11.45 a.m .: Kyiv: Food supplies are sufficient for the population
Ukraine says it has enough food supplies to feed the population in the areas it controls. There is also enough fuel to meet the farmers’ daily needs, said Deputy Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotsky. After the blockade of the Black Sea ports by Russian troops, Ukraine also increased its grain exports via alternative routes in April. He expects exports to increase further in May.
11:14 a.m .: Great Britain withdraws special status from the Moscow stock exchange
As part of the sanctions against Russia, the UK withdraws the status of a recognized trading venue from the Moscow Stock Exchange (Moex). The Ministry of Finance announced that the country was reacting to the restrictions on foreign investors there. With the loss of the special status, investors who want to do business on the Moscow Stock Exchange from now on will have to forego tax breaks. Investors who already own Russian securities are not affected.
11:12: Gazprom: Nord Stream 2 gas is now used in Russia
The Russian energy company Gazprom announces that it is now using the gas originally planned for the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline for domestic supplies. Germany had put the controversial pipeline project on hold because of the Russian attack on Ukraine and wants to become independent of Russian gas supplies as quickly as possible.
11.10 a.m .: Russian border region of Belgorod reports shelling again
According to the authorities, a house and a garage were damaged when two towns in the western Russian region of Belgorod on the border with Ukraine were shelled. Zhuravlyovka and Nekhoteyevka are under attack from the Ukrainian side, the governor of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said in his Telegram channel. According to him, there have been no casualties so far, but the shelling has not yet stopped.
10:35 a.m.: Moscow receives Hamas delegation
Against the background of the war against Ukraine, talks with the Palestinian Hamas movement have begun in Moscow – according to the Foreign Ministry, a long-planned meeting at which “the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, in East Jerusalem and the situation around the Al-Aqsa Mosque” to go. The visit by the Hamas delegation is particularly sensitive because of the timing: In an interview a few days ago, Lavrov justified the attack on Ukraine with a necessary “denazification” of the neighboring country.
10:28 a.m .: Russia reports deaths of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers
According to the Russian military, 600 Ukrainian fighters were killed in artillery attacks during the night. According to the Ministry of Defense, the shelling hit several positions and fortified structures belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces.
09:58: Özdemir wants more support for Ukraine
Federal Food Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) has spoken out in favor of expanding aid in view of Ukraine’s complaint of grain theft by Russia. As the federal government, Germany must do everything so that Ukraine can defend its sovereignty – including arms, aid supplies and economic support, the minister told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
9:37 a.m .: Macron plans to visit Scholz
The re-elected French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that he will travel to Germany next Monday to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The Elysee Palace announced that defense and energy issues were on the agenda for talks with the Chancellor.
09:29: Apparently dead and injured in the Donbass region
After the massive shelling of several Ukrainian cities in the Donbass, the local authorities report many civilian deaths and injuries. After a rocket hit Kramatorsk, 25 people were injured, nine houses, the school and objects of civil infrastructure were damaged, said the head of the military administration of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, on his Telegram channel. According to Kyrylenko, Chasiv Yar, Mariinka and Avdiivka were also fired upon. At least one person died in Chasiv Yar.
9:07 a.m .: Ukraine reports renewed Russian attacks on Azov steel mill
According to the Ukrainian military, the Russian troops tried again to storm the Azowstal steel works in the port city of Mariupol. “With the support of the air force, the enemy renewed its attack with the aim of taking control of the factory site,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in its situation report.
8:58 a.m .: Report: President of the Bundestag Bas is considering a trip to Kyiv
According to a report by the portal “The Pioneer”, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) is considering a visit to Ukraine at the weekend. Bas could meet Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk in Kyiv on May 8, the portal reported, citing information from Ukrainian parliamentary circles. According to the protocol, the President of the Bundestag is the second highest representative in Germany after Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
8:42 a.m .: Politicians from the SPD and CDU believe Ukraine’s victory is possible
Politicians from the SPD and CDU consider a military victory for Ukraine against Russia to be possible. “It’s not about Ukraine possibly not losing, it can even win this war,” says Michael Roth (SPD), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, on ZDF. Russia’s brutal attacks are an “act of desperation”. CDU defense expert Roderich Kiesewetter makes a similar statement. Ukraine must not lose the war. If everything goes well, she could even win this war, he says on Deutschlandfunk.
8:23 a.m .: Unexpectedly sharp drop in orders in German industry
In the first month after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, German industry suffered an unexpectedly sharp drop in orders. According to the Federal Statistical Office, companies received 4.7 percent fewer orders in March than in the previous month. This is the sharpest slump since October 2021. Experts surveyed by the Reuters news agency had only expected a drop of 1.1 percent.
