The situation in the Ukraine war continues to deteriorate – militarily, diplomatically and humanitarianly: the news ticker on Wednesday.
- Belarus plans surprising military maneuvers: Rapid Reaction Forces are getting ready
- United Nations give update: Dramatic situation in Mariupol im Ukraine war.
- Parts of Ukraine are to be annexed: Russia wants “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk.
- All to Ukraine conflict read in our current news ticker. This is continuously updated.
+++ 09.15 a.m.: The power went out in Lviv after Russian rocket attacks. This was announced by local authorities on Wednesday morning. The background to this is apparently that three substations were severely damaged by the bombing.
Ukraine war: Belarus plans surprising military maneuvers
+++ 08.45 a.m.: Against the background of the Ukraine war, Belarus is currently examining an unannounced military maneuver for rapid reaction forces. During the inspection, “the troop units and units would have to practice aspects of combat readiness, marching to the commanded areas of operations and the implementation of combat tasks,” the Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Telegram on Wednesday morning. According to the Belarusian data, the military maneuvers serve to describe the defense against ground and air attacks.
+++ 08.15 a.m.: Russia has apparently massed new troops in the Donbass. This emerges from the morning situation report of the British Ministry of Defence. Accordingly, the Russian military has deployed 22 battalion combat groups near Izyum in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv. According to the report, the aim is to advance along the northern axis of the Donbass. Kramatorsk and Severodonetsk are therefore the goals of conquest alongside Izyum. “Capturing these locations would consolidate Russian military control over northeastern Donbass and provide a foothold in their attempt to cut off Ukrainian forces in the region.”
The Ministry of Defense report is based on an assessment by the British secret service. This information cannot be independently verified.
Ukraine war: According to Zelenskyj, reconstruction costs around 600 billion dollars
+++ 7.30 a.m.: According to President Zelenskyy, the reconstruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure and economy will cost around 600 billion dollars. He said so at a Wall Street Journal event. In his speech, Zelenskyy emphasized that investments by foreign companies are needed for this. “You get access to our country, our market of more than 40 million people,” he explained.
Ukraine War: Russia attacks Mariupol steel mill with tanks
+++ 07.00 a.m.: Russia has launched a full-scale attack on the last bastion of Ukrainian militants in Mariupol. Russian ground troops and tanks attacked the Azov steelworks in the south-eastern Ukrainian port city for the first time on Tuesday, as the Azov regiment entrenched in the plant explained in the online service Telegram. Meanwhile, Russian attacks continued in the rest of Ukraine.
Russian troops tried to land “a large number of infantrymen with boats,” Azov regiment deputy commander Svyatoslav Palamar said in a video message. He called for an attempt to be made “immediately” to bring the civilians still stuck in tunnels on the factory premises to safety. Two women were killed and around ten other civilians injured in the bombardment that preceded the attack. According to Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko, about 200 civilians remain at the site.
War in Ukraine: Massive rocket attacks on Ukrainian train stations
Update from Wednesday, May 4th, 6:45 a.m.: Russia is trying to launch massive rocket attacks on Ukrainian railways the supply of western weapons to stop. The state railway company announced that six train stations in western and central Ukraine were hit on Tuesday (May 3). However, there were no casualties among employees and passengers. The rockets also hit three substations in the Lviv Oblast in western Ukraine and one in the Transcarpathian Mountains on the border with Hungary.
It was also allegedly about hitting the power supply of the railway. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia fired more than 20 rockets and cruise missiles at almost all parts of Ukraine. Many missiles were fired from long-range bombers over the Caspian Sea. It was one of the heaviest waves of attacks since the Russian invasion on February 24. Today, Wednesday (May 4th) is the 70th day of the war.
War in Ukraine: several cities shelled with rockets
+++ 10.30 p.m.: Cities in several regions of Ukraine became the target of Russian rocket attacks on Tuesday evening (03 May). According to media reports, parts of the city of Lviv in the west of the country were without electricity after three power plants were damaged by rockets, according to Mayor Andriy Sadowyj. As a result, according to him, there were also problems with the water supply because the pumps failed due to a lack of electricity.
Rocket attacks were also reported from Vinnytsia in the center, Odessa in the south-west and Kirovograd in the center of the country. For the first time since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression on February 24, the Transcarpathia region near the border with Hungary was also attacked with a rocket, as regional governor Viktor Mikita reported in the online service Telegram.
War in Ukraine: Russia launches major attack on steel works – details have become known
+++ 8 p.m.: Several media reported on one today (May 3). Large-scale attack on the Mariupol steelworks. More details about the attack by Russia have now become known, as reported by the AFP news agency. Accordingly, the Azov steel plant was attacked with tanks and armored vehicles.
