Communication from Ukrainian Railways: Hundreds of bodies of Russian soldiers in freezer wagons
Created: 05/20/2022, 04:56
By: Bettina Menzel, Katharina Haase
Ukraine has asked Russia to collect hundreds of bodies of Russian soldiers who died in the war and were stored in freezer wagons.
The news ticker.
Escalated
Ukraine conflict
:
Revenge for the sinking of the Moskva?
Putin apparently dismisses high-ranking generals
The Ukrainian President Zelenskyj
is preparing the population for further weeks of war
Ukraine apparently stores hundreds of bodies of fallen Russian soldiers in refrigerated wagons - and is asking Russia to pick them up.
This
news ticker on the military situation in the Ukraine war
is continuously updated.
Update from May 19, 10:41 p.m
.: According to their own statements, the commanders of the last military resistance in Ukraine in Mariupol are still in the Azovstal steel plant.
Ukrainian media on Thursday circulated a video showing the deputy commander of the Azov regiment Svyatoslav Palamar.
“Me and the command are at the Azovstal factory site.
There is a certain operation going on, the details of which I will not say.
We thank the whole world, thank Ukraine," said Palamar.
The authenticity of the video could not be checked immediately, and it was widely discussed in the Ukrainian media.
According to Russian information, since the beginning of the week 1,730 Ukrainian gunmen have surrendered, hiding in the branched bunkers under the steelworks.
They were taken prisoner of war.
Ukraine demands life imprisonment in war crimes trial
Update from May 19, 10:28 p.m
.: In the first Ukrainian war crimes trial, prosecutors demanded life imprisonment for a Russian soldier accused of murdering an unarmed civilian.
The state indictment sees the crime of war crimes and murder fulfilled, local media reported from the court.
The day before, the 21-year-old suspect had confessed and described the crime at the start of the process.
“There was a man talking on the phone.
Ensign Makeyev ordered to shoot,” the soldier explained.
After an initial refusal, he fired a short burst from his assault rifle.
Residential houses in Sieverodonetsk targeted?
Ukraine reports at least 12 dead
Update from May 19, 8:38 p.m
.: According to the authorities, at least twelve people are said to have been killed by Russian artillery fire in Sjewerodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine.
More than 40 other people were injured, the military governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajday, wrote on Telegram.
According to him, residential buildings are said to have been targeted.
also read
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"Putin is wrong": Scholz tries to speak clearly and stumbles at the last word - Merz tears up the Chancellor's speech
Previously, the Ukrainian railways announced that they were storing hundreds of Russian soldiers' bodies in freezer wagons.
"We deliver and store all types of cargo," the statement said.
The state-owned company asked Russia to pick up the dead.
At the same time, the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine issued the same request to Kyiv.
Ukraine should take over the corpses of its own soldiers left behind during the retreat.
Macron fears the Ukraine war will spread to neighboring countries
Update from May 19, 6:24 p.m
.: French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed concern that the war in Ukraine could spread to a conflagration.
"The unacceptable aggression of Ukraine by Russia poses a threat to the entire region and Moldova in particular," Macron said during a visit by Moldova's President Maia Sandu to Paris.
A spread of the conflict to neighboring regions cannot be ruled out.
However, France remains vigilant with regard to Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity, said the President.
With regard to Moldova's efforts to join the EU, Macron promised a clear answer in the coming weeks.
War crimes trial: Russian soldier asks for 'forgiveness' in Kyiv court
Update May 19, 1:31 p.m.
: A 21-year-old Russian soldier accused of war crimes in Ukraine has addressed the widow of the man killed in court: “I know you cannot forgive me, but please but for forgiveness,” said Vadim Shishimarin.
He had previously confessed to killing a 62-year-old civilian.
The victim's wife was present at the hearings in Kyiv.
Shishimarin is the first Russian soldier to be tried for war crimes since the beginning of the Ukraine war.
He is said to have shot the 62-year-old cyclist out of a car.
More on the background to the indictment here.
Ukraine War News: Russian border region of Kursk accuses Ukraine of shelling
Update from May 19, 12:05 p.m .:
The governor of the western Russian region of Kursk has accused Ukraine of shelling a village near the border.
A civilian was killed in the village of Tjotkino on Thursday night (May 19), Governor Roman Starovoit wrote in the Telegram news service.
A number of houses were also damaged.
According to Russian sources, Tjotkino was already attacked on Wednesday (May 18).
The Belgorod region, which is also close to the border, had also reported shelling.
