Ukraine war: "The situation around Kyiv is dramatic" - Ukrainian embassy asks for German battle tanks and submarines
Created: 2022-03-04 06:51
By: Bettina Menzel, Christina Denk
In the Ukraine war, Russia launches offensives on several cities.
A military convoy is waiting in front of Kyiv.
A fire breaks out in Europe's largest nuclear power plant after a Russian attack.
News ticker.
Ukraine conflict: Heavy fighting for the cities of Kharkiv and Mariupol.
Pentagon confirms: The city of Cherson is said to already be in Russian hands
(see update from March 3, 1:32 a.m.).
In the Sumy area, Ukrainian forces recaptured the state border
(see initial report).
The Russian troops occupied the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, after the attack a fire broke out in a block of the plant
(see update from March 4, 03:29).
This
news ticker on the military conflict in the Ukraine war
is continuously updated.
More on the background of the Ukraine crisis* here.
Update from March 4, 6:30 a.m .:
The Ukrainian embassy in Berlin is asking the federal government to supply additional weapon systems to fight the Russian attackers, including battle tanks, submarines and combat aircraft.
This emerges from a so-called verbal note from the embassy to the Chancellery, the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense, which is available to the German Press Agency.
The reason for the request is that Putin has started a "war of annihilation" against Ukraine and the Ukrainians, in which highly modern weapon systems are being used - including banned weapons such as cassette bombs with cluster munitions.
Ukraine war: "The situation around Kyiv is dramatic" - a fire broke out in a nuclear power plant
Update from March 4, 3:29 a.m .:
According to the authorities, the situation in the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine is “secured”.
A fire broke out in Europe's largest nuclear power plant on Thursday night after a Russian attack.
The head of the nuclear power plant said that firefighters had reached the plant in the meantime, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksander Staruch, wrote on Facebook on Friday night.
The building for training events and a laboratory are said to have burned.
The International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA announced that no increased radioactivity had been measured in the area.
However, the authority warned urgently against hostilities around the nuclear power plant, because there would be a "serious danger" if reactors were to be hit.
According to the IAEA, the Ukraine war has significantly increased the risk of a nuclear accident with international repercussions.
Fire broke out in Europe's largest nuclear power plant Zaporizhia
Update from March 4, 1:44 a.m .:
A fire is said to have broken out in Europe’s largest nuclear power plant Zaporizhia.
Russian troops took over the nuclear power plant on Thursday.
They had "bombed" the plant, said a spokesman for the nuclear power plant.
A block of the plant was hit and then caught fire.
This emerges from a Telegram video reported by the AFP news agency.
The information could not initially be verified independently.
Pentagon spokesman confirms: city of Cherson probably in Russian hands
Update from March 4, 1:32 a.m .:
The US Department of Defense assumes that the southern Ukrainian city of Cherson is probably in Russian hands.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told
CNN
on Thursday evening that the Americans had no local sources who could independently confirm this.
However, there was "no reason to doubt the reports coming from the Ukrainians themselves that the Russians are in Cherson." The area was still fought over in the morning.
However, one assumes that this has changed, according to Kirby.
Impunity: Czech citizens are allowed to fight on the Ukrainian side
Update from March 4, 12:39 a.m .:
In view of the Ukraine war, the Czech Republic now allows its citizens to fight against Russia as volunteers on the side of Ukraine.
Normally, fighting for another army in the Czech Republic is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Thursday that anyone who wanted to fight for Ukraine would be granted impunity.
Around 300 applications for this exemption are said to have been received so far, and another 100 volunteers are said to have reported to the Ministry of Defence.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian army called on foreigners to help in the fight against Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also called for more military aid from Western countries on Thursday.
"If you don't have the power to close the airspace (over Ukraine), then give me planes!" Zelenskyy said on Thursday.
“When we are gone, God forbid, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia will be next.
All the way to the Berlin Wall, believe me.”
Russian troops are said to have occupied Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine
Update from March 3, 10:35 p.m .:
Apparently, Russian troops were able to advance further in Ukraine.
“Today, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, in the city of Enerhodar, was temporarily occupied by Russian troops.
It is no longer under our control," Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk reported
on
TV.
The city's mayor, Dmytro Orlov, is reported to have reported on his Telegram channel: "Loud shots can be heard in the city."
Ukraine war: Many dead in air raid
Update from March 3, 8:43 p.m .:
At least 33 people were killed in an air raid on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Thursday, according to Ukrainian authorities.
