Ukraine war: Russia withdrawal?

NATO discloses observation - "further offensive actions" to be expected

Created: 2022-04-02 04:51

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi, Stephanie Munk, Franziska Schwarz

War in Ukraine: Heavy fighting is expected again around Kyiv, in the Donbass and around Kharkiv the bombing by Russia seems to be increasing.

News ticker.

• Ukraine conflict

  *:

  The British secret service assumes “

  heavy fighting

  ” near

  Kiev

  for the next few days

  (see update from March 31, 9.40 a.m.)

• This spring, Russia will call up 134,500 men aged 18 to 27 for military service

  (see update from March 31, 12:16 p.m.).

• When occupying the Chernobyl nuclear ruins, Russian soldiers are said to have been irradiated

  (see update from March 31, 1:30 p.m.).

• More on the background of the Ukraine crisis* here.

This news ticker has ended.

You can read new information about the military battles in the Ukraine war here.

Update from March 31, 3:43 p.m .:

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

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

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”.

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Rather, Ukrainian units deployed around 370 outdated mines in the Black Sea.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

War in Ukraine: French intelligence chief has to leave his post

Update from March 31, 2:25 p.m .:

Because of the misjudgment of the Russian invasion plans in the Ukraine war, the French intelligence chief Eric Vidaud has to leave his post, according to information from military circles.

Vidaud has come under criticism for inadequate situation reports and a lack of expertise, military circles confirmed in a report on the L'Opinion website.

His dismissal also had internal organizational reasons, it said.

Shortly after the start of the Ukraine war, Chief of Staff Thierry Burkhard admitted that the US secret services were superior to the French.

"The Americans said the Russians would attack and they were right," he told

newspaper .

"Our services were convinced that capturing Ukraine would incur huge costs and that the Russians had other options," he added.

Ukraine war: NATO assumes further attacks by Russia

Update from March 31, 2 p.m.:

NATO assumes further attacks by Russia in Ukraine and sees no withdrawal of troops from Kiev.

According to the Alliance's findings, "Russian units are not withdrawing, but are repositioning themselves," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on Thursday.

Russia keeps the pressure on Kyiv and other cities.

"Further offensive actions" are to be expected, added Stoltenberg.

Russia is trying to regroup and strengthen its operations in the Donbass region.

Russia announced on Tuesday that it would significantly reduce military activities in the region around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and in the area around the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine.

With new attacks on Chernihiv and Mariupol in the south, Russia then dashed hopes that the situation would ease. The USA had already warned on Tuesday that it was not a question of a "withdrawal" of Russian troops, but of a "repositioning".

A "major offensive against other regions in Ukraine" is threatening.

Ukraine war: "Heavy fighting" expected near Kyiv - Russian soldiers after Chernobyl operation in clinic

Update from March 31, 1:30 p.m .:

Russian soldiers are said to have been irradiated in the attacks on the Chernobyl nuclear ruins in the Ukraine war.

This is reported by

with reference to Belarusian television.

According to this, a local tourist guide stated that many soldiers with radiation symptoms would be treated in Belarus after their deployment.

Already at the beginning of the Russian invasion, the troops had occupied the area.

As

further reports, the Russian troops crossed the "Red Forest", a heavily contaminated area, without protective clothing and whirled up radioactive dust.

Ukrainian residents are said to have spoken of a "suicidal approach".

Ukraine War: Ceasefire in Mariupol holds

Update from March 31, 12:49 p.m .:

Russia announced a ceasefire for Mariupol in the Ukraine war early in the morning

.

This ceasefire has been holding so far, reports ARD reporter Oliver Mayer-Rüth ​​in the 

around half past twelve.

At the moment everything is going according to plan.

"Some of the buses have apparently already passed a Russian checkpoint," he said.

They would be accompanied by the Red Cross.

Update from March 31, 12:16 p.m .:

Russia will call up 134,500 men aged 18 to 27 for military service this spring.

