Novelty in the Ukraine war: Russia is probably using hypersonic missiles - apparently dozens of dead in the attack

Created: 03/19/2022, 17:28

By: Marcus Giebel, Kathrin Reikowski, Cindy Boden, Anna-Katharina Ahnefeld

The attacks in the Ukraine war continue.

According to reports from the embattled country, Russia has almost completely used up its missile stocks.

News ticker.

• Escalated Ukraine conflict*:

  Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko accuses Russia of lying

  (see update from March 18, 11:02 p.m.).

• In view of the ongoing fighting, the EU Commission warns of famine in Ukraine (

  see update from March 19, 7.45 a.m.).

• According to Russia, it has used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine

  (see update from March 19, 9:05 a.m.)

  .

  Ukraine confirmed the destruction

  (see update March 19, 4:30 p.m.)

• This news ticker

  on the military battles in the Ukraine war

   is updated regularly.

  Here you will find the background to the Ukraine conflict*.

Update from March 19, 5:07 p.m .:

In view of the Ukraine war, a one-and-a-half-day curfew has been imposed in the central Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia.

Many people had fled to Zaporizhia in the past few days, for example from the besieged port city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea.

For the situation in Mariupol ,

updates from March 18 ,

As part of the curfew, the city's train station will also be closed by Monday morning at 6 a.m. (5 a.m. CET), the Ukrainian railway company announced on Saturday.

The Ukrainian capital Kyiv had previously imposed a long curfew.

From last Tuesday evening until Thursday morning, residents were only allowed to leave their homes to seek shelter in shelters and bunkers.

Ukraine War: Ukraine confirms hypersonic missile destruction of weapons cache

Update from March 19, 4.30 p.m .:

According to the Russian government, the military used hypersonic missiles for the attacks on an underground weapons storage facility of the Ukrainian Air Force in western Ukraine

.

According to military experts, it was the first time that Russia used these weapons in an armed conflict.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat confirmed to AFP news agency that "the enemy attacked our depots".

There was destruction and explosions of ammunition.

"Unfortunately, Ukraine has become a testing ground for the entire Russian missile arsenal," Ignat told the Ukrainska Pravda news portal.

Ukraine war: Ukraine had 'temporarily' lost sea access in Mariupol

The port city of Mariupol on the Sea of ​​Azov, which was besieged by Russian troops, was also fought over.

The Ukrainian side said on Saturday that they had "temporarily" lost access to the Sea of ​​Azov.

The Russian army said on Friday that it had entered the strategically important city and was fighting there alongside troops from the separatist area in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

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Russia is not progressing as quickly in the war in Ukraine as it might have expected.

In addition to the great resistance of the Ukrainians, the USA also blames Russian logistics problems.

Russia targets Kyiv: explosion at the TV tower

Many dead in attacks in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv

At least eleven people were killed in violent attacks in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city.

Explosions are reported from Kyiv.

Many dead in attacks in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv

An adviser to Ukraine's Interior Ministry described the situation in Mariupol as "catastrophic".

On the outskirts of the city there is fighting over the Azovstal steelworks, said adviser Vadym Denysenko.

"One of the largest steel mills in Europe is falling into ruin at the moment," he said.

• Information from the UN and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on refugees:

• More than 3.3 million people have fled the fighting in Ukraine

• Another almost 6.5 million people are fleeing in Ukraine

War in Ukraine: Dozens dead and injured in Donetsk and near Kyiv

Update from March 19, 2:30 p.m .:

The United States will send a contingent of troops to Bulgaria to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said this after talks with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Sofia.

This contingent is said to be under the command of NATO's supreme commander in Europe.

Petkov assured that there would be no arms deliveries from Bulgaria to Ukraine.

"We have in no way discussed military support for Ukraine," he said during a televised news conference.

However, Bulgaria will continue to provide humanitarian support to the Ukrainians, Petkov stressed.

US Secretary of Defense Austin praised Bulgaria's humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Update from March 19, 2:10 p.m .:

More deaths and injuries are reported from Ukraine as a result of further Russian attacks.

According to the police of the Kyiv region, seven civilians died in the shelling on Friday in the town of Bucha, northwest of the capital.

