live blog
Status: 08/12/2022 03:15 a.m
Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Stefantschuk is hoping for faster help from Germany in the future. According to Ukrainian sources, Russia has intensified its airstrikes. The developments in the live blog.
3:15 a.m
IAEA chief demands access to Zaporizhia nuclear plant
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, demanded immediate access to the plant. “This is a difficult hour, a serious hour, and the IAEA must be able to carry out its mission in Zaporizhia as quickly as possible,” said Grossi, who was connected via video. “Time is running out.” US Representative Bonnie Jenkins said an IAEA mission “can’t wait any longer.”
2:51 a.m
Rehlinger: Distribute tax from gas allocation to the poor
Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger has proposed passing on the VAT revenue from the future gas levy to poorer households. “If the VAT on the gas levy is legally unavoidable, then the income from it should be distributed to low-income groups as monthly energy money,” said the SPD politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “In this way we would also socially balance the necessary gas levy, because small incomes get something back and large incomes don’t.”
Rehlinger warned that all levers should be set in motion to avoid a social emergency in winter. “It is clear that relief is vital for small incomes and not mandatory for large incomes,” she said. The levy is due to be introduced in October and will benefit gas importers who have to buy replacement gas supplies from Russia at high prices.
2:39 a.m
Ukraine: Russia has doubled the number of airstrikes
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia has doubled the number of airstrikes on military positions and civilian infrastructure in the country compared to the previous week. “The enemy’s planes and helicopters avoid flying within range of our air defenses,” Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksiy Hromov said at a press conference. “And that’s why the accuracy of these attacks is low.”
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
2:35 a.m
Ukraine urges rapid German aid
Ukraine is urging quick help from Germany. “I very much hope that the time between the decisions and the actual arrival of the aid will become shorter and shorter, because we really need German technology, including tanks and howitzers,” said Parliament President Ruslan Stefantschuk to the editorial network Germany. “Germany helped us a lot by changing its position towards Russia,” said Stefantschuk. “We are very grateful for Germany’s decision to support us.”
2:30 a.m
Selenskyj warns: Don’t talk about tactics
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked government officials to stop talking to journalists about military tactics. “War is definitely not the time for vanity and loud statements,” Zelenskyj said in his nightly video speech. The less details are known, the better it is for the defense of Ukraine.
After the explosions at a Russian air base in Crimea, the New York Times and Washington Post, citing unnamed government officials, reported that Ukrainian forces were responsible. The government in Kyiv did not comment.