New explosions in Kyiv – rocket fire also in southern Ukraine

Russia fired rockets and combat drones at Ukraine again on Tuesday. The authorities in Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine reported attacks with Russian missiles. In the vicinity of the capital Kyiv and in the Khmelnytskyi region there were explosions and air defense was deployed, officials said. The authorities called on people to seek shelter in basements and bunkers. The Dnipropetrovsk region was also shelled.

Russian military bloggers close to the Kremlin confirmed the massive rocket fire in Ukraine. Ukrainian media reported that 20 rockets landed on Tuesday morning.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has issued a fresh warning to the West that its support for Ukraine could draw the US and its allies into open conflict with Russia, Ryabkov said on Tuesday, according to a report by Russia's state-run Ria Novosti news agency.

As examples, the deputy minister cited military aid to Kyiv, the training of Ukrainian soldiers in NATO countries and the provision of satellite data enabling the Ukrainian military to determine targets for artillery strikes. With all these actions, Western countries are increasingly drawn into the conflict, he explained. Russia will be forced to take appropriate countermeasures, "including asymmetrical measures."

Russia is not interested in a direct clash with the US and NATO, Ryabkov said. "We hope that Washington and other western capitals are aware of the danger of an uncontrollable escalation."

According to British secret services, Moscow is increasingly running out of ammunition in the Ukraine war. "We know, and Russian commanders at war know that they are running out of equipment and ammunition," GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming said on Tuesday, according to a pre-release speech transcript quoted by the BBC. Russian President Vladimir Putin makes misjudgments and strategic mistakes.

"Since he is hardly challenged internally, his decisions have turned out to be flawed," said the director of intelligence. In the meantime, the Russian people have also become aware of the consequences of “Putin's self-imposed war” for them personally in their own country – for example fewer opportunities to travel and hardly any access to modern technologies and external influences due to Western sanctions.

According to the EU ambassador to Belarus, he has had to vacate his post because Belarus refused to issue him the necessary papers. "The Belarusian authorities have decided not to extend my visa and accreditation for another year, which makes it very difficult to exercise my mandate," German-born EU Ambassador Dirk Schuebel wrote on Facebook on Monday evening.

He very much regrets this decision, Schuebel continued. As the head of the EU delegation, he fulfilled his duty by always communicating the EU's official position on the "false elections and the constant use of force against innocent people" to the Belarusian authorities.

The German has been the EU ambassador to Belarus since 2019. The country has also been heavily criticized by the West for supporting Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine.

The Federal Government's Migration Commissioner, Reem Alabali-Radovan (SPD), has called for preparations for possible new refugee movements from Ukraine. The number of newly arriving refugees from Ukraine is currently falling at around 150 per day, "but a hard war winter can change that," Alabali-Radovan told the editorial network Germany.

A change in the movement of refugees would first affect the direct neighbors Poland and also the Czech Republic, she said. "We must therefore remain in close contact with our neighboring countries and be prepared to continue to take in people who are fleeing war and great hardship from Ukraine."

Before the refugee summit on Tuesday, the SPD politician called the admission and accommodation of refugees "a great joint effort by the federal, state and local authorities". "Uptake and distribution are generally going well," she added, "but not always and not everywhere."

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) is meeting with local and state representatives on Tuesday to discuss further care for refugees.

For the FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the Russian rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities show that an end to the war cannot be achieved at the negotiating table. "You can't negotiate with Russia under Putin and his followers," the chairwoman of the defense committee told the German Press Agency in Berlin on Tuesday. "That was shown by the murderous rocket attacks by this terrorist gang right in the heart of Kyiv and on other cities." The end of the war will only be achieved with material support from Ukraine.

It is a good sign that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has promised Ukraine support for the country's reconstruction, said the politician, who was in Kyiv last week. “Winter is coming and everything is needed for Ukraine to prepare. From equipment for the cold months to ammunition and artillery. For the southern flank, however, the Ukraine primarily needs main battle tanks,” emphasized Strack-Zimmermann.

While Ukraine particularly wants the Leopard 2 main battle tank, it is also very grateful for deliveries of the Marder infantry fighting vehicle. Strack-Zimmermann: "The marten would be the fastest solution at the moment." The Bundeswehr could immediately deliver at least 50 martens and offer the training in Germany, as Strack-zimmermann said. "Industry could replace the Marder for the Bundeswehr within a year."

Strack-Zimmermann demanded that at the same time "Spain's offer to train Ukrainian soldiers on the Leopard battle tank in Latvia" had to be "seriously discussed". She said: "You need German approval for that. We must not stand in the way of any help.”

After the large-scale series of Russian attacks on cities in Ukraine, the death toll has risen to at least 19, according to Ukrainian sources. According to the country's emergency services, more than 100 people were injured. "According to preliminary information, 19 people have been killed and 105 others injured," the emergency services wrote

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has warned of an increase in the number of refugees after the Russian rocket attacks. "The bombing of civilians" and "non-military infrastructure" means "that the war is becoming harder and more difficult for civilians," Grandi said on Monday evening in Geneva. "I fear that the events of the past few hours will entail more escape."

The Russian army carried out numerous rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities on Monday. For the first time in months, rockets fell in the capital Kyiv and in Lviv in western Ukraine, and many other cities were also shelled.

The attacks sparked international outrage. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the "indiscriminate attack on civilians" was "tantamount to a war crime." US President Biden also denounced that targets of no military importance had been attacked. Grandi said the "horror" that happened in Ukraine on Monday was "inexcusable".

Since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began on February 24, more than 7.6 million Ukrainian refugees have been registered across Europe. Some of them returned to their homeland, more than 4.2 million Ukrainians were granted temporary protection status in EU countries. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are also almost seven million internally displaced persons in Ukraine.

The situation in Ukraine is currently in flux, said the UN refugee commissioner. There are people who “just flee the bombs for a few hours” and then return home. But if there is major destruction and people no longer have access to basic food or heating, it will take longer to flee.

After a Russian missile attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, local military chief Oleksandr Vikul said 98 miners were still trapped underground because of a power outage. The miners should be freed on Tuesday night, according to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform, Wilkul announced on Monday evening via his Telegram channel. According to Wilkul, more than 850 miners were initially trapped in four mines.

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