In the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, the regional police authority said dozens of people were dead and injured in attacks on Friday.

The information could not initially be independently verified.

Ukraine War: Air raid on barracks kills dozens

Update from March 19, 1:40 p.m .:

Dozens of people have apparently fallen victim to a Russian air raid on a military barracks in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine.

This is based on eyewitness reports.

"No fewer than 200 soldiers slept in the barracks," said 22-year-old soldier Maxim the day after Friday's rocket attack. "At least 50 bodies were pulled out of the rubble, but we don't know how many are still lying there." Rescue work is still ongoing.

Another soldier at the scene said the attack could have killed 100 people.

"We're still counting, but given the condition of the bodies, it's almost impossible to tell the number," said one of the rescuers.

The Russians "carried out cowardly rocket attacks on sleeping soldiers," Mykolayiv regional governor Vitaly Kim previously railed in a video posted to Facebook.

He is waiting for information about the losses of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksiy Senkevich told Ukrainian media that the city, which had a population of almost half a million before the war, had been bombed from the neighboring Russian-controlled Kherson region.

"The bombing is happening too fast to pick it up and activate the alarm system," he said.

Update from March 19, 11:45 a.m .:

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko

appeals to Western allies via

The former world boxing champion is asking for more arms deliveries to Ukraine.

"Please support us," he said in the Italian newspaper.

For example, weapons would be needed to defend the airspace over Kyiv.

"We are able to close our airspace ourselves," the 50-year-old continued.

"But we definitely need to get the right weapons."

According to Klitschko, Kyiv has now recorded more than 200 civilian deaths.

About two million residents remained in the city.

"Don't forget that we are defending our country, but at the same time we are defending the fundamental values ​​of European democracy," Klitschko reminded, adding: "My message is clear: please stop any economic relationship with Russia because Putin uses every euro to to reinforce his military marching towards us.”

Update from March 19, 9:05 a.m .:

According to the government in Moscow, the military used hypersonic missiles for its attacks in western Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defense announced that an underground weapons storage facility had been destroyed there the day before with the Kinschal missile system.

The warehouse with rockets and ammunition was located in Delyatyn village.

According to Russian information, the Kinzhal missiles, which are very easy to control, can bypass all air defense systems.

According to the state agency Ria Novosti, their use was a novelty in the Ukraine conflict.

Update from March 19, 7:45 a.m.:

In view of the ongoing fighting in Ukraine, the EU Commission warns of famine in the country.

"People in the besieged cities are exposed to apocalyptic conditions - no food, no water, no medical care and no way out," said EU Commissioner Janez Lenarcic for Humanitarian Aid and

.

The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is already critical, but it could get worse.

"This ruthless invasion began more than three weeks ago, but we are already beginning to see famine developing."

War in Ukraine: Kherson airport at center of fighting

Update from March 19, 6:30 a.m .:

According to Ukrainian accounts, Chernobaevka Airport near Cherson in southern Ukraine is still the focus of bitter fighting.

"We met them there again," Oleksiy Arestovich, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office chief, wrote on Facebook early Saturday morning, referring to the Russian troops.

The Ukrainian armed forces attacked the Russian military at this airport for the sixth time and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy there.

In a series of local counterattacks and attacks with combat drones, several dozen Russian combat helicopters and, most recently, a command post with high-ranking officers have been destroyed since the end of February.

This information could not be independently verified.

Ukraine war: Vitali Klitschko accuses Russia of lying

Update from March 18, 11:02 p.m

.: According to the Ukrainian government, 9,145 people were evacuated from embattled cities via escape corridors on Friday.

Almost 5,000 of them escaped from Mariupol.

According to reports, only 3,810 people managed to escape from besieged cities on Thursday.

Long queues of cars from Mariupol could be seen on satellite images.

At the same time, the former world boxing champion and current mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, accused Russia of lying on Friday evening.

"It is a lie by the Russian Federation to claim that they only attack military targets," Klitschko told

.

"Cities like Irpin, Bucha or Borodjanka no longer exist." From Klitschko's point of view, the aim of the Russian military is now to kill as many civilians as possible.