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

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.

Twice a year there are summonses to convene.

A few days ago, Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stressed that the new recruits would not be sent to "hotspots" - that is, crisis areas such as the Ukraine war.

Update from March 31, 12:37 p.m .:

Don’t Putin’s advisors tell him the truth about the Ukraine war * out of fear?

Western intelligence services share disturbing information.

War in Ukraine: Putin calls up numerous men for military service

War in Ukraine: Bombardments by Russian troops apparently increase around Kharkiv

Update from March 31, 11:48 a.m .:

In the region around Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, the bombings by Russian troops are apparently increasing.

The region's military governor said Thursday that Russian shelling had intensified in the past 24 hours.

This made it impossible to open humanitarian corridors that would allow people to flee the region, Oleh Synyehubov wrote on Telegram, according to CNN.

“Over the past day, Russia has scored 47 times.

It is worst in Izium, where the fighting and bombing continues without a break.”

The picture, taken on March 30, shows fire and smoke over the night sky in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

© Fadel Senna/afp

Ukraine War: Reports of Heavy Bombing in Donbass - Use of Phosphorus Bombs?

Update from March 31, 11:25 a.m

.: The British broadcaster CNN reports heavy bombing in eastern Ukraine, referring to information from Ukrainian military governors in the region.

"We feel very clearly that the transfer of military technology in our direction is starting now," Serhiy Haidai, a senior military administration official in Luhansk, was quoted as saying.

"As equipment and soldiers are regrouped, our enemies just fire harder and more intensely."

Pavlo Kyryenko, head of the military administration in Donetsk, wrote on Telegram, according to CNN, that the Russian army bombed the center of the region during the night.

"In Maryinka, Krasnohorivka and Novomykhailivka, the enemies again used white phosphorus bombs," he wrote.

Phosphorus bombs are incendiary bombs, the use of which is prohibited by the Geneva Convention.

The information provided by the Ukrainian military has not been independently verified.

Ukraine war: Russia intensifies attacks in Donbass - dozens dead

Update from March 31, 11:17 a.m .:

According to their own statements, the Russian troops are continuing their attacks in eastern Ukraine in the Ukraine war.

The village of Solota Nywa southwest of Donetsk is now under Russian control, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday, according to the Interfax agency.

Russian units had advanced six kilometers there since Wednesday.

Up to 60 opponents were killed.

This information could not be independently verified.

Units from the Luhansk separatist region, which Russia recognizes as independent, have meanwhile advanced five kilometers and fought with Ukrainian "nationalists".

The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday confirmed a "regrouping" of its troops near Kyiv and Chernihiv.

The goal of the troop deployment is "above all, the completion of the operation for the complete liberation of Donbass," it said.

Update from March 31, 10:48 a.m .:

Germany is planning new arms deliveries to Ukraine worth 300 million euros.

This was reported by the 

.

However, the Federal Security Council must first decide on the present list of equipment to be delivered.

The list includes, among other things, 2650 rocket-propelled grenades,

18 reconnaissance drones, mortars, machine guns, 3000 sets of night vision goggles and other helmets and body armor.

You can read more about the planned arms delivery to Ukraine here.

Update from March 31, 10:41 a.m .:

Former boxing world champion Wladimir Klitschko traveled to Germany with a delegation from the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

"Meetings with high-ranking politicians are planned for political support of Ukraine," said his brother Vitali, mayor of Kyiv, on Thursday in the Telegram news channel.

Read here what the meeting is about.

War in Ukraine: British secret service speaks of deeply demoralized Russian soldiers

Update from March 31, 10:30 a.m.:

The British intelligence chief Jeremy Fleming assumes that the Russian soldiers in the Ukraine war are deeply demoralized.

"We have seen Russian soldiers - short of weapons and morale - refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own plane." There are logistical errors, many Russian casualties and chaos within the military leadership.

"We have seen Putin lie to his own people to cover up military incompetence," Fleming said in a speech at the Australian National University.

