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"Stream of information": Russia probably still has "large network of agents" in Ukraine

2023-03-30T03:13:28.508Z


Kiev receives more Leopard tanks from Spain. The information about the situation in Bachmut is contradictory. The news ticker on the Ukraine war. 


Kiev receives more Leopard tanks from Spain.

The information about the situation in Bachmut is contradictory.

The news ticker on the Ukraine war. 

  • Western

    sanctions

    : Vladimir Putin acknowledges pressure through measures for the first

    time

  • Battle

    for

    Bachmut

    : Wagner boss Prigoschin boasts of alleged successes

  • US weapon with

    a range of 150 kilometers

    : Russia reports launch of precision missile from Ukraine.

  • This

    news ticker

    on the military situation in the

    Ukraine war

    is constantly updated.

Update from March 29, 8:06 p.m

.: Russian special services tried to establish a “large network of agents” in the country before the attack on Ukraine – from which Russia now continues to benefit.

A British think tank has come to this conclusion.

"This network is still viable more than a year after the invasion began and provides a steady stream of intelligence to the Russian armed forces," reads the analysis by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

You can find the report (as a PDF) here.

+

The headquarters of the Russian domestic secret service FSB in Moscow

© Alexander Nemenov/AFP

Ukraine update: Athletes consider lawsuit against IOC decision on Russia

Update from March 29, 6:36 p.m

.: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommends Russia’s return to world sport – under certain conditions.

Ukrainian athletes are now considering a lawsuit against the IOC decision.

According to sports law expert Mark Orth, a lawsuit would have a good chance of success, the sid news agency reported.

"The decision is contestable," Orth said.

One of the reasons for this is that the conditions set out can “hardly be checked” by independent bodies.

Only Russia can answer the question of whether an athlete is under contract with the military or national security authorities.

Ukraine news: For the first time, Putin admits to pressure from Western sanctions

Update from March 29, 4:31 p.m

.: Putin has publicly admitted for the first time that the sanctions against Russia could have consequences for the country.

"The sanctions imposed on the Russian economy could have a really negative impact on it in the medium term," the head of state warned at a televised government meeting.

The Kremlin ruler had previously said repeatedly that Russia would withstand the massive punitive measures.

Putin also said that unemployment in Russia remains "at an all-time low" while inflation is expected to fall "below four percent" by the end of March.

It had risen sharply to almost 20 percent last spring.

But Putin added that "returning to a growth path should not make us feel relaxed."

He appealed to the government and business to ensure a quick start of new projects in the manufacturing sector - "especially in the manufacture of high-tech products".

+

Photo from March 29: Putin at a meeting at his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo near Moscow

© Gavriil Grigorov/AFP

Ukraine news: Wagner boss Prigozhin boasts of alleged successes in Bakhmut

Update from March 29, 3:23 p.m .

: Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has now commented on the presumed success of his mercenaries in Bakhmut: “We are persistently pursuing this path.

The Battle of Bakhmut practically wiped out the Ukrainian army today," its press service said on Telegram.

This is reported by the Russian state news agency Tass, emphasizing Prigozhin's statement that the Russian fighters would "crush" the Ukrainians.

The information could not be checked independently.

According to international military experts, Russia has recently made up ground in Bakhmut: Russian forces have taken an additional five percent of the city in the past seven days and currently control almost 65 percent of the area, writes the US Institute for War Studies (ISW) in its latest report .

You can read the contradicting assessment of the British secret service in this update.

A Year of the Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia

A Year of the Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia

Ukraine news: Kremlin spokesman Peskov gives evasive answers to journalists' questions

Update from March 29, 2:17 p.m

.: How does Moscow currently assess the prospects for its “military special operation”?

According to Ria Novosti, that's what a Russian journalist asked at Dmitry Peskov's regular press conference.

A thorny question given the Russian losses.

The report from the state news agency is worded a little more positively - but it can be read that Peskov evaded and referred to the Ministry of Defense.

Earlier, he stressed that "the hybrid war on our country" requires from everyone "firmness, self-confidence, determination and unity around the President".

Ukraine news: "Marder an example of German quality"

Update from March 29, 12:00 p.m .:

The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov praised the Marder infantry fighting vehicle from Germany in a video.

"The Marder is an excellent example of German quality," wrote the 56-year-old on the short message service Twitter on Wednesday.

The weapon will increase Ukraine's chances of defeating Russia, the attached video said.

There the minister showed how he did several laps on a muddy training ground in one of the armored personnel carriers recently delivered by Berlin.

“I look forward to taming leopards soon.

I love how they roar!” Resnikov added, inviting German Ambassador Anka Feldhusen to take a test drive. 

