live blog
Russian attacks in Ukraine left at least four dead. According to Russian agencies, President Putin has claimed that F16 fighter jets would not change anything for Ukraine. All developments in the live blog.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has no plans to attack a NATO country. Although the transatlantic military alliance has expanded eastward toward Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has no plans to attack any NATO state, including Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic.
“We have no aggressive intentions towards these states,” Putin said in a speech to Russian air force pilots, according to a transcript released by the presidential office. “The idea that we will attack any other country – Poland, the Baltic states and the Czechs are also afraid – is complete nonsense.”
The Ukrainian military says it shot down 26 of 28 combat drones in renewed Russian air strikes overnight. Russian Iranian-made drones were destroyed over parts of eastern, southern and southeastern Ukraine, the air force said.
In the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, two women were injured when drone debris hit a residential area in the regional capital of the same name. In the eastern Kharkiv region, a restaurant, a shop and offices were damaged by debris from three drones. The Air Force said Russia also used several types of missiles in the night attack, without giving any details.
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.
Hatched: territories occupied by Russia
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder can still imagine that his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin can contribute to ending the war in Ukraine. “We have worked together sensibly for many years. Maybe that can still help to find a negotiated solution, I don’t see any other solution,” said Schröder in an interview with the dpa news agency.
Schröder has been friends with Putin since he was chancellor from 1998 to 2005 and continues to work for the predominantly Russian companies that run the Nord Stream pipelines through the Baltic Sea. Although he described the Russian attack on Ukraine as a “fatal mistake,” he nevertheless did not break away from Putin. The SPD leadership therefore excluded him, but a party expulsion procedure against him failed.
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
The Russian Foreign Ministry sees NATO as preparing its allies for a conflict with Moscow. The RIA news agency quotes the ministry as saying that NATO’s actions pose additional risks to Russia’s security. The reason for the statement is NATO’s activities in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region. In this context, the ministry mentioned Romania’s plans to expand a military airport in Constanta.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the delivery of F16 fighter jets to Ukraine will not change the situation on the battlefield. Several Russian news agencies quoted the president as saying these words as he delivered a speech to military pilots at a meeting north of Moscow. However, the fighter jets could carry nuclear weapons, which Moscow must take into account in its military planning, Putin said. He raised the issue after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced that the planes would arrive in Ukraine in the coming months.
According to authorities, at least four people were killed and around 30 others injured in Russian attacks on the south and east of Ukraine. At least one person died and 19 others were injured when a guided missile hit several residential buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv alone. In view of the wave of attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj called for additional air defense missiles and fighter jets to be delivered by Western allies.
According to regional governor Oleg Sinegubow, four children were among those injured in the Russian attacks on Kharkiv. For the first time since the beginning of the war, Russia has attacked Kharkiv with a guided missile, and the number of victims could continue to rise, explained Sinegubow.
39 Nobel Prize winners warn heads of state and government in an open letter: Putin’s regime represents “a threat to humanity.” Ukrainian authorities report attacks on Kharkiv. Wednesday’s developments to read.