live blog
Ukraine reports the destruction of a Russian warship. In the eastern Ukrainian city of Selydove, Russian rockets are said to have damaged a hospital and residential buildings. All developments in the live blog.
The Ukrainian armed forces say they have destroyed a large Russian landing ship off the Crimean peninsula. The military said it was the “Caesar Kunikov”. According to a report by Ukrayinska Pravda, the ship was hit and damaged by Ukrainian naval drones.
The Ukrainian media portal published several videos showing a column of smoke and helicopters flying over the sea. In December, a large Russian landing ship was hit by Ukrainian cruise missiles. At least one person was killed.
The Russian state news agency RIA reports that nine drones launched from Ukraine were shot down over the Russian regions of Belgorod and Voronezh and over the Black Sea. The agency relies on the Defense Ministry in Moscow. Two of the drones were shot down over Russian territory and six drones over the Black Sea. Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on social media that a woman had been taken to hospital with injuries.
For the first time in three decades, Germany has reported to NATO planned defense spending of two percent of gross domestic product. According to research by the dpa news agency, the federal government submitted an amount for the current year that, when converted into comparative figures from the defense alliance, corresponds to a sum of 73.41 billion dollars. In absolute terms, this is a record value for Germany and, according to the current NATO forecast, would mean a GDP ratio of 2.01 percent.
The development of NATO countries’ defense spending will be discussed today at the defense ministers’ meeting at the alliance headquarters in Brussels. It is expected that around 20 of the 31 NATO countries will reach the two percent target this year.
Ukraine said Russian missile attacks damaged a hospital and destroyed a dozen homes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Selydove. The governor of the Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin, writes on Telegram that a rocket hit a wing of the hospital at 1:00 a.m. “There are reportedly three people, including a child, under the rubble.” 100 patients were taken to hospitals in nearby cities.
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.
The defense ministers of NATO countries are meeting in Brussels today for a two-day meeting. The main topic of the discussions is cooperation with Ukraine and the ongoing expansion of the alliance’s deterrence and defense capabilities. In the afternoon, the US is organizing talks in the Ukraine Contact Group. Weapons deliveries are coordinated through them.
In view of the Ukrainian army’s lack of ammunition, CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen is making serious accusations against the EU governments and also Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz personally. Ukraine’s military inferiority to the Russian attackers, including in terms of ammunition, is no surprise, he said in the podcast of “Bild” deputy boss Paul Ronzheimer. “And that is a serious moral, political, historical failure of the European leadership and also of the German federal government and the German Chancellor, who wanted exactly this policy that leads to this result.”
Röttgen also once again criticized the Chancellor’s refusal to provide Ukraine with German Taurus cruise missiles: “The Chancellor is still preventing the Ukrainians from getting this cruise missile, which is capable of depleting ammunition supplies and weapons from the Russians “To destroy Ukrainian territory from a great distance.”
Latvia has summoned the charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy in Riga because of the inclusion of the country’s politicians on a Russian wanted list. During today’s conversation, the diplomat will be asked to explain a publicly available list of former and current Latvian officials against whom politically motivated charges have been brought by Russia, the Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry says it is also in contact with Latvia’s law enforcement authorities to verify the information. The statement added that we are also working with EU partners to address the issue at a global level. Russia has put politicians from the Baltic states on a wanted list. According to the media, in addition to Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Lithuania’s Culture Minister Simonas Kairys, there are also more than 80 Latvian politicians.
According to UNESCO, 341 cultural sites have been damaged in Ukraine since the start of the war. Ukrainian President Zelensky has thanked the US Senate for approving an aid package.