Ukraine war in the live ticker: Lamprecht gives figures for the delivery of self-propelled howitzers

In the battle for the administrative center of Sievjerodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian troops are threatened with another setback.

“The enemy is trying to take full control of Sieverodonetsk and to block defense forces units in the villages of Borivske and Voronowe, fighting is continuing,” the Ukrainian general staff said in its situation report on Wednesday. Borivske and Voronowe are two suburbs of Sievjerodonetsk on the east bank of the Severskyi Donets. In the same area, the Russians took the village of Metyolkine just over the weekend.

According to the situation report, the Russian troops are concentrating their offensive efforts in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the area between Sieverodonetsk and Bakhmut. According to earlier reports, Ukrainian units in the conurbation south of the city of Lyssychansk are also threatened with encirclement.

The second main target of the Russian attack, the Slovjansk-Kramatorsk conurbation, remains out of reach of ground troops loyal to Moscow for the time being. The General Staff said that Ukrainian positions north of Sloviansk were under artillery fire in preparation for the attack.

In view of the Ukraine war, a majority of EU citizens believe that the European Union should absorb new members more quickly. According to a survey published by the European Parliament on Wednesday, 58 percent of citizens take this position.

A majority of EU citizens believe that the Ukraine war will soon affect their lives or is already affecting their standard of living. 40 percent of those surveyed stated that their standard of living had already deteriorated because of the war or would continue to deteriorate in the coming year.

About half (47 percent) of those surveyed assume that their standard of living will fall because of the Ukraine war in the coming year – but have not felt any negative effects so far.

Around 27,000 people were surveyed for the Eurobarometer in April and May. The survey also showed that more citizens rate membership of the EU as good. Almost two-thirds think this is a good thing. That is the highest value since 2007.

Residents of Cherson report of abducted and disappeared. The Russian domestic secret service FSB and the special task force SOBR of the Russian National Guard are in Kherson, reports an eyewitness.

“They show up and just take people away without any explanation,” she says. “Some come back, some don’t.” The woman told of numerous checkpoints where the occupiers checked “ID cards, phones and bags.”

During a Moscow-organized visit to Kherson earlier this month, an AFP reporter observed few soldiers in the center but many checkpoints on the outskirts.

The journalist Marina Owsjannikova, who became known for her war protests on Russian television, is considering staying in Germany permanently.

“I cannot return to Russia, under any circumstances, because – as far as I know – I will be arrested immediately,” the 44-year-old told the German Press Agency in an interview in Berlin. “I feel pretty safe in Germany. But I’m constantly exposed to bullying and hatred on social networks.”

The then editor of Russian state television showed a protest poster against the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine in a live broadcast on Channel One on March 14. It read: “Stop the war. Don’t believe the propaganda. You’re being lied to here”. She received worldwide recognition for this. The Kremlin in Moscow condemned the action. The journalist received fines.

The decision on Ukraine’s possible status as a candidate for EU membership is now imminent. EU Council President Charles Michel advocates granting this status to both her and her small neighbor Moldova.

The most recent draft of the final declaration of the EU summit beginning on Thursday reads: “The European Council has decided to grant Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova the status of candidate countries.” The 27 heads of state and government meeting in Brussels until Friday would thus follow the recommendation of the EU Commission.

In the heavily contested eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, Ukrainian units around the towns of Solote and Hirske could be surrounded by Russian forces.

According to a report by the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russian troops had gained territory, so that the Ukrainian forces there could be cut off the northern road connection to their other units around Lysychansk. The connection via Wrubiwka, west of Hirske, had already come under Russian control last week.

In the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, 14 adults and one child were killed by Russian attacks, Governor Oleh Synyehubov told the Telegram news service on Tuesday.

16 others were injured. According to Governor Pavel Kyrylenko, one civilian was killed in the Donetsk region and 19 others were injured. The information cannot be independently verified.

The federal government rules out accession to the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty. Such a step would not be compatible with the obligations arising from Germany’s NATO membership, according to a response to a minor question from left-wing MP Sevim Dagdelen.

“Disarmament must take into account the security policy environment,” the government said. Russia’s attack on Ukraine shows the dangers emanating from Moscow. At the same time, the federal government emphasized that it shares the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. The Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty, in force since 2021, outlaws the development, possession and threat of nuclear weapons. The 65 contracting states to date will meet for a first conference in Vienna by Thursday.

Although Germany has no nuclear weapons, some US nuclear warheads are stationed in the Federal Republic as part of nuclear sharing.

Zelenskyj is calling for further EU sanctions against Russia because of the war against his country. A seventh package of sanctions is needed as soon as possible, said the Ukrainian President in his video message on Wednesday night.

He emphasized this in talks with various European heads of state and government on Tuesday. “Russia must feel the growing pressure as a result of the war and its aggressive anti-European policies,” he said.

Zelenskyj again emphasized the urgency of further arms deliveries. “The lives of thousands of people directly depend on the speed of our partners.”

The economic adviser to the Ukrainian President, Alexander Rodnyansky, firmly believes that his country will win against the Russian aggressor.

“We can win the war,” he said on Tuesday evening on the ARD program “Maischberger”. He hopes that the counter-offensive can begin at the end of August or in August. Aid from abroad would help a lot, would also arrive, but it would take a while before the weapons could be used.

You can’t make a lasting peace with Russia anyway, said Rodnyansky. “One must not indulge in this illusion.” Russia under President Putin is not interested in peace with Europe, it’s about revanchism, about imperialism – “and it will stay that way.”

Rodnyansky said that Ukraine defends the European peace order and needs maximum support, otherwise there will be war somewhere else in Europe. “You shouldn’t be more afraid of a Ukrainian victory than a Russian defeat, so that’s totally out of place.” In any case, after almost four months, there is no war fatigue in his country. However, there are massive problems with supplies, one has become even more dependent on the West.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) promises the citizens of Germany a long phase of deprivation in view of rising prices as a result of the Ukraine war.

“My concern is that we could have a very worrying situation in a few weeks and months,” said Lindner on Tuesday evening on ZDF’s “heute journal”. “It’s about three to four, maybe five years of scarcity. And we have to find an answer for that.” He added: “There is a risk of a very serious economic crisis due to soaring energy prices, supply chain problems, also inflation.”

You can read more about this at TAG24: Lindner swears citizens to renounce and wants to talk about nuclear power plants.