live blog
According to Ukrainian information, around 30 men have died trying to escape abroad since the start of the war. Britain reports an increase in civilian deaths and injuries in Ukraine, citing the UN. All developments in the live blog.
The Austrian oil, gas and chemicals company OMV has initiated arbitration proceedings against Gazprom in connection with its participation in a Russian gas field. OMV boss Alfred Stern said this to the Austrian news agency APA. It’s about “preserving OMV’s contractually agreed rights.”
The partially state-owned company based in Vienna has a stake of almost 25 percent in the West Siberian Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field, but was expropriated by Russia by decision.
OMV then initiated several arbitration proceedings, said Stern. Gazprom, in turn, wants to prevent this. The state-owned gas giant has also filed a lawsuit against OMV and other energy suppliers such as CEZ and Slovakia’s ZSE, according to Russian court documents.
According to US military experts, Russia’s armed forces can now choose their further direction of attack thanks to previous successes in the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region. To the west of the recently conquered small town of Avdiivka, there are now several tactical options for Moscow to expand the offensive, wrote the experts at the ISW think tank in Washington.
The Russian command has the choice of either advancing further west to the industrial city of Pokrovsk or turning north to intensify the attack on Chasiv Yar.
According to Ukrainian officials, the death toll in the Russian missile attack on Odessa has risen to five and the number of injured to 32. There had previously been talk of four dead and 28 injured.
Regional Governor Oleh Kiper wrote on the messaging app Telegram that in addition to those killed in the attack, one man died of a stroke attributed to the attack.
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.
According to the border guard, around 30 men in Ukraine have died since the war began in 2022 while trying to avoid being drafted into the army by illegally fleeing abroad. Some died while trying to cross a mountain river, others in the mountains, Ukrainian border guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko told the Ukrinform news agency in the evening. “Every day there are attempts to cross the border illegally,” said the spokesman.
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.
“Most of these attempts take place outside the border checkpoints on the border with Moldova and Romania. The largest number using forged documents is recorded on the border with Poland.” According to the border guard, 24 men died trying to cross the Tisa River on the Ukrainian border with Romania.
As the British Ministry of Defense posted on its X account, the United Nations counted 604 civilians who were said to have been killed or wounded in Ukraine in the month of March. This is an increase of 20 percent compared to the previous month.
The British Ministry of Defense has been publishing daily information on the progress of the war since the war against Ukraine began in February 2022. Moscow accuses London of disinformation.
As the federal government announced, a second “Skynex” anti-aircraft system, almost 30,000 rounds of ammunition for the “Gepard” anti-aircraft tank and ammunition for the Iris-T system were delivered to Ukraine. Russia recently increased its air strikes on Ukrainian targets with rockets, cruise missiles, drones and glide bombs. In addition to the delivery of “Marder” infantry fighting vehicles, Germany is trying to take into account the need for anti-aircraft defense with its new armaments package.
The third “Patriot” anti-aircraft system, which was promised in mid-April, was not on the updated list of German military aid. 7,500 155 artillery shells, ammunition for the “Leopard 2” main battle tank and 3,000 anti-tank hand weapons were also delivered. The Ukrainian army also received another “Biber” bridge-laying tank, an engineer tank, nine mine-clearing plows and nine M1070 “Oshkosh” heavy-duty semi-trailers.
Despite an increase in Western arms aid after a months-long break, Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia, says it still needs weapons and ammunition. The daily Russian missile attacks, the daily attacks on the front could be stopped, said President Volodymyr Zelensky in his evening video message. “But to do this, the Ukrainian army depends on sufficient support from its partners.”
The partner countries have the weapons systems that Ukraine urgently needs, Zelensky continued. He particularly mentioned US-made “Patriot” anti-aircraft systems and 155 mm caliber artillery shells. In a conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Zelensky confirmed that the first promised arms deliveries from the USA had already arrived. “But the process needs to be accelerated,” he said.
At least two people have been killed in Odessa by Russian attacks. Polish farmers have cleared all blockades at the border crossings with Ukraine. Monday’s developments to read.