Ukraine initially did not comment on the allegations.
Russia, which started the Ukraine war itself, has been complaining about Ukrainian attacks on its own territory for weeks.
Ukraine War: Red Cross registers hundreds of POWs from Azov steel mill
Update from May 19, 10:47 a.m .:
The International Committee of the Red Cross has registered hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Azov steel plant in Mariupol.
The Red Cross announced this in a statement on Thursday.
At the request of Russia and Ukraine, an ICRC team on the ground began collecting personal information from Ukrainian fighters leaving the steelworks on Tuesday.
Among them were the wounded.
According to the ICRC, the procedure serves to track where the prisoners of war are - and to help them stay in contact with their relatives.
The ICRC stated that it was not involved in the transport of prisoners of war and referred to the obligation of all contracting states of the Geneva Conventions to grant the Red Cross access to prisoners of war.
Ukrainian soldiers who, according to Russian sources, surrendered at the Azov steelworks, are lined up in Mariupol in front of Russian soldiers.
© Russian Defense Ministry/Imago
Update from May 19,
10:08 a.m .: According to Russian information, 1,730 fighters from the besieged Azovstal steelworks have surrendered in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol since the beginning of the week.
In the past 24 hours alone, more than 770 Ukrainians have been captured, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Thursday.
There was initially no confirmation from the Ukrainian side.
Russia's Ukraine problems: Putin is now likely to fire senior military officials
Update from May 19, 9:26 a.m .:
Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently dismissed two senior Russian military officers in the Ukraine war.
According to British intelligence, the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Igor Osipov, has been relieved of his post.
This was announced by the British Ministry of Defense on Twitter.
The Black Sea Fleet lost its flagship "Moskva" in mid-April - according to the Ukrainian account, due to two missiles being fired at it.
According to British sources, the Putin government also deposed Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Kissel after unsuccessful attacks in the Kharkiv region.
There was no confirmation of this from the Russian side.
The Ukrainian secret service recently reported on the alleged dismissal of the two high-ranking military officers.
It was also noticed that Ossipov was absent from the May 9 military parade marking the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II in Sevastopol on the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
British intelligence estimates that many Russian military officials are increasingly preoccupied with denying responsibility for setbacks.
"This will likely further increase the pressure on the centralized Russian command structures," the statement said.
The pool photo released by Russia's state-run Sputnik news agency via AP shows Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, attending a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier following the "Victory Day" military parade.
© Anton Novoderezhkin/dpa
War in Ukraine: Selenskyj prepares population for further weeks of war
Update from May 19, 6:53 a.m .:
In Kiev, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj prepared the population for a continuing war and pleaded for the extension of martial law by 90 days until August.
"Our army and everyone defending the state must have all the legal means to act calmly," said the head of state in a video speech late Wednesday evening.
The situation on the individual fronts in Ukraine remained largely unchanged.
In the east, Russian troops are still trying to fully capture the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The severity of the attacks was also reflected in the deaths of 15 civilians in the region on Wednesday, the Ukrainian army said.
At least one child was also killed.
More attacks by Russia in Ukraine: Zelenskyj calls for extension of martial law
For their part, the Ukrainian forces claimed to have recaptured another village to the north of the city of Kharkiv.
In the past few weeks, the Ukrainian army has said it has pushed the Russian troops in the north and north-east of Kharkov further and further towards the border.
Like most military reports on both sides, this information was not immediately verifiable.
According to information from Kiev, Russian troops also shelled the north-east Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Chernihiv from their own territory.
Russia, in turn, blamed Ukraine for shelling the border village of Tyotkino and other places in the Kursk region.
Update from May 18, 9:44 p.m .:
According to information from Kiev, Russian troops fired on Wednesday from Russian territory at the north-eastern Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Chernihiv.
The Ukrainian border guard reported seven attacks using heavy machine guns, automatic grenade launchers, and tube and rocket artillery.
The village of Shostka near the border in the Sumy region was shelled with mortars for more than an hour.
But there were no victims.
The reports were initially not independently verifiable.
War in Ukraine: Ukrainian army apparently gaining territory near Kharkiv
Update from May 18, 8:30 p.m .:
According to its own statements, the Ukrainian army has made another gain in territory in the eastern Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv.
Due to an advance, the village of Dementijivka was liberated north of the megacity, the general staff announced on Facebook on Wednesday.
The village is about eight kilometers from the Russian border.
In recent weeks, the Ukrainian army has pushed back Russian troops in northern and north-eastern Kharkiv.
