War in Ukraine: Up to 2,000 Russian soldiers from Georgia are to go to Ukraine

Created: 04/01/2022, 03:55

By: Tobias Utz, Lukas Zigo, Daniel Dillmann, Nail Akkoyun

The US government is imposing further sanctions on Russian companies and individuals for the attack on Ukraine.

The news ticker.

• The negotiations between Russia* and Ukraine* in Turkey* do not lead to an end to the Ukraine war*.

• Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin* continues to shoot at big cities like Kyiv and Mariupol.

  At the same time, according to the USA and NATO, the losses in Moscow* in the Ukraine conflict* are increasing.

• Fierce fighting is also being reported from the Donbass.

  All information in our new ticker.

>>> Update news ticker <<<

Update from April 1st, 2022, 3:50 a.m.:

According to British findings, the Russian military leadership is strengthening its troops in Ukraine with fresh forces from Georgia.

Three tactical battalion groups would be formed from 1,200 to 2,000 Russian soldiers who were last stationed in the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Ministry of Defense announced in London on Friday night (April 1, 2022).

"It is highly unlikely that Russia intended to form reinforcements in this way and is indicative of the unexpected casualties it suffered during the invasion," it said.

The ministry regularly shares assessments of its reconnaissance publicly.

A Ukrainian soldier guards a post on Ukraine's Black Sea coast.

© Vincenzo Circosta/dpa

+++ 10:55 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian information, there are no longer any strangers on the site of the Chernobyl accident reactor.

The country's Atomic Energy Agency relies on employees of the nuclear power plant.

Ukraine News: US government imposes new sanctions on Russia

+++ 8.55 p.m .:

The US government imposes further sanctions against Russian companies and people because of the attack on Ukraine.

The US State Department and the US Treasury Department said 21 companies and 13 people would face punitive action.

The aim is to deprive Moscow of the possibility of using a network of institutions and actors to circumvent sanctions that have already been imposed.

In addition, Russia should continue to be denied access to Western technologies.

Accordingly, sanctions were also imposed on three people who were accused of cyber attacks.

Assets of those affected in the US will be frozen and any dealings or transactions with them in the US or by US citizens will be prohibited.

+++ 6.25 p.m .:

Vitali Klitschko has complained that there are “unfortunately still many people who understand Putin” in Germany.

The mayor of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv called for economic relations with Russia to be ended, even if it was difficult: "Russia invests every euro, every cent, in its army." And the money that flows to Russia is "bloody money".

After Russia veto – peace organization must withdraw from Ukraine

+++ 5.15 p.m .:

The international observer mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine will not be extended.

This was announced by the OSCE on Thursday in Vienna.

The American OSCE ambassador Michael Carpenter criticized the fact that Russia had blocked the necessary unanimous decision by the 57 OSCE states with a veto.

"This is irresponsible and unacceptable, but not really surprising," said the US diplomat.

Most recently, the OSCE stationed around 500 unarmed observers, mainly in eastern Ukraine.

They specifically targeted the ceasefire line between Ukrainian units and pro-Russian separatists, but were withdrawn once the Russian invasion began.

The previous mandate was only valid until the end of March.

Numerous OSCE states had wanted to extend it.

Ukraine News: Russia raises serious allegations against Ukraine

+++ 15.40:

Russia has accused Ukraine of detaining 68 international ships in the Black Sea ports near Odessa.

The ships belonged to China, Turkey, Switzerland and Greece, among others, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow.

Russia opens a safe corridor every day so they can leave Ukrainian territorial waters.

However, according to the crews, the Ukrainian authorities had forbidden foreign ships to leave the port “under threat of immediate sinking”.

However, the information could not be independently verified.

At the same time, the ministry rejected allegations from Kyiv that it had laid sea mines in the Black Sea.

Rather, Ukrainian units deployed around 370 obsolete mines in the Black Sea.

About ten explosive devices had come loose from the moorings and were now drifting into the western part of the sea.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had previously blamed Russia for the mines off the Black Sea coast.

These are mines that Russia captured in 2014 when it annexed the Crimean peninsula in Sevastopol.

Turkish experts had rendered two sea mines harmless.

Ukraine News: Several Russian tanks destroyed near Kyiv

+++ 1.45 p.m .:

Despite the military de-escalation near Kiev announced by Russia, the fighting near the Ukrainian capital continues according to the Ukrainian representation.

Since Wednesday, units of the National Guard have destroyed artillery, missile systems and several dozen armored vehicles belonging to the Russian troops, the Interior Ministry announced on Telegram on Thursday.

The information cannot be independently verified.

In negotiations with Ukraine to end the war, Russia had announced that it would significantly reduce hostilities near Kyiv and Chernihiv.

According to information from the US government, Russia withdrew about a fifth of its troops from the area around the capital within 24 hours.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message that Russian troops were not withdrawing voluntarily, but were being pushed out by the Ukrainian army.

News about the Ukraine war: Battles in Kharkiv and Izyum continue

According to Ukrainian sources, fierce fighting is still going on around the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Izyum.

The governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Synyehubov, said on Telegram that Kharkiv had been hit 380 times with rockets from the air within 24 hours.

A damaged gas line is on fire in the Saltivka suburb.

In Izyum, 125 kilometers southeast of Kharkiv, attempts to set up escape corridors for the civilian population fail every day.

According to Ukrainian sources, five towns in the Zaporizhia region were recaptured.

In addition, three other towns in the Cherson region are again under Ukrainian control.

There was no independent confirmation for this information either.

Ukraine News: Russia conscripts 134,500 young men

+++ 12.30 p.m .:

In view of the Ukraine war, Russia will call up 134,500 men aged 18 to 27 for military service this spring.

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday, several Russian news agencies reported.

The convocation period lasts until mid-July.

At the same time, the one-year military service ends for other Russians.

A number of how many conscripts are leaving and being sent to the reserve was not given.

Twelve months of compulsory military service for men between the ages of 18 and 27 is stipulated by law in Russia.

A few days ago, Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stressed that the new recruits would not be sent to "hotspots", i.e. crisis areas.

Whether this is actually the case can only be judged in several months.

Ukraine News: Heavy shelling in Donbass

+++ 11.05 a.m .:

Ukraine reports heavy shelling in the Donbass.

The region in the east of the country has been hotly contested since the start of the Ukraine war.

Recently, Russia seemed to be increasingly concentrating on the area, since the pro-Russian separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk are also located there.

"We clearly feel that the transfer of (military) technology in our direction is starting now," Serhiy Haidai, head of the military administration of the Luhansk region, said in a televised statement, according to CNN.

"And while the equipment and personnel are being handed over, our enemies are just firing even harder and harder.

Everything is already in play here: aircraft, artillery, heavy caliber, mortars - all settlements are being shelled," he said.

Meanwhile, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the military administration of the Donetsk region, said in a telegram that Russian forces continued shelling in the central part of the region overnight.

"In Maryinka, Krasnohorivka and Novomykhailivka, the enemy again used white phosphorous shells," Kyrylenko said, referring to munitions whose use in populated areas is either banned or restricted under international law.

War in Ukraine: Next evacuation attempt in Mariupol

+++

9.50 a.m .: After a Russian assurance for an interim ceasefire, the Ukrainian government sent 45 buses to the besieged port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine.

"We are doing everything possible to ensure that the buses go to Mariupol today and pick up people who have not yet made it out of the city," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a video message on Thursday.

The city on the Azov Sea has been surrounded by Russian troops since early March.

According to Ukrainian information, there are still more than 100,000 residents in the badly damaged city.

Almost 440,000 people lived there before the Ukraine war.

On the way back, the column of buses was supposed to drive via Russian-occupied Berdyansk to Zaporizhia, about 200 kilometers away.

In addition, two humanitarian corridors were agreed in the cities of Melitopol and Enerhodar in the Zaporizhia region, which are also occupied by Russian troops.

People in private cars can join the evacuation columns from the three cities.

"Our military guarantees a complete ceasefire," said Vereshchuk.

Ukraine-News: Russia sends law enforcement agencies to Ukraine

+++ 8:25 a.m .:

According to The Kyiv Independent, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reports that Russia is sending law enforcement agencies, especially prosecutors, to temporarily occupied cities in Ukraine.

Accordingly, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said the lawyers would be tasked with conducting "outreach" work with local authorities and the public.

+++ 6.15 a.m .:

According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russia is preparing a “referendum” on the establishment of a Moscow-friendly “People’s Republic” in the conquered city of Cherson.

The invading army is trying to control the areas in southern Ukraine with "civilian-military administrations," the general staff said on Thursday night.

The pattern would be similar to the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, now recognized by Russia as independent.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently spoke of the danger of such a "vote".

The "referendum" should lead to the establishment of a quasi-state "People's Republic of Cherson", announced the Ukrainian general staff.

Ukraine-News: Russia announces ceasefire – Zelenskyy doesn't believe in "nice phrases"

First report from Thursday, March 31, 2022, 3:45 a.m.:

Russia has announced a ceasefire for the badly damaged southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol.

The measure will come into force on Thursday (March 31, 2022) at 10:00 a.m. and should create the possibility of taking civilians out via a humanitarian corridor, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected Russian promises to reduce attacks in northern Ukraine and accused them of preparing a new offensive in the east.

"For this humanitarian operation to be successful, we propose direct involvement of representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)," the Russian statement said.

The humanitarian corridor is said to lead via the city of Berdyansk, which is under Russian control, to Zaporizhia, 250 kilometers away.

The ministry asked the government in Kyiv to confirm "unconditional compliance" with the ceasefire by sending a written notification to the Russian side, as well as to the UNHCR and the ICRC.

The Ukrainian army must also ensure the security of the bus convoys in which the civilians are to be transported.

However, the Ukrainian head of state Zelenskyy said in his evening speech: "We don't believe anyone, not a single nice phrase".

(dil/tu/lz/nak with AFP/dpa)