care about human lives, if you care about your own people, Russian children and young people, you must end this war now.” If Moscow stopped the war today, the path to peace and justice tomorrow would be wide open.

According to the chief military coordinator of Ukraine aid, Major General Christian Freuding, the Russian army is currently determining the fighting. With the exception of the Avdiivka area, the front line, which is over 1,000 kilometers long, remains relatively unchanged, but the most intense fighting takes place in a limited area. “Russia is largely in the initiative along this front line,” said the major general of the German Press Agency.

Both sides aimed attacks behind the enemy lines, explained Freuding. Russia is firing on energy and defense infrastructure, but is also taking targeted action against population centers. “The Ukrainian attacks in depth are aimed primarily at command facilities, logistical facilities and airfields and special individual targets such as the Black Sea Fleet,” he said.

According to Freuding, the weapons supplied from Germany make a decisive contribution to ensuring that the Ukrainian armed forces can successfully defend themselves. Specifically, he named the self-propelled howitzer 2000 and the Leopard 2 main battle tank. “It is clear that the Ukrainians need stronger support because the consumption of ammunition and weapon systems is very high.”

After the Russian capture of the city of Avdiivka, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies to provide quicker help. He again expressed dissatisfaction over the slowdown in Western aid to the Ukrainian war effort, without directly mentioning the United States. “We have to act faster. That means we have to get rid of all the bureaucracy. Otherwise we have no chance,” he told US broadcaster Fox News.

US President Joe Biden’s demand to extend a large aid package for Ukraine has so far failed due to disputes in the US Congress.

The leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, has called on EU countries to direct their ammunition production towards Ukraine. As in the Covid pandemic, all EU production must now be bundled and delivered to Ukraine in a major effort. Weber told the newspapers of the Funke media group. In his view, existing contracts for global deliveries to countries that are currently not urgently dependent on ammunition deliveries should be examined. The delivery of German Taurus cruise missiles is also overdue, said the EPP chairman.

The Russian forces that captured the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka last week are continuing to advance on the surrounding towns and villages, according to the Ukrainian armed forces. Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of Ukraine’s third assault brigade, wrote on the Telegram news portal: “The situation on the Avdiivka front is quite clear. The Russians will advance as far as their forces allow, depending on how many survive.”

Russian troops took Avdiivka after months of bombardment. It was the biggest Russian success since the capture of Bakhmut in May 2023.

Good morning! In our Ukraine news we will continue to keep you up to date on developments in the war in Ukraine. All important news will appear here throughout the day.

Reporting on the Ukraine War

Reporting from Ukraine is difficult because there are few independent media representatives on site due to the fighting. Information comes primarily from the Ukrainian government and the Ministry of Defense in Russia, but these are hardly checked can.

Sources: including AFP, dpa, Reuters, MDR