"We are at war with Putin and not his psychotherapists"

The philosopher Richard David Precht has called for a de-escalation of the war and suggested that some NATO states should give Russia a binding guarantee that Ukraine will not be included in the NATO defense alliance. In his opinion, this would be a way of preventing a further escalation of the war.

The reactions to this were sometimes very sharp, and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) also criticized Precht: “To be honest: What should kneeling before Putin bring now? We are at war with Putin and not his psychotherapists. The victory in the form of the liberation of Ukraine must be pursued consistently. It doesn't matter whether Putin's psyche can handle it," he wrote on Twitter.

So far, however, no member of the government has spoken of a war against Russia. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) only said in June: "Putin will not win this war".

After the Russian annexation of occupied territories, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj celebrated the recapture of the strategically important city of Lyman in the east of the country. "The Ukrainian flag is already flying in Lyman in the Donetsk region," Zelenskyy said in his daily video address on Saturday. Fighting is still going on in the city, but there is no trace of the "pseudo-referendum" there, he said.

Russia only annexed the four regions of Cherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhia after internationally unrecognized bogus referendums on Friday - although it only partially controls them. In the north of the Donetsk region, the Kremlin suffered another bitter military defeat with the loss of Lyman.

"By the way, they already started biting each other there: they are looking for the culprits, accusing some generals of failure," Zelenskyy commented on the angry reactions from Moscow to the retreat in Lyman. It was only the first warning shot for all those who took part in President Vladimir Putin's war. Until they solve the problem with the one who "started this, for Russia, senseless war against Ukraine, you will be killed and scapegoated one by one," predicted the 44-year-old.

Zelenskyy promised his own compatriots that the army would liberate the whole country from Russian occupation, while the Russian leadership would ultimately have to answer for the illegal war. "The world will not allow a return to the days of colonial conquest, criminal annexations and total arbitrariness instead of international law," he said.

In view of the Russian threats of nuclear weapons, the CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter believes that western countries need to step up their deterrence. "Of course we have to take this seriously, and of course there is always such a risk," he told the Berlin "Tagesspiegel" with regard to threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin to use "all available means" if necessary. "But we can prevent this by increasing our own deterrence and countering Putin with strength and unity."

Putin's threat is not new. It is "a means of hybrid warfare" "to unsettle our population and to divide the rule-based states". Kiesewetter warned against giving in to Putin. The use of such weapons would permanently isolate Russia "completely, also from its previous partners or at least neutral states like China or India," he said. "That's why we mustn't let ourselves be fooled."

Russia has abandoned the strategically important city of Lyman in the eastern Donetsk region in yet another defeat by the Ukrainian army. The armed forces had been withdrawn because of the risk of encirclement, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow on Saturday. Ukrainian authorities had previously spoken of around 5,000 surrounded Russian soldiers. There is no information about the number of dead and prisoners.

With the fall of Lyman, the path to Kreminna and Svatowe opened up for the Ukrainian troops. Both cities are in the Luhansk region and are – especially Swatowe – important transport hubs. This would be a devastating signal for the Kremlin. At the beginning of the summer, the Russian army declared the Luhansk region "liberated".

More than seven months after the war began, Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Cherson and Zaporizhia in addition to Donetsk on Friday. Internationally, this illegal step is not recognized.

In many municipalities in Lower Saxony, the living space for taking in refugees is becoming increasingly scarce. "The situation with the accommodation of the refugees is similar to that during the refugee crisis of 2015/2016," said the managing director of the Lower Saxony district association, Hubert Meyer, the German press agency. “We consistently hear from the counties that accommodation in private apartments has largely been exhausted. Almost all districts operate collective accommodation.”

Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has promised to deliver the state-of-the-art Iris-T SLM air defense system to Ukraine within a few days. She "experienced live how much Ukraine suffers from the fact that (with) rockets, that the population is tormented with drones," said the SPD politician on Saturday evening during her visit to the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odessa to ARD-" Topics of the Day". In the afternoon, Lambrecht himself had to temporarily go to a bunker because of an air raid alarm.

It is important to continue to support the Ukrainian air defense with Iris-T, this state-of-the-art new system. But also with drone defense,” said Lambrecht. She added: "This is a very, very important point in order to relieve the burden on the population here."

After the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipes, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann believes it is possible in principle that investigations will also be carried out in Germany. "It is possible that a crime was committed here for which the Attorney General could take over the prosecution," said the FDP politician of the "Bild am Sonntag". The sites of the explosion are in the Baltic Sea in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Denmark and Sweden, but the tubes lead from Russia to Germany.

“Then it might be about anti-constitutional sabotage with repercussions on Germany. The criminal offense of causing an explosives explosion is also an option.” If the suspicion is confirmed, the main focus would be cooperation with other countries, especially the EU. "The goal would be to get hold of the perpetrators and bring them to justice in Germany." According to the Criminal Code, anti-constitutional sabotage carries a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine.

A senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksky has posted a video purporting to show the takeover of the city of Lyman. "Dear Ukrainians, today the Armed Forces of Ukraine retook Lyman and took control," a Ukrainian soldier said in the video provided by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Presidential Office. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said troops had been withdrawn from the town of Lyman in Donetsk to avoid encirclement. A spokesman for the Ukrainian army had previously said that the strategically important location was encircled. An independent clarification of the contradictory information was not possible.