“After such attacks, one can only call Russians fascists because they kill women, children and civilians.

The pictures speak for themselves."

The citizens of Kiev are ready to defend their capital.

The majority of the men stayed in the city because it was their home where their relatives and families lived.

Her motivation: "We will defend our city, our family and our future." Once again on Friday, Selenskyj had demanded more weapons from the West.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko in front of a destroyed building.

© IMAGO/Sergei Chuzavkov

Ukraine War: Apparently no fatalities in Mariupol's theater that was shelled

Update from March 18, 7:32 p.m

.: Good news in the Ukraine war: According to the city administration, there were apparently no fatalities in the attack on the theater in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

The theater had been used as a shelter.

Hundreds of people were still trapped under the rubble on Friday, according to President Zelenskyy.

But, there were no deaths, the city administration said on Friday in the Internet service Telegram.

According to initial information, only one person was seriously injured.

Because of Russia's siege of Mariupol, the information cannot be independently verified.

The shelling of the theater sparked international outrage.

China, which has not yet condemned Russia's war against Ukraine, also opposed the shelling.

Ukraine war: According to information from Kyiv on Friday, Russia is not gaining any territory

Update from March 18, 4:59 p.m .:

According to Ukraine, the Russian army has not gained any ground today.

Ukrainian troops prevented them from doing so, says Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar on television, as reported by

.

The Russian units struggled with logistical difficulties with fuel and food, as well as communication problems.

The information cannot be independently verified.

Update from March 18, 4:02 p.m.:

Since Russian troops invaded Ukraine, nuclear power plants have played a role again and again.

We show where Ukrainian nuclear power plants are located and why they are relevant in the war.

Ukraine War: Zelenskyy - Hundreds trapped under rubble in Mariupol

Update from March 18, 3:32 p.m .:

Two days after the bombing of a theater in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “hundreds” of people are still trapped under the rubble.

More than 130 people could have been saved, said Zelenskyj on Friday.

The theater had served as a refuge for civilians.

Russia denies being responsible for the bombing of the building.

"Hundreds of residents of Mariupol are still under the rubble," said Zelenskyy in a video message on the online network Facebook.

He announced that the salvage work in the destroyed theater building should continue despite the continued Russian shelling of the city.

According to Ukrainian estimates, about a thousand people had taken shelter in the theater.

The theater's bomb shelter survived the bombardment, according to Lyudmila Denisova, the Ukrainian parliament's human rights commissioner.

Ukraine News: UN concerned about situation in Mariupol - 'The last reserves of food and water are running out'

Update from March 18, 2:55 p.m .:

The United Nations is extremely concerned about the situation in the embattled city of Mariupol in Ukraine.

A spokesman for the World Food Program (WFP) said on Friday in Geneva: "The last reserves of food and water are running out." In addition, supplies and medicines were missing, which could have devastating consequences, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

Still no aid convoys could reach the city.

Otherwise, the supply chain would no longer be guaranteed.

Truck drivers hesitated to get behind the wheel for fear of being shot.

Ukraine war: Russia's missile stocks almost completely depleted?

Update from March 18, 1:40 p.m .:

It is reported from Ukraine that Russia has almost completely used up its missile stocks.

With this information, the

quoted the Ukrainian general staff on Twitter.

According to the information, the Russian military sector is working around the clock to replenish its stocks.

The information could not be independently verified.

Update from March 18, 1:30 p.m .:

According to Russian state television, Putin wants to give a speech to the people of Russia today.

You can read more about this in our diplomatic ticker on the Ukraine war.

A view of a destroyed Russian Army Multiple Rocket Launcher on the outskirts of Kharkiv March 16, 2022 amid the ongoing Ukraine war.

© Sergey Bobok/AFP

Ukraine News: Reports of allegedly detained general

Update from March 18, 12:20 p.m .:

According to reports, Russia’s ruler Vladimir Putin has one of his highest-ranking generals arrested.

“Three independent sources report that the deputy chief of Russia's Rosgvardia (a unit of the RU's internal army that has suffered huge casualties in Ukraine), General Roman Gavrilov, has been detained by the FSB.

