Day 100 in the Ukraine war - the gloomy interim balance
Created: 06/03/2022Updated: 06/03/2022 10:23 am
By: Claudia Möllers, Marc Beyer
On the morning of February 24, the Russian army began its attacks on Ukraine.
100 days later there are thousands of dead and millions of refugees.
And there is no end to the horror in sight.
Munich/Kyiv – In war there is no time to pause.
100 days ago today, the Russian army launched its attacks on Ukraine, but just because this is a concise date, the day should not be any less terrible than the 99 previous ones.
It will bring new suffering, like yesterday when Russian bombs detonated both in the north and in the southern port city of Odessa, or Wednesday when they rocked the supposedly safer west.
The East hasn't calmed down for a long time anyway.
The world can participate in this war like never before.
She is connected to the Ukrainians via social media, sees pictures of the worst crimes and devastation and is regularly informed from the presidential palace.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not only reach an audience of several million with his video messages, which he addresses to his people every night.
There is also hardly a politically important stage on which he has not already been switched on.
Many people lost their lives in the past 100 days of war.
© picture alliance/dpa/AP/Bernat Armangue
Ukraine war: Selenskyj again and again with urgent appeals
When Selenskyj was a virtual guest in the Luxembourg parliament, he drew a gloomy interim balance of the war: "Around 20 percent of our territory is now under the control of the occupiers." This territory is by far larger than the area of all Benelux countries put together.
The situation in the east of the country is becoming increasingly difficult: "We are losing 60 to 100 soldiers every day." Since the beginning of the war, thousands of people have been killed and millions of Ukrainians have been forced to flee.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
© RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP
The world has changed in the past 100 days.
This can also be seen in the way the West, which has not always pulled together when dealing with Russia, is now imposing new sanctions.
Some could have been sharper, but overall they make an impact.
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) sees the measures as a great success.
One can "actually only be ashamed" that one is still so dependent on Russian energy.
But the economy of the giant empire was hit hard: "It collapses."
War in Ukraine: German exports drop by 60 percent
Exports from those countries that joined sanctions fell by 53 percent, exports from countries that were neutral or supported Moscow by 45 percent.
Germany recorded a 60 percent drop in exports in March.
Nobody wants to invest in Russia.
Putin can't hold out much longer.
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War in Ukraine: Russia probably on the defensive – Medvedev threatens retaliation
Hopes that Moscow will not achieve its goals in this war are still intact, despite recent military setbacks for Kyiv.
"Ukraine must not lose under any circumstances, that means they must win," said Annalena Baerbock on
ZDF
.
The foreign minister was in the war zone herself in May, like many top politicians before her, but as the first member of the federal government.
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War in Ukraine: Bishop of Augsburg travels to embattled country
There is a good deal of travel between the West and Kyiv, and it continues.
The Bishop of Augsburg, Bertram Meier, went to Ukraine with a delegation.
As "Foreign Minister" of the German Bishops' Conference, he also visited Bucha and Irpin - places that have become symbols of brutal Russian warfare.
In advance, he chose clear words for a bishop: "Here, civilians were slaughtered in large numbers, disturbing war crimes were committed.
The path of future reconciliation that Christians hope for cannot bypass these places.”
There is no end to the horror in sight.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that there were no signs of a Russian withdrawal: "As far as we can tell now, the conflict will continue for many months."
- with dpa and afp