War in Ukraine: SPD sees red lines crossed and no longer rules out NATO deployment

Created: 03/15/2022Updated: 03/15/2022 11:38 am

By: Nina Büchs, Tobias Utz, Lukas Rogalla, Karolin Schäfer, Isabel Wetzel, Katja Thorwarth, Tim Vincent Dicke, Tanja Banner, Nadja Austel, Nail Akkoyun, Delia Friess

The journalist from a Russian TV station storms a news program and protests against the Ukraine war.

Meanwhile, new sounds are coming from the SPD.

• Russia* continues the attack on Ukraine*.

  Vladimir Putin*'s troops continue to concentrate on Kyiv*.

• According to Russian and Ukrainian delegations, diplomatic progress is still expected in the Ukraine conflict*.

• Leading politicians in Germany are no longer even ruling out a NATO* deployment in Ukraine.

• You can read all developments in the Ukraine war * here in the news ticker.

>>> Update news ticker <<<

+++ 11.35 a.m

.: The SPD chairwoman* Saskia Esken has not ruled out a NATO mission in Ukraine.

"I believe that we have now arrived in a situation where we should never say anything because we don't know how developments will continue," said Esken on Monday evening on the ARD program "Hart aber fair".

"But based on the current status, that would be a contribution to escalation and we should be very, very careful." With the delivery of weapons to a war zone, the red lines of German foreign policy have already been crossed.

US Army soldiers are part of a NATO maneuver.

The atmosphere in the defense alliance remains tense due to the Ukraine war.

© Megan Varner/afp

+++ 9.45 a.m .:

The journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who stormed a Russian TV program because of the Ukraine war, published a video before her action.

In the clip shown by OWD-Info, Ovsyannikova explained that her father is Ukrainian and her mother is Russian.

That's why she can't bear to see the two countries as enemies.

“Unfortunately I have worked for Pervy Kanal in recent years and done propaganda for the Kremlin.

I'm very ashamed of that today," she said.

"We were silent in 2014 when it all just started," she said, apparently referring to Moscow's takeover of Crimea and support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

“We didn't go to protests when the Kremlin (now-imprisoned opposition figure Alexei) poisoned Navalny.

We simply observed this misanthropic regime in silence.

And now the whole world has turned its back on us.”

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Ukraine war: Russian advance in Mariupol repelled?

Probably 150 attackers dead

The situation of the port city of Mariupol in the Ukraine war is dramatic.

But the Ukrainian defense reports a success.

Ukraine war: Russian advance in Mariupol repelled?

Probably 150 attackers dead

Ukraine war: Journalist faces 15-year prison sentence

+++ 6.50 a.m .:

The government of Ukraine has set up a donation website together with platforms for cryptocurrencies.

"Cryptocurrencies play an important role in Ukraine's defense," Deputy Digital Minister Oleksandr Bornyakov said on Monday.

These "facilitate the flow of funds for Ukrainian citizens and soldiers".

The Aid for Ukraine website allows users to submit donations in ten different cryptocurrencies, which are then converted into dollars.

Almost $50 million has already been raised overnight, according to a tracker on the website.

The money will be used to support Ukraine's military as well as civilians who are "urgently in need of humanitarian assistance," the statement said.

In addition to the Bahamas-based platform FTX, the Ukrainian companies Everstake and Kuna are also involved in the initiative.

Ukraine war: journalist storms Russian TV show – “Here you are being lied to”

Update from March 15, 2022, 3:20 a.m .:

According to the organization OVD-Info, the woman who held a protest poster into the camera during a news broadcast by the influential television station Perwy Kanal was Marina Owsjannikova, an employee of the station.

She had been arrested.

Ovzyannikova suddenly appeared behind news anchor Ekaterina Andreeva during the Vremya show on Monday evening with a sign that read “Stop the war.

Don't believe the propaganda.

Here you will be lied to".

She also shouted "Stop the war!" before the live broadcast was cut off and a report on hospitals aired.

The broadcaster announced an "internal investigation" into the "incident".

According to the Tass news agency, the young woman could be prosecuted for "discrediting the use of the Russian armed forces".

Ukraine war: "They lie to you here"

+++ 10:06 p.m .:

Many people in Russia are against the Ukraine war.

Groups have been protesting against Vladimir Putin's war of aggression since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

Now a demonstrator has succeeded in an action that is causing a stir.

On Monday (March 14, 2022) a woman stormed into the studio of the state-owned TV broadcaster Channel One Russia and spoke out loud against the hostilities in Ukraine.

