Steinmeier visits Ukraine: Meeting with Zelenskyj planned
Created: 2022-10-25 06:45
By: Sandra Kathe, Nail Akkoyun
In the fight against Russia, Ukraine seems to be preparing the next major offensive.
The destination: the city of Cherson.
The news ticker.
Battle for Cherson:
Ukraine is apparently planning a major attack on the occupied regional capital.
Ukrainian mobilization:
Kiev wants to recruit more soldiers.
Editor's note:
You can read all the news and developments in the Ukraine war in our news ticker.
Some of the information from Russia and Ukraine comes from warring factions in the Ukraine conflict and can therefore not be directly verified independently.
Update from Tuesday, October 25, 6:30 a.m.:
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday morning for a surprise visit.
It is his first trip to the country since Russia's war of aggression began on February 24.
Among other things, Steinmeier wants to meet with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the capital Kyiv.
Last week, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), which is responsible for the security of the Federal President, postponed the trip at short notice.
Russia had repeatedly launched massive attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
The power and heat supply suffered considerable damage.
The capital Kyiv was also increasingly attacked.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrives in Kyiv by train from Przemysl.
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
Ukraine war: According to Zelenskyj, Ukraine breaks “the so-called second strongest army in the world”
+++ 10:50 p.m .:
In a video speech, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj called on his compatriots to persevere and emphasized the Russian failure.
"Ukraine is breaking the so-called second strongest army in the world," said Zelenskyj, emphasizing that Russia was not only suffering heavy military losses, but was also becoming more and more isolated politically.
Russia has thrown away any previous potential for the "lunacy" of war against Ukraine and the entire free world.
He published the video exactly eight months to the day after the first Russian soldiers marched into Ukraine.
Research by the Russian news portal Mediazona
shows that giving up is not an option for ruler Vladimir Putin
.
Based on several Russian wedding statistics, the calculated that Russia's military could have already significantly exceeded the declared goal of conscripting up to 300,000 soldiers in the event of a partial mobilization.
According to one estimate, up to 492,000 marriages have been concluded in the past few weeks that have fallen short of the usual waiting period of four weeks.
However, this is only possible if the men can prove that they have been drafted into the military.
Ukraine War: Military in Belarus announce exercise near Ukraine and Poland
+++ 9:00 p.m .:
Extensive military exercises have been announced for the coming week in the Belarusian city of Brest, near the borders with Ukraine and Poland.
The Belarusian news
site Belaruski Hayun
quoted a city official as saying on Monday that gunfire and "movement of various types of military equipment" are expected during the week.
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According to the city representative, the training units correspond to the plans that are defined in the training plan of the respective units.
Last week, however, more Russian soldiers arrived in Ukraine's northern neighbor, whose ruler Alexander Lukashenko is considered an important Russian ally.
Russian attacks from Belarusian soil were reported several times during the war.
Neither the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) nor the British Ministry of Defense are currently warning of the risk of Belarus entering the war.
Ukraine War News: Russia “Warns” About Dirty Bomb – West “Concerned”
+++ 6.45 p.m .:
Also on Monday, Russian politicians warned of a new level of escalation in the Ukraine war and claimed that Ukraine was preparing to drop a so-called “dirty bomb” on its own country.
According to the Ukrainian news portal
Ukrainska Pravda
, the Russian Ministry of Defense has announced that special forces and equipment for a possible mission under "radioactive contamination" are "on standby".
In an interview with the US newspaper
Politico
, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg described the statements as "absurd" and emphasized that the allegation corresponded to a pattern that Russia had already used during its deployment in Syria or before the start of the war in Ukraine: while accuse Russia "of doing what they themselves plan to do," Stoltenberg said.
The West votes "concerned".
The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope
View photo gallery
News about the Ukraine war: Renewed mobilization?
Kyiv lacks soldiers
Update from Monday, October 24, 4:30 p.m .:
While Russia is increasingly struggling with losses, the Ukrainian military is also getting into trouble.
According to Yuriy Maksymow, Kyiv's top military commissar, the country's own army urgently needs to be strengthened.
In an interview with the Ukrainian TV channel
Tsn
, Maksymov said that Ukraine still needs to increase its potential.
"We all see that our army is confidently carrying out offensive actions in certain directions," the military commissar praised the army.
But further mobilization of the armed forces is necessary.
On Saturday (October 22) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law on voluntary registration of women for military service.
Men are still required to do military service.
According to the military commissioner, all conscripts under the age of 60 would soon have to reckon with a summons.
Refusals face a prison sentence of up to five years.
News about the Ukraine war: Ukrainian military targets Cherson
First report from Monday, October 24, 3:55 p.m.:
Kiev/Kherson/Moscow – Before an expected major offensive by the Ukrainian army in the southern area of Cherson, there were only isolated battles along the front.
This came out on Monday (October 24) from the situation reports of the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces.
The Ministry of Defense in Moscow reported that Ukrainian attacks in the eastern area of Kupjansk and Lyman and north of the occupied Black Sea port of Cherson had been repelled.
From the capital Kyiv, on the other hand, the report came that Russian attacks on the cities of Bakhmut and Soledar had been successfully repelled.
The spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, spoke of battles at battalion and company level.
He also reported on allegedly unsuccessful attacks by Ukrainian troops on several villages in the Kherson region.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian general staff reported fighting in the Donbass around the cities of Soledar and Bakhmut and further south around Avdiivka and Marjinka.
The information provided by the warring parties could not be verified independently.
News from the Ukraine: Bridgehead near Cherson probably the target of the next offensive
However, it is suspected that a major Ukrainian offensive is imminent.
The Russian bridgehead north-west of the Dnipro River in the Cherson region – including the city itself – is considered the most likely area of attack. Here the supply routes of the Russian troops are largely blocked.
However, Ukrainian advances in the Zaporizhia region towards the Sea of Azov are not ruled out either.
Reports of troop concentrations on both sides have increased in recent days.
(red/dpa/afp)