Update from March 31, 10:17 a.m .:

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, 17,500 Russian soldiers have died since the start of the Ukraine war around five weeks ago.

The ministry announced this in its latest report on Facebook.

The figure has not been independently verified; Vladimir Putin's government gives a much lower figure.

Ukraine war: Russia allegedly wants a referendum on the establishment of the "People's Republic of Kherson"

Update from March 31, 9:52 a.m .:

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

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

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

The information is not independently verifiable.

Ukraine-News: British secret service expects "heavy fighting" near Kyiv soon

Update from March 31, 9:40 a.m.

According to British military intelligence, the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv is still being shelled by the Russian army - despite Russia's announcement that it would "radically" reduce military activity there and around Kiev.

Russian soldiers continued to hold positions east and west of Kyiv, the British Ministry of Defense said.

"There will probably be heavy fighting in the suburbs of the city in the coming days," it said.

Several media report on this, including tagesschau.de and ntv.

A soldier stands near Brovary on the outskirts of Kyiv on a bridge destroyed by the Ukrainian army to prevent Russian tanks from passing through.

© Rodrigo Abd/dpa

Ukraine war: Russia ceasefire for Mariupol - Kyiv wants to use time window for evacuation

Update from March 31, 8:57 a.m.:

Russia announced a ceasefire for Mariupol in the Ukraine war early in the morning

.

Now the government in Kyiv wants to send 45 buses to evacuate residents from the port city, which has been heavily shelled for weeks.

"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.

Last night, the Ukrainian government was informed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that "Russia is ready to open access for humanitarian convoys from Mariupol," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote in the Telegram online service on Thursday morning.

Therefore, the 45 buses would now be sent to the "corridor" from Mariupol.

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

Russia had already made several such announcements.

However, the evacuation efforts had mostly failed, for which both sides blamed each other.

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock* pointed out on Thursday morning that "well over 100,000 civilians" are still trapped in Mariupol - "including children, women, men and the elderly".

For weeks they have been experiencing “an almost unimaginable nightmare without electricity, without water, without heating in a city that is constantly being bombed, rockets and grenades are being razed to the ground by Russian bombs”.

Ukraine war: Russia announces ceasefire for Mariupol - Ukrainian government speaks of "manipulation"

Update from March 31, 6:10 a.m .:

Russia has again announced a ceasefire for the badly damaged port city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine.

The measure will come into effect on Thursday, 10 a.m. local time, and is intended to create the possibility of evacuating civilians via a humanitarian corridor, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The Ukrainian government has described the Russian announcement as an attempt at "re-manipulation".

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

Russia had already made several such announcements.

However, the evacuation efforts had mostly failed, for which both sides blamed each other.

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

Zelenskyy has now reiterated statements by his army that the Russian armed forces would only regroup so that they can attack more strongly in the Donbass region in the east.

"We're not giving anything away.

We will fight for every meter of our territory,” warned the President.

Further air raids were reported from numerous towns in the east.

According to Ukrainian sources, a building belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Mariupol was the target of Russian airstrikes.

However, a spokesman for the organization in Geneva could not provide any information as there were no staff on site.

The city has been cut off from all supplies for weeks and is under heavy fire from Russian forces.

Thousands of people have already died.

Ukraine War: Russian army apparently withdraws from Chernobyl

Update from March 30, 11:06 p.m .:

According to US information, the Russian armed forces began withdrawing from the zone around the Chernobyl nuclear ruins in the Ukraine war.

Russian soldiers are leaving the area for neighboring Belarus, a US Defense Department official said on Wednesday.

"We think they're leaving.

I can't say that everyone left.” The Pentagon official spoke of a “repositioning” of the armed forces.

Ukraine war: Russia sees "main tasks" around Kyiv over

Update from March 30, 5:40 p.m.:

According to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, Russian troops have completed all “main tasks” near the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and Chernihiv.

