Due to the significant increase in wheat prices, the Schleswig-Holstein Farmers’ Union expects bread prices to rise drastically. “Bild” says the vice president of the association Klaus-Peter Lucht: “The price of bread could double. Up to ten euros. ” Lucht said he expects food prices to rise by an average of 20-40 percent. Some products may even become permanently unavailable. As examples, Lucht cited sunflower and rapeseed oil and apricot jam: “Due to the war in Ukraine, they will not be in supermarkets anymore,” says the vice president. These foods mainly come from Ukraine.
+++ 03:38 UK: Ukraine attacks territory occupied by Russia +++
According to British intelligence, Ukrainian forces began attacking high-value targets in the areas occupied by Russia. Among them is a raider or ammunition depot in the city of Berdyansk, according to an update from the British Ministry of Defense citing intelligence information. The Ukrainian General Staff reports that it destroyed the Saratov landing craft during an attack on the port of the city of Berdyansk, occupied by Russian units. Two other such ships, “Cezar Kunikow” and “Nowoczerkask”, were damaged. The information could not be independently verified.
+++ 03:08 EU launches solidarity fund for Ukraine +++
At their summit, the heads of state and government of the European Union agree on a solidarity fund to support Ukraine. According to the statement, a “trust fund for solidarity with Ukraine” is planned. An international donor conference is to be convened to this end. No possible date or location was given. According to the text, the fund is to provide short-term financial aid, but also support “the reconstruction of a democratic Ukraine” after a possible ceasefire with Russia.
+++ 02:47 EU accuses Russia of war crimes +++
The European Union accuses Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine. According to the statement of the EU summit in Brussels, Russia is attacking civilians, including hospitals, schools and shelters. “These war crimes must stop immediately.” The US government officially accused Russian troops in Ukraine of war crimes for the first time on Wednesday. “Our assessment is based on a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
You can read more about it here.
+++ 02:28 Heil wants faster recognition of Ukrainian professional qualifications +++
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil is pushing for faster recognition of professional qualifications in order to be able to quickly integrate refugees from Ukraine into the labor market. “There will likely be a lot of very well trained people as well,” says the German editorial network. Among them are nurses, engineers, doctors and educators. “It is important that we recognize Ukrainian professional qualifications quickly and easily,” says Heil. “We have to be much better and faster there.”
+++ 01:59 Ukraine reports shelling at the nuclear ruins in Chernobyl +++
After several forest fires around the Chernobyl nuclear ruins, possible shelling in the area now leads to new concerns for the safety of the facility. Russian forces fired on Ukrainian checkpoints in the city of Slavutych, said director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, citing information from the Ukrainian nuclear regulatory agency. According to Kiev, this threatens “the homes and families of the operating personnel who ensure nuclear and radioactive safety” at the former nuclear power plant, as well as further staff turnover. The information cannot be independently confirmed.
+++ 01:28 US experts: 60 percent of some Russian missiles fail +++
According to US defense experts, up to 60 percent of some types of Russian precision-guided missiles used in the war with Ukraine fail. Three Department of Defense officials familiar with US intelligence tell Reuters that failure rates vary depending on the type of missile. According to one official, Russian air-fired maneuvering missiles have a failure rate of 20 to 60 percent, depending on the day. Such a high failure rate can include anything from false firing to projectiles that do not explode on impact. US officials have said nothing about the cause of the high failure rate and have provided no evidence to back up their information. Reuters could not verify the information on its own.
+++ 00:58 “Persistent Threat”: US accuses Russian hackers +++
US courts accuse four Russian officials of hackers. According to the US Department of Justice, in 2012-2018, they illegally gained access to computers in the energy sector around the world. Overall, hackers targeted “thousands of computers in hundreds of companies and organizations” in approximately 135 countries. “Russian state hackers pose a serious and persistent threat to critical infrastructure in the United States and around the world,” said deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco.
