Ukraine live blog: ++ Göring-Eckardt arrived in Kiev ++

Bundestag Vice President Göring-Eckardt arrived in Ukraine for a visit lasting several days. According to media reports, Japan wants to support the reconstruction of Ukraine with almost 100 million euros. All developments in the live blog.

In view of the threat from Russia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has called for a significant increase in arms production in Europe. The European partners must pool their orders and give the defense industry security of acceptance for the next few decades, said Scholz on the occasion of the start of construction on a new ammunition factory for the defense company Rheinmetall.

“We have to move away from manufacturing – towards large-scale production of armaments.” This is “urgently necessary. Because as harsh as this reality is: we do not live in times of peace,” emphasized the Chancellor. Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and the “imperial ambitions” openly expressed by President Vladimir Putin are “a major threat to the European peace order.” In this situation, the following applies: “If you want peace, you have to successfully deter possible aggressors.”

Scholz made the comments on the occasion of the groundbreaking ceremony for a new Rheinmetall ammunition factory in Unterlüß, Lower Saxony. After construction and a start-up phase, the plant is expected to produce 200,000 rounds of artillery ammunition annually.

There is anger in Ukraine over protesting Polish farmers who dumped Ukrainian grain from trucks onto the ground at a border crossing. Kiev condemns the “wanton destruction” of Ukrainian grain, the Ministry of Agriculture said. Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kaschka called on the Polish government to stand against “xenophobia” because of the action. “There is a new escalation at our common border.” If the Polish government doesn’t respond, there will be “more xenophobia and political violence.”

The mayor of the city of Lviv, which lies near the border with Poland, chose martial words: “Ukrainians water the fields where this grain grows with their blood,” Andriy Sadowyj wrote on Telegram. “Harvesting wheat in a field where a war has taken place is like the work of a deminer.” Sadowyj called the Polish farmers “pro-Russian provocateurs.”

On Sunday, video footage from a Polish farmers’ association made the rounds showing protesters opening the tailgates of three Ukrainian trucks, allowing some of the grain cargo to flow out. The incident occurred on Polish territory at the Dorohusk border crossing. The Ukrainian ambassador in Warsaw, Vasyl Swaritsch, called on the Polish authorities to intervene. The Polish police in the city of Chelm announced an investigation, as reported by the PAP agency.

Despite denials from the government in Moscow, Ukraine insists that the Russian army uses US billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communications network. Russian armed forces are illegally purchasing Starlink satellite terminals from third countries and are increasingly using them in military operations, Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told Reuters. “Smuggled goods from third countries,” he said when asked how the Russian armed forces got their hands on the devices.

They want to prevent Russian forces from using Starlink to coordinate attacks in occupied parts of Ukraine, said Yussov. “Frontline usage has increased.” Asked whether Ukraine was trying to stop Russia’s use of the terminals, Yusov said: “Yes, work is underway.”

The Russian government rejected the information. Starlink is neither certified nor supported, it said. Musk wrote on the short message service X: “To the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia.”

In response to the farmers’ protests in Poland, the government in Warsaw wants to check imports of Ukrainian grain more closely for quality. This was announced by Deputy Agriculture Minister Michal Kolodziejczak, according to the PAP news agency. If the grain is delivered to Germany and from there brought back to Poland because of quality defects, it will be “99 percent European grain,” he said, justifying the move.

Farmers in Poland began a month-long strike on Friday to demonstrate against EU agricultural policy. Representatives of the new pro-European government have expressed understanding for the protests.

Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt has arrived in Ukraine for a visit lasting several days. “I will be traveling here in the country and in Kiev. It is very clear to me: the mood in the country is no longer good,” said the Green politician in Kiev. This is due to the slow support and the question of whether the USA will continue to support Ukraine. “I believe that we have to do everything we can,” emphasized the Bundestag Vice President.

The ammunition promised by the European Union and also the Taurus cruise missiles would have to be delivered. Financial solutions for further ammunition purchases would have to be found at European level. “Because this is also about our safety,” she emphasized.

The visit program includes, among other things, discussions with the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk, the head of the State Agency for Reconstruction, Mustafa Najem, and representatives of civil society.

Ukraine plans to produce thousands of longer-range drones this year. Minister responsible for digitalization Mychailo Fedorov told the Reuters news agency. The country already has up to ten companies that produce drones that can reach targets in Moscow and St. Petersburg, said Fedorov. “The long-range kamikaze drone category is growing,” he says. “Two years ago this category didn’t even exist.”

The aid organization Handicap International (HI) is sounding the alarm about unexploded weapons in eastern Ukraine. “Some areas around Kharkiv and Dnipro in the east and Mykolaiv and Kherson in the south of Ukraine are cut off from the rest of the country by bombing and contamination with mines and unexploded ordnance,” said HI in Munich. “Many people sometimes don’t even dare to leave their precarious accommodation. Countless fields cannot be cultivated.”

Areas near the front were mostly evacuated and people fled the fighting, it was said. But the vast majority of older people, including a high proportion of people with disabilities, remained despite the bombing. As a result, they are particularly often victims of bombing, the aid organization added. “In addition, their health deteriorates, chronic diseases worsen or new diseases appear.

According to Ukrainian authorities, power supply has been interrupted in and around the city of Pavlohrad in the south of the country following a nighttime Russian drone attack. Almost 29,000 households were affected, Serhiy Lysak, head of administration for the Dnipropetrovsk region, said on Telegram this morning. In the neighboring city of Ternivka, 10,000 households are without water. According to him, there was a fire in a power grid system, but it was extinguished. The utility Ukrenerho confirmed damage to a substation. No people were harmed in the attack, Lysak said. Six enemy drones were shot down over Pavlohrad alone.

As a result of the nighttime attack, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that 14 of the 17 incoming Russian drones had been shot down, as well as a Ch-59 cruise missile. In addition, the large city of Kharkiv in the east was attacked with converted missiles from the S-300 anti-aircraft system.

On Monday night, Russia again attacked targets in Ukraine with drones and missiles. There was an air alert in many places. Explosions were also heard again in the city of Kharkiv, local authorities reported.

However, there was initially no information about possible victims. The Kharkiv region was attacked with drones on Saturday night, killing seven people.

Japan wants to support the reconstruction of Ukraine with the equivalent of almost 100 million euros. Local media reported this a week before a donor conference in the Japanese capital. According to the Kyodonews agency, Japan wants to support Ukraine in a total of seven areas, ranging from infrastructure development to mine clearance.

A number of government and business representatives will also take part in the reconstruction conference, which Japan announced last year when it chaired the G7. Prime Minister Kishida is committed to greater public-private cooperation and wants to encourage Japanese companies to invest in Ukraine.

With information from Kathrin Erdmann, ARD Studio Tokyo

After repelling new Russian drone attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced an expansion of electronic warfare in his country. “We are working to increase the effectiveness of our mobile forces and equip even more regions of Ukraine with electronic warfare systems,” said Zelensky in his evening video message. That is one of the priorities this year.

Ukrainian President Zelensky wants to expand the army’s electronic warfare. The Ukrainian military leadership is continuing to restructure its personnel. Sunday’s developments can be read in the live blog.