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A Soviet-era Russian T-62
Photo: Thomas Skjaeveland / imago images / YAY Images
This article will be continuously updated.
Governor: At least five dead in Russian attacks in Luhansk region
9:51 a.m .:
At least five people were killed in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian information, by Russian attacks.
In the regional capital, Severodonetsk, four civilians have been killed and 50 buildings damaged in the past 24 hours, regional governor Serhiy Gaiday said in the morning in the online service Telegram.
In Komyshuvahka, 50 kilometers away, a man was killed by a grenade.
London: Russia uses 50-year-old tanks in Ukraine
9.17 a.m .:
According to British government experts, the Russian army is now using outdated equipment in its invasion of Ukraine.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Defense in London, Moscow has probably taken 50-year-old T-62 tanks from stocks in the past few days and brought them to the area of operations of the southern armed forces.
"The T-62 tanks will almost certainly be particularly vulnerable to anti-tank weapons, and their presence on the battlefield highlights Russia's lack of modern, operational equipment," the statement continued.
According to British experts, the Russian Southern Forces will continue to be tasked with occupying territory in southern Ukraine.
Military administration: 1,500 dead in eastern Ukrainian city of Sieverodonetsk
9.07 a.m .:
According to official information, around 1,500 people have been killed in the particularly hard-fought eastern Ukrainian city of Sievjerodonetsk since the beginning of the war.
Among them are both soldiers and civilians, said the head of the local military administration, Olexandr Strjuk, on Friday.
Many people have also fled.
Of the once 130,000 inhabitants, only about a tenth is now there.
The governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajday, also reported that four people died in Russian shelling on Sieverodonetsk residential areas the day before.
Udo Lindenberg describes Putin as a "defunct war criminal"
8.57 a.m .:
Rock musician Udo Lindenberg (76) is convinced, in his own words, that talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin are no longer worthwhile.
"I don't think you can talk to this war criminal anymore," Lindenberg told the "Stuttgarter Zeitung" and the "Stuttgarter Nachrichten".
"One can only hope that there are solutions, perhaps from his immediate environment, that he will finally resign or be resigned."
He himself was surprised that his song "What are wars for" from 1981 is "terrifyingly topical" again today.
»The brutal war in the Ukraine, in the middle of Europe, nobody could have imagined.
But we must not forget all the other wars, in Yemen, Sudan, Mali, Syria.
Mankind must end wars soon, otherwise wars will end mankind,” said Lindenberg.
Ex-General: »
Ukraine
will have time if it holds out«
8.45 a.m .:
Former Bundeswehr and NATO General Hans-Lothar Domröse assumes that Ukraine will not be able to fully withstand the Russian advance in Donbass in the coming weeks.
»Now the great momentum of the world power Russia comes into play.
(...) They are superior in terms of reach and numbers, "Domröse told the news radio MDR Aktuell on Friday.
The Ukrainian forces could delay the advance at most here and there.
From autumn, however, the Ukrainians could put up more resistance again, according to Domröse.
In about six months, the country will have many more western weapon systems and the soldiers will be much better trained on them.
"Until then, however, they will still have to take heavy blows," said Domröse.
Time is playing for Ukraine "if it holds out".
Great interest from
Ukraine
refugees in integration courses
8.30 a.m .:
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees has noticed a great interest in integration courses for language and culture education among the Ukraine refugees.
Within a few weeks, "more than 80,000 authorizations to participate had already been granted," the authority told the newspaper "Welt."
The Federal Office therefore expects a sharp increase in the starting courses in the coming weeks.
"17,000 Ukrainians are currently taking part in an integration course," the authority said, according to "Welt".
After receiving the entitlement, a placement test must be completed in order to determine the course offering that matches the level of education.
Therefore, »naturally, a few weeks passed before the actual start of the course«.
"We have well-trained participants who learn with great enthusiasm," said Benjamin Beckmann, head of the BAMF integration course department.
"The entire spectrum of society comes from the Ukraine," from academics to the unskilled.
»But almost all of them have good learning requirements, above all a good school education.
We don't need any literacy courses and practically no duplicate learning courses for them.«
According to Beckmann, 95 percent of Ukrainians can start their integration course directly with the normal language course.
The around 1,500 approved integration course providers have doubled their range of courses in the short time since the Russian attack.
Russia is being pushed towards default
7.11 a.m .:
Russia escapes insolvency on Friday, but the ever-tightening noose of Western sanctions because of the invasion of Ukraine is driving the country inexorably towards default.
A $71 million payment due on Friday could have been made before US authorities this week lifted a waiver that allowed Russia to pay off its debt in dollars using foreign exchange it holds outside of the country held by US financial institutions.
However, with more payments still to come, the first case of a country involuntarily defaulting due to international sanctions and not having the money to pay is likely to emerge soon.
The White House said it expects minimal impact on the US and global economy.
That happened in the night
4.55 a.m .:
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accuses Russia of genocide in the Donbass and asks why the EU is taking so long to adopt a sixth package of sanctions.
Nine people were killed in rocket attacks on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, including a five-month-old child with his father, Zelenskyy said.
Russian troops continued to shell the city of Sievjerodonetsk in the Luhansk region on Thursday.
You can read about what else happened that night here.
mrc/dpa/Reuters/AFP