07:58: Ukraine reports five civilians killed in Luhansk
According to the governor there, five civilians have been killed by Russian fire in the past 24 hours in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk. The shelling was concentrated in four towns, Serhiy Gaidai said.
7:53 a.m .: According to the UN, more than 300 people were rescued from Mariupol and other cities
According to the UN, more than 300 civilians have been brought to safety from Mariupol, which is besieged by Russia, and four other cities in the region. The people were taken to Ukrainian-held Zaporizhia, said Osnat Lubrani, the UN emergency relief coordinator for Ukraine. It was the second successful evacuation operation.
7.14 a.m .: Welthungerhilfe calls for peace initiatives
In view of the growing number of starving people as a result of supply bottlenecks caused by the Ukraine war, Welthungerhilfe has called for international peace efforts. African countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Kenya in particular, but also Yemen and Pakistan are acutely threatened by grain shortages, said Welthungerhilfe Secretary General Mathias Rogge. Conflicts are the biggest driver of malnutrition, which is why the UN Security Council and the G7 nations must initiate new peace initiatives.
6:57 a.m .: SPD politician Dieren is critical of military armament
The SPD member of parliament Jan Dieren takes a critical view of the military build-up in Germany and other countries. The task of the social democratic party is to contribute to the peace order and to reduce military violence, he told the epd news agency. “However, many parts of the world are being upgraded and I fear that these weapons will then also be used.” This dynamic must be stopped, the sooner the better.
6:14 a.m .: According to Zelenskyy, evacuations in Mariupol are lengthy
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine is ready to ensure a ceasefire in Mariupol. A longer ceasefire is needed to evacuate people. “It will take some time to free people from the cellars and underground bunkers.” Heavy equipment cannot be used to clear debris. Everything has to be done by hand. The Russian military had previously promised humanitarian corridors from the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol from Thursday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (CEST).
3:20 a.m .: US intelligence apparently supports Ukraine in attacks on Russian generals
According to a newspaper report, the USA supported Ukraine in targeted attacks on Russian generals with intelligence findings. The Washington government has provided details of expected troop movements and the location and details of Russia’s mobile military command posts, writes the New York Times. Ukraine combined the information with its own to launch attacks that killed about 12 Russian officers, the paper said.
2:43 a.m .: Ukraine is considering a relaxed ban on leaving the country for men
The ban on the departure of men of military age from Ukraine could be relaxed according to considerations by the Kiev leadership. “It is now being discussed that certain categories of men should be allowed to go abroad, at least for a short time,” said presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych. Among other things, he named scientists or business people. However, the necessary change in the law will take time. It is a difficult moral, organizational and legal question in times of war.
1:37 a.m .: The federal government wants to deliver self-propelled howitzers to Kyiv by the end of June
The federal government plans to deliver seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine. According to information from government circles, the howitzers are currently being repaired and should be intact by the end of June, the “Bild” reported. In the meantime, the exchange of rings with Slovenia has been delayed. The Slovenes were supposed to deliver T-72 main battle tanks to Kyiv in return for German Marder infantry fighting vehicles and Fuchs armored personnel carriers. But Slovenia’s government apparently insists on the delivery of more modern tanks.
1:30 a.m.: More than 600,000 refugees from Ukraine in Germany
According to a recent evaluation by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf), more than 600,000 people have fled from Ukraine to Germany since the beginning of the war. From the end of February to the end of April, 610,103 people from the Ukraine have been recorded so far, reports the Funke media group from the Bamf statistics. According to this, around 69 percent are girls and women and 31 percent boys and men.
1:11 a.m.: Senior Kremlin official visits Mariupol
The deputy chief of the Russian presidential office, Sergey Kiriyenko, visited the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which has been almost completely conquered. This was reported by the head of the Donetsk separatist republic, Denis Puschilin, on Telegram. Former Russian Prime Minister Kiriyenko organizes Russian domestic policy in the Kremlin for President Vladimir Putin. According to the information, he visited the Ilich Steelworks and the port in Mariupol. At the other Azovstal Steelworks, Ukrainian defenders are still resisting Russian attacks.
01:11: Sweden: USA assures protection during NATO accession process
According to government information, Sweden has received certain security assurances from the USA in the event of a NATO accession process. “They would mean that Russia can be aware of any kind of negative activity against Sweden it has threatened to do, the US wouldn’t just let that happen…without a reaction,” said Secretary of State Ann Linde. “However, there are no concrete security guarantees, you can only get them as a full member of NATO.”