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Ukraine news: Vice Chancellor Habeck for talks in Kiev | Current Europe | DW

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Ukraine news: Vice Chancellor Habeck for talks in Kiev |  Current Europe |  DW

The essentials in brief:

  • Habeck: “We believe that Ukraine will be victorious”
  • Russia wants to increase its military presence near Finland
  • Zelenskyj sees military victory as the “only way”.
  • Russian nuclear weapons are said to be in Belarus on the border with Poland
  • Defense company Rheinmetall builds service hub in Romania

Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck traveled to Ukraine for political talks. The Green politician arrived in the capital Kiev in the morning with a small delegation of German business representatives. The purpose of the trip is to give Ukraine a clear signal, Habeck said upon his arrival at the Kiev train station. A sign “that we believe that it will be victorious, that it will be rebuilt, that there is an interest in Europe not only to provide support in times of need, but that Ukraine will also be an economically strong partner in the future “.

The itinerary included a visit to a substation of the energy company “Ukrenergo”, which supplies one of the most densely populated areas of Ukraine with energy. Habeck announced that the German-Ukrainian energy partnership would be relaunched. “The wish and the strategic plans – and these are security plans of the Ukrainians – are actually to make the energy system broader and more decentralized,” he said. This is also an “invitation to decarbonize”, i.e. to say goodbye to fossil fuels. “In this respect, two things fit together quite well: the need for security and a sustainable energy system.” Ukraine could become an energy exporter to Europe.

Robert Habeck (right) visited a substation together with “Ukrenergo” boss Volodymyr Kudrytski

Germany and Ukraine have had a formal energy partnership since 2020, which is intended to help drive the shift towards more climate-friendly forms of energy production. Among other things, it is about increasing energy efficiency, modernizing the electricity sector, expanding renewable energies and reducing greenhouse gases. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year, the focus has been on emergency aid to repair and maintain the power grid – Russian attacks are also aimed at the country’s infrastructure. According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, this aspect is now to be further strengthened.

Together with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, Habeck visited the village of Jahidne north of Kiev. The reason for the visit was the anniversary of the liberation of the village, which had been occupied by Russian soldiers at the beginning of the war.

Russia wants to increase military presence near Finland

In response to Finland’s upcoming entry into NATO on Tuesday, Russia says it wants to expand its military presence near the northern European country. “We will strengthen our military capabilities in the west and north-west,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, according to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti. Russia and Finland share a border that is around 1,300 kilometers long.

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that Finland will become the 31st member of the alliance on April 4, 2023. This step will make Finland safer, explained Stoltenberg. In the wake of the Russian offensive against Ukraine, the country had applied for membership together with its neighbor Sweden. Sweden still faces some hurdles as both Turkey and Hungary have yet to ratify accession.

In March, the Kremlin stressed that Russia posed no threat to the two Scandinavian countries. At the same time, however, Moscow saw NATO expansion as an “existential” threat to its security.

Prigozhin: Bakhmut “taken in the legal sense”

“In a legal sense, Bakhmut has been taken. The enemy is concentrating on the western regions,” said Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian “Group Wagner”, via the online service Telegram. According to him, the city’s administrative building is under Russian control. The flag of Russia was hoisted on the building.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner group

Notorious: Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the “Group Wagner” (archive photo)

However, there was no indication from the Ukrainian side that Bakhmut fell into Russian hands. In the past, similar statements by the mercenary chief about what was happening in the battle had sometimes proved premature.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the military situation around Bakhmut was “particularly heated”. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar said Ukrainian forces would continue to defend their positions in the city, while Russian forces attacked with little regard for casualties. “The situation in Bachmut remains tense.”

Zelenskyj has repeatedly stated that he does not want to give up the city. The capture of Bakhmut would be the first major success of the invading Russian forces in more than half a year and could open the way for bringing the remaining urban centers in Donbass under Russian control.

Arrested after death of Russian military blogger

After the alleged bomb attack on the well-known Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarski in Saint Petersburg, the authorities say they have arrested a suspect. A 26-year-old woman was arrested, the state investigative committee said. The Interior Ministry in Moscow released a video in which the woman admits to having been in the café. She gave Tatarski a bust, which later exploded. When asked who gave her this bust, she said she would say so later. Tatarsky died. The state news agency RIA reports that 32 other people were injured, citing the Ministry of Health. Ten of them are in serious condition.

