Attack in Russia: military commissariat badly damaged

Created: 2022-12-23Updated: 2022-12-23, 12:34 p.m

By: Caspar Felix Hoffmann, Sebastian Richter, Niklas Kirk, Christian Stör

In the middle of the Ukraine war, there is an incident at a military facility in Russia.

SPD politician Schmid calls for deterrence instead of dialogue with Moscow.

The news ticker.

• Serious allegations:

  Russian division involved in massacre in Bucha

• Defensive battle against Russia:

  Melnyk demands delivery of German tanks

• Editor's note:

  Read the latest developments in the Ukraine conflict in our news ticker.

  The information on the Ukraine war processed here comes partly from the warring parties in Russia and Ukraine.

  They can therefore not be independently checked in part.

+++ 12.25 p.m .:

In Russia there was apparently another attack on a military object in the middle of the Ukraine war.

In the Saratov region, a fire broke out as a result of a suspected arson attack at a district military replacement office.

There was no official information about the cause of the fire.

However, the media reported that a bottle with petrol residues had been found there.

There was talk of an attack after there had already been a large number of such incidents in conscription offices during the Ukraine war.

Just one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin first mentioned the word “war”, there was another attack on a military facility in Russia.

© dpa/(archive image)

Pictures showed that the premises of the military commissariat were badly damaged.

From security circles it was reported that the district military replacement office was unused.

However, it is said to have been used as a collection point during the partial mobilization announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the autumn.

Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness

View photo gallery

News about the Ukraine war: SPD politicians call for deterrence instead of dialogue with Russia

+++ 11.50 a.m .:

After the arrest of an employee of the Federal Intelligence Service on suspicion of treason on Wednesday (December 21), the SPD foreign politician Nils Schmid called for decisive action against Russia.

Moscow has been in a conflict with the West for years and believes that all means are permissible, such as the murder of opposition figures on German soil or espionage, Schmid said on

.

"And we have to act very vigilantly and decisively." It is necessary to counteract Russia's hybrid warfare "much more attentively".

After 30 years of dialogue with Russia, a change in policy towards deterrence is now required.

News about the Ukraine war: Zelenskyj back in Kyiv

+++ 11.25 a.m .:

After his trip to the USA, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has returned to his official residence in the capital Kiev.

On Friday morning, the 44-year-old, wearing an olive-green jacket and T-shirt, reported via video from his desk with a smile and clenched fist: “We are working for victory.

Have a good day everyone!” Zelenskyj was pleased when the phone rang and wished everyone good health.

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+++ 10.45

a.m .: Another glitch occurred on Russian state TV: “Putin’s voice” Vladimir Solovyov raged and scolded live on television during the reporting on the trip by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the USA 

News about the Ukraine war: Russia demolishes theaters in Mariupol

+++ 10.15 a.m .:

A Russian bomb attack on the theater in Mariupol caused international horror in mid-March.

news agency, up to 600 people

died at the time.

Now the occupiers are apparently preparing to finally destroy the bombed-out building.

They have already "torn down half of the theater," wrote Petro Andriushchenko on Telegram.

The adviser to the Ukrainian mayor said the parts of the building were "direct evidence of war crimes committed by the Russian army".

"So in two days there won't even be a physical reminder of it."

+++ 9.00 a.m .:

At a press conference, Vladimir Putin uses the word “war” for the first time when he talks about the Ukraine conflict.

An opposition politician from St. Petersburg has therefore reported Putin for discrediting the army 

Ukraine war news: Russian division reportedly involved in massacre in Bucha

+++ 7.55 a.m .:

After months of research into the massacre in the Kiev suburb of Bucha, the

raises serious allegations against a unit of the Russian army.

The US newspaper published a video with the background and the results of their investigation, according to which paratroopers from the 234th Airborne Division are responsible for the deaths of dozens of civilians on Jablunska Street in Bucha.

According to Ukrainian sources, more than 460 bodies were found in Bucha in April after the Russian military withdrew.

Russia denies responsibility for the crimes, claiming that footage of the dead was fabricated.

News about the Ukraine war: Melnyk demands delivery of German tanks

Update from Friday, December 23, 6:20 a.m .:

The Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk has again asked the federal government to deliver battle tanks and armored personnel carriers for the defense against Russia.

He wished that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) "finally reconsidered the restraint, for example, with the Leopard battle tank and the Marder infantry fighting vehicle," said the former ambassador of Ukraine in Germany to the

.

"If the federal government does not want to go it alone with the delivery, then Germany could pursue a leading role on the continent, forge a European tank alliance."

According to a media report, the US Department of Defense is considering training Ukrainian soldiers on the Patriot air defense system at a military base in the United States.

reported

, citing two Pentagon officials.

So far, Ukrainian soldiers have only been trained on various weapon systems within Europe, including in Germany.

Carrying out the Patriot training in Europe is possible, but there are more logistical difficulties, said one of the employees.

News on the Ukraine war: Zelenskyj is pleased with "good results"

Update from Friday, December 23, 6 a.m.:

On the occasion of the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Wednesday (December 21), the USA announced another military aid package in the amount of 1.85 billion US dollars.

It also includes the Patriot battery, which requires extensive training to use effectively.

The air defense system is designed to make Russian missile and drone attacks on the attacked country's civilian infrastructure more difficult.

