Ukraine war: Russia and Ukraine swap prisoners of war – Johnson meets Zelenskyj
Created: 04/10/2022 04:49 am
By: Kerstin Kesselgruber, Daniel Dillmann, Stefan Krieger, Lucas Maier
In the Ukraine war, events shifted to the east of the country.
The Russian army replenishes its units after losses.
The news ticker.
News from the Ukraine conflict*: After the atrocities in Bucha*, Moscow* relocates troops in the Ukraine war*.
Russia* is retreating around Kyiv*, but the fight in the east of the country is all the more fierce.
The Russian army wants to rebuild its units after losses - and mobilizes tens of thousands of reservists.
A video is said to show the mistreatment of Russian prisoners of war by the Ukrainian army.
>>> Update ticker <<<
+++ 8:49 p.m .:
For the third time since the beginning of the Ukraine war, Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war on Saturday.
As Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereshchuk announced on social media, 26 Ukrainian nationals returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity during the prisoner exchange.
Twelve of the liberated belonged to the military, among the 14 civilians nine were women and five men.
Vereshchuk did not give any details about the number of Russian soldiers transferred during the exchange.
In Moscow, the Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said the two sides had also exchanged long-distance drivers who were stuck in the other country.
The Tass agency reported that 32 Russian and 20 Ukrainian long-distance drivers had returned home.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has negotiated a prisoner exchange with Moscow for the third time since the war began.
On Saturday he received several international heads of state in Kyiv.
© Press photo/dpa
War in Ukraine: British Prime Minister Johnson promises new aid package to Selenskyj
+++ 19.08 p.m .:
With an unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Saturday afternoon (April 9th, 2022), Great Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson* also sent a sign of solidarity with the country attacked by Russia.
At the same time, in a tweet, Johnson announced that Britain* was "unpacking a new package of financial and military aid that demonstrates our commitment to his country's fight against Russia's barbaric campaign."
Britain is "the leader in military support to Ukraine, the leader in the anti-war coalition, the leader in sanctions against the Russian aggressor," said deputy chief of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Sybyha on the visit of the British prime minister to Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyj.
He published several photos in the messenger service Telegram, which show him together with Johnson.
"Welcome to Kyiv, my friend!" he wrote.
Ukraine war: reports of 300 destroyed medical facilities in Ukraine
+++ 3.36 p.m
.: According to Ukrainian authorities, more than 300 Ukrainian hospitals and other medical facilities have been damaged since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
Health Minister Viktor Ljaschko announced on Saturday that 21 hospitals were completely destroyed and would have to be completely rebuilt after the end of the war.
While patients were evacuated from the fought-over areas in the east to central and western regions, the medical facilities in the areas near Kyiv abandoned by the Russian military were being used again.
"In Bucha and Irpin, the hospitals have been put back into operation," confirmed Lyashko.
Above all, superficial repairs would have to be made here.
The situation is being assessed in Borodyanka.
However, the emergency room is working again.
Ukraine war: Russian military allegedly with new war commander
+++ 11.50 a.m .:
Russia is said to have reorganized its warfare in Ukraine and put a new commander with experience from Syria* at the head.
According to a Western government official, the military operation will now be led by General Alexander Dvornikov, who has extensive war experience in Syria.
Most recently he was commander in the southern military district of Russia.
In 2016, President Vladimir Putin awarded him hero status for his service in the Syrian war.
Officially, the change of command from the Russian side was initially not confirmed.
After invading Ukraine on February 24, Russia failed to capture major cities such as the capital, Kyiv.
Most recently, its war of aggression has focused primarily on the eastern Ukrainian Donbass region.
Ukraine War: Russian attacks in Donbass continue
+++ 10.16 a.m .:
According to Ukrainian information, the attacks by Russian units in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine continue.
Russian troops are concentrating on taking over the towns of Rubishne, Nizhne, Popasna and Novobakhmutivka and gaining full control over the city of Mariupol, the Unian agency, citing the military situation report of the Ukrainian General Staff, reported on Saturday morning (April 9, 2022). ).
The governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Hayday, told the Internet newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda on Friday that the situation in the Luhansk region was most difficult in the cities of Rubishne and Popasna.