Ukraine news: Russia sticks to war goal

Update March 29, 11:05 a.m.:

Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, has reiterated that Russia wants to achieve all the goals of its “special military operation”.

The Russian state news agency

Tass

quoted him as saying:

"Despite the ever-increasing military support of Ukraine by the United States and other Western countries, all the declared goals of the special military operation will certainly be achieved.

We will achieve the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, ensure the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation and the security of our people.”

Ukraine news: Important Ukraine success in Bachmut

Update from March 29, 10:10 a.m .:

According to British secret services, Ukrainian troops have provided relief in the battle for the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

"One of the important achievements of the recent Ukrainian operations was probably to push back the fighters of the Russian Wagner Group from Route 0506," said the British Ministry of Defense on Wednesday (March 29), according to the

dpa

.

“This small country road has become an important supply line for the Ukrainian defenders.

Wagner was previously just a few hundred yards from this street,” said London.

Ukraine news: Kiev is getting more Leopard tanks from the EU

Update from March 29, 9:40 a.m.:

According to media reports, Spain will soon deliver six older Type 2A4 Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

The delivery will take place immediately after Easter, the well-informed newspaper "El País" reported on Wednesday, citing the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

The vehicle repairs have been completed.

The tanks would still be tested this week in Cordoba in the south of the country, it said.

In the past few weeks, 55 Ukrainians have been trained as crew members and technicians on Leopard main battle tanks in Spain.

Madrid has announced the delivery of up to ten tanks.

In total, the country has 347 Leopard tanks.

Of these, 108 belong to the older variant 2A4 and 239 to the newer type 2A6, which is called 2E in Spain.

So far, however, Spain does not want to hand over any of these newer, more powerful tanks to Ukraine.

They would be needed for their own national defense.

Ukraine news: Selenskyj visits the border region

Update from March 29, 6:10 a.m .:

After a visit to the border region with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once again emphasized the strength of the Ukrainians in the face of the ongoing threat from Moscow.

"The threat is constant, our border is constantly being shelled," said Zelenskyy in his nightly video speech about the impressions of his visit to the Sumy region in north-eastern Ukraine.

"But life and our people are obviously stronger than all fears."

During his visit to Sumy, Zelenskyi met the commanders of the border troops deployed there.

"The strong positions along the entire border with the terrorist state (Russia) are a result of the strength of our people, who are ready to defend the border at any time," said Zelenskyy.

In the north-east, Ukrainian border troops are shielding a several hundred-kilometre stretch of the common border with Russia in order to prevent Russian units from penetrating there.

Ukraine news: Kiev describes situation in Bakhmut as “very dynamic”

Update from March 28, 10:04 p.m

.: According to a Ukrainian military, the situation in the heavily contested city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine is “very dynamic”.

Sometimes even the enemy has tactical advantages, said the spokesman for the Ukrainian Eastern Front, Serhiy Cherevatyy, on television on Tuesday evening.

But these benefits are predictable.

"We recognize them and take countermeasures."

There is no strategic advantage whatsoever.

"The situation is stable, but difficult," said Cherevaty.

"Combat and countermeasures are about denying the opponent the ability to successfully expand their attacks."

In the past 24 hours alone there have been 14 clashes with Russian troops, in the course of which 86 Russian soldiers have been killed and another 117 wounded.

The information could not be independently verified.

Battles in Avdiivka: Russian special unit loses almost all tanks

Update from March 28, 7:31 p.m

.: According to British secret services, Russia has suffered heavy losses in its attacks on the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.

A regiment allegedly lost a large proportion of its tanks in an attempt to encircle Avdiivka from the south, according to a short report by the British Ministry of Defense on Tuesday.

The affected regiment is part of an army formation that was specially formed to support the aggressive war in Ukraine.

In the meantime, however, there were many signs that the formation had problems with poor discipline and morale, the British said.

Although the associated soldiers would have completed a training phase in Belarus, they would have had only a very limited combat strength.

The losses are probably largely due to the fact that attacks were carried out tactically incorrectly - as was the case in the Ukrainian city of Wuhledar.

Update from March 28, 4:40 p.m

.: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommends that Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed back into international competitions – provided they start as individual competitors (no teams) under a neutral flag and do not actively support the Ukraine war .

This has now been announced by IOC President Thomas Bach.

Bach already said in January that it "is not in line with the values ​​and mission of the Olympic Charter to exclude athletes because of their passport." The next Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in Paris in 2024.

Ukraine war: Peskov accuses Ampel of “flooding Kiev with weapons”

Update from March 28, 3:15 p.m .:

Germany is “increasingly involved” in the Ukraine war by “fluttering the country with weapons” – and that leaves “something to be desired” in German-Russian relations.

According to Tass, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov now threatened with this view.

