AOn the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is said to have been attacked with a drone in the city of Sevastopol. Five people were injured on Sunday, said the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Rasvozhayev, in his blog on the Telegram news channel. The drone had hit a courtyard in the headquarters.
Russia has accused Ukraine of using the drone strike to attack preparations for the celebration of Russian Navy Day. The celebrations had been canceled for security reasons; the Russian domestic secret service FSB is working on clarifying the case. Russia actually celebrates Russian Navy Day annually with large ship parades.
“Early this morning, Ukrainian nationalists decided to spoil our Navy Day,” Razvozhayev wrote.
Russian President Vladimir Putin inspects a parade of warships, aircraft and thousands of soldiers on Sunday in Saint Petersburg on “Navy Day”. The Kremlin chief also used the traditional event as a demonstration of power a good five months after the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Parades honoring the naval forces and their various fleets are planned in several regions of Russia.
40 warships, including submarines, are to take part. According to the Kremlin, Russia is also planning a naval parade in the port of the Syrian city of Tartus in the Mediterranean. Russia is in the war in Syria with President Bashar al-Assad.
All developments in the live ticker:
07:12 – Lebanon detains ship carrying Ukrainian grain
A Syrian-flagged ship carrying a cargo of grain was arrested in Lebanon on Saturday at the request of the Ukrainian embassy in Beirut. Prosecutor Ghassan Queidat has commissioned the police to investigate the cargo of the “Laodicea” that arrived in the port of Tripoli, a judicial officer said. He “ordered the seizure of the ship pending the investigation.”
According to Ukrainian Ambassador Ihor Ostash, the loaded grain came from Russian-occupied areas of his country. The diplomat contacted Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Thursday about the ship’s “illegal” cargo. According to the judicial officer, the Lebanese police have been instructed to cooperate with the Ukrainian embassy in their investigation.
07:00 a.m. – Majority of the Greens voters for longer nuclear power plant terms
According to a survey, a majority of Greens voters are in favor of extending the lifetime of the remaining nuclear power plants in Germany. In a representative survey by the opinion research institute Insa for the “Bild am Sonntag”, 54 percent were in favor of an extension in order to make the energy supply less dependent on Russian gas. 38 percent of Green voters were against continued operation.
In the general population, 70 percent are in favor of the extension, 20 percent against and 10 percent undecided.
37 percent of people in Germany are also of the opinion that the Greens set the tone in the traffic light coalition, while it is only 25 percent for the SPD and 20 percent for the FDP. 25 percent also consider the Greens to be the most credible (SPD: 22 percent, FDP: 15 percent).
Due to fears of a stop in Russian gas deliveries, a possible extension of the service life of the last three nuclear power plants still in operation in Germany, which according to current nuclear law would have to go offline at the end of December, is currently being discussed.
Union and FDP are campaigning to allow at least limited continued operation beyond the turn of the year. The SPD and the Greens in particular are still skeptical. They also do not want to generally rule out at least temporary continued operation in the event of a crisis.
Insa interviewed a total of 1002 people for the survey on Friday.
04:40 a.m. – Lindner calls on Habeck to end electricity production with gas
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has asked Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) to stop electricity production using gas. “We have to work to ensure that the gas crisis is not accompanied by an electricity crisis,” Linder told the “Bild am Sonntag”. “Therefore, electricity can no longer be produced with gas, as is still happening.” Habeck would have the legal authority to prevent this, added Lindner.
In this context, the finance minister once again advocated the continued operation of the nuclear power plants in Germany in order to obtain “other electricity capacities”. “There is much to be said for not shutting down the safe and climate-friendly nuclear power plants, but using them until 2024 if necessary,” he said.
Due to fears of a stop in Russian gas deliveries, a possible extension of the service life of the last three nuclear power plants still in operation in Germany, which according to current nuclear law would have to go offline at the end of December, is currently being discussed.
Union and FDP are campaigning to allow at least limited continued operation beyond the turn of the year. The SPD and the Greens in particular are still skeptical. They also do not want to generally rule out at least temporary continued operation in the event of a crisis.
3:40 a.m. – FDP parliamentary group leader Dürr: traffic lights will counteract energy costs
The chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Christian Dürr, has promised further relief in view of the rising energy costs. “If energy costs go up, we have to take countermeasures. We must not let consumers fall into the price trap with their eyes wide open,” Dürr told the German Press Agency.
According to Dürr, it would be conceivable to reward recipients of unemployment benefit II if they save energy. “Anyone who uses less gas than in previous years could receive part of the heating costs saved as a subsidy. In this way we could also relieve those who are having a particularly difficult time in this crisis.
Dürr went on to say that Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) had announced relief for low-income earners and for small and medium-sized businesses. “We want to make this possible by abolishing cold progression and allowing the commuter allowance to take effect earlier. That would also relieve the workers who depend on buses and trains.”
1:30 a.m. – All-metal President Wolf calls for the construction of new nuclear power plants
The president of the employers’ association Gesamtmetall, Stefan Wolf, has spoken out in favor of the continued operation of the three nuclear power plants still in operation in Germany and a debate about the construction of new reactors. “I think it’s absolutely necessary for nuclear power plants to run longer,” Wolf told the newspapers of the Funke media group. An extended service life for the three nuclear power plants that are still in operation could significantly reduce the generation of electricity from gas and help secure the power supply when gas is really no longer available.
“But we also have to have a debate about the construction of new nuclear power plants,” Wolf continued. “There are currently 50 new nuclear power plants being built worldwide, and the technology has advanced. The EU has only just labeled nuclear energy as green energy.” Although the focus must be on renewable energies, these would not be sufficient to cover Germany’s total electricity requirements in the future.