9:12 am: Scholz – No peace deal in Ukraine
Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed that there will be no Ukraine-wide peace agreement. “You don’t create peace if you shout ‘war never again’ here in Berlin – and at the same time demand that all arms deliveries to Ukraine be stopped,” he said in his government statement at the Bundestag in Berlin on the consequences of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Because we know what fate awaits Ukrainians under Russian occupation. Aid to Ukraine will therefore continue. “You cannot negotiate with a gun to your temple – except about your own submission,” he said.
9:05 am: Baerbock sees strong support from G20 to demand end to war
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sees broad agreement in the G20 group of major economic powers when it comes to calling for a speedy end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Here at this G20 table, 19 countries have made it clear that this war must end. That they all finally want peace,” the green politician told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting in the Indian capital, New Delhi. This was also clearly recorded by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The clear message for Lavrov was that the war is not having any positive effect anywhere in the world. “It just leads to more suffering, more misery, sometimes more death.”
8:50 am: Russia continues advance on Bakhmut
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russian military continues to advance towards the city of Bakhmut and “invade the city”. The Ukrainian army repelled attacks on Bakhmut and other places in the Donetsk region that were attacked.
8:00 am: Three killed in rocket attack in Zaporizhia
Authorities said three people were killed in a Russian rocket attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia. The rocket hit a five-story apartment building overnight, which collapsed, City Council Secretary Anatoly Kurtyev said on his Telegram channel. At least four people were injured. Eleven people were pulled alive from the rubble, including a pregnant woman. The information could not initially be verified by an independent party.
According to the authorities, the search and rescue work continued in the morning. It is feared that there may be other victims in the building that collapsed. Zaporizhia is less than 50 kilometers from the front.
7:30 am: Baerbock at G20 meeting in Lavrov: “Stop this war”
At the G20 meeting of economic powers, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) urged Russia to put an end to the war of aggression against Ukraine. “Stop this war. Stop the violation of our international order. Stop the bombing of Ukrainian cities and civilians,” demanded the Greens politician at meetings of G20 foreign ministers in the Indian capital, New Delhi, according to information from circles of the delegation. She directly addressed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“It’s good that you are here in the hall to listen,” Baerbock told the Russian minister. “Stop the war. Not in a month or a year, but today.” She added: “Because every family that loses a father, a brother, a mother, a child loses an entire world.” There is no right of the fittest to attack their neighbors.
6:30 am: Habeck wants to allow arms exports to be much more “selective” in the future
According to Federal Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), Germany wants to allow arms exports much more “selectively” in the future. Arms exports must be approved on the basis of values, the vice-chancellor announced in the “Wirtschaftswoche”. One should ask “who is the perpetrator and who is the victim”.
“With regard to Ukraine, I think it’s right that the general taboo on delivering weapons to war zones has been lifted,” explained Habeck. “In terms of general political practice, this can only mean that, when it comes to our export licences, in the future we must ask ourselves who is the perpetrator and who is the victim, aggressor and defender – and make decisions accordingly.”
6:20 Reports of explosions in Crimea
Several explosions were reported in Russian-occupied Crimea on Wednesday night. Detonations were heard in Yalta, Bakhchisarai and Gurzuf in the south of the peninsula, social media reported. There were no official statements about this.
6:15 am Kiev: Russian attacks near Bakhmut continue
According to Ukrainian General Staff reports, the Russian military continued its attacks in eastern Ukraine unabated on Wednesday. The city of Bakhmut, disputed for weeks, has once again become the focus of the most intense fighting, as announced by the Ukrainian army command in its daily situation report. Russian units are already pressing the city from three sides.
A series of Russian artillery and air strikes were also reported around the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine. There were also civilian casualties in rocket attacks, he said. No further details were given. Ukrainian air defense shot down two Iranian-made kamikaze drones in the region. Russian attacks were also reported in Kremenchuk, southeast of Kiev. Poltava Region Governor Dmytro Luni reported that “civil objects and critical infrastructure” were hit near Kremenchuk. For now, he has not provided further information on possible casualties or damage.
6 am: Zelenskyy accuses the Russians of “deliberate terror”.
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian armed forces control the situation on the country’s fronts. “We have all frontline areas under control,” Zelenskyy said in his late-night video address on Wednesday. However, people behind the fronts would continue to suffer from Russian attacks. “Deliberate terror,” Zelenskyy said of Russian artillery attacks on towns and villages behind the fronts in southern and eastern Ukraine.
“In most parts of our country, where we have been able to provide relative security, they (residents) may not understand what life is like for people living in the border areas with Russia and in the south of our country,” Zelenskyy said. Although the people there are not at the front, they are still directly involved in the war. “There where Russia is constantly trying to destroy everything people have, constantly – and that’s not an exaggeration.”
5am: Scholz delivers a government statement on the war in Ukraine
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is delivering a government statement on the consequences of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine today (Thursday) at the Bundestag. The title of his announced speech contains the word “turning point in time”. After Scholz’s statement, an hour-and-a-half debate is scheduled in the Berlin Parliament. Three days after the start of the Russian attack on 24 February 2022, Scholz described the event as a “turning point” at a special session of the Bundestag and announced extensive additional spending for the military.
12:10 pm: Zelenskyy praises the country’s citizens for surviving a “difficult” winter
The Ukrainian government paid tribute to the country’s citizens for surviving a “difficult” winter together in the face of systematic attacks from Russia. “We got through this winter,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday in his daily evening speech. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had previously spoken about the “hardest winter in our history” that Ukrainians have survived. Zelenskyy said the winter was “a very difficult time” due to massive Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure. “And every Ukrainian went through this hardship, but we still managed to supply Ukraine with energy and heat.” The head of state added that there is still “a threat to the energy system”.