11:29 am .: Baerbock thanks South Africa for clear words on war
During her visit to South Africa, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbach thanked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for his comments on Russia’s war against Ukraine: “This war also affects Africa, the UN Charter must be respected and we are grateful for his clear words”. Recently an African delegation visited Ukraine and then Russia. Ramaphosa emphasized the territorial integrity of all states and called for a peaceful settlement between Russia and Ukraine. South Africa is a partner of Russia in the bloc of nations known as BRICS.
11:02 am .: Russia has arrested hundreds of civilians since the start of the war
According to the United Nations (UN), Russia has arrested more than 800 civilians in both countries since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to a report by the UN Human Rights Office, 77 of them were executed. UN monitors have identified patterns of behavior that have resulted in arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment. People “disappearing” is part of it. Ukraine has arbitrarily arrested civilians in violation of international law – to a very limited extent.
10.36 am: Russian secret service FSB suspends investigations against Prigozhin
Russia’s domestic secret service, the FSB, has now officially closed its investigation into the armed uprising of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private army, Wagner. The FSB said on Tuesday that the insurgents had abandoned their activities to commit a crime. For this reason and other “related circumstances”, the case was closed.
10:35 a.m.: The Belarusian army was on combat alert during the Wagner uprising
The Belarusian army was put on combat alert, according to ruler Alexander Lukashenko, amid a weekend uprising by Wagner mercenaries in Russia. “I gave all orders to put the army on full combat readiness,” Lukashenko said, according to Belarusian news agencies. The ruler in Belarus on Saturday acted as an intermediary between the Kremlin and Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who finally announced the end of the rebellion.
10.16 am: Wagner mercenaries are probably preparing to hand over equipment
According to media reports, the Wagner mercenary group will hand over its military equipment to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Russian news agency RIA reported, citing the ministry, that preparations for the move are underway. Before the uprising, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin resisted orders to place his forces under the command of the Ministry of Defense. On Friday he launched an uprising in Moscow with his militia marching, which he abruptly broke off on Saturday. According to the agreement with the Russian government, he will be exiled in Belarus. So the mercenaries could go to a neighboring country with impunity or stay in Russia. There they can join the army.
9.43 am
According to U.S. sanctions documents, flight information shows that a plane linked to missing mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin flew from Russia to Belarus. According to flight tracking site Flightradar24, the Russian-registered jet took off on Tuesday morning. According to US documents, the identification numbers of the Embraer Legacy 600 belonged to the aircraft assigned to Prigozhin by the US. Prigozhin must be exiled to Belarus under the deal that ended the mercenary uprising in Russia on Saturday. The 62-year-old has now spoken with an audio message. However, there is no information about his whereabouts so far.
9:29 am: Rheinmetall delivers Leopard tanks to Ukraine on behalf of the Netherlands
Rheinmetall delivers fourteen Cheetah 2A4 main battle tanks to Ukraine on behalf of the Dutch government. Rheinmetall announced that the order was in the low three-digit million euro range. An agreement was also reached with the central government. The Netherlands and Denmark had already announced in April that they wanted to buy tanks together. The first of 14 main battle tanks is scheduled to be delivered to Ukraine in January 2024, with the remaining vehicles to follow in 2024. These were obsolete Leopard 2A4s that Rheinmetall had taken from previous stocks in various user states.
09:07: British Secret Service – 2014 Ukrainians advance on Russian occupied territory
A Ukrainian counteroffensive has advanced into territory occupied by Russian troops since 2014. That’s according to a British Secret Service report on the war in Ukraine on Tuesday. According to them, members of the Ukrainian Air Force made small advances east of the village of Krasnorivka near the city of Donetsk. “Recent multiple and simultaneous Ukrainian offensives” across the Donbass have overwhelmed the forces of the internationally unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic and Chechen units operating there.
8:05 am: 1.1 million visits from Ukraine recorded in 2022
As a result of the Russian war of aggression, many people from Ukraine came to Germany seeking protection. Based on the final results for 2022, the Central Statistics Office (Destatis) reported about 1.1 million arrivals and 138,000 departures from Ukraine. Most migrations from Ukraine took place between March and May 2022. It has continued to decline since August 2022.
5:46 am: Russia conducts warplane exercises in the Baltic Sea
Russian warplanes are conducting tactical exercises in the Baltic Sea region, the Russian Defense Ministry said. “The crew of the Baltic Fleet’s Su-27 fired from the air at cruise missiles and enemy dummy aircraft,” the ministry said on the Telegram news app. “The main objective of this exercise is to test the readiness of the aircrew to perform combat and special missions.” However, the crews of the fighter jets are not only improving their capabilities, but are also on “combat duty around the clock” to protect the airspace of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
4:27 am .: Russian MP calls for professional army of seven million soldiers
Against the background of the rise of the Wagner mercenary group, Russian negotiator Leonid Slutsky pressed for a treaty army with at least seven million military and civilian personnel. “The country doesn’t need anything like PMCs (private defense and military companies),” Slutsky, head of the Liberal Democratic Party, says on the Telegram news app. “The regular army has problems, but PMCs can’t solve them.” In late 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved an increase in the army from 1.15 million to 1.5 million, including 695,000 contract soldiers. An increase to seven million would require huge budgetary outlays. The Russian economy shrank by 2.2 percent last year as a result of the war and Western sanctions and is expected to recover slightly this year.
01:38: UAE supports Russia’s actions in Wagner Rebellion
The leaders of Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) discussed the Wagner uprising in a phone call on Saturday, the Kremlin and the United Arab Emirates news agency said. “After receiving detailed information, the UAE president declared his full support for the actions of the Russian leadership,” WAM news agency reported. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed bilateral relations and reiterated the need to safeguard Russia’s stability and the security of its people.
12:05 am .: US wants more military aid to Ukraine
The Pentagon plans to provide $500 million (about 458 million euros) in military aid to Ukraine. This was announced by US government officials on Monday. The package includes more than 50 armored fighting vehicles and missiles for air defense systems. US military aid is aimed at bolstering Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which is in its early stages and is progressing slowly. An official announcement about the new US collection is expected this Tuesday.
12:00 am: Selenskyj praises progress of counterattack
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are advancing on the front line in all sectors of their counteroffensive. Today, Ukrainian troops have advanced everywhere, Zelensky says in his nightly video address. It’s a happy day.
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