live blog
Ukrainian President Zelensky has appealed for support from the Crimean Platform. Business associations emphasized the investment opportunities in Ukraine at the German-Ukrainian Economic Forum. All developments in the live blog.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj called for a “complete de-occupation” of Ukrainian territory in a video address to delegates from the 50 participating countries at the second meeting of the Crimea Platform. The more states stand on Ukraine’s side, the sooner Russian aggression can be ended. He called on parliamentarians to take additional measures to prevent Western sanctions against Russia from being circumvented and to take action against Russian propaganda.
The aim of the Crimea Platform is to reaffirm solidarity with Ukraine and draw attention to the situation on the peninsula. The conference was founded in 2021 on Zelensky’s initiative. This year, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas took part on behalf of Germany.
Before the start of the German-Ukrainian Economic Forum in Berlin, business associations are emphasizing the investment opportunities in the Eastern European country. “Regardless of the war, a dozen investment projects have already been started. German companies are currently applying for investment guarantees from the federal government with 30 additional projects,” said the deputy Eastern Committee chairman Christian Bruch in Berlin. “Reconstruction has begun and German companies are getting involved.” The risk of war can be controlled, especially in the western and central parts of the country.
The business associations once again called on the federal government to provide better state and private financing offers as well as insurance solutions for transport through Ukraine.
After the collapse of the Ukrainian economy following the Russian attack in February 2022, the Eastern Committee expects the Ukrainian economy to grow by around three percent in 2023. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects growth of two percent in 2023 and 3.2 percent next year.
According to British information, Russia has its attacks against Ukrainian positions carried out primarily by former prisoners and disgraced soldiers. The units called “Storm-Z” were probably initially planned as relatively elite groups that could take the tactical initiative, the British Ministry of Defense said, citing intelligence findings. “Since spring 2023 at the latest, the “Sturm-Z” have become de facto penal battalions staffed with convicts and regular soldiers who have committed disciplinary violations.”
Several reports suggested that these units received little logistical and medical support but were nevertheless repeatedly pushed to attack. “Russian troops have often defended themselves effectively,” it said in London. “However, the existence of Storm-Z highlights Russia’s enormous difficulties in assembling combat infantry capable of conducting effective offensive operations.”
Russia has begun recruiting women for combat missions in its war against Ukraine, according to media reports. The independent Internet portal istories wrote that the “Redut” mercenary unit, which is subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Defense, was recruiting female snipers and drone operators. So far, women in the Russian military have only been employed as medics and in the kitchen.
The soldiers are offered a half-year contract with a monthly salary of around 2,200 euros. In the event of an injury, there is a bonus of 30,000 euros; in the event of death, around 50,000 euros should be paid out to the surviving dependents. Corresponding advertisements appeared on the Russian social network “Wkontakte”. Beginners would be trained on the weapon within a month.
Investment projects by German companies in Ukraine will be discussed today at a German-Ukrainian economic forum in Berlin. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal are expected at the meeting. There is a video greeting from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Germany wants to play an important role in the reconstruction of Ukraine after the Russian war of aggression. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Ukrainian Economics Minister Julia Swyrydenko are also expected at the conference.
After massive Russian shelling, authorities say they have ordered a forced evacuation of families with children in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. This affects a good two dozen communities and the city of Beryslaw on the Dnipro River, as the regional administration announced on Telegram. So far, only 450 children and their relatives have followed an official request from mid-September to seek safety.
Due to refusals, coercive measures are now necessary, it was said. According to the Ministry for Reintegration, just over 800 children are being taken free of charge by bus and train to safer areas in the west of the country. The regulation is necessary because of almost daily artillery shelling and the intensive use of glide bombs by the Russian Air Force against targets on the Ukrainian-controlled bank of the Dnipro. Civilians were repeatedly killed and injured.
According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian armed forces are intensifying their attacks on two sectors of the front in eastern Ukraine. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said its troops had repelled Russian attacks on the city of Avdiivka. The city center and the only supply route to the destroyed Avdiivka were under fire around the clock, the head of the city’s military administration, Vitaly Barabash, told the US-funded broadcaster Radio Liberty. “The supply situation is very difficult because the 22 kilometer long road is under constant fire day and night.” This makes evacuations and aid deliveries more difficult. “Any movement is a signal to open fire.” Around 1,600 people still lived in the city; before the war there were around 30,000.
Avdiivka has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance after months of attacks. General Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of Ukrainian ground forces, described conditions along the entire 1,000-kilometer front as “difficult.” He described Bakhmut, which was taken by Russia in May after months of fighting, and the key city of Kupiansk, both northeast of Avdiivka, as particularly difficult.
Hatched: territories occupied by Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj wants to continue to use international conferences to promote support for his country in its defense against the Russian war of aggression. “The world’s attention to Ukraine, to the protection of freedom and international law must be maintained – we are doing everything we can to achieve this,” Zelenskyj said in his daily video address. He announced that a parliamentary summit of the “Crimean Platform” would take place in Prague on Tuesday.
The “Crimea Platform”, a diplomatic initiative by Kiev, is intended to draw international attention to grievances on the peninsula, which has been annexed by Russia since 2014. In his speech, Zelenskyj also focused primarily on the situation at the front and, among other things, praised the steadfastness of the Ukrainian soldiers in the Avdiivka sector of the front. Fighting has been going on for months over the small town in the immediate vicinity of the city of Donetsk, which has been controlled by Russian forces since 2014. In the past two weeks, the Russian military has significantly increased the pressure in the area. With an offensive, Moscow is trying to encircle the Ukrainian troops stationed there. So far, the Russians have not succeeded in doing this.
Ukraine says it has repelled a major Russian drone attack on Odessa. According to a British analysis, Russia will increase its military budget by 68 percent in 2024. Monday’s developments to read.