Enlarge image
Britain promises Kyiv more money for modern air defense systems, drones, electronics
Photo: Tony Overman/AP
This article will be continuously updated.
Number of unemployed could rise because of Ukraine refugees
5.44 a.m .:
The Federal Employment Agency will probably announce rising unemployment figures for the first time in months when it presents its June statistics on Thursday.
The main reason is the change in the legal system for the Ukraine refugees.
They are officially Hartz IV recipients for the first time in June and are therefore entitled to support from the budget of the Federal Employment Agency.
Experts estimate that around half of the approximately 200,000 registered refugees from Ukraine will appear in the labor market statistics.
Dispute over Kaliningrad: Lithuania accuses Russia of disinformation
5:00 a.m .:
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda sees Moscow’s complaints about transit restrictions for the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad as part of a disinformation campaign.
"Russia is trying to use this opportunity to create a propaganda bubble and of course trying to scare us, to threaten us," Nauseda told the German Press Agency in Vilnius.
But don't let that intimidate you.
"We are not afraid for our security." Lithuania trusts in the NATO states' obligation to provide assistance and in the strength of the military alliance as a collective defense alliance.
In mid-June, Lithuania banned the rail transit of some goods across its territory to the area around Kaliningrad – formerly Koenigsberg – that are on western sanctions lists.
Russia criticized the restrictions as "illegal" and threatened countermeasures.
Zelenskyy: The situation in the Donbass remains very difficult
3.49 a.m .:
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the situation of the Ukrainian troops in the heavily contested areas in the east of the country remains very difficult.
"We are doing everything we can to equip our military with modern artillery systems and to respond appropriately to the occupiers," Zelenskyj said in his daily video speech on Thursday night.
The Russian military is relying on massive artillery fire in the Donbass industrial area to weaken Ukrainian positions.
Ukrainian artillery is outnumbered despite some modern guns arriving from the west.
Fighting is currently going on for the city of Lysychansk, and Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from neighboring Sievjerodonetsk.
The previous pressure on Russia is not enough, said Zelenskyj, pointing out that ten Russian rockets were fired at the Ukrainian city of Mikolajiv on Wednesday alone.
"And all were aimed at civilian targets," said the Ukrainian president.
US fighter captured in Ukraine: Didn't shoot
1:55 a.m .: A former US soldier who was captured in eastern Ukraine says he did not fire during the fighting.
"I didn't fire a shot," the man, who is from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, said in a video interview distributed by the Russian state news agency RIA.
"My combat experience here was one mission in one day," he said.
Two British citizens and a Moroccan were sentenced to death in the pro-Russian separatist region of Donetsk.
The Russian side sees foreign fighters as mercenaries who are not protected as prisoners of war by the Geneva Convention.
Amnesty: Russian attack on theaters in Mariupol was a war crime
2:02 a.m .:
The Russian attack on the theater in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol was a war crime, according to the human rights organization Amnesty International.
According to an Amnesty report released on Thursday, the Russian army "in all likelihood" knowingly targeted the theater in mid-March, even though hundreds of civilians were known to have taken shelter there.
The attack was most likely carried out by a Russian warplane, which dropped two 500-kilo bombs on the theater, Amnesty said, citing interviews with survivors and digital data.
"To all appearances" the Russian military "deliberately targeted Ukrainian civilians," said Julia Duchrow of Amnesty International Germany.
The International Criminal Court must treat and investigate the attack as a war crime.
All those responsible must be held accountable, stressed Duchrow.
Putin: "Special operation" in Ukraine is going according to plan
1.41 a.m .:
More than four months after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has again claimed that the hostilities are going according to plan.
"The work is quiet, rhythmic, the troops are moving and reaching the lines that have been given to them as milestones," Putin told Russian journalists in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat on Wednesday.
"Everything is going according to plan," the Russian news agency Tass quoted him as saying.
On February 24, Russian troops invaded Ukraine from several directions.
Having failed to reach the capital, Kyiv, due to fierce resistance from Ukrainian units, they are concentrating on the Donbass industrial area in eastern Ukraine.
According to Western experts, the Russian military is advancing, suffering heavy casualties and rapidly depleting its artillery shells.
oka/dpa/AFP/Reuters
