War in Ukraine: Russian troops violently break up demonstration in occupied Cherson

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war in Ukraine
Russian troops violently break up demonstrations in occupied Cherson

On the 64th day of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, renewed shelling in the Kharkiv region at least three people were killed and six injured, including a 14-year-old child. The local administration blamed Russia for the civilian casualties. Out of town Khersonreported to have been taken by Russia multiple explosions reported. Near Odessa’s air defenses shot down a Russian spy drone, as announced by the Ukrainian army. Initially, none of the information could be independently verified.

The most important reports on the Ukraine war on Thursday, April 28:

8.51 a.m .: Ukrainian military reports increased Russian attacks in the east

According to the General Staff in Kyiv, the Russian armed forces have significantly increased the speed of their attacks in eastern Ukraine. The Russian occupiers would attack intensively from practically all sides and shell targets, the staff said. Moscow is concentrating additional forces near Izyum in the Kharkiv region with the aim of encircling the defenders of Ukraine in the east, it said. According to the General Staff in Kyiv, the Russian armed forces continue to use the Melitopol airport in the Zaporizhia region as a base for their combat aircraft and helicopters.

8.34 a.m .: CDU parliamentary group leader demands further tank deliveries to Ukraine from “Ampel”.

Before the Bundestag vote on arms deliveries to Ukraine, Union parliamentary group leader Johann Wadephul (CDU) criticized the traffic light coalition for the decision to provide Gepard anti-aircraft tanks as a first step. The delivery of Leopard 1 main battle tanks would have been “much more important,” he told RTL / ntv. “The cheetah is the most complex weapon system that we had in the army. It takes at least six months to train the soldiers on it.” This means that the cheetah will help Ukraine “relatively little” in the short term, according to Wadephul, who is calling on the federal government to “take further steps now.”

8.05 a.m .: SMEs: companies would not be able to cope with the stop of Russian gas deliveries

German medium-sized companies are concerned about a possible stop in Russian gas deliveries. “A disrupted gas supply would have hardly any calculable effects on the economic development of our country,” said the chairman of the BVMW association of medium-sized companies, Markus Jerger, to the newspapers of the Funke media group. In such a case, small and medium-sized companies in particular would have “hardly any chance of relocating their production quickly and flexibly”. The supply situation in Germany is currently stable, but the Russian delivery stop to Poland and Bulgaria has shown “that we have to be prepared for the worst at any time,” said Jerger.

6.26 a.m .: Russian troops violently break up demonstrations in occupied Cherson

According to Ukrainian sources, soldiers violently dispersed a demonstration in the city of Cherson in southern Ukraine, which was occupied by Russian troops. According to the Ukrainian armed forces, the “occupiers used tear gas grenades against Ukrainian demonstrators”. Several of the protesters were “injured and arrested”. Kherson was the first major city taken by Russian troops at the start of the invasion in late February.

5:52 a.m .: Ukrainian Defense Minister expects “extremely difficult weeks”

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has promised his country’s army “extremely difficult weeks” in the Russian war of aggression. The implementation of training and logistics would take time, he wrote on Facebook. “And Russia has already massed its forces for a full-scale offensive in eastern Ukraine.” While support for Ukraine is growing, Kyiv must show resilience and special unity in the coming days. Russia will not win, but will try to inflict “as much damage as possible” on Ukraine. “Unfortunately, we will lose members of our forces before we achieve victory. There will still be destruction and painful casualties.”

5.30 a.m .: Survey: Majority dissatisfied with Scholz’ Ukraine actions

According to a survey, the majority of citizens are dissatisfied with the actions of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the conflict over the Russian war against Ukraine. In the YouGov survey, 45 percent said they were rather dissatisfied or even very dissatisfied (25/20 percent). 37 percent are therefore rather or very satisfied with Scholz (28/9) in the international conflict. 18 percent could not or did not want to rate his actions. Only among the SPD sympathizers did a completely different picture emerge: 59 percent of them were satisfied with Scholz and 34 percent dissatisfied.

4.58 a.m .: Selenskyj accuses Russia of “blackmail”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of “blackmail” because of the cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. The suspension of deliveries shows “that nobody in Europe can hope for normal economic cooperation with Russia,” he said, adding: “This week the Russian leadership started a new series of energy blackmails against the Europeans. Russia is not just looking at gas , but also any other trade as a weapon.” For this, Moscow is just waiting for a favorable moment.

4.08 a.m .: Bundestag wants to pass cross-party Ukraine application

With the votes of the coalition and the CDU/CSU, the Bundestag wants to send a signal of support for Ukraine. The traffic light groups and the Union want to adopt a joint application to support Ukraine. In it, the federal government is asked to support Ukraine with military material – including heavy weapons. The decision is not legally binding on the government. The adoption will be preceded by an 80-minute debate starting at 9 a.m. In addition, the Bundestag wants to pass a draft law by the traffic light parliamentary groups in the afternoon to relieve the high energy prices.

2.15 a.m .: Reservist association calls for more soldiers: 200,000 are not enough

In view of the debate about better equipment for the Bundeswehr, the reservists’ association is calling for more soldiers. “Overall, you also have to think about the number of troops. With around 200,000 soldiers, the Bundeswehr is too small,” said Association President Patrick Sensburg of the Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post”. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had announced a special fund of 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr as a consequence of the Russian attack on Ukraine.

2.12 a.m .: Kyiv is carefully monitoring the situation in the separatist region of Transnistria

After reports of explosions in Transnistria, the Ukrainian government is closely monitoring the situation in the pro-Russian separatist region in Moldova. “We have always viewed Transnistria as a bridgehead from which certain risks can emanate for us,” said presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak. The Ukrainian leadership is aware of the dangers emanating from Transnistria, which is why in the Ukrainian regions of Odessa and Vinnytsia “everything is well thought out from the point of view of defense”.

1.41 a.m .: Russian hacker groups are said to have carried out more than 200 cyber attacks on Ukraine

According to a report by the US technology group Microsoft, hacker groups allied with Russia are responsible for more than 200 cyber attacks on Ukraine. “Since just before the invasion, we have seen at least six different Russian-allied nation-state actors launch more than 237 operations against Ukraine,” the company said. Accordingly, attacks on the network are often coordinated with attacks on the battlefield. For example, in the first week of the invasion, Russian hackers attacked a major Ukrainian radio station in late February. “On the same day, the Russian military announced its intention to destroy Ukrainian ‘disinformation’ targets”. At the same time, it attacked a television tower in Kyiv with a rocket.

12:28 a.m .: Russia criticizes the United States for passing on helicopters to Ukraine

Russia has protested the US transfer of Russian-made helicopters to Ukraine. The 2011 contract stipulates that the helicopters are intended for Afghanistan and may only be passed on to other countries with Russian consent, said the Russian authority responsible for military-technical cooperation, FSWTS. A delivery to the Ukraine is illegal and a gross breach of contract. Before the start of the Russian war of aggression, the US had already given Ukraine five of the Mi-17 helicopters originally intended for Afghanistan.

nik
DPA
AFP