Ukraine war: Explosions shake Kyiv – investigations into possible war crimes

Created: 03/03/2022 05:04

By: Tobias Utz, Lukas Rogalla, Johannes Nuß, Katja Thorwarth, Tim Vincent Dicke, Nico Scheck, Nail Akkoyun, Andreas Schmid, Marvin Ziegele, Christian Stör

In the Ukraine conflict, the cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv are still hard fought.

The news ticker.

• The attack from Russia* meets with heavy resistance in Ukraine*.

• Russia is apparently preparing a major attack on Kyiv in the Ukraine conflict*.

• The situation in Ukraine* in the ticker.

>>> Update news ticker <<<

+++ 5.05 a.m .:

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has launched official investigations into war crimes in Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia.

This was announced by chief prosecutor Karim Khan on Wednesday evening in The Hague.

39 contracting states of the ICC had issued a corresponding recommendation, which made the investigations possible.

Accordingly, there is "sufficient basis for the assumption that both war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed in Ukraine," said the chief prosecutor on Monday.

The investigation should focus on possible crimes by all parties in the conflict.

In light of the investigation, Khan on Thursday reiterated his call for all those involved in hostilities in Ukraine to "strictly abide by the applicable rules of international humanitarian law."

Airstrike in Ukraine: Several people die in Kharkiv and Zhytomyr

+++ 3.30 a.m .:

According to local authorities, eight people, including two children, were killed in an air raid in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum near Kharkiv.

According to the media, a multi-storey residential building was hit during the attack on Thursday night.

The information cannot be independently verified.

Two rockets hit an administration building in the city of Kharkiv.

The Assumption Cathedral is said to have suffered damage that is not described in detail.

Nothing was initially known about injuries.

Explosions have been rocking Ukraine in recent days.

© dpa/Emergency Service Of Ukraine

Ukraine urges Russia to cease fire in Kharkiv and Sumy regions to evacuate civilians.

In Korosten, north of the city of Zhytomyr, two people died in an airstrike on a large checkpoint, according to the administration.

Five people were injured.

Ukraine war: Russia attacks Kyiv – Klitschko comments on the situation  

+++ 3.07 a.m .:

In the Ukrainian capital of Kiev there were several serious explosions on Thursday night.

According to the Unian agency, an air alarm was triggered.

The residents were called on to seek protection immediately, it said.

Powerful detonations were seen on videos shared on social networks.

At first it was unclear whether it was an air raid and what the goals could have been.

Ukrainian media reported on fighting in the suburbs of the metropolis.

A Russian plane is said to have been shot down.

The information is not independently verifiable.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote in the Telegram news channel: "The enemy is trying to break through into the capital."

Ukraine conflict: Heavy fighting in Kharkiv and Mariupol

+++ 2.42 a.m .:

As the US news channel CNN reports, at least three schools in Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, were hit by Russian military strikes.

This is shown by photos and videos on social media, which CNN has since been able to locate geographically.

One of the schools is located in the northern district of Saltivka, the other two schools are about one kilometer apart in the industrial area in the south-east of the city.

Classes have been suspended since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

It is currently unclear whether the attacks resulted in injuries or deaths.

Meanwhile, from Mariupol, the news channel Al Jazeera has received “disturbing reports” of people trying to leave the city of Mariupol amid fierce fighting.

There are also reports of "terrible shelling and many casualties" from the area around the town of Volnovakha, north of Mariupol.

Mayor of Mariupol: "The hardest of all seven days of war"

+++ 1.23 a.m .:

According to Mayor Wadym Boychenko, the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol is without water, heating and electricity after air raids.

"Today was the hardest of all seven days of the war," Boychenko said on Wednesday, according to the Unian agency.

The energy supply of the city with around 440,000 inhabitants was damaged.

"Tomorrow our public utilities will start restoring the critical infrastructure," he said.

Bojchenko thanked the Ukrainian military, municipal utilities and doctors.

