Ukraine war: Merkel's ex-military adviser sees new Putin strategy - but expresses great doubts about Kyiv

Created: 03/04/2022Updated: 03/04/2022 12:28 p.m

By: Bettina Menzel, Christina Denk, Stephanie Munk

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 troops of Russia's President Vladimir Putin* 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, 11:49 a.m .:

Erich Vad, former brigadier general in the Bundeswehr and former military adviser to ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel*, gave an assessment of the current war in Ukraine on the news channel ntv.

In southern Ukraine, "everything is going according to plan" for Russian President Vladimir Putin*, according to Vad.

The Russians had fought for a land connection, albeit a narrow one, to the Donbass - that is, the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Kyiv is about to be taken.

However, the kilometer-long military convoy that has been in front of Kyiv for a few days is "very irritating".

The former general believes that Putin is probably pursuing a strategy of "drying out" large cities before the military invade.

Water, gas and oil supplies are cut off by encirclement, so that the residents flee.

"And those who stay can fight no more."

However, the former Merkel adviser believes that this strategy will be difficult to implement for the three-million city of Kyiv.

"The Russians would have to destroy the entire telecommunications structure here," the attack on the television tower a few days ago was an indication of this.

Putin might want to wait and see and not risk a house-to-house fight in the city's neighborhoods. "House-to-house fighting is always dangerous for the attacker, the defender has a strategic advantage," said the expert.

And the Ukrainians are ready to fight bitterly, Putin knows that by now.

Update from March 4, 11:38 a.m .:

In the Ukraine war, the fighting continues unabated on Day 9 of the war.

According to the picture, Russian soldiers have now also entered the port city of Mykolaiv on the Black Sea.

There is fighting in the city, Governor Vitalii Kim said in a video message.

The population should remain calm.

Update from March 4, 11:11 a.m

.: There is currently no direct radiation hazard from the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant that was hit by fire, said Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Friday morning.

According to the news channel ntv, the area is now apparently under the control of Russian soldiers, and the Ukrainian operators can continue their work.

However, this poses a danger to Ukraine's power supply, because if Russia shuts down the nuclear power plant, this would have dire consequences.

Russia, meanwhile, has denied all allegations after the nuclear power plant was shelled.

Ukraine War: Citizens try to protect historic monuments from blasts

Update from March 4, 10:05 a.m .:

According to CNN, residents of the Ukrainian city of Lviv are trying to protect historical monuments in the city.

Several stone statues were wrapped in protective materials such as styrofoam and plastic.

This should protect the approximately 200-year-old monuments from explosions.

Two workers cover a statue of a fountain in the center of the city of Lviv to protect it from damage from a possible Russian attack.

© Pau Venteo/EUROPA PRESS/dpa

Update from March 4th, 9.40 a.m

.: Putin's troops have apparently occupied the Ukrainian Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest of its kind in Europe.

This is reported by CNN, citing the State Nuclear Regulatory Authority of Ukraine.

"The operating staff controls the energy blocks and ensures their operation," according to the authority.

According to CNN, Energoatom, the Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator, also announced via Telegram that the administration building and the checkpoint of the nuclear power plant were "under the control of the occupier".

"Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded among the Ukrainian defenders of the power plant." During the night, Russian troops bombed the nuclear power plant.

A fire broke out that could be extinguished.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy* has accused Russia of "nuclear terrorism".

No other country in the world has ever shelled nuclear facilities, Zelenskyy said in a video message.

Update from March 4, 9:31 a.m .:

The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov reports on the Ukraine war that the Ukrainian Navy has sunk its flagship “Hetman Sahajdatschnyj” itself so that it does not fall into the hands of the opponents.

The frigate was anchored for repairs.

Reznikov also says that Ukrainian forces held out against Putin's attackers in strategically important locations, such as in the north-eastern Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Chernihiv.

"The enemy is confused and intimidated," Reznikov wrote on Facebook.

Ukrainian forces captured vast amounts of military equipment and weapons and killed more than 10,000 Russian soldiers, he claimed.

Shortly before that, the General Staff had spoken of a good 9,100 opponents killed.

Ukraine War: Russian troops tighten noose around two cities

Update from March 4th, 8.30 a.m .:

According to Ukrainian army information, Russian troops are continuing their advance on the capital Kiev.

"The main efforts of the occupiers are focused on the encirclement of Kiev," says the morning report of the Ukrainian army.

Initially, no information was given about the fighting around the city of over a million inhabitants.

The city has issued multiple air alerts since midnight.

Residents were to take shelter in air raid shelters.

According to the Ukrainian account, Russian troops are said to have withdrawn from the strategically important Hostomel airfield north-west of Kyiv.

The southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol is now completely surrounded.

"The enemy had a significant technical advantage," it said.

In addition, the anti-aircraft system on the Black Sea coast was attacked.

The information could not be independently verified.

Update from March 4, 7:33 a.m .:

The Ukraine war has had a major impact on fuel prices in Germany, which have risen to over 2 euros per liter.

On the border between Bavaria and Tyrol, this leads to mass tank tourism.*

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

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

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

.

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

is now surrounded by Russian soldiers, Sergey Orlov, deputy mayor, confirmed to 

.

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

Ukraine War: Ukrainian forces retake state border in Sumy area

The embattled city of

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

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,

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

Ukraine war: journalist reports on psycho-terror in Kyiv

The enemy is trying to break through to the capital.

Vitali Klitschko - Mayor of Kyiv

, the capital of Ukraine, has also

been reporting attacks for days.

Several heavy explosions were reported on Thursday night.

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

.

A map shows the fighting for the capital Kyiv.

The

reporter Paul Ronzheimer, who reports from Kiev, also writes about mental 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.