- 07:40 am: ➤ Ukraine expects a Russian offensive in the east
- 06:20 am: Selenskyj criticizes Russia for its Ukraine policy.
- 06:02: Minister estimates damage in Ukraine at a trillion dollars
➤ Ukrainian authorities are stepping up warnings of a Russian offensive in the east
The Ukrainian authorities have stepped up their warnings of a major Russian offensive in the east of the country. “Russian troops will proceed to even larger operations in the east of our country,” said the Ukrainian president Wolodymyr Selenskyj on Sunday evening.
“The battle for Donbass will last several days, and during those days our cities could be completely destroyed,” said Ukrainian governor of the Luhansk region Serhiy Gaiday Facebook.
“We are preparing for their actions. We will respond to them,” Gajdaj said, referring to the expected attacks while Ukrainian forces dug new trenches along the front line to pro-Russian separatist areas and blocked roads with mines and anti-tank obstacles .
Meanwhile, at least two people were killed in artillery shelling on the city of Kharkiv on Sunday, according to Ukrainian sources. The previous day, ten civilians in the region were killed in bombing raids.
Many remaining residents of eastern Ukraine are afraid to head west after the attack on the Kramatorsk Gajdaj train station, according to reports. According to new information from the Ukrainian authorities, a total of 57 people were killed in the rocket attack on Friday.
The situation at a glance:
Leads since February 24 Russia from the air and on the ground a war of aggression against the Ukraine. Shortly before that, President Vladimir Putin had Ukraine’s right to exist as an independent state in doubt and the Recognition of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine announced.
The Ukrainian army is doing its best to defend itself against the invaders. Thousands of dead are reported on both sides, but exact numbers of soldiers and civilians have not been independently verified. The fact is: the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is getting worse every day. According to the More than 4.5 million people have now fled Ukraine (As of April 11), especially women and children, since men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country.
The EU and the USA reacted with sanctions. Furthermore, they are supplying arms to Ukraine, too Germany supports the country heavy weapons from Bundeswehr and NVA stocks. That the Then actively intervenes in the war has so far been ruled out.
On the first weekend in April, pictures of the The bodies of many civilians in the small town of Bucha near Kyiv caused international horror. Ukraine speaks of serious war crimes and genocide and blames Russian troops for it. Moscow denies having been involved in the deaths of the civilians despite numerous indications. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that negotiations with Russia should continue.
The other reports of the day
New Zealand sends plane and personnel to Ukraine
09:52 am: New Zealand sends a Hercules transport aircraft and a team in support of Ukraine Europe. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced this on Monday. The Hercules, which is scheduled to leave New Zealand on Wednesday, will not fly to Ukraine, but will travel across Europe to bring equipment and supplies to major distribution centers. Eight logistics specialists are to be stationed in Germany.
In addition, New Zealand will provide a further 13 million New Zealand dollars (about eight million euros) in financial support to Ukraine, including a contribution to Britain to procure arms and ammunition for the Russian-invaded country. Such a blatant attack on a country’s sovereignty is a threat to everyone, Ardern said. “That’s why we have to play a role too.”
French bank Société Générale is ending business in Russia
08:58 am: More than six weeks after the start of the Ukraine war, the major French bank Société Générale is ending all of its business in Russia. This also includes the sale of the stake in the Russian Rosbank, announced Société Générale on Monday. The step will cost the bank 3.1 billion euros.
Société Générale also offered insurance in Russia. Since the start of the Ukraine war on February 24, numerous Western companies have withdrawn from Russia, including Ikea, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s.
Selenskyj accuses Russia of untruthful politics
07:47 am: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of a policy of denial of facts. While Ukraine is trying to bring to justice “every bastard who came into our country under the Russian flag and killed our people,” Russia is trying to shirk responsibility, Zelenskyy said in his video address on the night of zm Monday.
“What is Russia doing? What are its officials, propagandists and ordinary people doing who just repeat what they heard on TV,” Zelenskyy asked. He spoke of selective truth-finding by the state-controlled Russian media.
