Three explosions in Russian-occupied Crimea
Ukraine has apparently managed a remarkable military strike: Yesterday, three explosions occurred at a Russian military base in Crimea, around 300 kilometers from Ukrainian-controlled territory - videos showed that Russian fighter jets were also destroyed.
Russia spoke only of exploded ammunition. However, an accident is rather unlikely due to the practically simultaneous explosions.
A Ukrainian official said: A weapon "of purely Ukrainian manufacture" was used, and partisans were also involved.
The exact cause of the explosions initially remained unclear: was it an attack by partisans - or does Ukraine even have modern missiles with a much longer range than before?
In any case, the strike deep in enemy territory is
a great military and psychological success for Ukraine
: videos showed that many Russian tourists were trying to flee the area.
With American Himar artillery, the Ukrainians have inflicted heavy blows on the Russians in recent weeks and blown up numerous ammunition and weapons depots.
As a result, the Russian fire intensity decreased sharply.
The Russian army's barrage of fire has not stopped in Donbass.
However, it is only making very slow progress, with enormous losses.
Now the Ukrainian army is showing that it is capable of hitting the enemy even deeper in its territory than before, leaving Russian forces vulnerable far behind the front lines.
Near Cherson in the south, Ukraine has been preparing for a counteroffensive for some time to recapture lost territories.
The Russian occupiers, in turn, spend a lot of energy on securing their conquered territories:
for example, by increasingly militarizing the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is located directly near the front on the Dnepr river.
They apparently want to use it as a shield against a Ukrainian attack.
According to various reports, the Russian troops are also preparing a fake referendum - analogous to Crimea eight years ago - which could be used to justify the annexation of occupied areas in the south to Russia.
From Moscow's point of view, the conquered areas would then be part of the national territory of the nuclear power Russia.
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
Ukraine denies responsibility for explosions in Crimea:
Who is responsible for the detonations at a Russian airbase in Crimea?
There are different statements from Russia and Ukraine.
A newspaper brings another variant into play.
With the organic waste bin against Putin?
German biogas could replace some of the Russian gas.
How much is debatable.
One thing is clear: the Germans would have to collect more organic waste – and the municipalities would have to provide more collection options.
Russian oil deliveries through Ukraine stopped:
According to the Russian state-owned company Transneft, no oil has been flowing through Ukraine to Europe since last Thursday.
Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are affected – but not Germany.
Acknowledge our history as your own European history:
No peace for Ukraine without freedom for Belarus - and vice versa: On the second anniversary of the Belarusian revolution, the leader of the democracy movement Svetlana Tichanovskaya outlines what a new European Ostpolitik should look like.
Can't you force the warring parties to make peace?
The situation on the battlefield is volatile, but at the moment there are also opportunities for the Ukrainian defenders.
This explains why this conflict still cannot be resolved at the negotiating table - even if German intellectuals are demanding this in letters.
Ukraine is defending itself against an attacker who wants to annex its territory and destroy its state.
And Russia has never been interested in negotiations as long as it is gaining ground.
On the question of when negotiations can start in this war, I recommend the interview that my colleague Alexandra Rojkov conducted
with the 72-year-old Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini
.
Tagliavini mediated in conflicts with Russia for decades, including in Georgia after 2008, and
she led the negotiations of the Minsk Accords
.
It would be absurd to accuse her of not believing in diplomacy – after all, it was her life.
And yet she says: »Negotiations in the current, acute phase of the war do not seem to me to be productive«.
Tagliavini says there is no point trying to force the warring parties to talk
.
“It is a catastrophe that this war has broken out.
but
It's not up to us to say: We want peace, so please sit down together
.« You can read the entire interview here:
Former OSCE mediator: "A dictated peace is not real peace"
Lindner and the cold progression
Federal Minister of Finance
Christian Lindner
wants to relieve the burden on citizens:
The so-called cold progression is to be combated with around ten billion euros
- which means: Citizens should not slip into higher tax brackets due to inflation and thus end up paying proportionally more taxes.
The Inflation Compensation Act is intended to provide the greatest percentage of relief for people with low and middle incomes.
However, people with high incomes are not exempt from this either.
That is why there is now a protest against Lindner's plans in the Greens.
This can only be the start of a discipline that is particularly popular in Germany: the justice debate.
Finance Minister's tax package: Lindner wants to relieve citizens of ten billion euros
Flashing in Africa
US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken is traveling through
Africa
these days
– as was Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov before him.
It's a kind of long-distance duel in a new Cold War
: the struggle for influence on the continent between the West, China and Russia is currently being waged more openly than it has been for a long time.
The Russian used his trip two weeks ago to falsely blame the West for the food crisis caused by Russia and also accuse the West of interfering in Africa's affairs.
Blinken, in turn, wanted to contradict exactly this accusation: Africa's 54 countries are seen as equal partners in solving global problems, he said.
Blinken traveled from South Africa to the Democratic Republic of the Congo - and as of today he is in Rwanda.
Many African countries abstained in the UN General Assembly when a vote was taken to condemn Russia's war of aggression.
US Secretary of State Blinken on Tour: Cold War in Africa
Here is the current quiz of the day
The starting question today: What does the abbreviation PCR stand for?
Winner of the day...
... is the tennis player
Serena Williams
, who announced her retirement at 40 - at the end of a unique career: In a sport that was dominated by wealthy whites, Serena and her sister Venus broke down barriers and records as black women from Compton near Los Angeles Broken.
With 23 Grand Slam victories, Serena Williams is the most successful player of the modern era - only Australia's Margaret Court, who was active in the 1960s, has one more win.
She was number one in the world rankings for 319 weeks – only Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova are ahead of her.
She changed women's tennis: power, athleticism, speed suddenly gained new meaning.
With Serena Williams, a star leaves the stage who had transformative power.
The latest news from the night
»I regret the photo«:
At the end of July, the Federal Minister of the Interior and colleagues visited the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.
The fact that the group drank champagne and laughed at the cameras caused criticism.
Now Nancy Faeser explained the controversial scene.
Trump wants to monetize FBI raids – and rails against Biden:
Donald Trump wouldn’t be Donald Trump if he didn’t also want to make a profit from the FBI’s operation on his property.
Referring to his successor, Joe Biden, he said: "He knew about it."
Ex-Twitter manager found guilty of spying for Saudi Arabia:
$100,000 and a luxury watch against data from critics of the regime: In California, a man has been convicted of acting as an agent for Saudi Arabia.
His attorney dismissed the payment as "change."
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Now, for the first time, civil society resistance is forming against the incumbent.
How bosses form a strong team:
The top management of many companies is characterized by power struggles.
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»Fight outside!«:
Games of chance were popular in everyday life in antiquity, especially forerunners of backgammon.
Sometimes games in the pubs of Pompeii ended in wild arguments - because of bad luck or cheating with loaded dice.
»Clichés in fashion are more dangerous than you think«:
Holger Hähle likes it airy underneath.
Women can wear anything, says the biologist, but men have yet to emancipate themselves.
In some situations, however, he still prefers trousers.
I wish you a good start into the day.
Sincerely
yours, Mathieu von Rohr
