Putin in distress?

Russia changes requirements for military service

Created: 05/25/2022, 14:53

By: Cindy Boden, Katharina Haase, Stephanie Munk, Christoph Gschoßmann

Russia abolishes age limit for military service during Ukraine war.

Putin wants to visit soldiers in the hospital.

News ticker.

• Escalated conflict in Ukraine

  : Russia lifts age limit for military service.

• Catastrophic conditions in occupied Mariupol - the city was thrown back "to the Middle Ages".

• Ukrainian defenders in Donbass falter

  : sole supply road under fire.

• This

  news ticker on military events in the Ukraine war

  is continuously updated.

Update from May 25, 2:30 p.m .:

Russia has abolished the age limit for military service.

The Russian parliament voted in favor of a corresponding bill on Wednesday, according to the Duma's website.

In the future, therefore, any volunteer who has not yet reached the statutory retirement age can join the army.

For men, this is currently 61.5 years.

Until now, only Russian citizens between the ages of 18 and 40 could enlist in the army, while foreigners could enlist between 18 and 30 years.

A woman went to her house, which was destroyed by shells, on May 24 in Borodyanka, about 30 kilometers north-west of Kyiv.

© Natacha Pisarenko/dpa

War in Ukraine: Putin visits soldiers in Moscow hospital

Update from May 25, 12:20 p.m .:

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to visit soldiers injured in the Ukraine war this Wednesday (May 25) in a Moscow hospital.

"He visits them and talks to them," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Interfax news agency.

Peskov dismissed speculation that the visit would announce a new strategy for fighting in Ukraine.

There are "no new moments and stages" in the "military operation," said the Kremlin spokesman.

"The President is constantly interested in the issue of how to care for those who were injured during the military special operation - and he also controls it," Peskov said.

In Moscow, the Ukraine war is officially referred to as a "special military operation".

It is Putin's first visit to the injured since the start of the Ukraine war at the end of February.

War in Ukraine: Russia reports bombing of train stations and engine plant

Update from May 25, 11:12 a.m .:

According to its own statements, the Russian army also attacked a Ukrainian engine plant and several train stations during the heavy air raids at night.

"High-precision air and sea-launched missiles destroyed the production halls of the Motor Sich factory, which produces aircraft engines for the Ukrainian armed forces, including unmanned drones," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

also read

"Like 1945": Putin is confident of victory - but the West puts the next damper on Russia

"Increasingly feverish and unstable": Ex-secret service agent reports of "chaos" surrounding Putin

According to him, the railway station of the urban settlement of Pokrovske in the Dnipropetrovsk region was also hit by rockets.

The aim here was a troop transport of reservists who were on their way to the Donbass region.

Several command posts and telecommunications centers in the Bakhmut area and a logistics center in the Soledar area were attacked near the front, Konashenkov said.

The air force would have killed more than 300 Ukrainian soldiers and disabled 46 military vehicles.

This information could not be verified independently.

A destroyed apartment building in the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

© Aris Messinis/AFP

Ukraine war: Mariupol thrown back into the "Middle Ages" according to mayor-adviser

Update from May 25, 9.40 a.m .:

According to a report by the US broadcaster CNN, at least 22,000 people have been killed in Mariupol since the war broke out three months ago.

This was stated by Petro Andryushenko, Advisor to the Mayor of Mariupol.

This would be five percent of the inhabitants of the port city with originally 440,000 inhabitants.

However, this number cannot be independently verified.

"Mariupol is now a ghost town," the politician is quoted as saying, who fled the completely destroyed city himself, but says he is still in contact with the Ukrainians who remained in Mariupol.

The port city was thrown back to the level of the Middle Ages by the Ukraine war.

"It's absolutely dark in the city, the only lights are from Russian troops and Russian patrols," said Andriaschenko.

"Everywhere is the smell of death and fire."

Heavily damaged private houses on the shore of the Sea of ​​Azov in Mariupol.

© Alexei Alexandrov/AP/dpa

Ukraine war: Russian occupiers with rigid measures against population?

Those who remained in the city described conditions on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe and had little contact with the outside world.

Telephone connections were just being rebuilt.

Ukrainian residents are forbidden to move freely, they need a special ID card to do so.

This is how the Russian occupiers wanted to prevent a mass exodus from the city, Andriuschenko told CNN.

The reburial of war victims is also a big problem, Andriuschenko told a reporter from the station.

Allegedly, if relatives were to reclaim a body from the Russian-held city, they would have to agree to recording a video explaining that the person had been killed by the Ukrainian military.