The Kremlin classifies the assassination as a “terrorist attack”. “There are indications that the Ukrainian secret services could have something to do with the planning of this terrorist attack,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He accused the leadership in Kiev of supporting “terrorist acts” in Russia.

The anti-terrorist committee announced that the Kiev secret service had planned the “terrorist attack” against Tatarski and used the suspect for it. Accordingly, the woman was connected to the anti-corruption foundation of the imprisoned Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny. The media had previously reported that the woman had taken part in demonstrations calling for Navalny’s release in the past and was a staunch opponent of the war. Ukraine’s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak, on the other hand, said “domestic terrorism” was spreading in Russia. The head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is fighting alongside the Russian military in Ukraine, also said he would not blame the “regime in Kiev”. Instead, he sees a group of radicals behind the crime.

The dead Vladlen Tatarsky is mourned in St. Petersburg

The dead Vladlen Tatarsky is mourned in St. Petersburg

If it is confirmed that it was an attack on Tatarsky, it would be the second attack of this kind on Russian soil since the start of Russia’s Ukraine invasion in February 2022. In August, the publicist Darya Dugina was killed in a car bomb explosion near Moscow . She was the daughter of radical ideologue Alexander Dugin.

Zelenskyj sees military victory as the “only way”.

After a series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities with new civilian casualties, head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy sees a military victory for Ukraine as the “only way” to safety: “There is only one way to stop Russian terror and ensure safety in all our cities and towns – from Sumy to Donbass, from Kharkiv to Kherson, from Kiev to Yalta. And this path is Ukraine’s military victory,” Zelenskyy said in a video address. “There is no other way and there can be no other way,” he added.

Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy from the front

Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his video message on Sunday evening

According to Zelensky, it has become normal for the “evil state” of Russia to shoot at houses with rocket launchers, fire rockets at cities and bomb normal villages and people. This state must be completely defeated – militarily, economically, politically and legally. “The first point is the military one,” stressed the Ukrainian President. And that will also be implemented.

Russian nuclear weapons are said to be in Belarus on the border with Poland

Russia wants to place the tactical nuclear weapons it intends to station in Belarus on the border with Poland. This was announced by Moscow’s ambassador in Minsk, Boris Gryzlov. The bunkers needed for storing the weapons should be completed by July 1st.

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Gryzlov praised the fact that the planned stationing of nuclear weapons in Belarus was already causing “a lot of noise” in Western media. “Finally, it’s being considered that there should be some parity,” said the ex-Interior Minister and former head of the State Duma. “If we are talking about the stationing of American nuclear weapons in Europe, then we must take measures that increase the security of our union state (Belarus and Russia).”

Putin and Lukashenko |  Archive image 2019

Allied Presidents: Vladimir Putin (left, Russia) and Alexander Lukashenko (Belarus)

An analysis by the US Institute for War Studies (ISW) recently said that Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin wanted to stir up fears of a nuclear escalation in the West in order to break support for Ukraine, for example in the delivery of heavy weapons. According to the ISW, however, it is still “very unlikely that Russia will use nuclear weapons in Ukraine or anywhere else.”

Rheinmetall Group builds service hub in Romania

The German armaments group Rheinmetall wants to service and repair weapons from Ukraine in Romania in the future. “Rheinmetall is pushing ahead with the construction of a military maintenance and logistics center in NATO partner country Romania at full speed,” said a Rheinmetall spokesman on request. Work on the site in the vicinity of the city of Satu Mare has already begun, and the center is scheduled to start work in April. Satu Mare is near the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine |  Panzerhaubitze 2000 in the Donbas region fires shot, it smokes

In action in the Ukraine: a “Panzerhaubitze 2000” made in Germany

Servicing and repairing weapons supplied to Ukraine play an important role in the country’s defense after the Russian attack. The Rheinmetall service hub should now play a central role in maintaining the operational readiness of western combat systems and ensuring their logistical support, the Düsseldorf-based group said. This applies to self-propelled howitzers, but also to main battle tanks such as the Leopard 2 or the British Challenger, armored personnel carriers such as the Marder, Fuchs armored transport vehicles or military trucks. Combat vehicles used by NATO forces could also be looked after there. Above all, however, Ukraine benefits “which is given the best possible security of supply for its military systems”.

wa/ack/sti/cwo/qu/hf (rtr, dpa, afp)

This article will be continuously updated on the day of its publication. Reports from the combat zones cannot be independently verified.

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