Liveblog: ++ Ukraine reports “considerable” Russian losses ++

The Ukrainian commander-in-chief writes on Telegram about the advances of his and the losses of enemy forces. Russian authorities have banned the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta Europa” from working in the country. All developments in the live blog.

Because of the planned transfer of Russian Wagner mercenaries to neighboring Belarus, Poland wants to secure its eastern border even more. It is planned to increase the number of uniformed forces stationed there and to increase the number of “different types of obstacles and fortifications to protect our border in the event of an attack,” said Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski after a special session of a government committee for security and security defense issues. According to Kaczynski, Poland has information that up to 8,000 Wagner fighters could find accommodation in Belarus.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius sees the armed uprising by the Wagner mercenary army as a sign of cracks in the power apparatus of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I think you don’t have to be a Russia expert to realize that a situation that can thrive so much in such a short time is a clear signal that things are going wrong there and that there are cracks exist,” said the SPD politician in Washington.

He responded to a journalist’s question about how shattered he thought the Russian president was. Pistorius added that it was not yet possible to assess how deep these cracks were and what consequences they would have for Russia, for the country’s internal stability and for Putin. There is also “no clear, consolidated picture of the situation,” he said.

The US government sees Putin’s power damaged after the Wagner uprising. A Russia expert does not believe in a quick end to the Russian president. However, Ukraine could benefit from the internal struggles.

After the rocket attack on a restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, a suspected man behind the attack has been arrested. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in a video speech. “Anyone who helps Russian terrorists destroy lives deserves the maximum penalty,” the Ukrainian prime minister warned.

After the Russian rocket attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the death toll has risen to twelve. Another body was recovered from the rubble of the restaurant destroyed in the attack, the rescue services said. According to the information, three children are among the dead, including two 14-year-old twin sisters. 60 other people were injured.

On Tuesday, Russian rockets hit Kramatorsk, one hitting a busy restaurant in the city center.

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya does not believe that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has now found a safe haven in her homeland after his failed uprising in Russia. Prigozhin “humiliated” Kremlin boss Putin, who then made it clear that he would not forgive traitors, she told DW.

If Putin gives the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko the order to get rid of Prigozhin, then he will do so, she said.

According to the archbishop of the Moscow diocese, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser and a papal envoy mainly discussed humanitarian issues at their meeting. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi focused their talks on refugees, especially children, Cardinal Paolo Pezzi said, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. The meeting went well. He did not give any further details.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had previously stated that the two representatives would discuss “the situation surrounding the conflict in Ukraine and, of course, possible ways of finding a political and diplomatic solution”. Russia “greatestly appreciates the Vatican’s efforts and initiatives to find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis.”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has announced an official protest note from his country to Russia after the Russian rocket attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Krematorsk. Russia “attacked three defenseless Colombian civilians,” Petro tweeted. In doing so, it violated the internationally binding rules of war. His country’s foreign ministry will send a diplomatic note of protest to Moscow.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, at least eleven people, including three children, were killed in a Russian rocket attack on a restaurant in Krematorsk on Tuesday evening. At least 60 other people were injured.

According to the Pentagon, Poland is buying “Patriot” air defense systems from the United States worth up to $15 billion (13.7 billion euros). The US agency DSCA, which is responsible for arms exports, announced that the deal included up to 48 rocket launchers and up to 644 rockets as well as radar and control components of the system. The US State Department, which oversees arms export contracts, approved the purchase.

The proposed purchase will increase Poland’s anti-missile defense capability and contribute to Poland’s military goals by improving capability and “further enhancing interoperability with the United States and other allies,” the agency said. The systems are to be used to defend against high-speed missiles and aircraft.

Russian authorities have declared the online newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europa an “undesirable” organization. This bans the Kremlin-critical medium from operating in Russia. According to the AP news agency, the latest act of continued suppression of independent media was justified by the general prosecutor’s office on the grounds that the medium creates and disseminates “material detrimental to Russia’s interests”. The classification as “undesirable” makes the online newspaper’s work illegal within the country and exposes its journalists and financiers to the risk of prosecution.

According to the sources, the speech was “false information about alleged widespread violations of the rights and freedoms of citizens in Russia, accusations against our country of unleashing a war of aggression against Ukraine, committing war crimes against the civilian population and carrying out repressions”. . Novaya Gazeta Europa was set up by former journalists from the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose license was revoked last year. It operates from outside Russia.

According to their commander-in-chief, General Valeriy Zalushnyi, the Ukrainian armed forces “seized the strategic initiative”. The Ukrainian Defense Forces are continuing their offensive actions “and we have made progress,” Zalushnyi wrote on Telegram. “The enemy is putting up strong resistance, suffering significant casualties.”

According to Zalushnyj, he held a conversation with US Chief of Staff Mark Milley on the subject. It was also about the necessary weapons and mine clearance equipment. From the Ukrainian side, large mined areas were cited as an obstacle to an advance.

Secretary of Defense Pistorius has stressed the importance of working with the US. According to information from Kiev, more than 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in the EU.