The city of Mariupol had been contested in the Ukraine war for weeks and was heavily bombed by Russia.

As a last bastion, several thousand fighters and civilians remained in a huge steel plant with underground bunkers.

Last Friday the last fighters surrendered and Mariupol fell.

Ukraine war: Massive airstrikes in Donbass - Zelenskyj: "Occupiers want to destroy everything"

Update from May 25, 6:58 a.m .:

With massive artillery and air attacks, Russian troops have driven out the Ukrainian defenders from several towns in the east of the country in the past few days, and the Ukrainian front is shaking.

For Moscow, the complete conquest of the Ukrainian administrative regions of Donetsk and Luhansk is an important war goal.

In Luhansk, this goal has almost been achieved.

"The Russian army is throwing all its forces into this attack," said Zelenskyy in his video speech on Tuesday evening.

He listed the cities of Lyman, Popasna, Sieverodonetsk and Sloviansk.

"The occupiers want to destroy everything there." It will take great efforts on the part of the Ukrainian people to overcome the Russian superiority in armaments and technology.

According to the administration, 15 civilians were killed within 24 hours in the Donetsk region alone.

Ukraine war: Russians want to encircle Ukrainians on the Donbass - only supply route under fire

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also spoke of a difficult situation in the Donbass coal and steel region.

Apparently, the Russian army wants to encircle Ukrainian units in the cities of Sievjerodonetsk and Lysychansk, said spokesman Olexander Motusyanyk.

Both cities had about 100,000 inhabitants before the war.

The Ukrainian defenders there are supplied via a single road.

This has now come under fire from Russian artillery and mortars, wrote the expert Nikolay Mitrokhin in the magazine "Osteuropa".

Russia announces safe sea passage from Mariupol from Wednesday

Update from May 24, 9:42 p.m .:

According to military information, Russia wants to set up a safe sea passage from the conquered Ukrainian port of Mariupol towards the Black Sea from Wednesday.

The mine-cleared route through the Sea of ​​Azov is 115 nautical miles (213 kilometers) long and 2 nautical miles wide and navigable from 8:00 a.m. local time (7:00 a.m. CEST).

This was announced by the Ministry of Defense in Moscow on Tuesday evening.

At the same time, the damaged port infrastructure of Mariupol will be repaired.

The last Ukrainian defenders of the city laid down their weapons at the end of last week, and Mariupol itself has been largely destroyed.

According to Russian information, around 70 foreign ships from 16 countries are still stuck in the ports controlled by Ukraine on the Black Sea coast.

The Russian Navy will also set up a daily safe corridor there on the coast, it said.

However, there remains a residual danger for the countries bordering the Black Sea from drifting Ukrainian mines that have broken loose.

According to Ukrainian sources, the danger comes from the Russian Navy and its mines.

Western countries are demanding that Moscow allow safe grain exports from Ukraine through the port of Odessa.

Ukraine War: Russians are said to have captured city in Donetsk region

Update from May 24, 6:32 p.m .:

In eastern Ukraine, according to both sides, Russian troops have conquered the small town of Svitlodarsk in the Donetsk region.

According to reports in the Ukrainian media, the head of the municipal military administration, Serhiy Hoshko, confirmed statements by the pro-Russian separatists on Tuesday.

Ukraine's largest coal-fired power plant is located near Svitlodarsk.

Earlier, the separatists reported about the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the area who were threatened with encirclement.

At the same time, the storming of the city of Lyman began in the northern Donetsk region, the separatists said.

The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed that Russian troops, supported by artillery and air force, attacked the city.

The General Staff made no comment on the situation in Svitlodarsk.

Ukraine War: Russian Air Force general reportedly shot down

Update from May 24, 4:55 p.m .:

According to a report by the British broadcaster

, a general in the Russian Air Force was shot down and killed in eastern Ukraine.

Major General Kanamat Botashov's plane was hit by a Stinger missile over the small Donbass town of Popasna on Sunday (May 22), the British broadcaster reported.

Botashov would be the highest-ranking Russian air force officer killed since the beginning of the aggressive war against Ukraine.

Ukrainian media reported the shooting down of a Russian Su-25 fighter jet on Sunday.

As the BBC now reports, citing several sources, Botashov was in the cockpit.

The pilot's death has not been officially confirmed.

According to Ukrainian sources, he would be the ninth Russian general to die in the war.

A Russian Su-25 fighter jet flies over Ukrainian airspace in the direction of Kharkiv.

The Russian general who was killed was apparently also in such a machine.