Part of the town of Rubischne, which has a population of 50,000, had been taken by Russian units, and there were constant battles for positions and shelling.
Popasna, with its approximately 20,000 inhabitants, has also been "ironed down" for more than a month, said Hajdaj.
It is impossible to evacuate people from there because "everything is bombed left and right there".
The information could not be independently verified.
Ukraine War: Russian army wants to rebuild units after losses
Update from Saturday, April 9th, 2022, 7:00 a.m.:
According to the US Department of Defense, the Russian armed forces are trying to rebuild their units with new material and soldiers after losses in northern Ukraine.
There are also reports that the units now to be deployed in eastern Ukraine will be reinforced by mobilizing "tens of thousands of reservists," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
He warned that, despite their losses, the Russians still had most of their regional strength available for the war.
In addition, the Russian military will now probably concentrate on the geographically much smaller area of eastern Donbass.
According to a senior Pentagon official, Russia has already massed thousands of additional troops near the border with the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
The number of tactical battalions near the Russian city of Belgorod has increased from 30 to 40 now.
Such battalions typically consist of about 600 to 1000 soldiers.
The senior ministry official said there were indications the Russians were hoping to mobilize "more than 60,000 troops".
Very intense fighting is to be expected in the Donbass.
"It could get very gory and very ugly," he said.
Ukraine-News: Russia destroys rocket launchers
+++ 11:48 p.m .:
According to its own statements, Russia has destroyed eight launch pads for Totschtka submarine rockets in Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.
This was announced by the spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, on Friday evening.
At the same time, around 90 percent of the missiles in the arsenals were destroyed, it said.
Konashenkov added that he would like to emphasize that the Ukrainian armed forces "still have a significant arsenal of Tochka-U missiles".
Before the war began, Kyiv had 20 launch sites, each with two launch pads for short-range missiles.
+++ 19.10 p.m .:
After the withdrawal of Russian troops from the area around the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, Mayor Vladyslaw Atroschenko speaks of around 700 people who died during the Russian siege of the city.
Another 40 people are still missing, the Unian news agency said on Friday (April 8, 2022).
Almost a third of the 285,000 inhabitants who once lived in the city northeast of Kyiv have fled, and around 95,000 people are still in the city.
According to Atroschenko, as in many Ukrainian cities, the Russian attacks also caused major damage in Chernihiv.
Around 70 percent of the city, which was known for its medieval churches and monasteries before the war, was destroyed after the Russians withdrew.
The Russian soldiers had hastily withdrawn from the areas around the cities of Chernihiv and Kyiv in the past few days after the military leadership announced that it wanted to step up its attack in the east of the country.
Numerous military vehicles were left behind during the withdrawal.
According to the authorities, around 700 people have died in Chernihiv in northern Ukraine.
70 percent of the city is destroyed.
© Evgeny Maloletka
War in Ukraine: New video shows severe abuse of Russian prisoners of war
+++ 3.39 p.m .:
In the video material that has now appeared, serious mistreatment of Russian prisoners of war can allegedly be seen, including the Russians being shot in the legs there.
The Ukrainian government promised an immediate investigation: "The government takes this very seriously and there will be an immediate investigation," senior presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said, reports the Washington Examiner.
“We are a European army and we do not mock our prisoners.
If this turns out to be true, then this is absolutely unacceptable behavior," added Presidential Advisor Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A clip shows what appear to be Ukrainian troops removing three Russian soldiers from a van seconds before the detainees are shot in the legs.
Another video shows the faces of injured and bloodied Russians after their hoods were removed.
The authenticity of the harrowing footage has not been independently verified, according to the New York Post, and it's unclear exactly where the videos were taken.
"I would like to once again remind all our military, civilian and defense forces that prisoner abuse is a war crime that has no amnesty and no statute of limitations under military law," Arestovych said.
Meanwhile, according to the New York Post, Ukraine's military commander General Valerii Zaluzhnyi accused Russia of "staging" the videos and warned the public to only trust "official sources".
