++ Ukraine war: “Biggest blow to the Russian army in decades”

The Russian army’s attacks on Ukrainian cities are intensifying again. However, according to President Zelenskyy, Russia is suffering heavy losses in the Ukraine war.

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+++ Update from Sunday, March 13th, 2022, 6 a.m.: The Russian army has continued to increase pressure on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and intensified its attacks on cities in the south of the country. The western Ukrainian metropolis of Lviv was shaken by several explosions on Sunday morning. According to media reports, the city had been hit by several rockets. The explosions could also be heard in Poland, as a reporter from the German Press Agency from Przemysl reported.

Ukraine war: “Brutal act” near Kyiv

+++ 8.30 p.m.: According to Ukrainian sources, seven people were killed in a Russian attack on women and children in an escape corridor near Kyiv. A child was among the victims of the “brutal act,” the Ukrainian military intelligence service said on Facebook on Saturday. The attack on the escape route agreed between Russia and Ukraine from the village of Peremoga happened on Friday.

Initially, it was said that the attack had taken place in a “green” escape corridor agreed between Russia and Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian government later contradicted this account. The group was therefore not in the evacuation corridor, but tried to flee alone.

Since the start of the Russian war of aggression on February 24, Russia and Ukraine have agreed several times on local ceasefires and evacuation corridors to allow civilians to leave the contested areas. This often failed, however, and both sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire. “Unfortunately, the humanitarian situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate rapidly and has reached catastrophic proportions in some cities,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

Ukraine War: Russian army continues to encircle Kyiv

+++ 8 p.m.: With attacks from several sides, the Russian army is increasing the pressure on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. According to Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak, Kyiv is in a “state of siege”. Residential areas were also attacked in other cities. Meanwhile, on Saturday, an aid convoy set off for the port city of Mariupol, which has been under siege for 12 days. Suburbs in north-west Kiev have been shaken by heavy airstrikes for days. Meanwhile, Russian tanks are advancing on Kyiv from the north-east at an ever-increasing rate. AFP reporters reported thick clouds of smoke over the northeastern suburbs of Kiev on Saturday.

According to the mayor, the airport was destroyed during air raids in Vasylkiv, 40 kilometers south of Kyiv, and an oil depot hit by rockets was on fire. Sirens also warned of airstrikes in the major cities of Odessa, Dnipro and Kharkiv on Saturday morning. In the Black Sea port city of Mykolaiv, the Russian army shelled several hospitals, an AFP reporter reported. Among other things, a day clinic for cancer patients and an eye clinic were hit.

+++ 6.14 p.m.: The Russian army says it destroyed 79 military installations in attacks in Ukraine on Saturday. Among them were four command and control centers of the Ukrainian armed forces, said Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, according to the Interfax news agency. Attacks were also flown on six ammunition and fuel depots. A Ukrainian Mi-24 attack helicopter and three drones were also shot down. This information could not be verified.

Ukraine war: Selenskyj speaks of the “biggest blow to the Russian army in decades”

+++ 3:26 p.m.: Russian forces have suffered significant casualties since the start of their attack on Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “This is the biggest blow to the Russian army in decades,” Zelenskyy said in a video message released on Saturday. “Nowhere has it lost more in so few days,” said Zelenskyj on the 17th day of the war. “Our armed forces are doing everything to discourage the enemy from continuing the war against Ukraine. The losses of the Russian troops are colossal.”

According to Ukrainian data, more than 360 Russian tanks and more than 1,200 other armored vehicles have been destroyed so far, as well as about 60 combat aircraft and 80 helicopters. The army lost more than 12,000 soldiers. The information cannot be independently verified. There is also talk of considerable Russian losses in Western intelligence circles.

+++ 1.45 p.m.: According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia is sending more troops to Ukraine. This is reported by the Reuters news agency. Therefore, Ukraine cannot let up in its fight. At the same time, Zelenskyj emphasized that the Russian military had to accept the greatest losses in recent decades.

Ukraine war: Russia threatens to attack arms supplies

+++ 1.10 p.m.: Russia has threatened attacks on western arms supplies in Ukraine. Moscow has warned the US that the “orchestrated pumping in of arms by a number of states is not only a dangerous move but also makes these convoys legitimate targets” for army attacks, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Russian state television.

