live blog
The Ukrainian defense minister reports “many violations” in supply deliveries to the military. According to Ukrainian information, the Kremenchuk district is again the target of Russian missile attacks. The developments in the live blog.
The foreign ministers of Hungary and Ukraine are preparing a possible meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod. Ukrainian presidential adviser Andrij Jermak also took part in the conversation between Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and his Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba. In Uzhhorod, security precautions were tightened on the occasion of the visit after there had previously been a death threat against Szijjarto.
It is Szijjarto’s first visit to Ukraine since the Russian war of aggression began on February 24, 2022. Relations between Ukraine and Hungary have been tense for several years and had deteriorated further when Orban announced new EU aid for Ukraine in December Blocked by his veto amounting to 50 billion euros. In order to improve relations and find “solutions” to their differences, Zelensky had proposed a direct meeting with Orban. The bilateral meeting of foreign ministers is intended to lay the foundation for this.
Orban agreed earlier this month to support Ukraine if the funds were separated from the EU budget and reviewed annually. The meeting in Uzhhorod comes just days before Thursday’s special EU summit, where European Union leaders want to make progress on the stalled aid package for Kiev.
After complaints from the Ukrainian military about deficits in equipment and supplies, Defense Minister Rustem Umyerov admitted wrongdoing. The minister said on Facebook that “many violations” were registered during unannounced checks. Food supplies were also checked. Provisions worth more than 50 million hryvnia (around 1.2 million euros) are missing and have not been delivered.
“We record the violations and process each case individually,” Umjerow wrote in the statement published on Sunday. The supplier for some military units has recently been changed because of the events. The unannounced inspections, in which the secret services and other security organs are also involved, will continue, it said. According to the Defense Ministry, there had recently been complaints from the armed forces about the supply deficits in the camps of some units in the east of the country. Defects in the quality and quantity of food were also identified.
There have recently been several corruption scandals in the Ministry of Defense and in the armed forces, which are fighting the Russian war of aggression with Western financial and military help. Defense Minister Umyerov announced that he was having the system cleaned. The minister also recalled that a fraud scandal had been uncovered in the ministry, in which former and current officials embezzled about 1.5 billion hryvnia (around 36.4 million euros) for the procurement of artillery ammunition. In this case, the sum was returned to the budget, as Umjerow announced.
According to Ukrainian information, the central Ukrainian district of Kremenchuk is again the target of Russian attacks. “For the second day in a row, the enemy is attacking the Poltava region,” wrote the head of the region’s military administration, Filip Pronin, on Telegram.
The destination is in the Kremenchuk district. There were no injuries. On Saturday, a rocket hit an industrial area in the same region and caused a fire. Here too, no casualties were reported.
Norway’s army is preparing for a threat from Russia on the Norwegian border. “Russia has not increased the number of its tanks because it has sent most of them to Ukraine. But we expect that it will start modernizing and rebuilding its army as soon as the fighting stops,” said Commander-in-Chief Eirik Kristoffersen in an interview with the “Editorial Network Germany”. “Today I would say that it will probably take three years to replace the lost forces and rebuild the army. We have to prepare for this situation and be prepared for an emergency.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has disclosed his personal income for 2021 and 2022. In a post on the presidential website, Zelensky and his family reported an income of 10.8 million hryvnias ($286,168) for 2021, 12 million hryvnias less than the year before. This included proceeds from the sale of $142,000 in government bonds.
In 2022, the Zelensky family’s income fell even further to 3.7 million hryvnia as he received less rental income from his real estate properties due to the outbreak of war. It is the first time the president has publicly declared his income. Zelensky says civil servants should disclose their income to increase transparency and eliminate corruption.
Ukrainian air defense reports new attacks by Russia with kamikaze drones. Chancellor Scholz and Finance Minister Lindner are demanding more help for Kiev from their EU partners. Sunday’s live blog for reading.