Enlarge image
After the rockets on Mariupol: A woman protects herself from the cold with a blanket
Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP
Even in the third week since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, there is no end in sight to the hostilities – just as there is no sign of a temporary ceasefire.
In the meantime, Russia has expanded its attacks to the west of the country, and the troops could soon reach the capital Kyiv.
In view of the dramatic situation, the West is trying to put pressure on President Vladimir Putin with further sanctions and arms deliveries to Ukraine.
At a summit in Versailles, the EU heads of government decided to make a further 500 million euros available for weapons and equipment – for what exactly it is currently unclear.
In the USA, on the other hand, President Biden is trying to hit the attacker with further economic restrictions.
For example, the United States will stop importing diamonds, fish and vodka from Russia, and normal trade relations with Russia will be suspended for the time being.
Results of long consultations - which are still a long time coming elsewhere.
At a meeting with his counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, Putin himself announced that talks with Ukraine were making progress.
However, he did not reveal what these consist of.
Nothing was known on Friday evening about former chancellor and gas lobbyist Gerhard Schröder, who apparently went to Moscow on a secret mission to speak personally with Putin.
Was he even admitted to the presidency?
The Kremlin officially had "no information" about a meeting.
It is the 16th day of the war.
The military situation
The dramatic situation in the southeastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol has continued to deteriorate.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the city is now completely blocked.
"All bridges and access roads to the city have been destroyed," said Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, according to the Interfax agency.
Hundreds of thousands of residents are stuck in the city.
The city council of Mariupol counted almost 1,600 civilians killed so far, UN statistics show around 560 documented cases.
In the east of the country, according to military information from Moscow, pro-Russian separatists took control of the city of Volnowacha.
According to Russian information, it had been surrounded since February 28.
Initially, there was no confirmation from the Ukrainian side.
British government experts say Russian troops are likely to attack the Ukrainian capital in the coming days.
"Russia will probably try to regroup its forces for renewed offensives," said a statement by the London Ministry of Defense.
Meanwhile, fears of biological and chemical weapons being used in the conflict are growing.
The humanitarian situation
The number of people who have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion has
surpassed 2.5
million
,
according to the UN refugee agency
UNHCR .
According to this, more than 1.5 million people fled from Ukraine to Poland, a good 225,000 to Hungary, 176,000 to Slovakia and a good 282,000 to other European countries.
According to the federal police, almost 110,000 people have come to Germany so far.
In addition to the refugees, the UNHCR estimates that 1.85 million people have been displaced from their homes by the acts of war inside Ukraine.
Almost 100,000 people have been evacuated from the embattled cities in the past two days alone, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video address.
Because of the war in Ukraine, fears of supply crises and food shortages are also growing.
Ukraine is the world's fifth largest wheat supplier.
Many countries would have difficulties in supplying themselves with agricultural commodities, said Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir.
This threatens the supply in parts of the world.
You should have read and seen this
Nobody in Kyiv knows what's coming next: airstrikes, missiles, tanks?
The fear is still there, but defiance is also growing, the self-confidence that you won't just let yourself be rolled over.
About the desperate, the courageous - and a forgotten nuclear bunker
Mathieu von Rohr, head of SPIEGEL's foreign department, writes that if one wants to withdraw the money from Vladimir Putin's regime, it will not be possible without pain.
Therefore, an immediate embargo is needed.
The SPIEGEL editorial: We need the oil boycott - now
Thousands of Russians are leaving their homes at the moment.
But traveling abroad is increasingly risky.
About another form of escape.
Where do Russians flee who can no longer stand it in their homeland?
That is embarrassing?
Cynical?
Why is Soyeon Schröder-Kim presenting himself as a Kremlin Madonna?
Arno Frank tries to interpret the remarkable Instagram post of the year
In humility for Gas-Gerd (and the peace)
rai/dpa/AFP/Reuters