US government: Tens of thousands of Wagner mercenaries stationed in Ukraine

+++ 9:25 p.m .:

According to the US government, tens of thousands of mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group are stationed in Ukraine.

It is estimated that 50,000 mercenaries are currently deployed in Ukraine, including 40,000 convicts, White House communications director John Kirby said in Washington.

In the past few weeks alone, around 1,000 Wagner mercenaries have been killed in battles.

Around 90 percent of them were convicts, Kirby said.

The prisoners came from Russian prisons.

BND staff arrested on suspicion of spying on Russia

+++ 7.40 p.m .:

The federal prosecutor had an employee of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) arrested on suspicion of treason.

He is said to have transmitted information to a Russian intelligence service this year, as the authority announced on Thursday (December 22) in Karlsruhe.

The content is a state secret.

The German was arrested the day before (December 21) in Berlin.

Russian Wagner Group is said to have bought North Korean weapons for the Ukraine war

+++ 18:42:

The Wagner group, the Russian mercenary group under Vladimir Putin, has received a delivery of arms from North Korea, according to the United States, to support the Moscow forces in Ukraine.

"We can confirm that North Korea has completed an initial arms shipment to the Wagner Group, which paid for the equipment.

Last month, North Korea shipped missiles to Russia to be used by Wagner," an anonymous US official told

.

Ukraine War: G7 pledges $32 billion to Ukraine

+++ 5:50 p.m .:

The G7 countries pledged 32 billion dollars in financial support to Ukraine.

In a statement released by the federal government, it was announced that the G7 will allocate up to $32 billion to support Ukraine in 2023 and make further efforts to support it.

Ukraine War: Zelenskyj meets Duda on way back to Kyiv

+++ 5:05 p.m .:

On the way back from the USA, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj visited Poland.

There he met with counterpart Andrzej Duda.

Zelenskyj shared a video on his Telegram channel that showed him meeting Duda.

The two heads of state discussed "strategic plans for the future, bilateral relations and cooperation at the international level in 2023," Zelenskyy said.

He called Duda "a friend of Ukraine" and thanked him for his "constant and powerful support"

+++ 16:28:

According to the Russian chief of staff, the situation on the front in Ukraine has stabilized.

The military leadership in Moscow sees its own positions in the occupied areas of Ukraine as secure.

"Taking into account the measures taken to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the troops, the situation along the front line has stabilized," Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Thursday.

Russia is now focusing on the "liberation" of the Donetsk region.

This is also where the toughest fighting is currently taking place, especially in the suburbs of the city of Donetsk itself and in the industrial city of Bakhmut, fierce fighting is frequent.

The Ukrainians suffered heavy losses, explained Gerasimov.

The Ukrainian air defense is helpless against the Russian supersonic missiles of the type "Kinzhal" - despite the arms deliveries from the West, which he put at a value of 100 billion dollars.

Russia is about to launch another missile attack on Ukraine

+++ 4:10 p.m .:

Russia will probably launch a large-scale missile attack on Ukraine on December 22nd or 23rd.

This is reported by the news portal

with reference to informants from the Defense Intelligence Service of Ukraine.

Russia will "use all available cruise missiles with a range of 500 km or more," the report said.

At least 67 cruise missiles and possibly unmanned drones are expected to attack targets in Ukraine.

In the last major attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, Russia fired 74 rockets.

The information is not independently verifiable.

Ukraine war: Russia approves life imprisonment for "saboteurs"

+++ 3.45 p.m .:

The Russian lower house has decided on tougher penalties for “saboteurs”.

A corresponding law was passed by the deputies on Wednesday, as the Duma announced on Wednesday.

According to the law, domestic and foreign "saboteurs" can be sentenced to up to life imprisonment.

In this way, "our country and our citizens are to be protected from the threat of terrorism and sabotage," the Duma said.

Its chairman Vyacheslav Volodin also referred to the ongoing "military special operation" in Ukraine.

The penalties for saboteurs should be “as severe as possible.” For the law to come into force, it still has to be passed by the upper house and signed by President Vladimir Putin.

Russian military 'on the march again': troop movement in Mariupol

First report from Thursday, December 22, 10:30 a.m.:

Kiev – Russian troop movements are reported in Mariupol.

The troops are "clearly reinforcements," Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the port city's mayor, told Telegram.

“The [Russian] military is on the march again.

The priority direction of movement is Mariupol-Manhush-Berdiansk.

There is still a large manpower, at least 15 tanks on tank transporters discovered over the course of two days, and all kinds of other military equipment,” Andriushchenko said.

He also posted pictures of the sighted equipment.

While Russia is moving troops, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is on a short visit to the USA.

There, in a speech before the US Congress, he thanked the United States for its support against Russia.

“Despite all odds and doomsday scenarios, Ukraine did not fall.

Ukraine is alive and well," Zelenskyi said on Wednesday evening before the two chambers of parliament.

It is his first official trip abroad since Russia attacked Ukraine.

On Thursday he should arrive back in Kyiv after the half-day visit.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for heavy weapons, which his country needed for a victory against Russia.

The United States has promised further deliveries in the form of the Patriot air defense system, but that is not enough, according to Zelenskyj.

Instead, he called for American tanks and planes.

So far, the US government under Joe Biden has provided nearly $22 billion in military aid to Kyiv.

(editorial with agencies)