live blog
Chancellor Scholz and Ukrainian President Zelenskyj have been honored with the Global Citizen Award. Ukraine reports two deaths after Russian shelling of Kherson. All developments in the live blog.
According to Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, there is still no decision on a possible delivery of “Taurus” cruise missiles to Ukraine. “This is a highly specialized technological device. That’s why we have to examine it very carefully to see how it can be used,” said the Green politician common Morning magazine from ARD and ZDF. “We are in the middle of clarifying these questions.”
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia hit Ukraine with heavy air strikes early this morning. In the capital Kiev, there was an explosion in the southeastern district of Darnytskyj, and falling debris damaged residential buildings, Ukrainian media reported.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko spoke of seven injured. Photos showed how injured people were brought to safety.
According to Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, a hotel was hit in the central Ukrainian city of Cherkasy. Here too, seven people were injured and ten others were brought to safety, Klymenko said on Telegram. There were two victims in Kharkiv in the east of the country.
Rocket fire was also reported from Lviv in the west of the country.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
Belgium is considering giving Ukraine F-16 fighter jets. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told the Belgian broadcaster VRT on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York that he had asked the Defense Ministry to examine “what benefits our F-16s could have in Ukraine.” “We have to consider all options.” Belgium is replacing its F-16 jets with F-35 fighter jets.
According to the Defense Ministry, Ukraine’s F-16s are too old for combat missions. De Croo noted, however, that the aircraft could still be useful, for example in training pilots. Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands have said in recent months that they will supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets as soon as its air force is ready to deploy the machines.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj have been honored with the Global Citizen Award for their contributions to international cooperation. The two received the “Global Citizen Award” from the Atlantic Council, a non-governmental organization that promotes transatlantic relations, at a gala dinner in New York on Wednesday evening.
Scholz said he was honored to receive the award along with Zelensky. “Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine is being fought in Europe – but it is also an attack on the fundamental principles of our international order,” he said. The Chancellor once again promised Zelensky support for the war against the Russian aggressors for as long as it was necessary.
Zelensky dedicated the award to the soldiers fighting against the Russian invaders and to the children and women killed by “Russian terrorists.” But he also dedicated it to all the “courageous states that are at our side and have supported us” – as well as all the people who fought for freedom around the world, like Ukraine.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz with laudator Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization.
According to Ukrainian reports, two people were killed in Russian shelling in the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine. “The Russian army has bombed the residential areas of Kherson,” regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on the Telegram online service. So far, two civilian deaths are known. In addition, four other injured people were taken to hospital, and a fifth injured person was treated on site, Prokudin continued. In the Kherson region, Russian troops have controlled areas south of the Dnipro River since their withdrawal from the capital of the same name last year. The city of Kherson is regularly bombed.
Last week, Ukrainian authorities ordered evacuations in the region. The regional defense council decided that families with children had to be evacuated from places “under constant enemy fire,” explained Prokudin.
Explosions can be heard in the Ukrainian capital Kiev following a warning of air strikes, eyewitnesses have reported to the Reuters news agency. The city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, wrote on Telegram that the defense forces were deployed.
Poland’s Prime Minister Morawiecki may have suggested in an interview that his country could stop supplying arms to Ukraine. The background to the statement, which triggered a lot of speculation, is apparently the grain dispute.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva drew a positive conclusion after his first personal meeting with Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelensky. “We had a good conversation about the importance of paths to peace and agreed to always maintain open dialogue between our countries,” Lula wrote on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, after the meeting in New York .
Zelensky wrote: “This was an important meeting with Lula. After our honest and constructive discussion, we have instructed our diplomatic teams to develop the next steps for our bilateral relations and peace efforts. The representatives of Brazil will continue to participate in the meetings on Ukrainian peace efforts participate.”
Russian air defense units destroyed 19 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and the annexed Crimean peninsula and three more over Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
The US government is calling on Congress to approve billions of dollars in additional aid for Ukraine. “The costs would be exorbitantly higher if Russian President Vladimir Putin could take control of Ukraine and advance to the NATO border,” says the spokesman for the National Security Council.
At a meeting in New York, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) once again promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj continued support in the defensive fight against Russia. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said after the 30-minute conversation that Zelensky had thanked him for the military aid, especially for the artillery and air defense. It is not clear from the statement whether the conversation was also about the long-range Taurus cruise missile desired by Ukraine.
According to Hebestreit, Scholz also promised Zelenskyj help for the Ukrainian population in the coming winter. The two scheduled the next reconstruction conference for Ukraine for June 11, 2024. Together they called for the resumption of the grain agreement with Russia in order to improve the global food situation.
According to Ukrainian sources, several people were killed in attacks on the city of Toretsk, north of Donetsk. The trade dispute between Ukraine and Poland continues to simmer. Wednesday’s developments to read.