There are numerous skirmishes in eastern Ukraine.
Olaf Scholz comments on the conflict in conversation with citizens.
The news ticker on the Ukraine war.
"Incredible losses"
in the
Ukraine war
: Scholz makes a forecast for the future
Battles
for
several regions
: Besides Bakhmut, Russia attacks Avdiivka and Kupyansk, among others
Battle
of
Bakhmut
: Shoigu declares a small town strategically important in the Ukraine war
Update from March 8, 7:49 a.m
.: Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has officially shared an audio file again.
"Everything east of the Bakhmutka River is under the full control of the private security company Wagner," it said.
His mercenaries would thus have taken the eastern part of Bakhmut.
The information could not be checked independently.
The Ukrainian side has not yet confirmed this information.
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Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin (archive image)
© dpa
Ukraine news: Selenskyj advisor denies speculation about Nord Stream
March 8 update, 6:31 a.m
.: Ukraine has rejected reports of possible involvement in the blasting of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Ukraine has "nothing to do with the Baltic Sea incident and has no information about 'pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups,'" Ukrainian presidential aide Mikhail Podoliak tweeted on Tuesday (March 7).
The
New York Times (NYT)
had previously reported that according to US government findings, a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the bomb attack.
There are no indications of an involvement of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj or his close circle.
Ukraine news: Speculations about perpetrators behind Nord Stream blasts
Russia itself was suspected of being behind the alleged sabotage in September 2022.
Moscow firmly rejected this and pointed the finger at Washington.
The US government had condemned the construction of Nord Stream 2 as a geopolitical tool for the Kremlin.
At the beginning of February, the well-known US investigative reporter Seymour Hersh caused a sensation with a report according to which US Navy divers had already planted explosive devices on the gas pipelines in June.
The US government has firmly denied this.
Independent fact-checkers have pointed out inconsistencies in the Hersh report.
Scholz talks about "incredible losses" in the Ukraine war and makes a forecast for the future
Update from March 7, 9:25 p.m .:
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is preparing for the fact that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine could last a long time.
"We have to fear that this will take longer, although of course we wish it was different every day," said Scholz on Tuesday at a question and answer session with citizens in Cottbus, Brandenburg.
The war was associated with "incredible losses" on both sides, said Scholz.
Russia alone lost between 30,000 and 100,000 soldiers.
Both would be "unimaginable amounts," he said.
As a consequence of the new threat situation, Scholz spoke out in favor of closer integration of the Bundeswehr and the armaments industry, for example to prevent ammunition shortages.
"We used to say: We'll order a gun and the ammunition, and then nothing for 20 years until it's broken, and we'll order a new one," said Scholz.
But now you have to come to a continuous production and create the conditions for it.
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Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to citizens on March 7th in Cottbus.
© Chris Emil Janssen/Imago
Ukraine news: Russian fighter jets are said to have dropped new bombs
Update from March 7, 8:10 p.m .:
According to the Ukrainian military, Russian fighter jets are said to have dropped so-called UPAB-1500V bombs over Ukraine.
This was reported by the Ukrainian news portal
Defense Express
.
The projectiles, which are said to have enormous destructive power, were used in the Chernihiv region, the report said.
Russia has so far remained silent on the claims - there has been no independent confirmation of the report.
Putin's circle of power in the Kremlin - the confidants of the Russian President
Putin's circle of power in the Kremlin - the confidants of the Russian President
Ukraine news: In addition to Bakhmut, Russia is also concentrating on Kupjansk and Avdiivka
Update from March 7, 6:45 p.m .:
The Ukrainian armed forces have continued to fend off the Russian attacks on the destroyed city of Bakhmut, as the military general staff announced in a situation report on Tuesday. "The enemy is continuing its attacks in the direction of Bakhmut," it said .
They were also pushed back in the "Iwanivske, Klishchivka and Bakhmut areas".
According to the Ukrainian military, the Russian army continues to focus its offensive on Kupyansk, Lyman, Avdiivka and Shakhtarsk in addition to Bakhmut.
Ukraine news: fighting rages on in Luhansk
Update from March 7th, 5 p.m.:
While most of the attention in the Ukraine war is currently focused on the fighting in Bakhmut, battles are also raging further north in the Luhansk Oblast between the Ukrainian and Russian armed forces.
In the Bilohorivka and Kreminna areas there is "constant shelling" by the Russian army, Serhiy Hayday, head of the regional military administration, said on Ukrainian television.
"There's more shelling now.
We can clearly see that they have been receiving ammo and supplies lately.
Therefore, the number of 'heavy' artillery and tank attacks has increased,” Hayday added.
Ukraine news: Wagner boss Prigozhin speaks of a "complicated" Bachmut situation
Update from March 7, 3:30 p.m .:
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary force, has claimed that there are currently between 12,000 and 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers in and around Bakhmut.
An upcoming conquest, as desired by the Kremlin, is therefore "very complicated".
His fighters would "do everything for it, even if we still haven't received ammunition, military equipment, weapons and vehicles," said Prigozhin, who increasingly criticizes the military apparatus.
“Ukrainians are not running away.
They are dying en masse for Bakhmut,” the oligarch said.
The Russians should stop "calling them cowards" because the Ukrainian soldiers are "the same as us, and they have the same blood."
These are unusual words from the Wagner boss, who has been dealing with the struggles of his men in Bachmut for months.
Ukraine news: Kiev clarifies the identity of the allegedly executed soldier
Update from March 7, 2:25 p.m .:
The Ukrainian army has “provisionally” clarified the identity of a prisoner of war allegedly shot by Russian soldiers.
The 41-year-old, who was filmed on video during his shooting, has been missing from the embattled town of Bakhmut since February 3, Ukraine's land forces said on Telegram.
The soldier served in the 30th Mechanized Brigade.
A final confirmation can only be given when the suspected corpse in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region is found and handed over.
Meanwhile, the federal government has described the video as "shocking".
"If that is authentic, then that would be a war crime," emphasized a spokesman for the Foreign Office
(see update from March 7, 7:15 a.m.).
Ukraine news: Shoigu declares Bakhmut strategically important
Update from March 7, 12:25 p.m .:
The Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has once again expressly pointed out the importance of the heavily contested city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
The capture would allow Russian forces to launch further offensive operations, Shoigu said
in a televised address, according to
Reuters news agency.
The "liberation" of the city continues.
Update from March 7, 11:15 a.m .:
According to British intelligence, the ongoing defense of the heavily contested city of Bakhmut is weakening the armies of both sides in the Ukraine war.
The Ukrainians are believed to have been able to stabilize their defense line over the weekend after Russian troops had earlier entered the north of the city, according to the daily briefing of the British Ministry of Defence.
Supply, on the other hand, is becoming increasingly difficult because important access routes have been destroyed and the Ukrainians are increasingly having to resort to muddy, unpaved roads for supplies.
What it looks like in Bachmut is still unclear.
“Our artillery, our equipment and our troops are already in the city.
They control almost half of Bakhmut," said Jan Gagin, adviser to the Russian-appointed governor of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic," according to Russia's state news agency TASS.
According to Gagin, "the roads in the area are already completely under the fire control of Russian forces."
Fierce fighting for Bachmut: symbolic city probably 40 percent in the hands of Russia
Update from March 7th, 10:00 a.m.:
The US "Institute for the Study of War" (ISW) has published new maps showing the ground movements in Bakhmut on Monday (March 6th).
They indicate that the Russian soldiers have taken almost 40 percent of the symbolic small town after a nine-month battle.
Russia "threw additional Wagner forces into the fight," said the Ukrainian Colonel General Olexander Syrskyj.
The commander of the Ukrainian land forces was in Bakhmut for the third time within a few days and praised the morale of the defenders: "Our fighters are bravely defending the positions north of Bakhmut and are trying to prevent the city from being encircled."
Here are today's control-of-terrain maps of #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine from @TheStudyofWar and @criticalthreats.
Interactive map, updated daily: https://t.co/hwgxTnU2Tr
Archive of time-lapse maps, updated monthly: https://t.co/IT6FiqwgGO pic.twitter.com/VqU3KrrLEW
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) March 7, 2023
Update from March 7, 8:45 a.m .:
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian armed forces have fended off more than 140 Russian attacks on the front in the east of the country in the past few days.
This is reported by the Reuters news agency.
The enemy is still trying to storm the city of Bakhmut and its surroundings, which has been heavily fought for months, the Ukrainian military said.
Russian troops launched 37 attacks just near the village of Dubovo-Vasilivka, north-west of Bakhmut.
Ukraine news: Selenskyj condemns video with shooting of a soldier
Update from March 7, 7:15 a.m .:
In his video speech in the evening, Ukrainian President Selenskyj also condemned the killing of a Ukrainian prisoner of war who was allegedly killed by Russian soldiers with numerous shots.
"Today a video surfaced of the occupiers brutally killing a fighter who bravely said the words 'Glory to Ukraine,'" Zelenskyy said.
“The squatters are killing us for the very fact that we are Ukrainians.
For the simple word Ukraine.
For our dream of a Ukraine,” said Zelensky, who repeatedly describes Russia as a terrorist state.
The scene shown on video caused horror in Ukraine.
Update from March 7, 6:00 a.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has reaffirmed the unity of the military leadership in Kiev in the battle for the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region in the east of the country.
The unanimous decision was made not to give way, but to reinforce the troops, said Zelenskyj in his video message distributed in Kiev on Monday evening.
In it he informed about a meeting with generals on the situation around the symbolic city of the Ukrainian resistance.
"The Ukrainian armed forces are defending every part of Ukraine and will continue to do so," said Zelenskyy.
The time will come when every town and village of the Ukrainian state will be liberated.
Ukraine news: Kiev speaks of "great success" in Bachmut - in two respects
Update from March 6, 10 p.m.:
According to the Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoljak, the army in Bakhmut “achieved its goals” – despite ongoing fighting with Russian troops.
Ukrainian forces "on the one hand destroyed the enemy's main combat-ready formation" and "on the other hand enabled the education and training of tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops in preparation for a counterattack."
Even in the event of a withdrawal, it would be a "major strategic success" for Kiev, Podoliak said.
However, he pointed out that such a decision had not yet been made.
Rather, there is a consensus among the military leaders of Ukraine that they want to continue to defend the strategically important small town.
Ukraine news: Kuleba condemns alleged execution video
Update from March 6, 8:21 p.m .:
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to examine video recordings intended to show the killing of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian soldiers.
The "terrible video" shows an "unarmed Ukrainian prisoner of war being executed by Russian soldiers just for saying 'Glory to Ukraine'," Kuleba wrote on online networks on Monday.
The video is "further proof that this war is genocide".
Ukraine news: "Putin's bloodhound" is expanding his power
Update from March 6, 6:30 p.m.:
“Putin’s bloodhound”, the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, has apparently started recruiting fighters from the self-proclaimed “Luhansk People’s Republic” for his troops.
The goal is to strengthen their own power, reports the National Resistance Center of Ukraine.
According to the report, Kadyrov's influence is currently growing in the occupied areas of the Donetsk region - now his fighters are also supposed to "ensure order" in the Luhansk Oblast.
Ukraine update: Fighting in Bakhmut reaches “their peak”
Update from March 6th, 5 p.m.:
In the battle for the small town of Bachmut, the fighting is said to be “reaching its peak”.
The Ukrainian army is currently trying "valiantly to defend its positions" and "to prevent the encirclement of the city," Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyj told Telegram.
In addition, the Russian troops, including the Wagner mercenary group, suffered "considerable losses".
The Russian side also reported losses – albeit on the Ukrainian side.
Ukraine news: US voices advise Kiev to withdraw from Bakhmut
Update from March 6, 2:50 p.m .:
Fierce fighting continues in and around the besieged city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, but both Kiev and Moscow are apparently increasingly
struggling with ammunition shortages
(see the first report from March 6) and increasing losses.
While the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Valeriy Zalushnyi, spoke out "in favor of continuing the defense operation and further strengthening the positions in Bakhmut", some analysts expect the fighting in the small town to end soon.
"I think Bakhmut's stubborn defense accomplished a lot as it consumed Russian manpower and ammunition," tweeted Michael Kofman, director of Russian studies at CAN, Virginia think tank.
"But strategies can reach a point where yields diminish, and as Ukraine tries to gather resources for an offensive, it could hamper the success of a more important operation." Also, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a The Washington-based think tank said a withdrawal might be the "wisest option" for Ukraine.
Ukraine news: Selenskyj is arguing with the military about Bachmut's strategy
Update from March 6, 1:24 p.m .
: In the brutal battles for Bakhmut, Selenskyj is apparently arguing with a leading general about the strategy.
The Ukrainian president has declared the city a "fortress" but, according to a report, is met with incomprehension from soldiers who speak of a "disaster".
You can find out the background here.
Ukraine news: "Donetsk People's Republic" blames Kiev for the deaths of 4,500 civilians
Update from March 6, 12:35 p.m
.: Almost 4,500 civilians have died in the Donetsk region “since the escalation on February 17, 2022”.
Officials of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" reported this and blamed Ukraine.
According to the Russian news agency Tass, they explained that 133 children were among the dead.
“The situation escalated on the morning of February 17th.
Heavy shelling by Ukrainian forces killed civilians and damaged infrastructure," it said, adding: "On February 24, at the request of Donbass leaders, Putin launched the military special operation" to "liberate the areas under Kyiv's control."
Kremlin propaganda continues to refer to the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a "military special operation."
Ukraine news: Selenskyj's wife reports sexual violence by Putin's forces
Update March 6, 11:27 a.m
.: Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska, wife of Zelenskyj, reported that investigators are currently investigating 171 cases of alleged sexual violence by Russian forces against Ukrainian civilians.
This emerges from the latest analysis by the US Institute for War Studies (ISW).
Material shortage on the part of Russia: The army uses decades-old tanks in the Ukraine war
Update from March 6, 9:57 a.m
.: Moscow is now using decades-old weapons, apparently out of desperation: recently, even Soviet-type BTR-50 armored transport vehicles, which have been manufactured since 1954, have been used in Ukraine.
This is reported by the Ministry of Defense in London with reference to its secret services.
Destroyed main battle tanks have been replaced by old T-62 models for months, it said.
Even the 1st Guards Tank Army, one of the most prestigious units, received such tanks to make up for their losses in modern tanks.
“As of the summer of 2022, about 800 T-62s have been taken out of storage.
Some have received improved sighting systems that will most likely improve their effectiveness at night.” However, the vehicles have many weak points, including the lack of modern reactive armor.
First report from March 6th
: Kiev – The Russian troops have been trying for weeks to conquer the city of Bakhmut, which has been declared a fortress.
Russia uses the notorious Wagner mercenaries, who according to Ukrainian reports have already suffered heavy losses.
However, the information cannot be verified.
Battle for Bakhmut: Yevgeny Prigozhin threatens Vladimir Putin
Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has now threatened the government of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin to withdraw his mercenaries from Bakhmut.
The reason for this is the lack of ammunition.
This was reported by ZDF, citing a corresponding telegram entry from the first weekend in March (which, however, was not an official Prigozhin channel).
"The situation will not be nice for all military formations that protect Russian interests," it said, as well as: "If Wagner withdraws from Bachmut now, the entire front will collapse."
General Staff in Kiev: “Unsuccessful Offensive Actions” in the Ukraine War
So far, Bakhmut has been under pressure from three sides, only one side in the west is still open and offers Ukrainian troops a corridor for a possible retreat.
"The defenders are holding their position," said Sehy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Ukrainian Army Group East.
"And we have the ability to deliver ammunition, provisions and medicine, and to transport the wounded."
In its report, the General Staff in Kiev also spoke of "unsuccessful offensive actions" by Russian troops near Avdiivka and Shakhtarsk in the east of the country.
There, too, many towns were indiscriminately shelled by Russian artillery
(AFP/dpa/frs/nak)
List of rubrics: © Chris Emil Janssen/Imago
