Ukrainians route Russians on two fronts
If the war in Ukraine weren't such a serious matter, one could almost laugh at the chaos on the Russian side.
Ukrainian forces are now putting so much pressure on the invaders that they seem to have lost track in Moscow of where the borders of the newly ceremonially annexed new Russian territories in eastern Ukraine lie.
In other words,
Vladimir Putin currently has no plan as to where his empire begins and where it ends.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said they were "in talks" with the population of the affected areas about the course of the borders, as if the border confusion was the most normal thing in the world.
It's an embarrassment - and setbacks for Russia continue.
After the successes in the Donbass region, the Kiev troops are now apparently also making headway in the south near Cherson
. They are said to have recaptured several towns on the Dnieper River, while Russian units are said to be in retreat, Russian defense lines have apparently been breached.
Meanwhile, Putin's blatant threats that nuclear weapons might be used in the conflict are being taken very seriously in the US.
In an interview, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin drew attention to the fact
that there was nobody in Russia who could stop Putin from using atomic bombs.
"To put it bluntly, the one making that decision is one man," Austin said.
At the same time, he made it clear that the USA had repeatedly warned the Russian side against “following this path”, including in direct contacts with leading military officials in Moscow.
Whether Putin understood the message from the Americans remains his secret.
Ukrainian offensive in the east and south: "The war is like a Jenga game"
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
That happened at night:
Russian recruits start their combat training in Donetsk and Luhansk.
The German foreign minister condemns Moscow's "atrocities".
And: Twitter Zoff between Volodymyr Zelenskyj and Elon Musk.
The overview.
"The United States is following the Russian positions in great detail":
Western intelligence services are supporting Ukraine massively with information - probably also in battles like the one in the Kharkiv region.
Reconnaissance expert Greg Austin explains what makes up the findings.
Marina Ovsjannikova on the wanted list in Russia:
The Russian journalist faces a long prison sentence because of her protest action on state television.
She was under house arrest and is now on the run, according to her ex-husband.
The head of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is free again:
Russia spoke of an arrest, Ukraine of a kidnapping – for several days it was unclear how Ihor Murashov was doing.
Apparently he's back with his family.
Has Liz Truss finished yet?
Rarely has a government in Britain gotten off to such a bad start as that of new Prime Minister Liz Truss.
In this gloomy mood, the Tories meet in Birmingham for their annual party conference.
Actually, Truss and Co. want to spread optimism and awakening for the United Kingdom there, but in truth
not only the country but also the party are in a miserable state.
Liz Truss, who came out to end the chaos under Boris Johnson, has so far done little better than her predecessor.
In a breathtaking 180-degree turn, Truss and her new finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, have overturned an important part of their recently announced reform agenda.
The planned reduction in the top tax rate will not come after all: "We get it," Truss announced punctually at the beginning of the Tory party meeting and conceded the controversial idea.
Truss' plan to help the country get back on its feet with tax cuts for the wealthy financed on credit, among other things, had led to turmoil on the financial markets last week and sent the pound plummeting.
Now the British currency has recovered slightly.
Given the general political turmoil on the island, however, it is questionable whether this stabilization will last.
The Conservatives are now lying in a new YouGov poll – beware!
– a staggering 33 percentage points behind the opposition Labor Party.
Prime Minister Truss is counted before she even gets started.
Truss tax reversal: "The most humiliating decision" by a UK government in decades
Scholz meets the prime ministers
The Chancellor had to pass last week, he had Corona.
Olaf Scholz's planned meeting with the prime ministers of the federal states will be rescheduled today.
The most important items on the agenda are the rising energy prices and the federal government's plans to protect citizens and the economy with a »defensive shield«.
As is so often the case between the federal and state governments, this time it is primarily about money.
Both sides are arguing about who should finance which parts of the various billion relief packages and aid for the citizens.
In addition,
the B-side (ie the countries led by the Union) use every opportunity to push the traffic light coalition in front of them.
Shortly before the start of the meeting with Scholz, Bavarian CSU Prime Minister Markus Söder made it clear in the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" that he expected the planned "gas price brake" to be introduced in October.
North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) also called for "clarity" from Scholz.
As is well known, the gas prices are to be capped with the new gas price brake.
However, it is still unclear exactly how this will work.
So far, the federal government's plan provides that a commission of experts should first present proposals for the gas price brake.
"The prices have to go down": Scholz' clumsy price announcement is dangerous - a comment
Here is the current quiz of the day
The starting question today: In which of these companies is the federal government in Germany not (or no longer) involved?
loser of the day...
… is the entrepreneur Elon Musk
.
The stock market papers of his car manufacturer Tesla are under pressure, and various problems in the supply chains are weighing on business.
To make matters worse, Musk has now also found a new hobby: he is the world politician.
Musk got himself into trouble with a proposal for an alleged peace plan for Ukraine announced via Twitter.
His plan is pro-Moscow, to say the least.
The idea: the people in the Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine should hold a new referendum under UN supervision on whether they want to belong to Moscow or Kyiv.
Crimea should remain with Russia, Musk said.
A number of Ukrainian politicians are correspondingly outraged by the proposal, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also got involved in the debate.
He also called on his followers to vote via Twitter.
"Which Elon Musk do you like more: the one who supports Ukraine or the one who supports Russia?" 90 percent voted for answer one.
The outgoing Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, was even more explicit.
He wrote: "Fuck off, Elon Musk!"
The latest news from the night
North Korean missile apparently flies over Japan:
For the fifth time in a few days, the regime in Pyongyang has fired a ballistic missile.
Before she fell into the sea, she apparently flew over Japanese territory – the outrage is great.
Donald Trump is suing CNN – and wants $475 million in damages:
The former US President says the broadcaster caused him “pain, humiliation and mental anguish”.
Will Smith could still be in the Oscar race with »Emancipation«:
When the actor became violent at the last Oscar ceremony, his latest film was already finished.
A publication was considered uncertain after the scandal.
Now Apple surprises with an announcement.
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
Why is fracking so controversial?
In Lower Saxony there are gigantic natural gas deposits that could supply Germany with energy for over 20 years - but the major parties prefer to avoid the topic in the state election campaign.
Nobel Prize for AlphaFold:
In the field of chemistry, the most important discovery of the past year was a piece of software.
So is it time to award the Nobel Prize to artificial intelligence for the first time?
Little Fires Everywhere:
Celeste Ng is neither reserved nor polite in her literary worlds.
She writes novels about racism, one of which Reese Witherspoon turned into a hit series.
Now she is turning the US into a fascist dystopia.
Tesla for truckers:
Logistics giant DB Schenker has ordered 1,500 units of a newly designed truck: The Volta Zero shows how innovations could change the nature of trucks - for the better.
A test drive.
I wish you a good start into the day.
Yours, Roland Nelles