The ground forces received support from units at sea in the attack on the bastion of Ukraine, as reported by AFP, citing the Azov regiment. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, “command posts” were also “destroyed” by artillery and airstrikes.
Ukraine War: 101 civilians rescued from Mariupol steel mill
The background to the large-scale attack on the Mariupol steelworks is said to have been the establishment of new positions during the ceasefire, according to the Russian ministry, according to AFP. According to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a total of 101 civilians were freed during the five-day evacuation operation.
UN coordinator Osnat Lubrani stated that the UN remains ready to evacuate people from the steel mill. Svyatoslav Palamar, the commander of the Azov regiment, had previously called for the “immediate” evacuation of the remaining civilians in a video message.
+++ 6.30 p.m.: According to the Kiyv Independent, Russian shelling in the city of Avdiivka killed ten civilians and wounded 15 others. According to Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, the attack killed workers waiting for their bus near the Avdiivka coke and chemical plant.
“Massive bombings” – Russia appears to storm Mariupol steel mill
+++ 4.30 p.m.: The situation in Mariupol is obviously dramatic. After the Ukrainian media unanimously reported at midday that Russian troops wanted to storm the steelworks, German media also reported the same thing. “There are massive bombings,” explains a reporter from nv. There are already dead on the premises of the steel mill.
Around 100,000 civilians are currently holding out in Mariupol and have been trying to flee for weeks. The bombings are also a mortal danger for them.
War in Ukraine: UN gives update on evacuation of Mariupol steel mill
+++ 3.45 p.m.: According to the UN, 101 people were evacuated from the besieged steelworks in Mariupol. Most of them are now in Zaporizhia, where they are receiving humanitarian aid. “Thanks to the operation, 101 women, men, children and the elderly were finally able to leave the bunkers under the Azovstal Steelworks and see the light of day after two months,” said Osnat Lubrani, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian soldiers are said to have stormed the steelworks.
+++ 2.30 p.m.: Vladimir Putin continues to stoke fears of nuclear war. Now the president’s “doomsday plane” is said to have been sighted over the Russian capital Moscow. This is a machine that would protect Putin even in the event of a nuclear catastrophe. He could rule Russia from the air.
War in Ukraine: Federal government probably supplies self-propelled howitzers
+++ 12.00 p.m.: The federal government has apparently decided to deliver seven Panzerhaubitz 2000 from Bundeswehr stocks to the Ukraine. This is reported by the daily newspaper Welt – and points out that the decision of the Chancellery and the Ministry of Defense was probably made against the advice of leading military experts in the Bundeswehr. Accordingly, they had noted that only about 40 of the 119 self-propelled howitzers 2000 were currently operational in the Bundeswehr. Whether the howitzers would be of any use to Ukraine at all was also questioned.
Ukraine War: Concerns about Russian mobilization in Ukraine are growing
+++ 10.15 a.m.: In Ukraine, there are concerns that Russian attacks will escalate significantly in the coming weeks. On Tuesday, several Ukrainian media picked up a report by the US broadcaster CNN on speculation that Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin could declare a state of war in Russia and order general mobilization in just a few days. Such plans could be made public by Putin on May 9, the “Day of Victory” over Nazi Germany. The head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, also spoke of Russian preparations for an open mobilization of soldiers and reservists. There is no evidence for this. So far, Russia has officially only spoken of a “special operation” in Ukraine.
The Kremlin did not initially respond to the latest rumours. In the first few weeks after the attack on the neighboring country on February 24, Moscow commented on the concerns of its own population and emphasized that general mobilization was not planned. Even in the event of such an order, however, the extent would be completely unclear: Russia’s legislation also provides for the possibility of partial mobilization, which would then only affect individual regions of the giant country.
Ukraine war: Pope wants an audience with Putin
+++ 9.30 a.m.: Pope Francis has asked Vladimir Putin for an audience. He wants to meet the Russian president in Moscow, he told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. However, he fears “that Putin neither can nor wants to have this meeting at the moment,” the Pope continued. A visit to Kyiv, on the other hand, is not planned. “I feel I shouldn’t go. First I have to go to Moscow, first I have to meet Putin,” Francis said in an interview. However, he is only a priest who only does what a priest can do – “if only Putin opened the door”.
First report from Tuesday, May 3, 9:15 a.m.: A scandal broke out in international airspace off the island of Rügen: German Air Force Eurofighters pushed a Russian military aircraft away.
(jf/tu/lm with dpa/AFP)
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