Ukraine war: Putin informs Erdogan about "special operation" in Ukraine

Created: 03/06/2022, 2:30 p.m

By: Sandra Kathe, Isabel Wetzel, Katja Thorwarth, Tim Vincent Dicke, Daniel Dillmann, Nail Akkoyun, Lucas Maier

Putin declares to Erdogan that he is willing to resolve the conflict if Kyiv meets his conditions.

The current developments in the news ticker.

• According to Ukraine*, there were particularly violent attacks on Sunday night (March 6th, 2022) around Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv.

• In a telephone call, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered Putin to mediate in peace negotiations between Russia* and Ukraine.

• The current developments in the Ukraine conflict* in our news ticker.

<<< Update Ticker >>>

+++ 2.30 p.m .:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan* renewed his call for a ceasefire during a one-hour phone call with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.

In the phone call on Sunday, Erdogan emphasized that urgent steps must be taken to achieve a ceasefire, the opening of "humanitarian corridors" and the signing of a peace agreement.

According to the Kremlin, Putin informed Erdogan about the course of the military operation.

"It has been underscored that the special operation is proceeding according to plan and according to schedule," the statement said.

The Russian armed forces would do everything to protect the life and safety of peaceful citizens.

There are pinpoint hits "exclusively against objects of the military infrastructure".

Russia reports "particular brutality" of military groups in Ukraine

In Ukraine, "nationalist, neo-Nazi groups acted with particular brutality and cynicism," according to Moscow.

They would shell cities and towns in the Donbass, using people as a "living shield", including foreigners, who would be taken hostage.

According to the Kremlin, Putin reiterated Russia's readiness for dialogue with the Ukrainian leadership and with "foreign partners".

We are ready to resolve the conflict.

In a one-hour phone call, Vladimir Putin (l) informed Turkish President Erdogan about the military operation in Ukraine.

(Archive) © Alexey Nikolsky/dpa

However, an end to the "special operation" is only possible if Kyiv ceases hostilities and fulfills Russia's conditions.

This includes, for example, the recognition of the independence of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions and the “belonging” of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea to Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has always rejected this.

War in Ukraine: Russian forces to attack fugitives in Irpin near Kyiv

+++ 12.10 p.m .:

The Ukrainian army is currently evacuating the city of Irpin on the outskirts of Kiev.

Heavy fighting is also expected here in the coming hours and days.

Ukrainian media reports that attacks on the city have already begun.

Russian forces are said to have fired on civilians in Irpin, killing at least three people.

According to media reports, Russian troops targeted a bridge that was used for evacuation.

Two children are believed to have been among those killed.

The reports have not yet been confirmed.

+++ 10.30 a.m .:

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reports the losses of the Russian army.

The figures cannot be checked at this time.

Accordingly, Russia would have lost about 11,000 soldiers, about 300 tanks, more than 40 airplanes and 48 helicopters.

According to Ukrainian sources, dozens of artillery systems were destroyed.

War in Ukraine: Separatists report shelling of settlements in Luhansk by Ukrainian army

+++ 9:20 a.m .:

The Ukrainian army is said to have fired on four settlements in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) eight times within 24 hours.

This was reported by the Russian agency Tass, citing representatives of the LNR on Saturday night.

At least two civilians were injured in the shelling and 23 houses, a gas line and a high-voltage line were damaged.

The information could not be independently verified.

War in Ukraine: No electricity, no water, no grid in Mariupol

+++ 5:00 a.m .:

The mayor of Mariupol, Wadym Boitschenko, commented on the situation in the city on Saturday.

The city is exposed to a "humanitarian blockade", he is quoted as saying by the dpa.

Russian units shut down all 15 power lines into the city.

It has been without power for five days.

The combined heat and power plants work with electricity, which is why these also failed as a result.

It is similar with the mobile network, which also does not work without electricity.

The water main had been cut off before the war even started, and after five days of war the back-up water supply was also lost.

The Russian side acted very methodically in order to cut off the city from any supply and thus create internal pressure.

The mayor speaks of "thousands" injured by the increasing shelling and bombing.

It is said that it is difficult to name a number of deaths.

Due to the sustained shelling, it was hardly possible to count the bodies.

"The Mariupol they knew no longer exists," Boichenko said.

The mayor accuses the Russian army of targeting buses intended for evacuation.

30 of 50 buses were destroyed.

The information could not be independently verified.

Boichenko said he was pleading for the construction of a corridor to take the elderly, women and children out of the city.

The townspeople were devastated.

Addressing the international community and European partner countries, he said: "Help and save Mariupol!"

Ukraine War: Humanitarian Situation in Mariupol Worsening “Day by Day”

+++ 3:20 a.m .:

The aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) comments on the “humanitarian” situation in Mariupol.

MSF's emergency coordinator in Ukraine, Laurent Ligozat, told the afp news agency on Saturday that the situation in the big city was "worsening from day to day".

A humanitarian corridor is “essential” to get civilians out of the city, Ligozat said.

One problem in Mariupol is access to drinking water.

There are "very big problems getting access to drinking water," said Ligozat.