"We didn't attack anyone.

We are at home here.” Mariupol is near the so-called line of contact between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army in the Donetsk region.

The city is strategically important.

According to the authorities, more than 130 people have been injured in air raids in Mariupol.

Ukraine blames Russia for this.

The information could not be independently verified.

Ukraine: Russian forces capture port of Kherson

+++ 0.45 a.m .:

According to Mayor Igor Kolykhaiev, the southern Ukrainian city of Cherson has now finally been conquered by Russian forces.

The Ukrainian military is no longer in the city, and the residents now have to follow the instructions of "armed people who have come to the city administration".

Ukraine War: Russian air raids on Kyiv continue

+++ 11.45 p.m .:

There were new air raids in Kiev on Wednesday evening.

According to the state-owned railway company Ukrsalisnyzja, a bullet hit the south of the main train station.

At the time of the attack, thousands of children and women were to be taken to safety by trains.

"The station building withstood and was slightly damaged," it said in a statement.

Nothing was initially known about possible victims.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko has meanwhile explained on Telegram that "thank God" there were no victims, but that "details" still have to be clarified at the moment.

A video posted to social media showed smoke billowing near the tracks.

Train traffic continues, said Ukrsalisnytsia.

The Ministry of Defense is near the train station.

Ukraine: Russian troops capture city of Cherson

+++ 11 p.m.:

Russian troops are said to have penetrated the city administration building in the southern Ukrainian city of Cherson.

This is reported by the Reuters news agency, citing statements by Igor Kolykhavey, Mayor of Kherson.

The Ukrainian government had previously dismissed reports that the port city had become the first major town to fall into Russian hands since the invasion began.

Kolykhayev urged the Russian soldiers not to shoot at the civilian population.

He also publicly called on the population to only walk the streets in daylight and in groups of two.

"We have no armed forces in the city, only civilians and people who want to live here," it said in a statement.

Ukraine War: Russia to cease fire due to civilian population

+++ 9:00 p.m .:

Ukraine is calling on Russia to cease fire in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Kharkiv and Sumy in order to be able to bring civilians to safety.

The Russian side is asked to "immediately end its hostilities in Kharkiv and Sumy so that we can arrange for the evacuation of the civilian population, including foreign students, to safer Ukrainian cities," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

+++ 8.15 p.m .:

According to the US, Russian troops have fired more than 450 rockets since the start of the military attack on Ukraine.

In the past 24 hours, the situation has not changed significantly in view of the Russian advance, said a senior US defense official in Washington.

The official reiterated on Wednesday (03/02/2022): "The Russians are not making the progress that we think they expected.

They're behind schedule.” And with every day that their offense falters, they're falling further behind.

Ukraine conflict: Two Russian planes destroyed

+++ 7.39 p.m .:

The Air Force of Ukraine said it had destroyed two Russian Su-35C jets during a bitter dogfight in the sky around midnight on March 1.

The dogfight took place against two Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jets in combination "with anti-aircraft defenses," the Air Force said on its Facebook page.

As a result, Ukraine lost one plane, and the search for the MiG pilot is now underway.

With anti-tank barriers, Kyiv is preparing for the advance of troops from Russia.

© SERGEI SUPINSKY

+++ 18:19:

On the seventh day since the Russian invasion, Ukraine has reported ongoing fighting in numerous cities, but also the first recaptures.

According to military information, the Makariv settlement in the west of the Kyiv region was recovered.

Ukrainian soldiers are also said to have had successes at Horliwka in Donbass in eastern Ukraine.

This information could not be verified independently.

+++ 5.15 p.m .:

According to a report by the Kyiv Independent news portal, Russia lost an entire brigade in the Ukraine war.

Specifically, this is said to have happened in fighting for the city of Chernihiv.

Accordingly, the 35th Motorized Rifle Brigade is said to have been almost completely destroyed.