The woman suddenly appeared in a news program of the Kremlin-loyal channel, which has the highest ratings in Russia, and showed the running camera a poster with the inscription "No War" (English: "No War").

In Russian it read: “Stop the war.

Don't believe the propaganda.

They lie to you here."

Ukraine war: demonstrator is an employee of the Russian broadcaster

According to reports, the woman is said to be an employee of the TV station.

Washington Post journalist Mary Ilyushina shared a video on Twitter that the protester is said to have taken before the action.

In this she said: "What is going on in Ukraine is a crime." She regrets working for the channel.

As the state news agency Tass reported in the messenger service Telegram, the employee was arrested.

After the protest, thousands of users gathered on the woman's alleged Facebook account and expressed their solidarity.

"Thanks!!!

People like you can stop this war!

May God bless you... You did the right thing!” wrote one user.

Ukraine war: Pentagon says Russian military too weak to capture Kyiv

+++ 18:23:

According to US information, the Russian military does not have enough soldiers and equipment to take the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

This is reported by the Arabic-language branch of the news channel Sky News, citing a Pentagon official.

Accordingly, the Russian troops are in such bad shape that they cannot even completely encircle Kyiv.

Kyiv is considered Russia's most important target in the Ukraine war.

Reports on how strong or weak the Russian troops are sometimes differ massively.

The US authorities have also shared contradictory assessments with the public in the past.

Ukraine war: Zelenskyj speaks before Congress on Wednesday

+++ 4.55 p.m .:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj will address all members of the US Congress on Wednesday morning (03/15/2022), announced Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Zelenskyi will brief the House and Senate on the Ukraine war just days after Congress sent around $14 billion in humanitarian aid to Ukraine. 

Ukraine War: First people flee Mariupol

+++ 3.45 p.m .:

In many regions of the country, people are now experiencing the Ukraine war up close.

Now the first civilians have apparently managed to escape from the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol – after several failed evacuation attempts.

More than 160 private cars had already left the city on Monday for the city of Berdyansk, more than 70 kilometers to the west, the Mariupol City Council announced on Telegram in the early afternoon.

A convoy with relief supplies, on the other hand, is still on the way to Mariupol.

Buses that are supposed to take larger numbers of civilians have not yet arrived either.

In the past few days, the convoy had had to turn back towards Berdyansk several times due to ongoing fighting.

In addition, evacuation attempts failed despite agreed fire breaks and escape corridors.

Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for this.

Putin confidante admits misjudgment in Ukraine war

+++ 2:26 p.m .:

From Russia’s point of view, the Ukraine war has been anything but successful so far.

Viktor Solotov, director of the Russian National Guard and Putin's confidant, has now admitted this.

The advance is slower than expected, according to a speech at a church service by Moscow Patriarch Cyril I.

The cleric is also considered a confidante and supporter of Vladimir Putin.

The Russian daily newspaper Kommersant reported on the speech.

Solotov further explained that "everything did not go as quickly" as one "wanted".

Still convinced of the Russian victory, the military blamed the "Nazis", meaning the Ukrainian armed forces, who were said to be hiding behind the elderly, women and children.

No evidence was provided to support these claims.

War in Ukraine: Separatists report several deaths in Donetsk

+++ 1:02 p.m .:

According to pro-Russian separatists, at least 20 people were killed by debris from a Ukrainian rocket in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.

Children are among the victims.

Nine people were injured, said the leader of the separatists in the Donetsk region, Denis Puschilin.

The projectile was intercepted over the city, and debris then fell in the center, the state agency Tass reported.

The information cannot be independently verified.

Ukraine war: Russia asks China for help

+++ 10.18 a.m .:

Russia is said to have asked China for help in the war of aggression in Ukraine, US media reports.

The government in Beijing is now accusing the United States of spreading misinformation.

"Recently, the US has been constantly spreading fake news about China," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

He did not specifically address the information in the media report and did not deny it either.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington previously said he had "never heard of" the Russian request for help.

+++ 9.30 a.m .:

After reports of Russia’s request for military aid from China, the Chinese embassy in the USA has now announced, according to CNN, that it has no knowledge of such a request.

Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the United States, said in a statement, "I've never heard of that."

Liu expressed concern about the "situation in Ukraine" - calling it "indeed worrying" - and said China has and will continue to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Liu said, "The top priority now is to prevent the tense situation from escalating or even getting out of hand.

... China calls for the utmost restraint and averting a massive humanitarian crisis.”

Ukraine war: Ukrainian foreign minister raises serious allegations against Germany

+++ 8.49 a.m .:

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has made serious allegations against Germany.