“They justify and deny themselves. They deny any responsibility. They lie,” said Zelenskyj. “And they have already strayed so far from reality that they are accusing us of what the Russian army actually did,” the Ukrainian president criticized the Russian leadership’s attempts to the Bucha massacre and other suburbs of Kyivwhere hundreds of civilians were killed, blamed on the Ukrainian side.
Bundeswehr prepares evacuation flight for injured Ukrainians
06:53 am: the armed forces prepares a flight to transport Ukrainians injured in the war to Germany. For this purpose, the special aircraft of the Air Force, an Airbus A310 MedEvac, is to fly from Cologne-Wahn to Rzeszow in south-eastern Poland and from there bring children and adults to Germany for treatment, as the German Press Agency learned on Monday.
It will be the first such flight since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine began. In the past, however, wounded Ukrainian soldiers had already been brought to Germany. The city of Rzeszow is around 90 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Zelenskyy: Russia cannot admit mistakes in Ukraine policy
06:20 am: According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Moscow does not have the courage to admit its misguided policy towards its neighbor. “They are afraid to admit that for decades they have taken wrong positions and spent colossal resources to support human zeros they wanted to build as future heroes of the Ukrainian-Russian friendship,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address on Sunday evening.
Moscow’s attempt to build up its own people in Ukraine did not work. Because these people “were only used to stuffing money from Russia into their own pockets.” And to cover up these mistakes, new mistakes were made. But in doing so, Russia deprived itself of all political instruments and finally started this war.
In addition, Russia is trying to shift the blame for everything onto Ukraine. “They seized Crimea, we are supposedly to blame for that,” said Zelenskyy. “They destroyed every normal life in Donbass, we are supposedly to blame for that. They killed people in our country for eight years, we are supposedly to blame for that.”
This also applies to the destruction of the strongest economic region in Eastern Europe and the destruction of the lives of millions of people. “And finally they started a full-scale war against us, and again it’s our fault.” And all this out of “pure cowardice,” summed up Zelenskyj.
“And when cowardice increases, it turns into a catastrophe,” said the head of state. “When people lack the courage to admit mistakes, to apologize, to adapt to reality, they turn into monsters,” he said, referring to the leadership in the Kremlin. “And when the world ignores this, the monsters decide the world must conform to them.” Nevertheless, the day will come when Russia will have to admit the truth.
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Former world boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko has called for urgent help from Germany for Ukraine, which is being attacked by Russia
Biden discusses Ukraine war with Prime Minister Modi
06:15 am: US President Joe Biden discusses the effects of the Ukraine war with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conference on Monday. Biden will address the “consequences of Russia’s brutal war” and discuss “how to mitigate the destabilizing effects on the global food supply and commodities market,” announced his spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
India has not officially condemned Russia’s war against Ukraine. New Delhi abstained from a UN vote condemning Moscow’s actions. Moscow has been India’s main arms supplier since Soviet times, and the country continues to source Russian oil. At a meeting with Modi in New Delhi in early April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised India for its stance on the Ukraine war. Biden, on the other hand, had complained that India’s response to the Russian offensive was an exception among Washington’s allies.
Minister estimates damage in Ukraine at $1 trillion
06:02: According to government estimates, Ukraine has suffered up to a trillion US dollars in damage from the invasion of Russian troops. Deputy Economics Minister Olexander Griban said at a government meeting on Sunday, according to the Unian agency. The losses are simply “colossal”, the list is not yet complete. “It’s billions of dollars in damage, potentially up to $1 trillion,” Griban said, without specifying his numbers.
The sum results from damage to infrastructure, health care and education. “And then there are other levels of casualties – state, municipal and private,” Griban continued. “We have a lot of work to do to rebuild.”
The Ukrainian government only provided the first funds for urgent clean-up and repair work in the areas liberated from Russian occupation on Sunday. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called in Kyiv a sum of one billion hryvnia (31.2 million euros) for urgent repairs.
With material from dpa, AFP, APA
Teaserbild: © picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com/Jana Cavojska