Now they are in a planned phase of "regrouping" in these areas in order to increase military activities in priority areas and "above all, to complete the military operation for the complete liberation of Donbass," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

In the first phase of what Russia calls a "special operation," the goal was to force Ukrainian forces to rally troops to defend major cities like Kyiv and Chernihiv, the Russian ministry said.

In this way, "the enemy" was kept on the battlefield, defeated "without storming the cities" and prevented from sending troops into the Donbass region.

The Ministry of Defense pointed out that the areas in eastern Ukraine occupied by pro-Russian separatists are the main focus of Russian activities.

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

According to Ukrainian information, a building of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol has become the target of Russian air attacks.

"The occupiers deliberately bombed an ICRC building in Mariupol," Lyudmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament's human rights commissioner, wrote in Telegram on Wednesday.

There is still no reliable information as to whether people were killed or injured in the attack.

"Enemy aircraft and artillery fired on a building marked with a red cross on a white background, indicating the presence of casualties or civilian or humanitarian cargo," Denisova said in the statement.

The information cannot be independently verified.

Ukraine war: Kyiv does not expect Russian troops to withdraw from the capital

Update from March 30, 2:10 p.m .:

The Ukrainian general staff does not expect a large-scale withdrawal of Russian troops from areas near the capital Kiev.

Because of his losses, the enemy had probably only "temporarily given up the goal of blocking Kyiv," the general staff said on Wednesday afternoon.

Instead, Russian troops regrouped and focused on attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine.

A partial withdrawal of Russian units from the town of Brovary, which is east of the metropolis of Kyiv, was confirmed.

After negotiations with Ukraine on Tuesday, Russia announced that it would reduce its hostilities near Kyiv and the city of Chernihiv.

Update from March 30, 1:31 p.m

.: The Kremlin is rowing back: Ruble payments for Russian gas should not apply from Thursday (March 31), but gradually, said its spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday.

You can find out more background information in the economic ticker on the Ukraine war from

*.

Former oligarch Khodorkovsky believes Putin will attack NATO in the Ukraine war

Update from March 30, 1:16 p.m

.: Mikhail Khodorkovsky was once one of the richest men in Russia.

Now the Russian exile opposition shared his assessment of Vladimir Putin *: "He will attack NATO countries, one way or another - not necessarily with rockets, but with terrorist attacks," said the former oligarch in a recent conversation with the weekly newspaper

.

Ukraine war: London wants to follow up after Russia's partial withdrawal

First report from March 30

: Kiev/London - The British secret service classifies Russia's troops in the Ukraine war as weakened.

The invasion of President Vladimir Putin* does not go according to his plan.

The results of the most recent negotiations between Ukraine and Russia arouse skepticism, for example from the Ukraine diplomat Andriy Melnyk.

Its President Volodymr Selenskyj* is apparently also waiting.

And the reactions from Germany to the Ukraine war?

Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil expects refugees in Germany who will stay longer - because an end to the conflict does not seem in sight.

Now there is a report on possible arms deliveries from Great Britain under Prime Minister Boris Johnson* to the mixed situation.

Ukraine war: Johnson fears increasing revenge on Putin

Johnson is said to be

considering supplying "deadlier weapons" to Ukraine , according to the

At a cabinet meeting on March 29, he is said to have warned that Putin could become "unpredictable and vengeful," the British newspaper cites unnamed insider sources.

“Not only does the Ukrainian army retain control of major cities, it is even forcing the Russians to retreat.

With that, our support needs to change," a source in the British Cabinet said.

Ukraine war: Britain's government addresses arms deliveries

Johnson is said to be in favor of the US providing Ukraine with anti-ship missiles and more advanced air defense systems.

According to the Times, defense sources said the prime minister had not specified what kind of weapons Britain could supply.

Concerns about a further escalation of the conflict should also play a role in the considerations.

So far, London has mainly sent anti-tank missiles and other missiles to Ukraine in support.