According to a text message obtained by the Kyiv Independent, only "18 soldiers out of 150" survived the failed attack attempt.

Ukraine war: Kyiv reports 2,000 dead Ukrainian civilians – Klitschko appeals to the population

+++ 4.40 p.m .:

The weapons provided by Germany during the war in Ukraine have been handed over.

The German Press Agency learned this on Wednesday (March 2nd, 2022) from government circles in Berlin.

On Saturday (February 26, 2022), the German government announced that it intended to support the Ukrainian armed forces with 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 “Stinger” surface-to-air missiles.

+++ 16:09:

Vitali Klitschko made an appeal to the people of Ukraine.

The mayor of Kyiv wrote in the messenger service Telegram: “Hold on!

You are heroes!”

"Such self-sacrifice of the army, police, other security agencies, fighting spirit of fighters of self-defense groups and all Ukrainians - this is our strength that nobody can break, we will stand together," Vitali Klitschko wrote.

War in Ukraine: Around 15,000 people are holding out in Metro

+++ 15:11:

Around 15,000 people are currently in metro stations because of the war in Ukraine to hide from Russian rocket attacks and bombs.

This is reported by the news portal Pravda.

Accordingly, the infrastructure of the metro should be able to accommodate up to 100,000 people.

“Many people have no place to go back to.

A few meters of floor and a ceiling have become their only home.

We're talking thousands and thousands of people here.

That's no exaggeration.

Currently, up to 15,000 Kievans are staying with us,” according to representatives of the Kiev Metro.

Ukraine War: City of Irpin under shelling - Important bridge destroyed

+++ 2.35 p.m

.: The city of Irpin near Kiev has been under continuous fire since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

A video posted to Twitter by the Kyiv Independent news portal shows a bridge completely destroyed by Russian forces.

The Russian army has tried to build a pontoon bridge to cross the Irpin River, according to the Ukrainian military.

Another attempt to capture the city of Irpin just before Kyiv was unsuccessful.

Ukraine war: Russia bombs Kharkiv - Kyiv reports 2000 dead Ukrainian civilians

+++ 2.15 p.m .:

According to information from Kiev, at least 2,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

This number does not include soldiers who died in the country, the rescue service announced on Facebook on Wednesday.

Ten rescue workers were among the dead.

The UN recently spoke of 142 dead. 

+++ 1:00 p.m .:

Kiev’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko is preparing his city for the invasion of Russia in the Ukraine conflict.

"The enemy is massing more and more troops," Klitschko told the British BBC, demanding of his compatriots: "We must prepare and will defend Kyiv."

The fact that Russia has made little progress in capturing Ukraine's capital could prompt Vladimir Putin to intensify his attacks.

"If the Russians launch a major attack [on Kyiv] and they haven't broken the resistance by then, it will be very bloody," said military expert Dr.

Jack Watling also told the BBC.

Russian forces have expanded their attacks on busy cities, like here in Kyiv.

© Emilio Morenatti/AP/dpa

Ukraine conflict: Kharkiv under fire from Russia

+++ 12.30 p.m .:

According to rescue workers, at least four people were killed in the renewed bombing of the second largest Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Nine others were injured in the attacks on the headquarters of the security services and a university on Wednesday morning, Ukrainian rescue workers said in online networks.

The Ukrainian army had previously reported that Russian airborne troops had attacked Kharkiv on Wednesday night.

There is "practically no area in Kharkiv that hasn't been hit by an artillery shell," said the adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, Anton Herashchenko, on Telegram.

+++ 11.00 a.m .:

According to information from Moscow, Russian units have brought the area around the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine under their control.

This was reported by Russian diplomats to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi reported on Wednesday.

In Ukraine, 15 nuclear reactors are in operation at four power plants.

Grossi has therefore already warned of the danger of a serious nuclear accident in the course of the fighting.

