The day of the war at a glance
Butscha puts the world in shock – Baerbock takes action on Russian diplomats
4/4/2022 8:51 p.m
The gruesome images of hundreds of dead civilians in Bucha went around the world. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj sees for himself and travels to the Kiev suburb. He speaks of genocide, his defense minister of revenge. The atrocities also had consequences for Russia at the international level. Germany immediately expels 40 diplomats, and France follows suit a little later.
Sumy region liberated from Russian occupiers
Militarily, the day passed largely without major skirmishes. According to the governor there, no towns or villages are in the hands of Russian troops in the Sumy region in northern Ukraine. The Russian soldiers have largely withdrawn and left equipment behind on a large scale, Dmytro Schywyzki said on Ukrainian television. The own troops tried to expel the remaining Russian units.
Evacuation of Mariupol fails again
The humanitarian situation in Mariupol is becoming increasingly tense. Among other things, there is a lack of water, food and medicine. Getting civilians out of the heavily contested port city seems almost impossible. The Red Cross had to cancel an evacuation again. This is not possible for security reasons, said spokesman Jason Straziuso. Aid convoys have already had to turn back several times in the past few days because agreed fire breaks were not observed. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for this.
Most of Putin’s troops around Kyiv withdrawn
Russia is said to have already withdrawn about two-thirds of its troops around Kyiv. This is a Pentagon assessment. A senior Pentagon official said the rest of the soldiers were positioned further in front of the Ukrainian capital. It is unclear whether and when they would also move north. “We continue to assume that the troops will be refitted, resupplied and perhaps even reinforced with additional forces before being sent back to Ukraine,” the government official said. The US government suspects that they will be sent to the Donbass in eastern Ukraine.
The atrocities in Bucha would only confirm a previous US assessment. “We have said before that the Russians would be brutal in this invasion and they proved it.” The US government assumes that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine. What is now being seen in Butscha reinforces these fears, it said.
Selenskyj speaks of genocide in Bucha
And the Ukrainian President personally traveled to that city. Bucha was occupied by the Russian army from February 27 and remained largely inaccessible for over a month. The recordings and reports about the corpses found caused horror around the world. On site, Selenskyj reiterated his allegations of genocide against Russia. “Now look what happens every day (…). These are war crimes and they will be recognized by the world as genocide.” Ukraine has accused the Russian army of carrying out a “massacre” of civilians in Bucha. Russia suspects a propaganda campaign by the West.
The EU has now also pledged its support in order to solve alleged war crimes such as those committed in Bucha. The EU judicial authority Eurojust and the law enforcement agency Europol are to help with the investigation, said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In this way, the work of an already agreed joint investigative team could be strengthened. This is to collect evidence and solve war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Ukrainian defense minister threatened Russia with retaliation. “Something bad like that shouldn’t go unpunished,” he said on Monday in Kyiv. “Our reconnaissance systematically identifies all intruders and murderers. Everyone! Everyone will get what they “deserve” in their time,” the statement said.
Germany and France are expelling diplomats
For many, the horrific images from Bucha bring a new dimension to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. The pressure to take tougher action against Moscow is increasing – and initial reactions follow at the diplomatic level. The federal government declared 40 Russian diplomats in Germany “undesirable persons”. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said: “We selected 40 people who we attribute to the Russian intelligence services.” It is about protecting Germany against Russian espionage, attempts to influence, lies and war propaganda.
France also decided to expel numerous Russian employees with diplomatic status from the country. According to information from the AFP news agency, 35 people are affected.
No to energy embargo
Because of the war atrocities in Ukraine, calls for an EU gas embargo on Russia are growing louder. Berlin and Vienna continue to reject this for the time being. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Monday at the sidelines of a meeting of the euro countries in Luxembourg that Russian natural gas cannot be replaced “in the short term”. Apparently, however, there is a possible import freeze for oil or coal on the table. The EU ambassadors want to launch a new package of sanctions this week. Lindner emphasized that the EU must continue to increase the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin: “We want to become independent of energy imports as quickly as possible.” However, it is currently not possible to interrupt gas supplies.
Habeck and Gazprom Germania
The Russian gas continues to flow – and to ensure this, the German state takes control of Gazprom Germania. The Federal Network Agency is now in charge there temporarily. Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck justified the step with unclear legal relationships and a violation of reporting regulations. The aim is to ensure security of supply. Gazprom is still Germany’s largest gas supplier.
Among other things, Gazprom operates the largest gas storage facility in Germany, which accounts for a fifth of Germany’s storage capacity. According to Habeck, the parent company surprisingly announced a few days ago that it was withdrawing from Gazprom Germania and its holdings. “It was not communicated who the new economic and legal owner of this holding should be,” said Habeck. This is in itself a violation of the obligation to report under the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance. In addition, the acquirer ordered the liquidation of Gazprom Germania, which is illegal as long as the acquisition is not approved. “A liquidation would result in the end of the legal existence of Gazprom Germania.” The Ministry of Economics then issued the order.
Steinmeier’s sad record
The sad realization of Russia’s indifference in the war of aggression against Ukraine has now also reached Frank-Walter Steinmeier. the Federal President admitted mistakes in his Russia policy for the first time. Steinmeier said his holding on to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was clearly a mistake. “We clung to bridges that Russia no longer believed in and that our partners warned us about.” The 66-year-old had been criticized in the past few days for not having commented on his own misjudgments, especially during his time as Foreign Minister.
Now he said responsibility for the war lay with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. “We shouldn’t take it upon ourselves. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to think about things where we made mistakes.”
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