However, the Russian military is said to be attempting a counterattack near Ternowa, north-east of Kharkiv.
On the border with the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, there was also fighting for the village of Dovhenke, about 25 kilometers from Sloviansk.
Heavy fighting continued at Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and at Sievjerodonetsk in the neighboring Luhansk region.
The Russian troops would be supported by heavy Luftwaffe bombardments at various sectors.
However, they would not have achieved territorial gains.
Soldiers patrol during the Ukraine war.
The Ukrainian army is said to have made another territorial gain.
© Mstyslav Chernov / dpa
Ukraine War: Russia lays claim to Zaporizhia
Update from May 18, 7:12 p.m .:
Russia wants to tie the partially conquered Zaporizhia region in south-eastern Ukraine to itself in the future.
"I think the perspective of the region is to work in our harmonious Russian family," said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Chusnullin, according to the RBK news agency, during a visit to the small town of Melitopol, which is occupied by the Russian military.
The regional capital of Zaporizhia itself is still controlled by Ukrainian troops.
Chusnullin had already laid claims to this region on Monday during a visit to the Kherson region west of Zaporizhia.
The Kremlin, on the other hand, has so far only officially announced the "liberation" of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as a war goal.
A few weeks ago, however, a Russian commander disclosed plans by the Moscow military to incorporate all of southern Ukraine - which would give Russia a land connection to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
Ukraine-News: Ukrainian President Zelenskyj wants to extend martial law
Update from May 18, 6:57 p.m .:
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj wants to have the martial law imposed because of the Russian invasion and the mobilization ordered in the Ukraine war extended by three months.
The corresponding draft laws were published on Wednesday.
After the confirmation by the deputies, which is considered certain, the state of war will apply until August 23.
A day later, Ukraine traditionally celebrates its Independence Day.
Zelenskyi first declared the state of war on February 24 - a few hours after Russia's attack - and then had it extended twice by 30 days each.
The general mobilization, on the other hand, applied immediately for 90 days.
Many experts see the duration of the state of war as an indicator of how long Kyiv is currently preparing for possible fighting.
Ukraine War: Russian troops attack in Donbass at night - Ukrainian army lacks night vision capabilities
First report
: Kiev – In the Ukraine war, the Russian army in the Donbass is now allegedly using new tactics.
According to a report by the US magazine
Foreign Policy
on Tuesday, Russian troops are increasingly attacking at night because the Ukrainian army is not adequately equipped.
Moscow apparently wants to overrun Ukrainian positions.
In some cases, Russian special units are also said to be in action.
The Kremlin is also trying to use its numerical advantage to cause losses on the Ukrainian side.
"We need a lot of drones, including [...] thermal imaging drones, because a lot of things happen at night," said Tymofiy Mylovanov, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former economy minister.
Without night vision capabilities of its own, Ukraine would not be able to fight back, the adviser said, according to
Foreign Policy
.
Ukraine War: Russia appears to focus efforts on cities of Izyum and Lyman
According to a US defense official, Ukraine has already stationed 74 of the 90 M777 howitzer artillery units provided by the United States in Donbass.
Russia has in recent days begun to focus its efforts in northern Donbass on the cities of Izyum and Lyman, the senior Pentagon official, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
Russian troops are also said to have made small advances west of the city of Donetsk.
We need [...] thermal imaging drones because a lot of things happen at night
Tymofiy Mylovanov, adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ukraine guerrillas allegedly kill Russian officers
According to information from the Ukrainian newspaper
Kyiv Independent
, Ukrainian guerrilla fighters have recently also killed high-ranking Russian officers.
According to the report, the fighters come from Melitopol in southern Ukraine.
Moscow is trying to “cover up this situation,” the Zaporizhia regional military administration said Tuesday (May 17) on its Telegram channel.
The information could not initially be verified by an independent party.
Russia is probably losing generals in Ukraine - also because of US intelligence information
Ukrainians have repeatedly reported killing Russian generals on the ground since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
According to the
New York Times
, "many" of the dozen or so Russian commanders who were killed were said to have fallen into the crosshairs of Ukrainian forces thanks to US information.
The newspaper referred to "high-ranking government officials".
So far, the Biden government has remained silent about specific intelligence information that it provides to the Ukrainian military - so as not to endanger its own sources and not to give Russia an excuse for allegations
According to British intelligence, Russia is also deploying high-ranking military officers in combat due to heavy losses in its own troops.
This leads to disproportionately high losses among the Russian generals, the report continues.
Accordingly, management experience (AFP/bm)
is then missing in many places
.