The IAEA Board of Governors will meet on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

According to the letter from the Russian embassy to the IAEA, the employees at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which has now been taken over, continue to ensure safe operation.

Radiation levels are normal.

Ukraine War: Russian attack near Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial

+++ 10.13 a.m .:

According to information from the museum management, a building in the immediate vicinity of the Babyn Jar Holocaust memorial was damaged during a Russian attack in Ukraine.

The affected building was built as a sports center during the Soviet Union and should now become part of the memorial, Nathan Sharanski, head of the memorial's supervisory board, told the German Press Agency on Wednesday.

It has now been damaged by a fire, but the exact extent is still unclear.

Sharansky is not there himself.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned the Russian attack on the TV tower in Kyiv near the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial as an attack on Ukrainian history.

"For any normal person who knows our history, world history, Babyn Yar is a special part of Kyiv," the 44-year-old said in a video message on Wednesday.

This shows that Kyiv is foreign to the absolute majority of Russians.

“They know nothing about our capital.

About our history,” said the President.

Now Russia is trying to erase Ukrainian history. 

War in Ukraine: Russia reports capture of southern Ukrainian city of Cherson

+++ 8.30 a.m .:

According to their own statements, the Russian military has gained full control over the southern Ukrainian city of Cherson, which has been contested for days.

"Russian armed forces units have taken complete control of the center of the Kherson region," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday, according to a statement.

There was initially no confirmation from the Ukrainian side.

It would be the first Ukrainian regional capital that Russian troops have seized control of since the war broke out last Thursday.

Ukraine conflict: Russian soldiers are said to have attacked a hospital in Kharkiv 

+++ 6.50 a.m .:

According to Mayor Wadym Boychenko, more than 100 residents have already been injured in Russian air raids on the port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine.

"The number of wounded civilians is growing every day," Bojchenko said, according to the Unian agency, on Wednesday night.

“Today there are 128 people in our hospitals.

Our doctors don't even go home anymore." Recently, the situation in the city had improved at first, but then there was a new attack. 

+++ 6.50 a.m .:

Early Wednesday morning the alarm sirens sound in Kiev, Sumy and Chernihiv: the population should immediately seek protection from Russian air attacks that could be imminent.

This is reported by the Kyiv Independent.

+++ 5.45 a.m .:

Several Ukrainian media reports that Russian airborne troops have attacked Kharkiv.

There are skirmishes with Ukrainian forces.

The Russian troops are said to have attacked a military hospital.

According to the authorities, at least eight people were killed in an air raid on a high-rise block in Kharkiv on Tuesday, and ten more died in an attack on a government building in the city of 1.4 million people in the east of the country.

Ukraine conflict: warning of support from Belarus

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also said during the night that it feared an attack from Belarus.

"Belarusian troops have been put on alert and are in the concentration zones closest to the Ukrainian border," the ministry said on Facebook.

During the course of Tuesday, the Ukrainian secret service identified "significant activity" by aircraft in the border area.

Vehicle convoys carrying food and ammunition were observed, the statement said.

Given these moves, Belarus "in the future could probably support the Russian invaders in the Russo-Ukrainian war," the ministry warned.

+++ 02.35 a.m .:

The news portals Nexta and UNIAN report a telegram message from the Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Accordingly, "Russian troops landed in Kharkiv," he is quoted as saying.

"A battle has begun between the invaders and the Ukrainian defenders".

+++ 1:39 a.m .:

US President Joe Biden apparently wants to block US airspace for Russian aircraft because of the Ukraine war.

This was reported by several US media on Tuesday, including CBS, CNN and the Wall Street Journal.

Biden therefore wants to officially announce the measure during his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening (9 p.m. local time; Wednesday 3 a.m. CET).

He follows the EU and Canada, which had already banned Russian aircraft overflight, take-off and landing on their territory.

Ukraine conflict: Baerbock condemns Moscow – and appeals

+++ 12:08 a.m .:

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has made an emotional appeal to the countries of the world to sharply condemn the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.