© IMAGO/RIA Novosti

The officer, who came from the Caucasus, was considered an excellent aviator.

However, he was released from the army and placed in reserve in 2013 after the crash with a Su-27.

As it turned out, he had flown the fighter jet without the necessary certification.

At that time, Botashov was able to save himself with an ejection seat.

It is not clear how the general was deployed in Ukraine.

However, according to the media, a covert mobilization of military personnel who have been retired has been going on in Russia for months.

At least nine Russian reserve officers over the age of 50 are said to have died during the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine War: Russia apparently damaged 600 hospitals in attacks

Update from May 24, 3:48 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian information, 600 hospitals have already been destroyed or damaged in the Ukraine war.

About 100 clinics could not be rebuilt, said the board member of the Ukrainian Medical Association Andriy Basylevych at the German Medical Association in Bremen.

Many medics were killed or wounded.

Medical care is severely affected.

"Women have to give birth under unacceptable circumstances." At the same time, the workload has doubled or tripled.

Injuries not only to soldiers, but also to civilians, women and children need to be treated, said the Lviv medicine professor.

He thanked the German medical profession for humanitarian aid.

From Germany, as an important nation, he demanded the supply of heavy weapons and anti-aircraft weapons.

Germany can also help set up orthopedic workshops in Ukraine, because many people have lost limbs.

Western institutions should also give doctors from Ukraine assistantships or internships so that they can return home better educated, said Basylevych.

Ukraine war: Kuleba speaks of "biggest battle since World War II"

Update from May 24, 2:55 p.m .:

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba calls for faster military aid from the West in view of the heavy Russian attacks in the east.

"It's too early to conclude that Ukraine already has all the weapons it needs," Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

"The Russian offensive in Donbass is a merciless battle, the largest on European soil since World War II."

In particular, his country needs multiple rocket launchers and long-range artillery quickly.

Kuleba wrote in another tweet that he had also spoken to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the phone about the delivery of heavy weapons.

Ukraine War: Due to a lack of soldiers?

Russia is preparing to abolish the age limit for military service

Update from May 24, 2:30 p.m .:

Russia is preparing to abolish the age limit for military service.

That emerges from the agenda of the Moscow Duma, Russia's lower house, for Wednesday (May 25).

According to the bill, only Russian citizens between the ages of 18 and 40 can enlist in the army under the current provisions, while foreign nationals can enlist between 18 and 30 years.

However, it is important for the use of weapons "with high precision" to bring "highly specialized specialists" to the army, the explanations continue.

Apparently, the idea of ​​lifting the age limit is being considered.

The aim of this measure is to attract specialists in the fields of medical support, engineering and communication.

During its offensive in Ukraine, the Russian army suffered heavy material and human losses, although Moscow never quantified them.

In April, Russia launched the Spring Call, which aims to draft around 134,500 young people.

However, the authorities said the recruits would not be sent to the front.

Update from May 24, 1:44 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian information, four civilians were killed in a rocket attack on the old town of Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region.

"The Russians are chaotically and continuously bombing the regional center," writes the governor of the region, Serhiy Haidai, on the Telegram news service.

All four dead would probably have lived in the same apartment complex.

Information was also received that Russia had bombed an elementary school in the small town of Hirske.

The information has not been independently verified.

Putin confidante on Ukraine war: "All the goals set by the President will be achieved, it can't be otherwise"

Update from May 24, 1:20 p.m .:

After three months of war against Ukraine, Russia is still confident of victory despite setbacks.

"Despite the extensive Western aid to the Kiev regime and the sanctions pressure on Russia, we will continue the special military operation until all tasks are completed," Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday, according to the Interfax agency.

Shoigu repeated the claim that Russia felt compelled to carry out the attack "to protect our people from genocide and also to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine".

Deputy head of the National Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said: "All the goals set by the President will be achieved.

It can't be any other way, because the truth, including the historical one, is on our side.” At the same time, the former intelligence chief, who is one of Putin's closest confidants, prepared his compatriots for longer-lasting fighting.

"We're not chasing any deadlines," he told the tabloid

.

Russian President Vladimir Putin watches military exercises through binoculars.

© Alexei Nikolsky/dpa

War in Ukraine: Apparently around 200 bodies discovered in the basement of a residential building in Mariupol

Update from May 24, 11:55 a.m .:

Around 200 bodies were apparently discovered in the basement of a residential building in Mariupol.

This is announced by Anton Gerashchenko, adviser in the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior, via Twitter.