+++ 00:20 Biden wants to export more grain due to lack of food +++
Canada and the US want to increase exports due to the lack of grain after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. World food shortage concerns are becoming “a reality,” US President Joe Biden said after the NATO and G7 summits in Brussels. Therefore, both countries talked about how they can “increase and distribute resources faster”. The US president urges other countries to suspend all restrictions on food exports. The US is also considering “major investments to meet humanitarian needs, especially food aid.”
+++ 23:51 3343 people can be evacuated from disputed areas +++
According to the deputy prime minister of Ukraine, Iryna Wereszczuk, 3,343 people were evacuated from the disputed areas on Thursday. Among them, there are 2,717 inhabitants of Mariupol.
+++ 23:24 Von der Leyen: The US will bring more LPG to the EU +++
The EU will enter into an energy partnership with the US to replace Russian gas supplies. “Tomorrow we will present a new chapter in our energy partnership with President (Joe) Biden,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels. It is about additional supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the USA to the European Union in place of Russian liquefied natural gas. “An important step forward,” says von der Leyen. The EU is trying to become independent of Russian gas supplies – both pipeline and LNG – as soon as possible. About 40 percent. gas in the Union is imported from Russia. The EU is also contacting other countries such as Qatar, Azerbaijan, Japan and South Korea to diversify its supplies.
You can read more about it here.
+++ 22:59 Ticzanowska appeals to Belarusian soldiers not to fight for the Kremlin +++
The exiled leader of the Belarusian opposition, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, appeals to her country’s soldiers not to take part in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Our Belarusian soldiers understand that the Ukrainians are our brothers and sisters and that we do not want to fight them,” said Tikhanovskaya at a meeting with Belarusians in exile in Warsaw. “We don’t want to become enemies.” The Belarusian army has not yet participated in the war in Ukraine started by the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin. However, the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko allowed Russian troops from Belarusian territory to invade Ukraine from the north and thus quickly move closer to its capital Kiev.
+++ 22:33 Schröder attributes the war in Ukraine to a “political defeat” +++
From the point of view of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, “political defeat” led to the war in Ukraine. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the bipolarity between the Soviet Union and the United States, “we have not developed a security architecture that reflects this changed situation,” said an SPD politician at a conference in Kocaeli, Turkey. “And the war in Ukraine is one of the consequences of this political defeat.” Schröder is considered a longtime confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is, inter alia, chairman of the supervisory board of the Russian state-owned energy company Rosneft. The former chancellor is under tremendous pressure because of Putin’s aggression against Ukraine. Without mentioning the head of the Kremlin, Schröder added that both Russia and Western countries had made many mistakes in recent years. According to Schröder, Russia’s security interests do not, however, justify the use of military means. Schroeder also said everyone should do everything in their power to end this terrible war.
You can read more about it here.
+++ 22:15 Kharkiv rocket kills six civilians +++
According to the Ukrainian authorities, six civilians were killed in the Russian attack in Kharkiv. Fifteen others were injured. Russian forces used “long-range weapons” to bomb a post office in which people were queuing for humanitarian aid, region governor Oleg Synyegubov told Telegram. The footage, possibly from a surveillance camera, shows a bullet hitting a line of people.
+++ 22:03 Russians stock up on sleeping pills and antidepressants +++
In Russia, drug use has increased significantly since the invasion of Ukraine began. This is according to data from the DSM Group, which specializes in drug trafficking analytics. Therefore, since February 24, the Russians have been supplying mainly antidepressants, sleeping pills and contraceptives.
+++ 21:30 Moscow announces a sea corridor for blocked ships +++
According to Russian information, a sea corridor on the Black Sea for foreign ships is to be built in Ukrainian ports by tomorrow on Friday. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense in Moscow, this is how ships should safely reach the open sea. The meeting point is 20 nautical miles southeast of the Black Sea port in the Odessa region, says Russian general Mikhail Mizintsev. He accused the Ukrainian Navy of breaking the rules on the deployment of sea mines, as well as shelling ships. “We emphasize once again that the Russian Federation does not pose a threat to free civil navigation,” says Misintsev. In total, 67 ships from 15 countries are blocked in various Ukrainian ports.
You can read about previous events here.