"Today we all have to choose between peace and aggression, between justice and the will of the strongest, between acting and looking the other way," said the Green politician on Tuesday evening at the emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

She accused Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of abusing Russia's power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

"Your tanks won't bring water.

Their shells bring no food for babies.

Their tanks bring no peace.

Their tanks bring death and destruction,” Baerbock said to Lavrov.

"You can fool yourself.

But you will not fool us and not our population.

And they will not deceive their own people.” For her speech, the politician traveled to the US east coast metropolis for the first time as a minister, straight from a foreign ministers' meeting in Poland - the plane went straight to the UN in Manhattan.

She is scheduled to leave New York on Wednesday.

Ukraine conflict: Russian missile hits Kyiv TV tower – Klitschko stunned

+++ 8.07 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian information, five people were killed in the air raid on the television tower in Kiev, the broadcast of the television programs was temporarily interrupted.

The tower stands near the Babyn Yar Gorge and the memorial to a massacre of Jewish Ukrainians committed there by the Wehrmacht during World War II.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, himself a Jew, denounced that the world is silent while bombs fall on Babyn Yar.

"Once again these barbarians are murdering the victims of the Holocaust," he wrote on Twitter.

On September 29 and 30, 1941, SS commandos shot more than 33,000 Ukrainian Jews in the Babyn Jar gorge.

Up to 100,000 people were killed in the area by 1943 - Jews, Roma and Soviet prisoners of war.

Ukraine conflict: Russian missile hits Kyiv TV tower

+++ 19:04:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed his conditions for ending the "military operation" in Ukraine, according to the Kremlin.

The government in Kyiv must recognize the "people's republics" of Luhansk and Donetsk and Russia's sovereignty over the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, the Kremlin said.

In addition, Ukraine must be demilitarized and given a neutral status. 

+++ 18:07:

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko is shocked by the attack on the TV tower in Kiev, in which five people died.

"Today the people of Kiev and all of Ukraine are going through the sixth day of hell," Klitschko said.

Four million citizens of the city are currently trying by all means to "stop the Russian aggression at the doors of our houses" so that it does not continue.

+++ 1:15 p.m .:

At least ten people died in the Russian bombing of the city of Kharkiv.

The rescue services said that 20 people were injured so far.

Ukraine conflict: Russia continues invasion - Belarus troops reach border

+++ 12.30 Uhr: Die Vereinten Nationen haben neue Angaben zu Toten und Verletzten im Ukraine-Krieg veröffentlicht. Demnach kamen bislang 136 Menschen aus der Zivilbevölkerung, darunter 13 Kinder, ums Leben. Rund 4000 Personen seien bisher verletzt worden. Die UN rechnet dabei mit einer hohen Dunkelziffer: „Die tatsächliche Zahl ist wahrscheinlich viel höher“, betonte einer Sprecherin des UN-Menschenrechtsbüros OHCHR. Regionaler Schwerpunkt der Verletzten sei der Osten der Ukraine, vor allem die Regionen Luhansk und Donezk. Die Daten der Vereinten Nationen klammern Tote und Verletzte unter den russischen und ukrainischen Streitkräften aus.

Alexander Lukaschenko hatte am Morgen abermals dementiert, an der russischen Invasion beteiligt zu sein (s. Update v. 10.00 Uhr).

Ukraine conflict: Russia's military convoy in front of Kyiv 60 kilometers long - warplanes shot down

First report :

Moscow/Kiev – Russia launched a major attack on Ukraine on Thursday morning (02/24/2022).

Within a few hours, the Russian armed forces advanced to the greater Kyiv area.

According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops captured a military airfield near the capital and the Chernobyl nuclear reactor after fierce fighting.

According to Ukrainian sources, dozens of people were killed, including many civilians.

(skr/tu/ktho/marv/lrg/nak with dpa/AFP/rtr/epd/KNA)