There were also 18 injured, Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said on Telegram.
"The rescue work had been temporarily suspended due to heavy shelling," the rescue service said.
A video shows how firefighters put out a block of flats.
Parts of the buildings were destroyed, windows torn from their anchorages.
An inner courtyard resembled a rubble field.
The city is not far from the Belarusian border and, according to Ukrainian sources, is surrounded by Russian troops.
Ukraine, Chernihiv: Firefighters put out a fire in a damaged city center March 3 after a Russian airstrike.
© Dmytro Kumaka/dpa
Update from March 3, 7:55 p.m.:
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine met on Thursday for further negotiations.
There was at least one result: Kyiv and Moscow agreed on the creation of humanitarian corridors.
More on this in the news ticker on negotiations in the Ukraine war.
Ukraine War: Heavy fighting for Kharkiv and Mariupol
First report from March 3rd:
Kiev/Moscow – Ukraine* is under attack.
The city of Cherson is said to have already fallen into Russian hands.
In the capital Kyiv, on the other hand, the soldiers and residents are still afraid of a potentially large-scale attack.
At the same time, the pressure in the capital is increasing.
A local journalist reports on "psycho-terror".
On February 24, Russia* attacked Ukraine in various places.
A week later, fighting continues throughout western Ukraine.
The map shows an overview of the current focus of attack in the Ukraine war:
Videos on Twitter on Thursday (March 3) showed destruction after an alleged bombardment of the megacity
Kharkiv
.
Two rockets are said to have hit an administration building there around 3 a.m. on Thursday.
The city on the Russian border has been under heavy attack for a week, but has so far held out.
The southern Ukrainian city of
Mariupol
is now surrounded by Russian soldiers, Sergey Orlov, deputy mayor, confirmed to
CNN
.
The fighting for the port city, which is considered to be of particular strategic importance in the Ukraine war, continued.
However, the situation is "quite critical".
Hundreds of dead civilians are also feared in a city district that has been completely destroyed, according to the deputy mayor in an interview with the British
BBC.
Ukraine War: Ukrainian forces retake state border in Sumy area
The embattled city of
Cherson
is said to have fallen into the hands of Putin's troops during the Ukraine war.
This was confirmed by Ukrainian authorities on Thursday night.
Like
The Kyiv Independent
and
AFP
report, Mayor Igor Kolychayev has now imposed a curfew there from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Residents should move on the streets in pairs at most and not confront Russian soldiers.
Meanwhile,
The Kyiv Independent
reported that, according to Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov, Ukrainian armed forces and border guards
retook Ukraine's state border in the
Sumy region.
Ukraine war: journalist reports on psycho-terror in Kyiv
The enemy is trying to break through to the capital.
Vitali Klitschko - Mayor of Kyiv
Kiev
, the capital of Ukraine, has also
been reporting attacks for days.
Several heavy explosions were reported on Thursday night.
According to the Unian
agency , an
air alarm was triggered.
Ukrainian media previously informed about fighting in the suburbs of the metropolis.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram about the Ukraine war: "The enemy is trying to break through into the capital."
Satellite images also showed a Russian military convoy more than 65 kilometers long near Kyiv.
This was announced by the US satellite imagery company Maxar on Monday evening (February 28) in an email.
“The ring is tightening and eventually the ring will be closed.
The situation around Kiev is dramatic,” ex-Nato General Hans-Lothar Domröse also assessed the situation at
Bild
.
A map shows the fighting for the capital Kyiv.
The
Bild
reporter Paul Ronzheimer, who reports from Kiev, also writes about psychological pressure.
"It's a kind of psycho-terror unleashed by the Russian army.
Everyone assumes that this offensive will come - the question is when, not if. That makes it all the more dramatic.
It's waiting for something that Ukraine can't influence - that's psychological terror for the Ukrainians," said Ronzheimer.
On March 3, a logistics center in Kyiv caught fire after being shelled.
Psycho-terror is spoken of locally.
© Efrem Lukatsky/dpa
In the city, an increased nervousness is noticeable.
“Everyone is a suspect here.
Everything is now checked at the checkpoints – every trunk, every document.
There is a critical question: 'Who are you really?'
– It's pretty clear that there will be an attack unless a miracle happens.” The feeling that Putin won't do it is gone.
"Everyone you talk to now says: Putin is ready for anything," said the journalist.
All previous military developments on the Ukraine war can be found here.
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