It's about the federal government's long-standing Russia policy: "I'm sorry to have to say that: you actually helped to build the current power of Russia," said Kuleba at Anne Will on ARD.

"And we hope that you too will do a lot to stop the Russian war machine." Germany and Ukraine are partner countries, said Kuleba.

His country needs all the necessary weapons for its defense.

+++ 18:26:

Russia and the separatists allied with Moscow have accused the Ukrainian army of serious war crimes against the civilian population.

According to their own statements, units of the self-proclaimed "People's Republic" of Luhansk discovered a mass grave during their advance.

They accused Ukrainian troops of using civilians as shields and killing those who resisted.

The Kremlin has long accused Ukraine of "genocide" against the Russian minority in Donbass.

President Vladimir Putin also justified the attack on Ukraine with the protection of these people.

There is no evidence for the Russian allegations.

Ukraine, for its part, accuses Russian troops of serious war crimes.

The units looted and used violence against civilians, numerous airstrikes were directed against residential buildings.

Ukraine war: US journalist killed in attack - civilians under fire

+++ 2.50 p.m .:

A US journalist was killed in an attack in Ukraine.

Another US journalist was injured in the attack in the Irpin suburb, northwest of Kyiv, said surgeon Danylo Shapovalov, who was on site as a volunteer.

AFP reporters in Irpin saw the body of the man killed.

According to the medic, the two journalists were traveling in a car with a Ukrainian civilian when the car was hit by bullets.

The civilian was also injured.

Irpin has been the target of Russian attacks for days.

+++ 1:15 p.m .:

Similar to the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, where Russia has appointed its own governor (see update 9:05 a.m.), there are also efforts in the conquered southern Ukrainian city of Cherson to secure the Russian occupation.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointed out that Russia is striving to form a "People's Republic of Cherson" - according to which a model similar to that in the "People's Republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk, which are recognized as independent, would be conceivable.

Update from Sunday,

March 13th, 2022, 6 a.m.: Volodymyr Zelenskyj has threatened possible collaborators and supporters of Russia in Ukraine.

Anyone who is tempted by offers from the Russian occupiers is signing their own verdict, he said in a video message published on Sunday night.

"The verdict is to follow more than 12,000 occupiers who could not understand in time why Ukraine should not be attacked." (Ukrainian sources recently said that more than 12,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the war in Ukraine . This is not subject to independent verification.)

Ukraine War: Zelenskyy says Russia ready for dialogue

+++ 9:55 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj, Russia is now taking a “fundamentally different approach” in talks about ending the war.

At first, Moscow's representatives only "issued ultimatums," Zelensky said at a press conference on Saturday.

In the meantime, they have "started to talk".

He was "glad" to have "received a signal from Russia".

Zelenskyi had also suggested Jerusalem as a possible location for negotiations on an end to the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine war: Putin raises serious allegations – Macron rejects “lies”.

+++ 7.25 p.m .:

In a joint telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine today.

In the phone call, Putin accused the Ukrainian army of “blatant violations” of international humanitarian law.

According to government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit and the Elysée Palace, Scholz and Macron urged a diplomatic solution to the conflict during the 75-minute phone call.

The phone call with Putin was "very open and difficult," it said in the Elysée Palace.

"The only decision President Putin has to make is to lift the siege."

War in Ukraine: Almost 80 children have been killed so far

+++ 11.55 a.m .:

According to information from Kiev, at least 79 children have been killed and more than 100 injured since the beginning of the Ukraine war.

"These figures do not claim to be exhaustive, since there is no way to inspect the shelling sites where Russian forces are conducting active hostilities," the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office said.

Ukraine war: Washington warns against use of Russian weapons of mass destruction

First report from Thursday, March 10th, 2022, 02:00 a.m.:

The US government has warned of a possible Russian use of chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.

By spreading false information, Moscow wants to pave the way for further escalating the unjustified war of aggression in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden's spokeswoman Jen Psaki warned on Twitter on Wednesday.

Russia is following a clear pattern of behavior - either to use weapons of mass destruction itself or to fake an attack by the Ukrainians in order to construct a justification for continuing the war, Psaki wrote.

Psaki's statement came after allegations by Russia that Ukraine is developing nuclear or biological weapons.

Only on Monday did the Russian Defense Ministry claim that there was a network of biological laboratories in Ukraine

who worked on behalf of the US Department of Defense.

However, international fact-checkers have long since invalidated this claim.

(iwe/ktho/tab/nb/lrg/nak/tu with dpa/AFP/KNA/epd/rtr)