+++ 12.00 p.m.: According to the British secret service, Russian troops are trying to further encircle the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Most of the ground forces are about 25 kilometers from the center of Kiev, while a large military column north of Kyiv is trying to spread out.

War in Ukraine: Kyiv accuses Russia of breaching ceasefire

+++ 11.10 a.m.: Despite the cease-fire agreed for the evacuation of Kyiv, Russia is said to continue its attacks on the Ukrainian capital. This is reported by the Reuters news agency, referring to the Ukrainian authorities.

+++ 10.40 a.m.: According to British intelligence, a large Russian military column has partially dispersed north of Kyiv. This is likely to aid a Russian attempt to encircle the Ukrainian capital, the UK MoD said on Twitter. It could also be an attempt to reduce one’s own vulnerability to Ukrainian counterattacks. These would have already taken a heavy toll on the Russians.

+++ 10.00 a.m.: Several cities in Ukraine have reported renewed fighting and shelling. “The occupiers shelled hospitals and boarding schools at night with indiscriminate, chaotic fire,” wrote the governor of the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv Vitaly Kim. Two people were injured. The attackers would have changed their tactics and would hide in villages between civilian buildings. “Now there are no more rules, we will crack down on them,” announced the governor.

Russia continues attacks in the Ukraine war on a “broad front”.

+++ 9.30 a.m.: According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, the Russian army is continuing its attacks in the Ukraine war on a “broad front”. An air force base in Vasylkiv near the capital Kyiv and the intelligence center of the Ukrainian armed forces in Brovary were put out of action, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

According to Russian information, their own troops and those of the separatists from Luhansk and Donetsk again took numerous towns in eastern Ukraine. Units of the Donetsk “People’s Militia” advanced another nine kilometers, the Russian armed forces a total of 21 kilometers and the groups of the “Luhansk People’s Republic” six kilometers. The Russian military information could not be verified.

Update from Saturday, March 12, 2022, 8:45 a.m.: Kyiv is once again becoming the center of attention in the Ukraine war. Ukraine’s General Staff warned that the Russian army was trying to knock out defenses west and north-west of the capital in a bid to “blockade” Kyiv. Meanwhile, the Russian army is also approaching the city from the north-east. Ukrainian soldiers told reporters from the AFP news agency about fierce fighting for control of the main highway leading to Kyiv near Velyka Dymerka.

War in Ukraine: Russian offensives near Kyiv “partially” successful

First report from Saturday, March 12th, 2022: Kyiv – Get caught in the Ukraine war Kyiv* back in sight. The Russian army is encircling the Ukrainian capital more and more, and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak spoke of a “state of siege”. Further air raids are also being reported from the west of the country, not far from the border with Poland. US President Joe Biden* meanwhile issues an urgent warning.

The Ukrainian General Staff announced that there were Russian offensives around Kyiv on the northern city limits near Sasymya and to the south near Vyshenky. These offensives were partly successful in some areas. In the capital Kyiv, flight alarms were triggered at least three times on Saturday night. “Minutes of” shelling could be heard in the city from afar on Saturday morning, according to CNN.

War in Ukraine: New airstrikes also in the west of the country

Russian Air Force strategic bombers are said to have used cruise missiles in the cities of Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk and Dnipro. Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk are located north and south of the city of Lviv, not far from the Polish border. Rocket attacks were also reported from Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine. The information could not be independently verified.

According to Ukrainian military information, Russian troops are trying to blockade the north-east Ukrainian city of Chernihiv from the south-west. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy* said that in Chernihiv, an important water main was damaged by shelling. As a result, the city with almost 280,000 inhabitants was without water supply.

Ukraine war: kidnapping of mayor according to Zelenskyj “sign of weakness”

In a video speech, Zelenskyy demanded the release of the mayor of the city of Melitopol, which was occupied by Russian troops. Pressure on mayors or their “physical elimination”. Russia* not help to take over Ukrainian cities. Such an approach is a “sign of weakness” on the part of Russia.

Ukraine war: Biden warns of third world war

According to President Joe Biden, a direct military confrontation in Ukraine between the US military and the Russian armed forces must be prevented in order to avoid a “Third World War”. The US military and NATO partners will unite and defend “every inch” of alliance territory “with full force,” Biden wrote on Twitter. “But we will not go to war with Russia in Ukraine. A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III – and something we must strive to prevent,” the Democrat wrote. (cs/lrg/dpa/afp)*fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

List of rubrics: © Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa