President Selenskyj continues to travel to southern Ukraine.
Russia's ex-president announces new war equipment.
The news ticker on the Ukraine war.
Kiev
receives first
fighter jet delivery
from Slovakia: Four MiG-29 aircraft have been handed over to the Ukrainian Air Force.
Medvedev
promises
1,500 new tanks
: according to the Russian ex-president, the armaments industry is in full swing.
"Attack momentum"
apparently slowing down: Ukrainian armed forces report significant Russian losses in Bakhmut.
This news ticker on the
Ukraine war
is constantly updated.
Update from March 23, 6:20 p.m .:
The heads of state and government of the European Union have approved further military aid for Ukraine.
At the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, they finally approved a comprehensive ammunition package that the foreign and defense ministers had negotiated on Monday.
The goal is "to provide one million rounds of artillery ammunition in a joint effort within the next twelve months," according to a summit statement.
At the beginning of the summit, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) declared his willingness to “support Ukraine for as long as it is actually necessary”.
In the statement, the Europeans also threatened Russia with tightened sanctions.
It states that the European Union wants to continue "to exert collective pressure on Russia, including through possible further restrictive measures".
Ukraine news: Finland paves the way for NATO membership
Update from March 23, 3:31 p.m .:
The Finnish President Sauli Niinistö took the next step for his country’s NATO accession on Thursday (March 23).
Niinistö signed laws in Helsinki that pave the way for his country's NATO membership, at least from the Finnish side.
The Finnish parliament had already passed the relevant laws with a large majority at the beginning of March.
However, Finland still has to wait for Turkey and Hungary to ratify its membership application.
All other 28 NATO members have already agreed to join.
NATO enlargement: The growing defense alliance
NATO enlargement: The growing defense alliance
Ukraine news: Kiev receives first fighter jet delivery from Slovakia
Update from March 23, 3:20 p.m .:
Kiev received the first part of the fighter jets promised by Slovakia on Thursday (March 23).
"The first four MiG-29 fighter jets have been safely handed over to the Ukrainian armed forces," Slovak Defense Ministry spokeswoman Martina Kakascikova said on Thursday.
The remaining nine aircraft are said to follow “in the coming weeks”.
The government in Bratislava had promised Ukraine a total of 13 jets.
+
A MiG-29 fighter jet is instructed at the Ukrainian airfield in Wassylkiv (archive photo).
© Roman Pilipey/dpa
Ukraine news: Selenskyj is also visiting the frontline region in the south
Update from March 23, 2:35 p.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj visited areas in southern Ukraine on Thursday.
Published videos show the 45-year-old visiting the Cherson region near the front, where he visited Ukrainian soldiers.
The head of state was already on a visit to eastern Ukraine on Wednesday.
"I think that we will rebuild it in you very soon," said Zelenskyy in front of residents of the destroyed village of Posad-Pokrovske.
substation and had the repair work explained.
The head of state was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Olexander Kubrakov, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and the head of the electricity network operator Ukrenerho, Volodymyr Kudryzkyj.
In November, Russian troops in the Cherson region retreated to the east bank of the Dnipro River.
Ukraine news: Medvedev promises 1,500 new tanks
Update from March 23, 11:55 a.m .:
Russia wants to produce 1,500 tanks for the war against Ukraine this year.
"The military-industrial complex has been overheated," Deputy National Security Council chief Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview published on Thursday (March 23).
The majority of armaments companies work in a three-shift system.
The West is trying to cut Russia off from important components and claiming that the country is running out of artillery shells, tanks and rockets.
"We're making 1,500 tanks this year alone," said the ex-president.
As recently as February, Medvedev, who is also responsible for the armaments industry on the Security Council, spoke of the construction and modernization of thousands of tanks when he visited a factory.
Experts doubt that his country can produce such quantities.
Medvedev also said that Russia produces its own drones.
So far, however, there has been a lack of large combat drones, for which there will soon be their own production.
Ukraine news: Ukraine flag flies on pole in Crimea
Update from March 23, 10:55 a.m .:
A video is circulating on social media
reported by the Ukrainian state broadcaster
Suspilne .
It shows Ukraine's national flag flying from a tall pole in Crimea, a region illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
The film was apparently shot near the village of Hrushivka.
A Ukrainian flag flies from a communications tower near the village of Hrushivka, about 18km north of the town of Sudak in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea.
Even after 9 years of Russian military occupation, some Crimeans still seem prepared to risk demonstrating patriotism.
pic.twitter.com/sgTE3ahwCc
— Euan MacDonald (@Euan_MacDonald) March 23, 2023
Neither the location nor the date the video was taken can be independently verified.
Ukraine news: precarious situation around nuclear power plant
Update from March 23, 9:55 a.m .:
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the situation at the Russian-occupied Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia is “precarious”.
Above all, the external power supply to the power plant is causing problems, explained IAEA Director Rafael Grossi on Wednesday.
"I again call on all sides to ensure nuclear safety and the protection of the power plant."
Russia occupied the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the south of the country shortly after the start of the Ukraine war and has occupied it ever since.
For months Moscow and Kiev have accused each other of being responsible for attacks around and on the nuclear power plant.
A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
Ukraine news: Ukrainian troops pushed back
Update from March 23, 8.40 a.m .:
According to British assessments, Russian troops pushed back the Ukrainian troops in heavy fighting near the Russian-occupied city of Kreminna in eastern Ukraine.
"Russia has partially regained control of the immediate approaches to Kreminna, which faced an immediate Ukrainian threat earlier this year," the Defense Ministry said in London on Thursday, citing intelligence findings.
"In some places, Russia has gained several kilometers of terrain."
Ex-President Medvedev: Putin's arrest would be "declaration of war"
Update from March 23, 6:30 a.m .:
For former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, an arrest of Vladimir Putin abroad as a result of the arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court would be a declaration of war on his country.
He said so in an interview with the state news agency Tass published on Thursday.
"Let's imagine - of course this is a situation that will never happen, yes - but let's imagine that it actually happened.
For example, an incumbent president of a nuclear power comes to Germany and is arrested.
What is that?
A declaration of war on the Russian Federation,” said Medvedev.
Ukraine news: "Attack momentum" is apparently slowing down - Russia is suffering further losses in Bakhmut
Update from March 22, 6:50 p.m .:
According to its own statements, the Ukrainian army has continued to fend off Russian attacks on the contested city of Bakhmut.
This was reported by the Ukrainian general staff on Wednesday evening in its situation report on Facebook.
According to the report, Russian units had tried to close the pincers around the city from the north and south.
The information cannot be independently verified.
Ukraine news: arms deliveries to Moscow?
Beijing has not crossed the "red line".
Update from March 22, 5:45 p.m .:
The US government currently has no signs of Chinese arms deliveries to Russia.
This was confirmed by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Wednesday.
Washington has "not yet seen that they (the Chinese government,
editor's note
) have crossed this red line," said Blinken on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Beijing is not supplying any “lethal” weapons to Moscow.
China's diplomatic, military and "to a certain extent material" support for Russia "certainly" runs counter to the United States' interest in a quick end to the Ukraine war, Blinken said.
Ukraine news: Russian government renews air defense system in Moscow
Update from March 22, 3:55 p.m .:
The air defense system in the Russian capital Moscow is to be renewed this year.
"This year we will complete the modernization of the missile defense system in the city of Moscow," Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told army officials on Wednesday, according to Russian news agencies.
The development of air defense weapons is "one of the priorities" for the military.
In addition, new air defense units would be trained and equipped with the new generation S-350 air-to-surface missile systems.
Ukraine update: Russia uses ancient tanks
Update from March 22, 3:15 p.m .:
The Russian military leadership has apparently started bringing Soviet Bauert T-54 main battle tanks to eastern Ukraine.
This is reported by the Russian media project
Nexta
.
According to the report, the tanks came from the Kremlin's stocks and would now be brought to the war zone on trains.
The T-54 was first produced in Stalinist Russia in 1947.
However, the model was replaced by the successor model, the T-55, in the 1960s and 1970s.
Ukraine news: Selenskyj visits soldiers near the embattled city of Bakhmut
Update from March 22, 2:15 p.m .:
Fierce fighting continues in and around the small town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Nevertheless, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj drove close to the front today.
The presidential office in Kiev said he presented the soldiers with medals.
"I'm honored to be here today to present awards to our heroes.
To shake their hands and thank them for protecting the sovereignty of our country," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
Video footage showing the President presenting the awards can be seen there.
Update from March 22, 1:10 p.m .:
A residential building was shot at again in Zaporizhia.
Videos show the shelling and fire of a skyscraper in the city.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared a video of the attack and said: "Russia is attacking the city with the utmost ferocity, hitting residential areas where ordinary people and children live." This should not become a ' normal day'.
The area's military administration called on people to stay in safe places "until the airstrike is over and the all clear is given!"
Ukraine news: Kiev reports at least 14 dead civilians
Update from March 22, 12:15 p.m .:
According to the Ukrainian authorities, at least 14 civilians were killed by Russian attacks in Ukraine.
In addition, 24 people were injured, said the press service of the Ukrainian army in the capital Kiev.
There was shelling in eleven areas, mainly along the front line in the east and south of the country.
The Ukrainian side had previously reported at least four deaths in the Kiev and Donetsk areas.
In most cases, the reports from the war zone cannot be independently verified.
Update from March 22, 11:15 a.m .:
According to Ukrainian sources, at least four people were killed by Russian fire in eastern Ukraine in the Donetsk region.
Five people were injured, military governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram.
According to the governor, there were also dead and injured in the heavily contested town of Bakhmut.
Ukraine update: Russian attack in Bakhmut is losing momentum
Update from March 22, 9.50 a.m .:
According to the British, Ukrainian troops have provided relief with their own advances near the contested city of Bakhmut.
The British Ministry of Defense wrote, citing intelligence services, that the counter-offensive west of the city would probably ease the pressure from the Russian attackers on the H-32 road - an important Ukrainian supply route.
Ukraine news: Again explosions in Crimea - attack with drones
Update from March 22, 8:15 a.m .:
According to Russian information, the Russian Navy repelled a drone attack on the port of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula.
As Kremlin-backed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev told Telegram, “the Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone attack on Sevastopol.”
Accordingly, the drones "tried to enter our bay, our sailors shot at them with small arms".
The air defense also "worked".
A total of "three objects were destroyed," it said.
Rasvozhayev said there were no casualties and no ships were damaged.
But the explosions shattered windows in nearby buildings.
The situation is "under control".
Update from March 22, 7:30 a.m .:
Explosions are said to have been heard again in the Crimea in the Russian-occupied port city of Sevastopol in the morning.
This is reported by the opposition Belarusian news channel Nexta on Twitter.
The Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR only reported the destruction of Russian cruise missiles in Crimea on Tuesday.
Ukraine news: Selenskyj recalls successes since the beginning of the war
Update from March 22, 6:20 a.m .:
More than a year after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj recalled the first successes of his army.
On March 21, 2022, the battle for the village of Moshchun, not far from the capital Kiev, was won, Zelensky said in his evening video speech on Tuesday.
"It was our state's first major step towards victory in this war." The Ukrainian leader also recalled the subsequent recapture of the eastern Kharkiv region and part of Kherson in the south of the country.
"We will come to the same result with other offensive actions," Zelenskyj said confidently, also with a view to the currently hard-fought Donbass in eastern Ukraine.
Update from March 21, 9:55 p.m .:
Russian fighter jets shot at the Ukrainian port city of Odessa on Tuesday evening.
This is reported by the Kyiv Independent
portal
with reference to the Ukrainian presidential office.
The planes fired four Kh-59 missiles at the city.
Ukrainian air defense intercepted two of the missiles, but the remaining two hit a three-story apartment building.
Three people were injured.
Ukraine news: Russia is angry about British plans for arms deliveries
Update from March 21, 8:54 p.m .:
Russia has expressed anger at British plans to deliver more powerful depleted uranium ammunition to the attacked Ukraine.
"I would like to note that if all of this happens, Russia will be forced to respond accordingly," Putin said Tuesday after a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Moscow.
Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also threatened: "Of course Russia has an answer ready."
New tanks for Ukraine: USA want to deliver by autumn
Update from March 21, 7:32 p.m .:
The United States wants to deliver the Abrams tanks that have already been promised to Ukraine by autumn.
US Department of Defense spokesman Pat Ryder said the department had decided to provide Kiev with the M1A1 Abrams tank variant, rather than the newer M1A2 variant.
This will allow us to significantly reduce delivery times and send tanks to Ukraine by the fall, he said.
Update from March 21, 4:50 p.m .:
Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili believes Ukraine’s victory against Russia is certain.
"Ukraine's inevitable victory will completely change the situation in Georgia and the region," said the imprisoned Saakashvili in an interview with the AFP news agency.
Saakashvili was Georgia's president from 2004 to 2013, pushing through pro-Western reforms.
He has been in prison since 2021 on charges of abuse of office.
In the meantime, he was President Selenskyj's reform commissioner and governor of the Odessa region in Ukraine.
Pictures of him have recently surfaced showing him to be emaciated and frail, and his condition is said to be getting worse every day.
Ukraine reports "covert mobilizations": Russia is to draft 20,000 soldiers per month
KIEV – Russian troops have already suffered significant casualties in the ongoing Ukraine war.
Especially in the battles for the city of Bakhmut.
There, President Vladimir Putin's army is said to have lost many times as many soldiers as the Ukrainian defenders.
In order to replenish the ranks of the Russian army, the army leadership is apparently desperately looking for new recruits.
Around 20,000 new soldiers are currently being recruited in Russia every month in order to be able to continue the war in Ukraine.
This number was confirmed to the portal
Suspilne
by Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine's defense intelligence agency .
Yusov sees the developments as a clear sign that the Russian army's current strategy is not achieving the desired results on the battlefield.
"The fact that covert mobilizations are still underway in Russia and further mobilization measures are planned indicates that past mobilization efforts have been insufficient and the army is neither powerful nor adequately trained or equipped," the portal quoted the intelligence spokesman as saying.
For Yusov, the recent losses of the Russian army on the battlefield are another indication of the poor condition of the troops.
Ukraine update: Moscow needs new soldiers - new recruitment process from April
The Russian portal Radio Free Europe
had already reported last week
that the Kremlin would again intensify its mobilization efforts.
Therefore, a new recruitment process would start on April 1st, through which a total of 400,000 new contract soldiers should be recruited for the Russian armed forces.
In preparation, the Ministry of Defense is said to have already sent documents to the relevant regional authorities.
Last fall, Russia carried out partial mobilization for the first time since the beginning of the Ukraine war.
In this, around 300,000 new recruits were drafted into the army.
However, after the announcement, a large number of young men refused military service and fled abroad.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had already announced in January that he wanted to significantly increase the number of troops in the Russian armed forces.
In three years, the troop strength is to increase to 1.5 million soldiers.
For comparison: The Bundeswehr currently has almost 183,000 active soldiers.
(fd)
List of rubrics: © Roman Pilipey/dpa