This is a "crucial problem".

In Mariupol neither heating nor electricity would work, it is said.

"The groceries are running out, the stores are empty."

A ceasefire for the evacuation of the civilian population had previously been agreed.

However, Ukraine accuses Russia of breaking it.

"The Russian side is not respecting the ceasefire and has continued shelling Mariupol and the surrounding area," she said.

The evacuation had to be postponed for security reasons, according to afp.

Russia blamed Ukraine for the end of the ceasefire: "Since the Ukrainian side is not ready to interfere with the nationalists or to extend the ceasefire, offensive actions resumed at 6:00 p.m. Moscow time (4:00 p.m. CET)," a spokesman said of the Ministry of Defense in Moscow.

Evacuation from Mariupol: Lavrov calls on Ukraine to end the ceasefire

+++ 12.25 p.m .:

According to the city, the evacuation of people from the besieged port city of Mariupol is postponed “for security reasons” for the time being.

The “Russian side” is not adhering to the agreed ceasefire, the city announced via Telegram.

The citizens should therefore return to their places of refuge for the time being and wait for further information.

Both sides blamed each other.

The separatists in the Donzek region accused Ukraine of preparing "provocations" by "Ukrainian nationalists".

According to the Russian agency Interfax, Eduard Bassurin, the spokesman for the separatists, said that fighters from the Ukrainian side caused an explosion in a multi-storey apartment building in Mariupol.

Around 200 people would have sought shelter in a basement at the time.

They were locked in.

There is no confirmation from the Ukrainian side.

The information cannot currently be independently verified.

Ukraine: Russia breaks ceasefire in Mariupol

+++ 11.25 a.m .:

Russia granted Ukraine a regional ceasefire for the first time in over a week on Saturday.

As the Russian military announced in the morning, a ceasefire should be established between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. (CET).

From 10 a.m., people were to be evacuated from the besieged cities of Mariupol and Wolnowacha via a so-called humanitarian corridor.

The Tagesschau is now reporting that the Russian armed forces are not fully complying with the agreed ceasefire, citing statements by the Mariupol City Council.

Talks are already underway with Russia to ensure the evacuation route is safe from attacks, local authorities said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities said more than 200,000 people are expected to leave the Donetsk region's port city of Mariupol during the ceasefire.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on Saturday, the Ukrainian portal strana.news said.

For the city of Wolnowacha, she assumed 15,000 people.

War in Ukraine: Russian soldiers "demoralized" - Ukraine reports bitter fighting

+++ 10.18 a.m .:

According to their own statements, the Ukrainian military continues to fight heavy battles with Russian troops.

The army's morning report published in Kyiv * said on Saturday that "fighting is being fought to liberate Ukrainian cities from the Russian occupiers".

Regions and cities were not named.

The military claimed that Russian soldiers were "demoralized."

They would flee, leaving their weapons behind.

This information could not be independently verified.

+++ 8:55

a.m.: A temporary ceasefire begins in Mariupol and Volnovakha to set up humanitarian corridors.

The corridors are used to evacuate civilians and deliver food and medicines to the cities, Ukrainian news outlet The Kyiv Independent reports.

Accordingly, the ceasefire will be declared from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (local time).

The evacuation of civilians is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

Mariupol, with a population of 440,000, and Volnovakha, with a population of 21,000, were largely cut off from water, heat, and electricity.

War in Ukraine: Russia now controls the skies

First report:

Kiev - In the war with Ukraine, Russia has won a decisive advantage.

The Luftwaffe has managed to gain sovereignty over the skies.

This is reported by numerous media from Ukraine and the USA*.

The remaining Ukrainian Air Force is forced into inactivity.

"If they take off, they die," Ward Carroll, former commander of the US Navy, described the situation to the news portal Newsweek.

Gaining air supremacy is a crucial factor in the war in Ukraine.

It should now be much easier for the troops of Russia's President Vladimir Putin* to advance.

This also applies to the supply of supplies of fuel, technical equipment and ammunition from Russia to the front.

Attacks from the air by Ukraine's fighter jets would now be virtually impossible, Carroll said.

War in Ukraine: Clear Advantage for Russia

According to the military expert, Russia has managed to control the sky at an altitude of 10,000 feet (about three kilometers).

"Whoever is in control there actually controls the whole sky," Carroll said on his own YouTube channel.

In the war with Russia, Ukraine's armed forces still have anti-aircraft systems such as Stinger missiles that can be fired from a soldier's shoulder.

However, these Stinger missiles do not reach the said altitude and therefore only pose a danger to helicopters or airplanes approaching for landing. Surface-to-air missiles could be intercepted from an altitude of three kilometers and would therefore not pose a danger to the Russian air force.

Russia could now quickly gain territory in the war with Ukraine.

At least that's what the US Pentagon suspects.

According to Jen Psaki*, press secretary for US President Joe Biden*, Russia has already moved 90 percent of its units positioned on the border inland.

"Russia is getting closer to its ultimate goal: to take over Kyiv and take over the whole country," Psaki told Washington DC media officials.

(Daniel Dillmann and Nail Akkoyun with dpa)