Dhe Ukraine is celebrating its Independence Day today, Wednesday – at the same time it is exactly six months since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24th. All public gatherings have been banned in the capital Kyiv, and a curfew has been imposed in the second largest city of Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine.
Independence Day is an important date for Ukrainians – “and therefore unfortunately also for our enemy,” said President Volodymyr Zelenskyj. There was nervousness in Kyiv because of fears of Russian rocket attacks on large cities. Selenskyj called on the population to stick to the curfews and to get to safety in the event of an air alarm. “Remember, we should all experience victory together,” he said.
31 years ago, on August 24, 1991, the then Soviet Republic of Ukraine declared its independence after the failed coup by conservative forces against Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev.
Selenskyj described the defensive struggle against Russian aggression in martial terms. With the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Russians decided to occupy his country, he told journalists at the conclusion of the so-called Crimea Platform. “When they made that decision in 2014, the world didn’t just punch them in the face, and so they went on and on and on. But we’ll kick them in the face.” With its attacks and acts of violence, Russia is showing that it doesn’t want to negotiate.
All developments in the live ticker:
08:30 – London: War against Ukraine costly and damaging
Britain gave Russia a bad report after six months of war. “Operationally, Russia is suffering from a lack of ammunition, vehicles and personnel,” said the Ministry of Defense in London, citing intelligence information. Morale is poor in many areas and the army is severely restricted. Russia’s diplomatic power has declined and the long-term economic prospects are bleak. “The Donbass offensive is making minimal progress and Russia expects a heavy Ukrainian counterattack,” it said. The British conclusion: “After six months, Russia’s war has proved costly and strategically damaging.”
08:10 – Melnyk praises Germany
Six months after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the outgoing Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, Andriy Melnyk, praised German support for his country. “Germany has made a quantum leap in these six months of war,” said Melnyk in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”.
“When I think that we argued about helmets at the beginning, today Germany also supplies heavy weapons, and that’s a good thing,” said Melnyk. Unfortunately, negotiations and peace can only be achieved through military successes in Kiev.
In the interview, Melnyk did not address his earlier drastic criticism of Berlin and his sometimes insulting statements about Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). He merely said that he was committed to the fact that German politics was “shaken up” from his own “dream that everything is fine”. Germany is now also aware that everything must be done to help Ukraine.
07:22 – Stoltenberg advertises further arms deliveries
Six months after the start of the Ukraine war, NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg is urging the member states of the defense alliance to supply more arms to Kyiv. “I appeal to all NATO allies to support Ukraine with weapons more quickly than before. Ukraine has the will to defend itself. But the Ukrainian armed forces also need the means to do so, and we have the means. The NATO allies should urgently do more so that Ukraine can survive as a sovereign independent nation,” Stoltenberg told WELT.
06:16 – Lambsdorff warns of war fatigue
Six months after the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, FDP foreign policy expert Alexander Graf Lambsdorff has warned that the West is losing interest in the country and is becoming war-weary. “That can happen,” says Lambsdorff of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. “But that must not happen.”
The values that are also fundamental to Germany are being defended in Ukraine: a life of security and prosperity, the renunciation of violence, the peaceful coexistence of peoples, respect for borders, said the FDP politician. Russia is throwing all international rules overboard – and that also affects Germany, said Lambsdorff. “Hardly any other country is so dependent on adhering to the norms of international coexistence as Germany.”
5:12 am – Kremlin critics arrested in Russia
The Russian Kremlin critic and former mayor of Yekaterinburg, Yevgeny Roisman, has been arrested for his statements on the war in Ukraine, according to the TASS news agency. The Russian TASS reports, citing security services, that he is being investigated for “discrediting the Russian army”. Russia has so far prosecuted several activists who described or criticized Russia’s actions as war.
12:20 a.m. – US wants to provide another three billion dollars in military aid
The US will provide Ukraine with military aid amounting to another three billion dollars (about three billion euros). The official White House announcement is expected to come on Wednesday, Ukraine’s Independence Day, exactly six months after Russia’s war of aggression against the country began, a US official said Tuesday. The funds can be used for weapons and training, among other things.
11:03 pm – Ukraine: Would never attack own nuclear power plant
Ukraine has denied Russia’s accusation of attacking its own Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. “No one in their right mind could imagine that Ukraine would attack a nuclear power plant that faces a huge risk of nuclear catastrophe and is located on its own territory,” Ukraine’s Ambassador to the UN, Serhiy Kislizia, said in one UN Security Council meeting in New York. Russia is making the question of nuclear safety a “farce, a circus”.
The Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia, occupied by Russian troops, is still in operation despite the shelling a few days ago (archive photo)
Source: dpa/Uncredited
According to its own statements, Russia had previously forwarded footage of the alleged Ukrainian shelling of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant to the most important UN bodies.
10:36 p.m. – Ukraine thanks Germany for promised weapons
Ukraine is grateful for the arms deliveries worth 500 million euros announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “We are grateful for this commitment,” said the outgoing Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk to ZDF, according to the editorial version.
However, it is “about weapons that will not be available until next year”. Melnyk spoke out for a quick delivery of previously announced weapons. At the moment it is “about every day before winter” when his country has to show: “We can win this war. Only then is there a chance for negotiations and a lasting peace.”
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