"In order to discredit the Ukrainian Defense Forces, the enemy films and distributes staging videos depicting the Ukrainian military's inhumane attitude towards Russian prisoners," Zaluzhnyi said in a statement.
Ukraine-News: Russia starts major offensive with tanks and artillery
+++ 1:56 p.m .:
While Moscow is gathering its troops in eastern Ukraine, Kiev is receiving further support from the west.
Slovakia has announced that it will provide air defense systems.
The weapons of the type S-300 should be delivered as soon as possible.
"We are sure that these systems will help save as many innocent Ukrainians as possible," said Eduard Heger, Prime Minister of Slovakia.
+++ 12.45 p.m .:
The Ukrainian President responded to the news of the Russian missile attack in Kramatorsk.
According to the Kyiv Independent, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: "Russian monsters do not give up their methods.
They lack the strength and courage to face us on the battlefield, so they attack civilians.” The rocket attack on a train station in Kramatorsk is said to have killed 39 and wounded more than a thousand.
+++ 12.00 p.m .:
According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia has completed preparations for an offensive in Donbass.
This is reported by the news portal Kyiv Independent.
The Russian armed forces are already trying to break through the defense lines in several places.
According to the Ukrainian foreign minister, Moscow has assembled thousands of tanks, planes and artillery for its offensive in the east.
A Ukrainian soldier jumps from a destroyed Russian tank.
© Sergei Supinsky/AFP
Ukraine-News: Russia forcibly recruits men in occupied territories
Update from Friday, April 8th, 2022, 10.45 a.m .:
Probably in order to be able to compensate for its own losses in the Ukraine war, Russia is said to have started to recruit men in various cities in Ukraine under duress.
That's what the Telegraph reports.
The British newspaper relies on reports from the cities of Mariupol, Donetsk and Wasylivka.
The AFP news agency also reports rocket attacks by the Russian army from the city of Kramatorsk.
A rocket is said to have hit the city's train station in the east of the country.
The authorities speak of 20 dead.
Ukraine News: Situation in the Ukraine War
First report from Friday, April 8th, 2022,
9:00 a.m.: Dmytrivka - They caused an outcry among the world population: The pictures of the Russian war crimes in Bucha near Kiev.
A video has now been made public that also suggests war crimes on the Ukrainian side.
It is said to show the shooting of captured soldiers from Russia.
This is reported by the Aljazeera news agency.
The video, verified by the New York Times, is said to have been taken about seven miles from Bucha, in the town of Dmytrivka.
According to the newspaper, the dead soldiers are said to be wearing Russian military clothing and white armbands.
In the Ukraine war, the Russian side mostly wears white armbands and the Ukrainian mostly blue armbands.
Ukraine News: Video allegedly shows murder of Russian soldiers
The video is said to show a wounded Russian soldier with a jacket over his head.
A suspected pro-Ukrainian fighter is said to say later: "He's still alive.
Film this looter.
Look, he's still alive.
He's gasping for air.” Another soldier then fires twice at the wounded man, after a few steps he fires a third time.
After the third shot, the Russian soldier remains motionless.
Three more dead soldiers are said to be visible in the background.
One of them with his hands tied behind his back and a head wound, they are all lying in pools of blood.
A military vehicle (BMD-2) also shown in the video indicates that those killed were a Russian paratrooper unit.
Ukraine News: Mercenaries could also have been shooting in the video
The video was already put online on Monday (04/04/2022).
According to the New York Times, the filming soldiers can be assigned to the Ukrainian side by their blue armbands and national insignia.
In addition, several "Glory of Ukraine" calls* can be heard in the video.
The shooting of prisoners is a war crime. Referring to the Ukrainian media, the news magazine Spiegel reports that the shooting soldiers could also belong to the so-called Georgian Legion.
Ukraine News: Paramilitary groups deployed at war
According to the information, the paramilitary group has been fighting on the side of Ukraine since 2014.
Evan Hill, an employee of the New York Times, also writes on Twitter about a possible connection to Georgia.
Using software, he found a close match between one of the pro-Ukrainian soldiers in the video and a bodyguard of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
War crimes videos are becoming more and more common on the internet.
So far, however, very few have been verified.
(lm)