"Another mass grave in Mariupol - about 200 bodies were found in the basement of an apartment building," he writes.

The Russian soldiers tried to force the local population to remove the bodies, but they refused.

The information has not been independently verified.

The city has been heavily fought over in recent weeks and is now under Russian occupation

Update from May 24, 11:35 a.m .:

According to Ukrainian information, Russian President Vladimir Putin was said to have been the target of a failed assassination attempt shortly after the start of the war.

The head of the Ukrainian secret service said in an interview.

You can read details about the alleged assassination attempt on Putin in this article.

Ukraine war: Ukraine is now fighting with modern artillery from the west - and praises its effectiveness

Update from May 24, 10:46 a.m .:

According to a military spokesman, the Ukrainian troops are now “successfully” fighting in the Ukraine war with newly delivered artillery systems from the West.

After Ukraine initially used its own Soviet-era howitzers, it has been able to use modern artillery systems from allied nations at the front for a few weeks - including M777 howitzers supplied by the USA, army spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told the AFP news agency.

These have already proved very helpful in combat, he said.

"For the Ukrainians shooting the M777, it's like switching from a steam engine to an electric car," said Pletenchuk, who works with the military administration of the Mykolayiv region.

He did not comment on where the weapons were used.

On April 22, 2022, M777 self-propelled howitzers destined for Ukraine in the fight against Russia are loaded at a Californian air base.

© IMAGO/US Marines

"These systems are already being used by the Ukrainian armed forces and they are being used very successfully," he said.

"Our enemies are very sad about this, as well as about the high effectiveness of this artillery." The availability of Western weapons improves Ukraine's tactical and strategic position, according to the Ukrainian army spokesman.

Ukraine is receiving artillery, anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank weapons, among other things, from the US and European countries to better defend itself against Russian invaders.

Ukraine war: Russia apparently gains territory in Donbass

Update from May 24, 9 a.m.:

According to British intelligence services, Russia has made some local progress in its offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow has significantly increased the intensity of its activities in the Donbass and is trying to encircle several cities there, the British Ministry of Defense said in an update on Tuesday morning.

However, this is only part of Russia's mission to bring the entire Donbass region under its control.

The Ukrainian resistance is strong.

If the front line in the Donbass shifts further west, it is likely to pose further logistical difficulties for the Russians, according to British intelligence.

Ukraine war: Russia tries to "eliminate everything alive" in Donbass - consultant believes Mariupol goal has been achieved

First report:

Kiev - According to the Ukrainian government, the Russian armed forces are trying to seize key positions in eastern Ukraine with heavy bombardments.

The situation in the Donbass is even "extremely difficult" because the Russians are trying to "eliminate everything alive," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday night (May 24).

Russia is trying to encircle the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

The Ministry of Defense reported fierce fighting around Bakhmut.

Ukraine war: 'We've reached a point where we're about to make evacuations mandatory'

Destroyed trams stand in a depot in Mariupol, an area under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine, May 21.

© Alexei Alexandrov/dpa

The fall of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region would give Russian troops control of a crucial hub that currently serves as the command center for much of Ukraine's war effort in the east.

"We have reached a point where we are in the process of making evacuations mandatory," said the head of Bakhmut's military administration, Serhiy Kalian.

The governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Gajday, on the other hand, reported that the shelling in Severodonetsk was so heavy that evacuations were impossible.

"Such a density of shelling will not allow us to calmly gather people and take them," he explained on Telegram.

You can read reactions from Germany to the Ukraine war in this news ticker.

War in Ukraine: Ukrainian defense adviser sees main objective in Mariupol achieved

Another focal point so far in the Ukraine war: Mariupol.

Despite the fall of the port city, an adviser to the Ukrainian defense minister sees the main military objective there as having been achieved.

“The main goal was achieved in Mariupol.

It was to hold back the Russian groups (...) more than 20,000 Russian soldiers.

And that was made possible thanks to the heroic deeds of the Mariupol defenders and the defenders who were later in Azovstal," said Yuriy Sak on Tuesday in the ARD "Morgenmagazin".

As a result, the Russian troops would not have been able to conquer other areas in eastern Ukraine.

Azovstal's soldiers would have given Ukrainians time to regroup and receive more military aid from their international partners.

"From this perspective, the goal was achieved," says Sak.

The last Ukrainian fighters at the Azov steelworks in Mariupol surrendered last week.

A journalist loyal to the Kremlin is said to have announced the location of a mortar on TV.

Shortly thereafter, the gun was destroyed, according to Ukraine.