live blog
Status: 03/15/2023 04:24
According to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, the senior staff unanimously voted to defend Bakhmut. Russian President Putin claims that Germany is still occupied by the US. All developments in the live blog.
4:24 a.m
Russia plans to withdraw citizenship in case of treason and discredit
According to Russian media, the proposed amendments to the Russian citizenship law allow for the withdrawal of acquired citizenship in relation to the Russian actions in Ukraine. The changes refer to “treason, discrediting of the special military operation,” the Ria news agency quoted Konstantin Zatulin, first deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affairs.
According to the Russian Interior Ministry, more than 691,000 people received Russian citizenship in 2022, almost half of them from CIS countries. Russia’s lower house, the Duma, recently passed an amendment to the law that would criminalize criticism not only of the Russian armed forces but also of mercenary groups.
3:55 a.m
Zelenskyj: The senior staff unanimously in favor of Bakhmut’s defense
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the military command staff in Ukraine is unanimously in favor of defending eastern Ukraine and the besieged city of Bakhmut. “The focus was on Bakhmut,” says Zelenskyj in his nightly video message. The entire staff had spoken out in favor of inflicting the greatest possible casualties on the Russians.
3:55 a.m
Putin: Germany still occupied by US troops
Russian President Vladimir Putin denies that Germany is an independent state. Berlin’s reaction to the explosion of the Nord Stream pipelines shows that Germany is still occupied by US troops, Putin says on state television, according to Russian news agencies. Even decades after the end of the Second World War, Germany is not in a position to act independently. Putin previously said that he considered reports of Ukrainian activists’ involvement in the explosion at the Nord Stream pipelines to be “total nonsense”. Such an action requires the support of a state.