Peskov's statement is a direct reaction to recent media reports that the federal government wants to increase aid for Kiev by twelve billion euros.

At the same time, Belarus, which is closely allied with Moscow, explained Western "pressure" as the reason for stationing Russian nuclear weapons on its territory.

One must "react in order to strengthen one's own security and defense capability," said the Foreign Ministry in Minsk.

War in Ukraine: Russia reports launch of US precision missile

Update from March 28, 2:37 p.m

.: According to Moscow, Ukraine uses GLSDB-type US missiles.

Such a precision missile, which has a range of 150 kilometers, was shot down by the Russian air defenses, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said.

The US promised Kiev the missiles in early February.

"Fabulous, very good material": Ukrainian Defense Minister praises British tanks after test drive

Update from March 28, 12:40 p.m .:

After a test drive, the Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov praised the British Challenger 2 main battle tank that had just arrived and announced that it would be deployed in combat soon.

"Fabulous, that's very good material," said Reznikov in a video published on Twitter on Tuesday.

The clip, which is accompanied by hard beats, shows the 56-year-old doing a few laps in the tank on a training ground.

It was not said how many of the announced 14 main battle tanks arrived from Great Britain.

Ukraine War: Ukraine repels drone strikes

Update from March 28, 12:00 p.m .:

According to military information from Kiev, Ukraine repelled several Russian drone attacks on Tuesday night.

14 of the 15 Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drones were shot down, the Ukrainian General Staff said.

At the same time, the military warned that the risk of new missile and air strikes across the country remains high.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in Kiev.

A fire broke out in a shop in the capital.

So there were no injuries.

The head of the Kiev presidential office, Andriy Yermak, accused Russia of "terror against civilian infrastructure" after the new drone attacks.

"It won't work," he insisted.

In the Sumy region, Russian air forces bombed the town of Bilopillya.

Buildings and a gas line were hit and one person was injured.

Yermak also published a photo of a large crater.

War in Ukraine: Scholz supplies Leopard tanks

Kiev – Germany has delivered 18 modern Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to the Ukrainian armed forces to repel the Russian attack.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) confirmed the delivery of the tanks to Ukraine on Monday in Rotterdam at a press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

"We delivered as announced," said Scholz.

The German government also condemned President Vladimir Putin's nuclear weapons plans.     

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) announced that the federal government had promised a battle group together with Sweden and Portugal.

Pistorius explained: "In order to redeem this, Germany even delivered four more tanks than initially planned." His Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Resnikov also confirmed receipt of the German Marder infantry fighting vehicle.

In mid-March, the tank crews had completed their training on the Leopard with combat shooting.

The transport of the tanks was initially not disclosed publicly for reasons of secrecy and security.

Experts assume that the Leopard 2 is clearly superior in combat against Russian armored troops.

The Leopard tank can also fire while moving, the T-72, which is often used by Russia, is not able to do this.

Ukraine war: Federal government criticizes Putin's stationing of nuclear weapons

The German government considers Putin's rhetoric regarding nuclear weapons to be "irresponsible".

A spokeswoman for the Federal Foreign Office said on Monday at the federal press conference in Berlin.

"Of course, we will not let this deter us from our course of supporting Ukraine in its self-defense." A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Defense added that Putin's announcement did not change the assessment of the situation.

Putin announced the stationing of nuclear weapons in Belarus on Saturday.

According to them, Belarus already has 10 converted aircraft capable of carrying these weapons.

In addition, the country will receive Iskander missiles that can be equipped with nuclear warheads.

The Russian President had also stressed that Moscow would stick to its commitments to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

You would only be accused in Belarus that Russia is not giving up control and is doing nothing different than the USA in EU countries.

War in Ukraine: Kremlin sticks to plans despite threat of sanctions

Moscow does not want to be deterred by the threat of sanctions from the West.

That could "of course have no influence on Russia's plans," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on possible punitive measures.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had previously called on Belarus to give up nuclear weapons and otherwise threatened sanctions in response.

He criticized the Russian plans as "irresponsible escalation" and a threat to European security.

Ukraine war: Zelenskyj accuses Russia of terrorism

Meanwhile, tension between Ukraine and the Kremlin continues to grow.

After a Russian rocket attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj again accused Moscow of terrorizing the Ukrainian civilian population.

"Ukraine will not forgive mistreatment of our people, these dead and injured," the 45-year-old wrote on social networks on Monday.

He announced that all "Russian terrorists" will be held accountable.

Several rockets had hit Sloviansk and Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region to the south.

Several administrative and office buildings and residential buildings were destroyed.

According to authorities, at least two people were killed and another 29 were injured.

(bohy/dpa)

List of rubrics: © Alexander Nemenov/AFP

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-03-30

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