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British Foreign Minister Cameron has promised Ukraine help “for as long as necessary.” According to the US Army, Congress has doubled spending on 155mm caliber ammunition. All developments in the live blog.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wants to resolutely counter Russian cyber attacks in Germany. “We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated by the Russian regime,” said Faeser in Berlin. Germany will continue to provide “massive support” to Ukraine. It had previously become known that the federal government blamed a Russian military intelligence unit for a cyber attack on the SPD at the beginning of last year.
The Kremlin has described British Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s statement that Ukraine could use British weapons against targets in Russia as a “direct escalation” and a threat to European security. Cameron had promised to provide Ukraine with three billion pounds every year – “for as long as it is needed”. In terms of equipment, everything that Britain could give would be exhausted.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also criticized Macron’s statement that he would not rule out sending French troops to Ukraine under certain circumstances as a “very dangerous trend.”
The AfD member of the state parliament and deputy state chairman of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, has confirmed that he regularly writes a column for the Moscow newspaper “Vedomosti”. When asked, Tillschneider said he has been writing the guest contributions since the beginning of 2023 and does not receive any compensation. He wants to contribute to improving German-Russian relations. The “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung” had previously reported on it.
In parliament, the deputy parliamentary group leader regularly attracts attention for his Russia-friendly positions. In March, he praised Russian President Vladimir Putin in the state parliament for “pulling the cart out of the mud in Russia” and ensuring stability and prosperity. In October 2022, the AfD politician claimed: “We don’t have a Russian-Ukrainian war, we have a war between the USA and Russia on Ukrainian soil.” This positioning came shortly after a trip to Russia by several AfD politicians in autumn 2022, in which Tillschneider took part.
The Russian military says it once again fended off Ukrainian drone attacks last night. The defense ministry in Moscow announced on the short message service Telegram that air defense shot down a total of six drones. Five drones were destroyed over the Russian region of Belgorod on the border with Ukraine and one drone was destroyed over the annexed Crimean peninsula. The ministry did not provide any information about damage.
Map of Ukraine, hatched: territories occupied by Russia
According to the US Army, the US Congress has almost doubled the money for the purchase and construction of 155-millimeter artillery shells to six billion dollars. “By my calculations, we asked for about $3.1 billion in the supplemental agreement for production and production increases of the 155mm caliber ammunition,” said Doug Bush, the Army’s top weapons buyer. “We appear to have received $6 billion. I think that’s a vote of confidence in our journey to 100,000 bullets per month.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, demand for 155mm ammunition has skyrocketed. Western countries’ supplies for their own defense have largely been exhausted as they supply shells to Kiev, which fires thousands of projectiles every day.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has promised further military aid to Ukraine. “We will provide three billion pounds every year – for as long as it is needed. We have really exhausted all we can give in terms of equipment,” he said in an interview with Reuters during a visit to Kiev. The aid package is the UK’s largest to date.
Ukraine has the right to use the weapons provided by London to attack targets in Russia and it is up to Kiev to do so. “Ukraine has that right. With Russia striking inside Ukraine, you can certainly understand why Ukraine feels the need to defend itself,” Cameron added.
Russian troops have achieved a breakthrough in eastern Ukraine, as the Ukrainian military has now confirmed. French President Macron reiterates his considerations regarding the deployment of ground troops. You can read the developments in the live blog.