Gavrilov also previously worked in the FSO, Putin's security service," tweeted Bulgarian investigative journalist and Bellingcat Russia expert Hristo Grotsev.

In his speech on Wednesday, Putin spoke of "traitors" in the Ukraine war.

There is no official confirmation of the arrest yet.

There are currently different explanations for the alleged arrest.

Grotsev wrote on Twitter that it was circulating that Roman Gavrilov had passed on military information.

"Two other sources say he 'wasted fuel,'" according to Grozew, is the other theory.

One thing is clear: "There is no doubt that Putin recognizes the deep mess this operation is in," Grozew continued.

"It's so bad that he changes horses in the middle of a race - a big taboo in war."

Ukraine-Russia War: Russian troops attack kindergartens and schools in Kyiv

Update from March 18, 10:50 a.m.:

According to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, one person was killed and 19 injured in an attack on a residential area in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

Four children were among the wounded in the Podil district, Klitschko said on Friday in a video that he published on Telegram.

Russian troops fired on houses, kindergartens and a school.

This information could not initially be verified independently.

A man removes a destroyed curtain at a school that was damaged alongside other residential buildings.

According to Mayor Klitschko, one person was killed and 19 injured in an attack on a residential area in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

© Rodrigo Abd/dpa

Russia is now allegedly fighting in the middle of the stricken Mariupol - Ukrainians are hoping for new escape corridors

First report from March 18, 10:50 a.m.:

Kiev – The Ukraine war continues with undiminished severity.

On Friday, a violent explosion near the airport was reported from the city of Lviv near the Polish border, which has so far been largely spared.

But the situation in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol in particular remains catastrophic in the Ukraine war*.

According to its own statements, Russia's* army and its separatist allies have advanced into the city center where fighting raged on Friday.

"In Mariupol, the units of the Donetsk People's Republic, with the support of Russian forces, are tightening their siege and fighting the nationalists in the center of the city," said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

The spokesman also assured that the Russian armed forces and pro-Russian separatists now controlled 90 percent of the territory of the Luhansk region, which, like Donetsk, was recognized by Moscow as an independent "people's republic".

Ukraine war: Russia wants to have conquered 90 percent of the Ukrainian Luhansk region

The Russian army has reported further gains in territory in the eastern Ukrainian administrative region of Luhansk.

90 percent have been brought under control, said Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, on Friday in Moscow.

The forces of the Luhansk People's Republic had advanced "with fire support from the Russian armed forces".

The self-proclaimed "People's Republics" of Luhansk and Donetsk have been supported and equipped by Russia since 2014.

The territory they controlled before the February 24 Russian attack included only part of Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

The Separatists claim these larger areas - their conquest is one of Moscow's war aims.

Konashenkov also spoke of territorial gains by the forces of the Donetsk People's Republic.

With Russian support, these forces tightened the ring around the port city of Mariupol.

Ukrainian troops were being fought in the city center - the Russian general spoke of "nationalists".

Civilians follow a humanitarian corridor out of the embattled city of Mariupol.

© IMAGO/Mikhail Tereshchenko

According to the Russian army, since February 24, 183 drones, 1,406 tanks and armored vehicles, 138 rocket artillery carriages, 535 artillery pieces and 1,200 vehicles belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces have been destroyed.

The information could not be independently verified.

Latest Ukraine news: Announcement of nine escape corridors for civilians

According to Ukrainian information, nine escape corridors are planned across the country for Friday, through which civilians from contested areas are to be brought to safety.

People should be able to flee from the port city of Mariupol, which is besieged by Russia, to Zaporizhia in the northwest, said Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereshchuk in a video message in the morning.

There are said to be other so-called corridors in the north-eastern Sumy region, for example, which lead from various cities to Poltava in central Ukraine.

According to Wereshchuk, a tanker truck with fuel for private cars is still on the way to Mariupol, where the situation is particularly dramatic.

In the past few days, thousands of civilians had managed to escape from Mariupol in their own vehicles.

But many are still stuck in the city on the Azov Sea, where there has been no electricity, water or heating for days.

According to information from Kyiv*, aid convoys cannot get through to the people there.